Tag Archives: christopher k. morgan

CityDance presents Hubbard Street 2 + CityDance Conservatory

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Photo credit: Todd Rosenberg. Dancers: Nick Korkos and Felicia McBride

As part of the second installment of CityDance’s 2012/13 Professional Artist Series, CityDance presents Hubbard Street 2 and the CityDance Conservatory.

Under the direction of CityDance Artistic Director Lorraine Spiegler, CityDance Conservatory provides high quality year-­round dance education to over 100 young dancers ages 12-19. Throughout the weekend, CityDance Conservatory dancers will join Hubbard Street 2 (HS2) in technique and repertory classes. What a fantastic experience for the CityDance Conservatory dancers to dance with some of Chicago’s finest dancers – I’m quite jealous!

I first heard of HS2, the apprentice company of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, in 2010, when they premiered “Harold and the Purple Crayon: A Dance Adventure” – the company’s first program-length work created specifically for young people and families – at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. I was there for an internship, but unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the performance.

Hubbard Street 2 will perform works by Hubbard Street Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo and HSDC Company member Robyn Mineko Williams. CityDance Conservatory dancers will perform Choreographer Megan Adelsberger’s I Remember and Christopher K. Morgan’s Brutal Beauty, as well as works going nowhere, getting somewhere and My Heart has Four Corners by Robert Priore, CityDance Conservatory 2012/13 Choreographer-in-Residence.

Alexe Nowakowski, CityDance Executive Director, is excited about this partnership explaining, “we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to bring celebrated dance artists, like Hubbard Street 2, to the community. This performance fulfills our primary mission of bringing high-­level dance to the DC metro area, while also giving CityDance’s students
access to professional artists.”

I invite you to attend this performance at the CityDance Studio Theater and appreciate the energy of the dancers. Friday’s performance has been cancelled due to issues revolving around Hurricane Sandy. The performance Saturday, November 3 at 8PM is still on! You can purchase tickets by visiting the Strathmore site or by calling 301.581.5100.

If you can’t get enough dance, check out the CityDance performance schedule.

Christopher K. Morgan & Artists: Spiraling

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What I love most about Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, besides the amazing film promos, is that by simply watching the movement, I want to dance. The quality and organic nature of the movement, combined with partnering and altering of the physical space they are performing in with props or set design, creates an idea or emotion that always draws me into the work.

CityDance resident artist Christopher K. Morgan and his company, Christopher K. Morgan & Artists (CKM&A) will perform Spiraling, a concert featuring Morgan’s “forward thinking choreography” (Ballet-Dance Magazine) this weekend at the CityDance Studio Theater at Strathmore.  Christopher K. Morgan’s C’est le ton qui fait la chanson, a playful work set to nostalgic 1930′s French music will open the program.

Over the 2012/13 season, CKM&A has focused on collaboration and is demonstrating this focus by presenting CityDance Conservatory, along with the Dance Exchange in this concert.

Photo by Brianne Bland

CityDance Conservatory is debuting a new contemporary ballet work that Morgan was commissioned to create. Also, on the program is Morgan’s critically acclaimed piece, Rice, which was hailed by The New York Times as “charming and poignant.”

The Dance Exchange will present a work in progress excerpt of Ground Loss by their Resident Artist Sarah Levitt.  Closing the program will be the company premiere of Morgan’s 2012 work De-Generate. 

The performances this Saturday an Sunday will be followed by a discussion with the artists, providing audiences with a unique opportunity to deepen their understanding of the work, ask questions, and share their thoughts. You can order tickets online or call the office at 301.581.5100. Tickets are $20 for students and $25 for general admission.

Insights from Choreographer Christopher K. Morgan

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Typically when we go to dance shows, we watch the dances and make up our own ideas about the work to figure out what it means to us. There isn’t a whole lot of understanding about how the piece came to be or what it was inspired by as we sit in the theater. In my experience, having the opportunity to talk to the choreographer or dancers can be eye opening, as you may not have looked at the work from their perspective.

While beneficial, it’s not often that you have the chance to hear the choreographers’ perspective about what their work means and how it was conceptualized and created in words. Most often you learn about the work through just the movement and imagery on stage.

I was fortunate enough to hear from Christopher K. Morgan about his first full-length piece, Limited Visibility, and now have the opportunity to share his insights.

How did you come up with the idea for Limited Visibility?

