Waiting for Pilates class to start. Playing with different camera angles.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Bathroom Dance
July 5, 2010
It's only day 5 but I'm realizing that I don't feel inspired to dance or film everyday. Today is one of those days, but we made a commitment. It ws hard to start today but once I did, I felt good about what came out. This dance was the last thing I did before going to bed.
Daily Dance Diary Coming Soon
I do not have access to a fast internet service today, so my entry for today will be posted tomorrow, followed by my entry for tomorrow. Keep creating.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Daily Dance #4
July 4, 2010
Sunday morning, gloomy, cold, overcast July morning in Portland. Trying to motivate myself for the day by listening to pop music composed by my good friend Francis Francis.
Daily Dance #3
July 3, 2010
I'm feeling a bit shy and tired today. Inspired by Kim's 1st and 2nd video, only showing part of the body.
Fuegos Reales
"Fireworks" in Spanish is "fuegos artificiales." Fake fires. Well, I want to deal with reality straight up in my life. So here are some real fires to warm you up today, and remind you how far you've come.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
4th of Rainy
Blessings. My video for today is for the Eyes Only of Yulia and Kimberly. Until, possibly, the performance in September.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Daily Dance Diary 1-2-3
Day One- shy and mysterious, slow to show more than a little leg.
Day Two- feeling my back strength. I got my back today.
Day Three- Sunset inspired play along the school fence and my apartment building rooftop. I was inspired by a game my friend calls 54321.
Day Two- feeling my back strength. I got my back today.
Day Three- Sunset inspired play along the school fence and my apartment building rooftop. I was inspired by a game my friend calls 54321.
Accumulation (Daily Dance Diary #3)
I am exploring accumulating movement as a method for creating dance, as well as our tendency as humans to constantly accumulate trash.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Back and White
My second entry on the second of July. I like trying short explorations that may or may not feel complete, but I still force myself to put them out there.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
July 1, 2010
It's July 1st but you wouldn't be able to tell from the weather in Portland. Rainy, chilly, cloudy, windy. Today the Long Distance Project starts our daily dance diaries: a commitment to explore, play, dance everyday...no matter how small or big, no matter how simple or complex. This is my rainy dance for today. It is a bitter sweet day. The start and end of things both good and bad.
Daily Dance Diary #1
Every summer, we at the Long Distance Project leave our respective homes in Brooklyn, Portland, and Seattle, to convene in a city. This is our third year, and we will return to Seattle, the place where the project (and friendship) started. As part of our Seattle performance (coming in September), we are each publishing a Daily Dance Diary, convening today, July 1, 2010, and ending when we are all in Seattle again. Each day, we each must produce some kind of dance video. It can be short, long, simple, complex, abstract, narrative, anything that we feel that day. We hope this will force us to shove creativity into our daily lives, and help us to create more and more material which can feed off of each other. Otherwise, we are each surviving in our own cities, living our lives, and hardly spending any time on our collaboration. This way, we empower and encourage one another every single day.
Click the title of this post (Daily Dance Diary #1) to see my first diary entry, "Land Legs." This is also an assignment I received from Yulia, but cannot share with you now because I can't reveal the secret assignment to Kimberly until it is time for me to send it to her.
Click the title of this post (Daily Dance Diary #1) to see my first diary entry, "Land Legs." This is also an assignment I received from Yulia, but cannot share with you now because I can't reveal the secret assignment to Kimberly until it is time for me to send it to her.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Muy Informal
Bless, last night was a success. The format was very informal, with popcorn and tea and some mattresses on the floor of the dance studio in an old brick building. The films were projected onto a blank white wall and we all sat in fold-up chairs. I and my friend who joined me were the only ones who weren't part of the Barefoot Collective in some way. Suffice to say it was an "intimate" evening. They screened about 12 different films, each from which I learned something.
Now that I've seen many different interpretations of dance on film, I can draw conclusions about the future of dance film in general, and the development of my own style specifically. I think that if dance film wants to go anywhere in the massive art scene, each film has to have a clear concept. I am not saying that each film has to have a "plot" or "narrative," per se, but it has to have some kind of a concept that gets developed throughout the film. I saw several films last night that had many interesting concepts, but none got developed to their fullness because they were crowded by other ideas that the filmmaker had. Some films, to me, actually had the potential to be six or seven films, if only the filmmaker had focused on one idea at a time. I think this is my main struggle as a dance filmmaker.
Secondly, dance films cannot just have dancers dancing in an environment. Anyone can film someone moving around a park or a library. The real artistry comes in what the dancers are saying by dancing in that particular place, and doing those particular moves.
