Danceletter 18

People talk about losing track of time in this new dystopia. As an indication of how that’s going for me, this week I completely missed a deadline, thinking it was a full week later than it really was. While running late is not abnormal for me, this slipping grasp on the day/week is. Which is just to say that while I have a lot on my mind, tonight’s dispatch is going to be quick, because my extended deadline is imminent.

I did manage to do a couple of things in a timely manner this past week, like write up this list of places to watch dance on the internet and contribute to this roundup of at-home weekend activities, in which I enthusiastically point you toward Katy Pyle’s pre-pandemic YouTube series Ballez Class Everywhere.

One goal with my online dance-viewing list was to offer a few starting points among the many and ever-multiplying options out there. If I had to narrow my choices even further, this week I’d advise you to tune into Baryshnikov Arts Center’s PlayBAC series, which is presenting Rocío Molina and Rosario La Tremendita’s gorgeous 2012 work Afectos. (I reviewed it here in 2014. ) The video, which will be up until Thursday, April 16, begins with a startlingly touching intro from Mikhael Baryshnikov himself.

I’d also tell you to head over to the Trisha Brown Dance Company’s website to see her 1971 Roof Piece, as reimagined for our era of social distancing, and her 1985 Working Title. (You can read about the history of Roof Piece and the making of the new version, Room/Roof Piece, in this story by Brian Seibert, which also guides you through how to make your own.) Unless I’m missing something (totally possible), it looks like the videos on the company’s website are embedded in such a way that you can’t fast-forward or rewind, which felt limiting to me at first but now seems like a good call, as it better approximates the experience of watching live performance. Patience!

[Since I wrote the above, it has come to my attention, via my brother, who knows how to use the internet, that I was indeed missing something, and that if you click “Share” and open the video links in Vimeo, you can fast-forward and rewind. Even so, I stand by my thoughts about the digital approximation of a live theatrical experience!]

I have to wrap this up, but a note on the fundraising front: This week Danceletter raised $1066 for the NYC Dancers Relief Fund (COVID-19) and the NYC Low-Income Artist/Freelancer Relief Fund, through a combination of direct subscriptions and donations to those funds in exchange for complimentary paid subscriptions. That brings the total raised, over the past three weeks, to a little over $2000. All right! 

As I mentioned over on Twitter, this fundraising effort not only provides vital support to NYC artists, but also helps me to stay focused on something positive at a time when that’s really hard to do, and feels necessary in order to not, like, completely fall apart. Thanks to all of you for reading, responding, subscribing, and spreading the word over these past few weeks (and please keep it up!) It has made this time a little bit lighter.

And if you’re needing something to make your day/night a little lighter, here are some excerpts from one of my all-time faves, and one of the last pieces I saw before theaters closed (as danced by Brown’s own company, Evidence). It always lifts me up.