BAM Blog Questionnaire: Guillaume Quéau of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet

This June 3—6, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performs their final farewell performances at BAM. We caught up with dancer Guillaume Quéau in the busy days leading up to opening night to learn more about his craft, career, and time spent with Cedar Lake.

How long have you been dancing with Cedar Lake? Who have been your favorite choreographers to work with? Do you have a favorite piece?

I joined Cedar Lake 3 years ago. I first saw the company in Lyon. France, and said to myself: "You have to work with them! They are insane!" So, I did an audition in Paris a week later…and I got the job. My favorite choreographer to work with was Andonis Foniadakis. He’s Greek and was the first choreographer that I worked with as a member of Cedar Lake. It was crazy to be treated like a professional dancer for the first time in my life—I was just out of school, and I was really nervous to work with someone whose work I admired so much. Andonis gave me the chance to really feel like a part of the company, and I loved dancing Horizons for him.

BAM Blog Questionnaire: Sébastien Marcovici, L.A. Dance Project's Ballet Master

We are extremely stoked that L.A. Dance Project makes its New York debut at BAM from Oct 16 to 18. Why? Because its superb dancers will perform works by BAM iconic artist William Forsythe, New York City Ballet soloist and rapidly ascendant choreographer Justin Peck, and polymath and company founder, Benjamin Millepied, who is joining the Paris Opera Ballet as artistic director.

We had the chance to query the company's ballet master, Sébastien Marcovici, a longtime NYCB principal and New Yorker.

Which artist do you admire from a field other than your own?
I have a passion for street art. Alex Senna, phlegm, Ella & Pitr, Rae, and Banksy are some of my favorites.

Any advice you've gotten and ignored?

Every time my wife [recently retired NYCB principal Janie Taylor] tells me to put on sunscreen.

What ritual or superstition do you have on performance days?
I always stayed away from superstitions and rituals. I didn’t want my performances to feel like they were dependent on something like that.

BAM Blog Questionnaire: Joanne Howard, set designer for Alan Smithee

The set's floor in process. Photo: Joanne Howard

Big Dance Theater is known for its engrossing productions that shapeshift between dance and theater, but a constant among its shows is the presence of memorable set designs. Joanne Howard has been designing sets for many Big Dance Theater productions including Alan Smithee Directed This Play: Triple Feature, coming up at the BAM Harvey Theater from Sep 30—Oct 4. The busy designer shared a few thoughts in a BAM Blog Questionnaire.

You are a close collaborator of Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar. How did you meet?
Annie-B and I were introduced through a mutual friend. I needed a roommate and she needed a room.
 
What are your some of your favorite props from Alan Smithee?
It's a toss up between the fur coats and the telephones.

BAM Blog Questionnaire: Liubo Borissov of Landfall

Landfall. Photo: Marc Allan

Landfall, inspired by the experience of Hurricane Sandy, was written by Laurie Anderson for Kronos Quartet. Liubo Borissov programmed the software Erst used in Landfall—dense projected texts are triggered musically, lapping and overlapping as Anderson spins stories. Landfall is at the BAM Harvey Theater, Sep 23—27, part of Nonesuch Records at BAM. Borissov was kind enough to participate in a BAM Blog Questionnaire.

How did you meet Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet?
Laurie and I first met a few years ago when she was looking for some ideas redesigning her live performance setup into a more compact and streamlined system. In one of our sessions the collaboration with Kronos came up before anyone knew it was going to become Landfall.

What is unique about the software you have designed for Landfall? 

Typically software design has utilitarian connotations of a general tool with some practical functionality, e.g. a word processor, which is not really what I do. Instead, code is more of a means of expression, and the piece of software that is the result is much closer to a custom-built musical instrument or an open-ended score that one has to learn how to play. In that sense almost everything about it is unique because it serves the purpose of bringing a specific idea to life and is part of the work of art.

BAM Blog Questionnaire: Cedar Lake costume designer Nancy Haeyung Bae

by Raphaele de Boisblanc

Grace Engine. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

In conjunction with Cedar Lake's 10th Anniversary Celebration (BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, through Jun 14), we reached out to designer Nancy Haeyung Bae for insights on creating costumes for the company. Nancy is a New York native and was educated at the Parsons School of Design. She is the co-founder of the brand aulle and has designed for Theory, Gap, and Isabel Toledo, among others.

How did you meet Cedar Lake's (former) artistic director, Benoit-Swan Pouffer, and what led you to work for the company?

I met Swan over 15 years ago at Alvin Ailey. Swan hired me to create costumes for a piece performed by the Ailey students at that time. We continued to work together on full-length installations and programs after he joined Cedar Lake. Swan's artistic vision has always been an inspiration to me. It involves a creative process that begins from an organic place; emotion, movement, sound and light—a different place to start when compared to retail product design. The talent at Cedar Lake collaborates on bringing innovative ideas to the table. I'm just happy to be a part of their process.