Finally, dance films are more interesting when the camera is not afraid to move with the dancers. I saw some incredible angles last night that suggested more movement than the dancers could do alone.
As for my style, I hope to absorb some of the lessons I learned last night and apply them to my work. I am so happy we had this chance to showcase our work and get inspired to keep moving forward with this project. Congratulations to all the other filmmakers and thank you to the Barefoot Collective!
Now that I've seen many different interpretations of dance on film, I can draw conclusions about the future of dance film in general, and the development of my own style specifically. I think that if dance film wants to go anywhere in the massive art scene, each film has to have a clear concept. I am not saying that each film has to have a "plot" or "narrative," per se, but it has to have some kind of a concept that gets developed throughout the film. I saw several films last night that had many interesting concepts, but none got developed to their fullness because they were crowded by other ideas that the filmmaker had. Some films, to me, actually had the potential to be six or seven films, if only the filmmaker had focused on one idea at a time. I think this is my main struggle as a dance filmmaker.
Secondly, dance films cannot just have dancers dancing in an environment. Anyone can film someone moving around a park or a library. The real artistry comes in what the dancers are saying by dancing in that particular place, and doing those particular moves.
Finally, dance films are more interesting when the camera is not afraid to move with the dancers. I saw some incredible angles last night that suggested more movement than the dancers could do alone.
As for my style, I hope to absorb some of the lessons I learned last night and apply them to my work. I am so happy we had this chance to showcase our work and get inspired to keep moving forward with this project. Congratulations to all the other filmmakers and thank you to the Barefoot Collective!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Film2Night
It is with pleasure that I announce the film creations by The Long Distance Project. These films represent our trio, our web of love, and our light of creativity. In a short amount of time, we have created works that honor the distance, perspective and process that has willed these films into existence. In July we danced together. We spent the rest of the summer, fall and winter ruminating on where we might go next with our project. Here we are now... presenting our dance films tonight in Tacoma, WA highlighting work from this last summer in Brooklyn, NY.
I am filled with joy knowing that Kathryn is witnessing this premier while Yulia and I, from our respective homes in Portland, OR and Brooklyn, NY marvel at the accomplishments our long distance project has made. Congratulations!
From this spark of energy I see the flame of creativity building and our light growing ever brighter. Here is to building our project further with passion and dedication.
Here is one of the films that will be shown at the Barefoot Collective Dance Film Festival, Tacoma, WA.
I am filled with joy knowing that Kathryn is witnessing this premier while Yulia and I, from our respective homes in Portland, OR and Brooklyn, NY marvel at the accomplishments our long distance project has made. Congratulations!
From this spark of energy I see the flame of creativity building and our light growing ever brighter. Here is to building our project further with passion and dedication.
Here is one of the films that will be shown at the Barefoot Collective Dance Film Festival, Tacoma, WA.
Under the Canopy from Kimberly Kaplan on Vimeo.
Film 2 Night
Tonight we are blessed with exposure in the public eye. K's and my films are both premiering tonight at the Barefoot Dance Collective's Dance Film Night at the Merlino Arts Center in Tacoma, WA. We only created these films about two weeks ago, with the footage we filmed last July.
It seems to me that the biggest BLOCK to progress in a long distance project is the ability that distance has to cause procrastination. If we are so far apart from one another, it is easy to get used to our daily routines and forget that we have a pressing creative obligation to one another, and each to herself. It is when we make the time to make things happen and to make things, that we reap the rewards of our creativity. Even if these films were not screening tonight, we would still reap the rewards of satisfaction and joy, simply by doing the act of creativity. Humans are not meant to be caught in concrete jungles with no ray of the light of love inside of us. We need to let that light shine, so tonight I will represent the Long Distance Project's light with dignity and pride.
It seems to me that the biggest BLOCK to progress in a long distance project is the ability that distance has to cause procrastination. If we are so far apart from one another, it is easy to get used to our daily routines and forget that we have a pressing creative obligation to one another, and each to herself. It is when we make the time to make things happen and to make things, that we reap the rewards of our creativity. Even if these films were not screening tonight, we would still reap the rewards of satisfaction and joy, simply by doing the act of creativity. Humans are not meant to be caught in concrete jungles with no ray of the light of love inside of us. We need to let that light shine, so tonight I will represent the Long Distance Project's light with dignity and pride.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Dancing in Brooklyn
Here is another glimpse into our summer dance adventures/explorations in Brooklyn, NY.
