Habitat Sleep Pattern Promo

 

Habitat
Directed by Alaine Handa
Choreography by Alaine Handa and Dancers
Dancers: Alaine Handa, Belinda He, Laura Lamp, and Ezekiel Oliveira
July 31- August 31, 2013 @ 1:50 pm everyday
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
C Venues, venue 34, Adam House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Purchase tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/dance-and-physical-theatre/habitat
Habitat blog: http://www.habitatprojectahdc.blogspot.com

Habitat is supported in part by Singapore International Foundation's Singapore Internationale grant scheme (www.sif.org.sg) and Centre Stage School of the Arts (www.centre-stage.com).

Habitat feet promo

Habitat
Directed by Alaine Handa
Choreography by Alaine Handa and Dancers
July 31- August 31, 2013 @ 1:50 pm everyday
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
C Venues, venue 34, Adam House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Purchase tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/dance-and-physical-theatre/habitat
Habitat blog: http://www.habitatprojectahdc.blogspot.com

Habitat is supported in part by Singapore International Foundation's Singapore Internationale grant scheme (www.sif.org.sg) and Centre Stage School of the Arts (www.centre-stage.com).

Habitat: The Press Release

Photo Credit: Ji Yoon Kim

April 21, 2013                   

 

A.H. Dance Company presents Habitat in Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The Edinburgh debut for international contemporary dance company based in New York City and Singapore, following performances in New York, Guangzhou, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. Habitat (world premiere) is a multimedia dance production explores how we coexist and how we adjust to changes in our environments based on our senses, perception, and quality of life.  

What:	Habitat
Who:	A.H. Dance Company
Where:	C Venues, C (+2), Chambers Street, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Venue #34
When:	31 July – 13 August, 2013, 13:50 pm everyday
Tickets:	Tickets cost £ 10.50 – 11.50. Purchase tickets: Habitat | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Habitat Publicist:	Alaine Handa, ahdancecompany@gmail.com Laura Lamp, lauramlamp@gmail.com
C Venues Fringe Festival Publicists:	C venues press and marketing department publicity@cvenues.com Tel. 0845 260 1234

About Habitat

Habitat is a multimedia dance production – assessing how humans coexist in the habitat(s) in which we live in and how we adjust to changes in our environments – inspired by our senses, perception, and quality of life. When we retreat into our physical home what happens behind closed doors? Our personal space is the environment in which we become our truest self. The quirks, neurosis, emotional highs and lows, habits, transformations, etc. This multicultural cast of dancers from Singapore, USA, Portugal, and Indonesia transcend national boundaries to share their lives with each other onstage.

About the Choreographer/Artistic Director

Alaine Handa is attracted to work that engages audiences from a sociological context. Her choreography has been described as “quirky, honest, athletic, and lyrical.” Alaine received her B.A. from UCLA’s department of World Arts & Cultures in dance studies. In Los Angeles, she has worked with Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forti, Mandala Danceworks, Space + Movement Exchange, Victoria Marks, among others. Since relocating to New York City in 2005, she has performed for Larry Keigwin + Company, Sasha Soreff Dance Theater, Open Floor Dance, The Movement Collective, High Frequency Wavelengths, Gabrielle Lansner & Company, Scott Lyons & Company, and Stephanie Liapis. Her own work has been shown at Toronto Fringe Festival, Dance Forum, University Settlement, Abrons Art Center, Dance New Amsterdam, Movement Research, Merce Cunningham Studio Theater, Meridian International Children’s Festival, Capital Fringe Festival, Cool New York Dance Festival, and various other venues.  Ms. Handa has lived in Indonesia, Singapore, Los Angeles, and New York. For more information please visit www.alainehanda.com.

"Most of Alaine's work is based on some sociological observation or a desire to inform and enlighten through dance. In fact, she epitomizes the best traits of global nomads and is an excellent ambassador."