Christopher K. Morgan: The idea for the piece began over 2 years ago.  I had the good fortune to be having my work presented in beautiful, large venues, which was wonderful and exciting.  But it made me wonder, how could I create a greater sense of intimacy in a large space, so audiences would literally want to move forward in their seats?  My answer to this was to use lighting.  And the more I thought about this, the more I wanted to create a piece where the dancers controlled the lighting.

How has Limited Visibility transformed and changed over the past year?

Christopher K. Morgan: The workshop version last year was probably the first time I looked at a work of mine onstage and realized there was more to be said in the piece.   In finishing it’s statement in the last several months, new sections have been added, other lighting sources, new pieces of music as well.  And of course with new dancers come new ideas and movement vocabularies to best suit each performer.

When I saw the beginning of the piece last year, it made me both excited and uncomfortable because of the athleticism, imagery and the fact I felt like I was intruding on a personal intimate moment. What kind of emotions did you aim to draw from the dancers and the audience?

Christopher K. Morgan: That is exactly the range of responses I hope to elicit! I also really hope that as the imagery of the work washes over the audience, they find themselves in the work at some point and see their own story within the performers onstage.

The lighting for this performance is not traditional, what was your goal or inspiration?

Christopher K. Morgan: In addition to creating an intimate space where the audience feels close to the work, I want there to be a clear sense that the dancers are designing and in charge of their environment.  I also really enjoy when a familiar object that we all know well, such as fluorescent tube lighting, can be used in way that might surprise us, or make us look at the object differently.

I absolutely love your movement vocabulary and quality of movement. Do you set specific movement on the dancers or did they take part in the creation of the work?

Christopher K. Morgan: It’s both.  I create lots of movement whenever I make a piece.  I have a particular aesthetic and movement vocabulary that my body of work has been developing for years; strong balletic use of the lower body, a sinuous use of the spine, an urgency of momentum, spreading weight into the floor and gesture.  Frequently in the creative process I’ll create movement phrases, then give the dancers compositional assignments and ask them to reference the phrase work.  This way they can invest themselves into the work, but it still maintains a cohesive aesthetic and identity. I also invite them to write about the subject matter of the work, and that then influences directions we chose to go in with the piece, and sometimes is a source of movement inspiration.

What is your favorite part of Limited Visibility?

Christopher K. Morgan: There are so many! Which makes me realize that I really love how you get an opportunity to see each dancer in the piece as an individual.  Despite the “Limited Visibility”, they are all seen clearly.

If you want to see this work in its entirety, Christopher K. Morgan & Artists: Limited Visibility will be performed at the CityDance Studio Theater at Strathmore on Saturday, April 21 at 8:15pm and on Sunday, April 22 at 3pm. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by going to http://www.strathmore.org or by calling 301.581.5100.

Christopher K. Morgan & Artists: Limited Visibility

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Christopher K. Morgan & Artists

Photo by Brianne Bland

What do we hide from public view? Are we different people when we are behind closed doors? Christopher K. Morgan & Artists explore this idea in the evening length work, Limited Visibility.

Limited Visibility exposes and brings to light the secrets and emotions held closest to us as the dancers investigate methods of sharing personal moments with the audience. Morgan worked with the dancers to look within to reveal their struggles and create movement and themes that those watching will be able to connect with in some way.

“Each of us – performers and audience members alike – has struggles with our identity, family, values, loneliness and feelings of inadequacy,” says Morgan. “These are themes that any audience member can relate to, and yet they also have specificity to their point of origin.”

I saw the beginning structure of the work last February at the show ‘Hold Your Breath Until the End’ when Christopher K. Morgan worked with the CityDance Ensemble before they disbanded in the spring. In the first draft of the dance, the dancers turned on different forms of light onstage to show the audience their secrets. The dancers revealed intimates moments with the audience using costumes, props, and set pieces. Shadows cast by the unconventional lighting kept the viewer’s somewhat in the dark as we watched and drew connections with ourselves. The movement was bold and athletic; the dancers didn’t hold anything back.

Christopher K. Morgan & Artists worked for over 18 months on Limited Visibility, Morgan’s first evening length piece that premiered at the Alden Theatre in March.  Incorporating Morgan’s twisting, graceful movement, the work uses design, music, and athleticism to highlight the dancers’ unique abilities and stories.

Christopher K. Morgan & Artists: Limited Visibility will be performed at the CityDance Studio Theater at Strathmore on Saturday, April 21 at 8:15pm and on Sunday, April 22 at 3pm. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by going to http://www.strathmore.org or by calling 301.581.5100.