Click on the title to view video.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Summer Projects Blooming Winterly
It is so nice to finally be editing, sharing, and inspiring one another with our summer footage. We can nourish each other and the world-at-large with our creativity, even when we are not together physically. I am so inspired by what Y and K both did, and I hope I can inspire them as well! Let's publish and publicize our videos so that the world can see, with bravery and pride in who we are and what we do.
Click on the link of the title of this post to see my video.
Click on the link of the title of this post to see my video.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Innit?
Innit funny that we went to possibly the city-est city in the world, and managed to spend most of our time and creative energy surrounded by "nature?"
I am happy to hear Kimberly's thoughts and determination to move forward. I see synchronicity bridging our physical and emotional gaps: I have been working intensely with my footage lately, hoping to see soon the day when I can add Kimberly's and Yulia's footage to beautify my mix. I think that even when we each use each other's camera perspectives, we will still edit based on our own internal perspectives, the way we each experienced and felt our time together.
Let's all upload our own footage and make our damn way to the post office!
I am happy to hear Kimberly's thoughts and determination to move forward. I see synchronicity bridging our physical and emotional gaps: I have been working intensely with my footage lately, hoping to see soon the day when I can add Kimberly's and Yulia's footage to beautify my mix. I think that even when we each use each other's camera perspectives, we will still edit based on our own internal perspectives, the way we each experienced and felt our time together.
Let's all upload our own footage and make our damn way to the post office!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Home
After a very full summer, I am happy to be at home watching the rain fall. The Summer has turned into Fall. I welcome the transition.
Cassidy and I just returned from Interbike in Las Vegas. It was very tiring to be surrounded by so much stimuli from the bicycle convention and the Strip.
While we were there, I thought a lot about where the Long Distance Project is now and where I am with it. As a whole, we have made a lot of progress. We captured a lot of footage from our last gathering here in Brooklyn this past July. But I have only seen my footage and am so excited to see yours, Kathryn and Yulia. I haven't begun the editing process with my own footage but want to do so when I have all of the footage to play with. It is hard to get a full picture of what we have at this point. I feel more committed than ever to move forward with our collaboration. My intention is to find more ways to show/share our work.
In filming our Brooklyn portion of this collaboration, we had three cameras filming at any given time- three cameras, three perspectives. Will our editing show our individual and collective perspective? Or will we edit our own cameras footage independently from the others? We shall see. In the process of looking at what we did together we will begin to see the whole picture more clearly.
It was an amazing gift to dance together at Prospect Park with Kathryn and Yulia. One of my favorite moments was seeing Yulia entangled in the ribbon, that was also entangled around the trees. Kathryn and I then joined Yulia, and as a trio it felt like we were moving to the sound of the wind vibrating the ribbons. My other favorite memory was of finding the marching band practicing at the the other end of the park. We made our way over to listen and Kathryn began to dance so beautifully to their music. We were blessed with perfect weather, Cassidy's and Brooke's filming assistance, and the amazing art installation made by Melissa Diaz.
So much more to come...
Cassidy and I just returned from Interbike in Las Vegas. It was very tiring to be surrounded by so much stimuli from the bicycle convention and the Strip.
While we were there, I thought a lot about where the Long Distance Project is now and where I am with it. As a whole, we have made a lot of progress. We captured a lot of footage from our last gathering here in Brooklyn this past July. But I have only seen my footage and am so excited to see yours, Kathryn and Yulia. I haven't begun the editing process with my own footage but want to do so when I have all of the footage to play with. It is hard to get a full picture of what we have at this point. I feel more committed than ever to move forward with our collaboration. My intention is to find more ways to show/share our work.
In filming our Brooklyn portion of this collaboration, we had three cameras filming at any given time- three cameras, three perspectives. Will our editing show our individual and collective perspective? Or will we edit our own cameras footage independently from the others? We shall see. In the process of looking at what we did together we will begin to see the whole picture more clearly.
It was an amazing gift to dance together at Prospect Park with Kathryn and Yulia. One of my favorite moments was seeing Yulia entangled in the ribbon, that was also entangled around the trees. Kathryn and I then joined Yulia, and as a trio it felt like we were moving to the sound of the wind vibrating the ribbons. My other favorite memory was of finding the marching band practicing at the the other end of the park. We made our way over to listen and Kathryn began to dance so beautifully to their music. We were blessed with perfect weather, Cassidy's and Brooke's filming assistance, and the amazing art installation made by Melissa Diaz.
So much more to come...
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