- Lisa Finnegan "Changing the World through Dance" for Parenting While Abroad, 9/12/2010

About Edinburgh Fringe

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for three weeks in Scotland’s capital city. Every year thousands of performers take to a multitude of stages all over Edinburgh to present shows for every taste. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival caters for everyone and includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, musicals, operas, music, exhibitions and events. http://www.edfringe.com

A.H. Dance Company

A.H. Dance Company is a multicultural modern dance company based in New York City and Singapore. A.H. Dancers perform work that reflects the diversity of the cast and various collaborators. Founded in December 2007, A.H. Dance Company has performed in various theaters, studios, community centers, conferences, and festivals in the United States and beyond.  A.H. Dance Company’s mission is to present and support independent contemporary artists and companies worldwide. Through collaborations with local dancers and artists of other mediums, A.H. Dance Company strives to share modern dance with communities that lack exposure to it. Through the work of Ms. Handa and the company members, A.H. Dance Company aims to present work that is engaging to a vast range of audiences.  For more information visit www.ahdancecompany.com

 

A lone dancer in rehearsal

I have been conducting virtual rehearsals for a few months with Laura now working on her solo and this project, it got me to thinking about the process of rehearsing and how it changes the work we create in different types of situations and spaces. This piece is very much a collaborative process with my dancers because I'm working with them one-on-one and in the case of Laura, virtually. The ideas that I have come to fruitition entirely when we both come up with ideas. Back and forth emails. So much of how we live today exist in a virtual habitat and a physical habitat.

I know I'm not alone in this same process of creation. I've spoken to a number of artists who do collaborations trans-globally with each other seem to also work this way as well.

Now I'm curious because when I'm in a studio alone, I feel very much alone in my own skin. Even if I'm choreographing for something, I feel alone. Does anyone else feel this way? I wonder if Laura feels this way when she goes to the studio to work on Habitat. Maybe its different because she's accountable for these video recordings to send them to me so I can give feedback. Because there's that accountability.

I'm having a hard time shaping my own solo for this piece. Perhaps I should create an accountability and make videos as well to send to my dancers for feedback.

This is the most recent video of Laura's rehearsal. The solo is shaping up nicely. A little more tweaks and then I can be satisfied with it.


p.s. I like the studio that she's rehearsing in has light colored marley and white walls. I'm imagining all the projections behind her bouncing off.

A rehearsal video

I have a new dancer in the Habitat piece and his name is Ezekiel. We work for the same arts school who is also generously donating space for us to work together when the studios aren't being used. A BIG shout out and THANK YOU to Centre Stage & Pete for generously letting us use the studios.

Here's a rehearsal clip from our first rehearsal, this will be part of a transition section currently titled "Wall".

Laura's Solo performance at Cool New York 2013

The snowstorm dubbed "Nemo" did not stop Cool New York 2013 festival from happening. The Show must go on! With the impending storm, Laura went to tech/dress rehearsal before the storm. We were scheduled to perform Friday evening and Sunday evening, however, "Nemo" blanketed the East Coast with over 2 feet of snow (POWDAH!) and she only got to perform Habitat on Sunday to a FULL HOUSE!

The following video was taken during dress rehearsal. We'll be working on the solo in the coming months so its a bit more polished for the upcoming fringe festival in Edinburgh (more on that later on!). I love the lighting and mood of this solo - it fits Laura so well.


     


Laura had to alter the performance a bit due to the FULL HOUSE with people sitting on the floor in front of the pillars. But I'm sure she danced beautifully. (I wish more performances were livestreamed so global audiences can watch as well)

Habitat is shaping up really nicely - I have rehearsal this weekend with a dancer/teacher living in Singapore. I'll definitely share the rehearsal video in the coming weeks.

A showing of a solo at Cool New York 2013 Festival

Cool New York 2013 Festival is coming up and we will be a part of it! Quite exciting b/c this will be the first of many showings.. virtual and live leading up to the big global premiere this coming summer in Europe! (Yes, we're excited.. can't you tell!! We're even pre-announcing before the official announcement. hah!)

