Title: Reflections and Reveries
Premiere: 6/30/07 & 7/1/07, Euin-In Temple Garden, Kyoto, Japan. Presented by Ann Arbor Dance Works in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Heidi Durning. Funded in part by the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies.
Choreography: Heidi S. Durning and Jessica Fogel
Shakuhachi: SuzukiGenzan Piano: Mikiko Tanaka Soprano: Laurel Durning
Dancers, in order of appearance: Jessica Fogel, Heidi S. Durning, Hiroko Tamura, Annabel Weiner, Chandra & Mio Durning, Alison Woerner
Costumes: Courtesy of University of Michigan Costume Shop, with special thanks to Suzanne Young for her costume coordination. Kimono dresser and hair arrangement by Kyoko Oomae
Props: Courtesy of UM Prop Shop, with special thanks to Hiroko, Arthur Ridley and Quentin Durning,
ORDER OF SCENES:
PART ONE:
Prelude, choreographed and performed by Jessica Fogel, in the role of Mary Cassatt
Scenes After Utamaro Choreographed by Heidi S. Durning (premiere)
Music : Suzuki Genzan & Laurel Durning
1. The Bath 2. The Mirror 3. The Letter 4. The Child & Mother 5. The Dressmaker 6. The Lamp 7. The Play 8. Tea Time
15 Minute Intermission, with tea served by the front garden
PART TWO: Scenes after Cassatt, choreographed by Jessica Fogel, (premiered in 2001)
1. The Bath Music: traditional shakuhachi music 2. The Letter Music: traditional shakuhachi music 3. The Child’s Bath Music: Liebst du um Schonheit by Clara Schumann 4. The Dressmaker Music: traditional shakuhachi music 5. The Bus Music: Honeysuckle, Op. 97, #5 (from Grandmother’s Garden), by Amy Beach, with traditional shakuhachi music 6. The Visit Music: traditional shakuhachi music 7. Cusp Music: 12 Pieces Fugitives Op.15, Scherzo, by Clara Schumann 8. The Lamp Music: Goodbye Sweet Day by Kate Vannah 9. Study Music: traditional shakuhachi music
Description: This performance came about as part of a year-long sabbatical project of mine, “A Japanese/American Botanical Dance Performance Project.” The project featured two major performances: In the Garden taking place in the UM Matthaei Botanical Gardens Conservatory in February 2007, and Reflections and Reveries taking place in the Euin-In Temple in Kyoto, Japan in June 2007. In planning for the Euin-In Temple performances, I learned that it was a place that was particularly sacred to mothers and children. Mothers and daughters were featured in the performance. My daughter Annabel Weiner and I performed in the work, as did Japanese/Swiss dancer Heidi Durning with her daughter and granddaughter Chandra Durning and Mio. I reconstructed and expanded a dance I created in 2001 entitled Set of Eight: Routines and Reveries, based upon a print series by American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, who was in turn inspired by a series of prints depicting the daily lives of courtesans by Utamaro. In the first half of the evening, the audience saw scenes inspired by Utamaro’s print series choreographed by Heidi Durning. The scenes were set facing out toward the garden. In the second half, the audience seating was reversed, and they faced toward the interior of the temple space. This second half featured the expanded version of my Cassatt dance from 2001. In between the two halves of the evening, the audience moved into a garden area of the temple grounds for tea, while performers moved in tableaux in the garden area.
The project set forth ripples of influences from Utamaro to Cassatt, from me to Heidi, from mothers to daughters, and back again from daughters to mothers, Heidi to me, Cassatt to Utamaro.
A sabbatical report by Fogel details this project further
Choreographic journal/notes by Fogel