What were the unique challenges of designing costumes for Crystal Pite's Grace Engine? What do you most like about them?

Crystal Pite is an extraordinary visionary who saw Grace Engine being performed in fully tailored suits. Each suit was designed with the dancer in mind, having marked details and style lines different from one another. The unique challenge was to maintain a contemporary fit, which required meticulous attention to angles and seams that provided maximum rotation and movement. The fabrics were all non-stretch wools, so we spent a good deal of time engineering and perfecting patterns to work back to the performance. I worked with the talented wardrobe team at Cedar Lake throughout the development using new techniques; the experience was educational and exciting. I was very pleased with the end result.

BAM Blog Questionnaire: the men of A Doll's House

Dominic Rowan, Steve Toussaint, and Nick Fletcher

Many conversations about A Doll’s House tend to center around Nora, and rightfully so, but let us not forget the men of the play! We caught up with actors Dominic Rowan (Torvald), Steve Toussaint (Dr. Rank), and Nick Fletcher (Krogstad) to learn more about their rituals, characters, and advice they’ve ignored.

The male characters in A Doll’s House are pretty unlikeable. How do you empathize with or relate to your character?

Dominic Rowan: Unlikeable? Torvald tries his best in difficult circumstances— all the characters do.

Steve Toussaint: Well, firstly I reject the premise of the question: I don’t believe that Dr. Rank is unlikeable, (can’t speak for the other two); of course, that could just be me. He is funny, smart, and in the terrible circumstance of having found a woman who enchants and delights him and yet is married to his best mate. I think most of us can understand an unrequited love…I’ll say no more…

Nick Fletcher: I'm a father like Krogstad. I'm lucky that I've never been in circumstances as desperate as his. Like him I can nurse a sense of injustice. The redemption that he and Kristine Linde experience in Act III is always a pleasure to play; all the pain and poison I have to carry for him is conveniently drained away at the exact moment I walk off stage!

BAM Blog Questionnaire: Philip Hulford of Hofesh Shechter Company

Hofesh Shechter Company in Sun. Photo: Gabriele Zucca

Hofesh Schechter Company's exuberant Sun takes the Opera House stage from Nov 14—16. Philip Hulford, rehearsal assistant and dancer originally from Bolivia and now based in the UK, answered a BBQ in the busy days leading up to opening night. Thanks, Philip!

Which artist do you admire from a field other than your own?
Andy Serkis—he is brilliant physically and theatrically. Humble, smart guy, I would love to have the opportunity to work with him.

What's the biggest risk you've taken?
Hmmm, probably the decision to start dancing. Before I even considered dance I was skateboarding, snowboarding, playing video games, and I don't know what I expected from the future!

When I was 17 I decided I needed to get away. I did a Christian kind of bible course with a charity called "Youth With a Mission" in Colorado. During one of the teachings I was completely unfocused and struggled to be present in the class. I was away with my thoughts. One recurring thought I had was to move, specifically to study some dance. I don't know, I just sensed it was the next step... little did I know what a trip God would take me on! Completely random thoughts, but I believed it was the right step to make.

BAM Blog Questionnaire: Lindsey Jones and Sarah Stanley of Dance Heginbotham

by Lauren Morrow

Sarah Stanley on the tension grid (photo: Stephanie Berger)

Dance Heginbotham makes its BAM debut this week with Dark Theater. In this BBQ, I spoke with dancers Lindsey Jones and Sarah Stanley about working with John Heginbotham, their favorite Fort Greene eats, and what they’ll be wearing to the BAM Halloween Happy Hour at the BAM Fisher on Thur, Oct 31.

How has the Dark Theater experience been different from that of other works John has created for the company?

Lindsey Jones: Dark Theater is site-specific to the Fisher and uses the complete black box architecture as a stage for the work. The stage is in the center of the audience, below, and also above! There are so many contrasting layers to this piece, and John is allowing numerous sources and inspirations to manifest in Dark Theater.

Sarah Stanley: This is only my second project with John, but it feels like there is more fantasy in Dark Theater than his other work. He has created a very specific world in the BAM Fisher, really taking advantage of the flexibility of the space, and it is made all the more surreal by Maile Okamura's amazing costumes. 

Sarah, you dance on the tension grid in this show. What was your initial reaction when you were told this, and how do you feel about it now?

I was very excited about the grid when I heard about it.  I like climbing around on things, and it feels like a kind of playground sometimes. I have really enjoyed creeping around up there and interacting with the other dancers from a different plane, stretching the performance space.