Choreography Month? Maybe?

Remember National Choreography Month? Yeah, that used to be a much bigger thing around here.

 

I didn't participate in 2024, despite using Nachmo 2023 to create Sottovoce. This year, I just didn't have any ideas. Even through the rest of this year, following Nachmo, I just... didn't have any ideas. Or at least, not anything that felt ready to actively develop. Lots of things were simmering on the back burner, but nothing was ready. Plus, there were also those two theatre musical productions I choreographed that kind of took my time and energy away from choreographing original works. It was a nice stopgap -- it kept the creative juices flowing and got me some in-studio, live experience (as well as some connections and filled some résumé slots), but I miss working with some of my favourite music instead of having the music all picked for me.

So here are a couple of contenders for Nachmo 2025.

1. Stop Time

This has been in the works for... probably since I finished Sottovoce. The music is basically set, and I have a story arc sketched out. It's mostly music from the 2008-2010 era, and the story is an alternative reality version of the car accident I was in in 2010 (so, the exact same car accident, but with a different outcome). In other words... I have literally everything in place for this except actual dance steps. Which, you know, is kind of the whole point of choreographing things.

 

2. Three Voices

This is a more recent idea that I got from watching oscilloscope videos of SID chip music on YouTube (as one does). The SID chip, for those who don't know, is the sound chip for the Commodore 64 computer, and it had three voices (instrument tracks), plus a noise track. With these three voices, some composers rose up to make incredible sounding music, mostly as video game soundtracks. And I want to have three tap dancers, each following one of the SID chip voices in the music.

I also want to try this with all three dances doing exactly the same choreography as above... but a capella. I think it would be a fun experiment to see how closely it resembles the actual song, especially over three percussion lines with only dynamics and shading to shape the sound.

3. Smaller

This is a project that I've been wanting to do since at least 2021, when my memory issues started. I've wanted to do a show about memory loss since then, but could never quite figure out how to structure it. For a long time I thought I might use the music of Gavin Luke for this, but I could never find the right fit. It felt too modern-y, and the world has enough modern dance in it.

I'm embarrassed to say it took months between me discovering vapourwave and me realising it's the perfect vehicle for a concept like this. This project is off the back burner again since I made that musical connection, and right now this is the one I'm hyperfocusing on.

So that's where my dance brain is at right now. I'm wanting to stretch out and make bigger projects. Since making Sottovoce, the one-song-and-done pieces feel too small. Don't get me wrong, I still plan on developing some of those into dance films, but I'm feeling a pull to creating 'shows,' things with... maybe not a plot, per se, but some level of narrative or dramatic arc.

Creative Residency Plans (Or: The 2025 Goalpost)

I've been laid off my day job.

 

Since my body (and my mental health) can't handle the rigours of fast food, I will not be going back, even temporarily.

My employers anticipate they will call me back in late March/early April. This gives me just over three months to sit at home and think about life, for the first time since I graduated college.

I have a couple of side hustle ideas. Neither of them will likely replace a full-time income, but if they work out, they'll at least slow the financial bleeding.

That said, this is now a glorious opportunity to work on all those creative projects I keep saying I don't have time for. I've been thinking about my goals for 2025, and I want to front-load the year either hitting those goals or at least getting myself well set up to hit them later in the year (keeping in mind that the summer months from Hell in this town are usually pretty uninspired and dormant seasons for me).

I am trying to frame this as an artistic residency sponsored by God. (And for the record, God may work through other people or through my own efforts.)

So without further ado, here are the goals for 2025!

DANCE

- At least attempt teaching two (or more) dance sessions.

- Make two dance videos this year.

I made this goal in 2023 and got it. Made the same goal in 2024 and didn't even manage one.

- Create a long-form dance work.

The plan is to use Nachmo/National Choreography Month for this (post with more details forthcoming).

- Submit to at least two dance/choreography festivals.

Notice I said 'submit,' not 'appear in.' While obviously I would love to actually present work, I can only control how many festivals I apply to, not how many actually present my work. I always consciously choose goals that I personally can control -- that way if they don't happen, it's on me, and I'm not driving myself crazy trying to check off two 'presentations,' when that facet is out of my control. I want to focus on doing the work and showing up every day and leaving everything I can't control to God. If I submit to two festivals, I will have done my due diligence, and whether or not my work is accepted, I will consider myself happy with the fact that I put my name out there.