Anyways back to Cool New York..

Here are the details:

CoolNY Dance Festival originated in 2004 as a component of Cool New York, the City’s winter celebration of “arts and parks” events. Mayor Bloomberg put his personal stamp of approval on the celebration, deeming it “the perfect opportunity to get out this winter season, explore new neighborhoods and appreciate the magic of the city.” WHITE WAVE honors its milestone 10th Anniversary CoolNY 2013 Dance Festival this January 30th – February 10th.

The CoolNY 2013 Dance Festival is FREE and contributions are greatly appreciated in order to continue festival presentations.

Featured companies include: 
Amos Pinhasi, Jennifer Mellor Dance Project, Inclined Dance Project, ANAHATA Dance, NEVILLE Dance Theatre, FLUSSO Dance, Raw Delivery, Andrew Jannetti, FluidEdge, “NOT for reTAIL”, Cori Marquis + the Nines [IX], Sapphire Moon Dance Company, Anne-Flore de Rochambeau, A.H. Dance Company, MUSE309, KDNY, The Brooklyn Dance Ensemble, 4thrightdance, RG Dance Projects, Enzo Celli-Celli Contemporary Ballet, Dorcas Roman Dance Theatre / DRDT, ADANZAVECVOS, Core Dance Contemporary, Hwa Suk Lee Dance Project, Olsi Gjeci, BAXco, Brooklyn Arts Exchange Teen Company, Liz Piccoli, Bo Kyung Lee, Adams Company Dance, Tamara LaDonna Moving Spirits, Inc., Kyla Ernst-Alper, Juhwan Hwang, Theodora Boguszewski, Megan Nicely/Dance, Regina Nejman & Company, Yin Yue Dance Company, Jules Bakshi/ Subtle Details Dance Theater, LJ Leach/Movement Arts, Double-Edge Dance, SoGoNo- Tanya Calamoneri, BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance, Asterial Dance, MJM Dance, Kitchen Sink Collective, Nehara Kalev, Shauna Dever Dance, Whiteroad Dance Media, Sheena Hagy, Jennifer Phillip, Nadine Martinez, Melanie Cortier/Eidolon Ballet, Kip Martin, Elinor Harrison and more…

Program H

February 8 @ 9-10:30 pm
February 10 @ 6-7:30 pm

Location: WHITE WAVE John Ryan Theater, 25 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Directions: F train to York Street. Walk along Jay Street towards the waterfront. Entrance is on John Street.


Watch the beautiful Laura perform part of her solo at the festival!

Photo Credit: Fig Tree Photography

Here's Laura performing Chameleon at the Outlet Dance Project this past fall.

Photo Credit: Silvia Si-Wei Chen

Laura performing "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" Flashmob in Washington Square Park co-choreographed by Alaine Handa, Michael Mao, and Natalia Duong as the closing for Locating the Sacred Festival hosted by Asian American Arts Alliance in September.








Here's a rehearsal video snippet of the solo:

Onto new adventures...

Its been eerily quiet on this blog for a number of reasons.
1) I moved halfway across the globe to Singapore
2) Haven't had time to think about the next steps of this piece because a) its not really finished b) I'm re-creating it to fit a traditional stage
3) Re-creating the piece

With that said... the past couple weeks, I've been re-envisioning this piece as vignettes of solos with group transitional segments.

Habitat is the space in which we live. Our personal space. The environment in which we confine ourselves to become our truest self. The quirks, neurosis, emotional highs and lows, habits, transformations, etc. What happens behind closed doors when we come into our physical home. What happens to the self when we leave, do we change the way we think, act, dress, interact with others...

I'm hoping this new way of looking at this piece will hone in on all the stuff we were creating the past year in the studio in New York. I'm not completely abandoning all that material. Just drawing upon this new revision and adding some of those material into the new stuff we've come up with.

Photo Credit: Laura Lamp