BAM Blog Questionnaire: Frances Chiaverini with The Forsythe Company

The Forsythe Company in Sider. Foreground, l-r: Dana Caspersen, Fabrice Mazliah, Frances Chiaverini. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

Frances Chiaverini is a dancer with The Forsythe Company, performing Sider at BAM through Saturday, Oct. 12. This Pittsburgh native and new company member was kind enough to answer the BBQ (BAM Blog Questionnaire).

Which artist do you admire from a field other than your own?
I'm really fascinated by Werner Herzog. That guy really nails it when it comes to the simplicity and comedy of humans. I wonder what kinds of thoughts he has when he wakes up everyday.

What's the biggest risk you've taken?
Anytime I signed a lease on a New York City apartment.

What food are you looking forward to eating while in Brooklyn?
Talde in Park Slope. Doughnuts from Dough and Doughnut Plant. Grady's Cold Brew. Ramen at Chuko. I'll forever miss the Cake Man.

What ritual or superstition do you have on performance days?
I'm into the anti-ritual. Nothing can stay the same from day to day because no two performances can or should ever be the same.

What are you looking forward to most about the run at BAM?
 I'm looking forward to seeing my family and my oldest friends. Aside from that, performing with the company is really surprising and uncertain in a very inspiring way. As a result, a particular sense of suspension can occur that I find really exciting to share with the New York audience.

William Forsythe, contemporary master

by Rhea Daniels

With the majority of choreographer William Forsythe’s professional work happening in Europe, anytime he brings his company to town is an exciting opportunity to see what this contemporary master has been up to. On the occasion of The Forsythe Company’s return to the Next Wave Festival with Sider we highlight some of Forsythe's productions at BAM.

Forsythe debuted at BAM with Ballet Frankfurt who performed EIDOS : TELOS in 1998. The piece cemented Forsythe’s status as a contemporary master and an heir to Balanchine. The dance pulls established ballet structure apart and reassembles it with onstage musicians and bits of quirky deconstructed ballet vocabulary. It truly seemed to transport ballet into the modern era.