Victor Talledos in "EPOCH." Photo by John Hill.

Image description: A solo, masked dancer on a stage with black marley and a dark background. Dancer has his arms stretched straight upwards, on both sides of his head. His eyes are closed and he wears a COVID-era cloth mask. The dancer has his left leg out to side, knee bent, and on the ball of his foot. His right leg is bent.

Modern Dance Fan Club: Funsch Dance Experience in "EPOCH"

By Jill Randall

Preface:

I have come to believe that all modern dance choreographers need a fan club. Regulars. T-shirts. Stickers on laptops. Longtime supporters. Folks who show up in a variety of ways for the artist and for the art.

I have been a member of the Christy Funsch fan club probably for 8 or so years now. I know her work as a fellow Bay Area artist. I have been moved by her in-person performances over the years. (Remember the bricks section in her evening length duet with Nol Simonse?) I also have loved her writing contributions on this site over the years. Check out Christy’s artist profile and also her shelter-in-place dance dictionary.

October 2, 2021, the Funsch Dance Experience offered a 12-hour durational experience at the ODC Theater in San Francisco. Due to my schedule for the day, I opted to get a streaming ticket and to pop in and out of the event 6 times. In total, I watched about 70 minutes of the 12 hours.

In conjunction with Christy’s experimental performance format, today I offer an experimental dance reflection, primarily in poetic form. Far from a “dance review,” this piece humbly aims to document and share back my audience member and fan experience. Please join me in re-envisioning and reshaping dance writing in response to performance. (Read more here in the February 2020 article, Creating a New Model and Landscape for Dance Criticism and Dance Reflection: Honoring Artists' Voices and Offering Multiple Viewpoints.) 

My basic notes are in black ink, and my poems/responses are in purple.

A PDF of this writing piece can be downloaded here: Modern Dance Fan Club Funsch Dance Experience in EPOCH

————–

10am, first livestream viewing

Start of the event

I tune in at the very beginning, with curtain speeches and land acknowledgements. I have not showered yet; I settle into the leather chair by the front window in the living room. My 16 year old son is still sound asleep in the other room.

I am drawn to write in phrases and to form poetry. Sitting here alone, no fellow audience members are bothered by my writing while the show happens. 

Here is my response to the opening duet with zoe huey and Erik Lee.

2 dancers
Top of head
Co-existing?
Today’s improv?
Set material?

zoe looks at Erik - 
Morning contact

Pensive
Stretched time

zoe’s turn first
Erik waiting, watching

Sound score like sand blowing on a long stretch
Low – going – flowing

zoe so clear –
Clarity
Invoking, stating
Erik witnesses, is asked to wait

A transfer of energy

Erik sparked to join

Thinking about agency versus reactivity

Calm
Clarity

Choreographic question:
Why 2 dancers at once?
Feels like separate solos

Commitment to slow, continuous movement

—-

At 10:18am, 3 dancers come on stage in unison.

zoe windmilling, churning
Repetition in upstage left

Contrasts, composition
5 on stage

—-

10:20am, 2 audience members in the theater enter and cross the space to find seats. The formality is broken. I feel a bit more at ease. 

10:23am – a unison duet

Oh, seeking unison 
in this post-pandemic
emergence

Togetherness
You, in my periphery

—-

10:25am I add into the Chat on the screen.

Lots of joy watching first thing today.

How would I describe the movement?
-Primarily stationary
-Slower, continuous
-Broad circles
-Crouching
-Heartbeating/pulsing gestures
-Lunges
-2 arms dancing

—-

At home, I turn off the screen. My son is still asleep. I step into the open space in the dining room. I stand up and repeat in my own body 5 movements I just saw. I am compelled to feel + embody them myself, to join in. I give myself permission to join in.

—-

P.S. From viewing #1

Thank you Christy, dancers, and musicians. Those 30 minutes took me to another place, and shifted me out of this morning’s anxiety. 

My heart feels open again. My chest is broad, wide.

Transitioning back into this morning and today’s list of tasks + needs.

————–

12pm (viewing #2 of the livestream)

5 dancers

Sitting, lying
Witnessing

Durational
AND with masks - 
I am impressed.
Patience AND endurance.

Curly haired dancer - 
I want to learn your name.
Slow, continuous, measured
The tension of 
Agency + being acted upon 
at once?

—-

I looked away for a moment and now you are upright.

—-

Patience 
Witnessing others
Allowing yourself 
To move
In this tempo
In this path

—-

I see zoe’s visible
Exhale

The weight
The heavy lift

What do we carry?

Bird sounds + song
In the soundscore
Thank you
(I associate this sound with calm)

—-

4 dancers are now
On backs and side

—-

Rest, recuperation, resignation?

A few jumps, prances
Arms swinging
Hug yourself
Legs lifting to side – bent knee

Existing in a sparse landscape

—-

Tempo picks up
More urgency
More wind

—-

I get up on my feet again and embody a few of the moves myself. Giving myself permission to experience the work in a new way and respond in a new way. 

————–

2:17pm (viewing #3)

Chinchin Hsu dancing

I want to join into 
This twisting
    Slapping
    Lifting phrase

Repeated

The energy of today

Then - 
A quiet balance!
Hope

Shift the energy

Chinchin’s solo embodies my day
Thank you for this gift 

—-

Circling
Hair released, down
Stirring this shit around

—-

Then –
    Arms up
    Eyes up
    Heart looking up –

————–

5:34pm viewing #4 of livestream

Unmasked

5 dancers –
    Different cast than this morning

Solo endeavor
Versus group

A diagonal line of dancers
Some stillness, some movement
A solo amongst the group

When are we “together?”
When are we alone,
    Separate,
    Apart?

Facing back
Hiding?
Turned away?
Separating ourselves?

Lights fade

————–

Viewing #5

I take one more quick peek in between personal and professional events this evening. I didn’t note the time, but I estimate it was around 6pm?

Still – in my work outfit – I stand up and try on a few more moves…

————–

9:12pm viewing #6 of livestream

Endurance!

Jumping, bouncing
Still going

Yet also catching a 
First glimpse of some of the dancers

Paddle turns
Long arms
Bouncing
Slow churn

Co-existence.

9:14pm

————–
Jill Randall is the Artistic Director of Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley, CA and founder/editor of Life as a Modern Dancer.

Left to right: dancers Shareen DeRyan, Nina Wu, and Emily Hansel. Photo by John Hill.

Image description: Three dancers onstage. The marley flooring in black and the background is dark. Two dancers move very upstage in the background. One dancer is featured in the photo, downstage. She is crouched on the ground, with both hands gesturing near her head.