Wrapping up the Martha Graham intensive

Hello dancers! I’m finally home from the Martha Graham intensive I did at Skidmore and I really miss everyone I met. I’m nowhere near unpacked (my room looks like a crime scene) and I’ve been wearing the Martha Graham t-shirts I bought as souvenirs almost every day. A lot of people went to NYC right after to do other intensives so I’m going to meet up with them, but others went home to Texas, Michigan, Japan and Scotland so I’ll have to rely on Facebook to keep in touch.

Our final performance went really well. I loved hearing the company members laugh and cheer for us from the back row of the theater. We performed Panorama again which was very challenging because the stage was half the size of the one we were used to. We did an adaptation of Maple Leaf Rag (so fun!) and a couple student-made videos were shown. Two girls did a “mocumentary” where they interviewed the company members and asked them if it “burned” when they found out they did not get cast as Clytemnestra. Check out the Martha Graham YouTube page in a couple weeks—I heard they’ll try to put it up there.

After our performance, we had a reception. I was talking to dancer Jacqueline Bulnes and she agreed that the residency went smoothly and everyone was surprisingly relaxed. She and other dancers were pleased to reflect on the experience and conclude that everyone’s creativity and ambition meshed well. Later, I was cleaning the studios when we realized the company nearly forgot an entire set piece that was being stored in a closet! We had to get their bus to drive to the studios before they left for NYC so we could load it in. With the company on their way home (only to turn around to go to ADF and then Berlin), I packed up my dorm room, slept a victorious 6 hours, and drove home. I still miss everyone terribly and my sadness is manifesting itself in my unwillingness to unpack. I hope you all have as great a time as I did at your summer intensives! Keep learning, dancing and creating!