- Secure a practice studio.

I have two potential options at the moment. I really just need to gather my courage and send a couple of emails.

WRITING

- Write some short stories/poetry to submit.

Could be tricky, as I have been in a writing dry spell for YEARS at this point.

- Finish the current Kyrie rewrite.

 

 

PERSONAL GROWTH

 

- Go for a walk (or some kind of exercise) at least three times a week.

This is a goal my husband and I have set together.

 

- Become more comfortable with using that Instant Pot that has been sitting on the shelf literally since our wedding.

This is another goal for both my husband and I.

- Read more.

I've got probably like 70 books in my Kobo wish list, and even a few that I've already purchased that I haven't read yet. I got a Kobo gift card for Christmas, so time to put it to use (as soon as I figure out which Michael Card book I want).

I did make this goal last year and read about six books, which is definitely more than I've read since graduating college.

- More Bible reading and prayer.

I made this goal last year as well and I managed to be fairly consistent until about August.

FINANCIAL

- Save at least $500 for a house.

- Get in contact with at least two people about selling my crocheted items.

- Run at least two dance class sessions.

- Promote my Ko-fi page on social media somewhere at least once a month.

- Apply to at least one job per week.

The hardest thing here will be finding jobs to apply to that 1. are within like 200 km of where I live, 2. pay enough money to cover gas for my vehicle at the bare minimum, 3. won't re-injure my back or my ankle, and 4. won't make me want to drive off a cliff.

It's still early in the pre-New Year week, so I might still tweak these. But this is at least my starting point, and since I'm already off work, I guess the creative residency starts now.

Film, Musicals, And Teaching -- A Performing Arts Update

I suppose I should do an update about the thing that drove me to start this blog in the first place -- the arts. Specifically, dance and writing.

 

Right now, I'm actually choreographing my second full musical. This one has a much larger cast (50 people), so I finally get to do big group numbers, like I've wanted to do ever since I first started making up dances in my head in the early 2000s.

 

There's a certain level of fear that comes with choreographing for a group that big in real life. You simply are not going to please everybody. In a group that large is that the gamut of dance experience/ability is quite wide. This is further complicated by the fact that the show is double-cast... and they double-cast all the best dancers. Which means I can't rely on them, as they will only be in half the shows.

 

My husband and I were also in a short film, which was shot this past month, with a tentative release date of next spring. This was our first time on a real film set. It is very different from live theatre, and it does move a lot slower, but the other cast and the crew were all great people, and we had a great time. It's surreal to actually put a real film credit on my résumé after 24 years of almost-exclusively live performance credits.

 

Both of us also just finished up a live show this week, and I have a readthrough on Monday.

I'm also still working in the theatre industry (on the front end), and that has helped my mental health and peace of mind SO much... knowing that my career and my dreams are no longer completely out of alignment. The only wrinkle is that once this theatre's Christmas show wraps, I will be laid off until the end of March, when the 2025 season starts up. I have a very part-time/casual substitute dance teaching gig, but it will be once a month, if that.

As for my own choreography, I have a film in mind that I want to make and I've already cast the dancer for it, but I just have to carve out some time to actually finish choreographing the piece. This is a piece very much made for the dancer and her abilities (that is to say... way too complicated for my own abilities). I am considering having this piece be the first to bear the name of the dance company that I want to start.

There are some teaching opportunities that I am thinking about pursuing, and I have gotten wind of a potential dance space where I could rehearse pieces (lots of things still need to fall into place for that to work out though).

And still I am afraid. I'm afraid that I'll mess it all up somehow. It was so much easier to create when I was the only one taking the fall if it was terrible. But if I start actually choreographing for other people and start making bigger works, then other people's names and reputations are also on the line. It's so easy to look at myself, at my neurodivergence, and think that I have nothing whatsoever to offer this neurotypical world, and how dare I rope other people into this who could have better chances with a neurotypical creative, who has all her emotions in order and a more consistent stream of motivation and is not constantly sidetracked by worrying about money (because for some dumb reason we have to eat food, which costs money, to survive).