It's Back!!!!

It's the return of "Fridays with Full Radius Dance"! Come join us on Fridays during the month of February for physically integrated dance technique, partner stretching, contact improvisation and choreography.

Open to adults with or without physical disabilities and using any mobility aid or none at all. No experience required, but an adventurous spirit is helpful. Pay what you can.

Classes run from 10 AM to 12 Noon on February 3, 10, 17 and 24. Wear comfortable clothing which allows for freedom of movement.

Held at the Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education Cobb Studios, 2000 Powers Ferry Rd, Marietta, GA 30067 (intersection of Powers Ferry and Windy Hill Rd.)

Questions? Email fullradiusdance@aol.com.

The Final Countdown

For the past several days, I've had the song "The Final Countdown", released in 1986 by the band Europe, stuck in my head. But not the whole song, just the lyric "it's the final countdown" with the accompanying keyboard riff. Appropriate enough, as Full Radius Dance is now a week away from presenting our 20th anniversary concert. 20 years. Have I really been on this journey for two decades?

It all started with "Beginnings: A Dance Premiere" on June 22, 1991. Back then, the company was known as Dance Force. The original company was Berneta Bock, Cherie Carson, Jim Chappeleaux, Deirdre Driscoll, Kelly Oakes-Dent and, myself, Douglas Scott.

And now I offer "The Path Beyond" on January 20 & 21, 2012. Dance Force evolved into Full Radius Dance and "The Path Beyond" features Lindy Dannelley, Marshall Hamilton, Julie Holcomb, Samir Jusupovic, Laurel Lawson, Takiyah Sermons and Onur Topal-Sumer. Oh, and I'm still Artistic Director!

Please join us as we celebrate with a concert of new work.

Tickets are available at http://fullradiusdance.ticketleap.com/the-path-beyond/

Hope to see you there!

Douglas

P.S. here's the official video for "The Final Countdown": ww.youtube.com/watch?v=AyggY_R3jU8

Older and Faster

I recently remarked to a friend that I couldn't believe that 2012 was just around the corner and that the older I got, the faster time passed. And it made me wonder, why? So I did some research and here's what I discovered through NPR's All Things Considered:

Neuroscientist David Eagleman says that when you experience a "first", such as a first kiss, an early birthday or summer vacation, they seem to be in slow motion. That's because, as a first, there are so many things to remember. "The list of encoded memories is so dense, reading them back gives you a feeling that they must have taken forever. But that's an illusion."

"Of course, you can see this in everyday life," says Eagleman, "when you drive to your new workplace for the first time and it seems to take a really long time to get there. But when you drive back and forth to your work every day after that, it takes no time at all, because you're not really writing it down anymore." He reports that this "may be because the brain records new experiences — especially novel and exciting experiences — differently." Eagleman's lab has found that brains use more energy to represent a memory when the memory is novel."

Aha! You can slow down time by having 'novel and exciting experiences'. I'm all for that, both personally and artistically. Here's hoping that 2012 is full of such opportunities and events.

And for you, gentle reader, one such opportunity is "The Path Beyond" - Full Radius Dance in concert on January 20 and 21, 2012. The company will be performing three premiere works which we hope you'll find innovative, powerful and passionate. Guaranteed to stimulate your brain -- and your emotions.

Dance, By Chance

Two seemingly unconnected inspirations are informing a new Full Radius Dance work: 1) My love of thrift store shopping and 2) The company of Merce Cunningham, the iconic avant-garde choreographer who passed away in 2009, will disband following its final performance on December 31, 2011. So what's the connection? Chance.

I never know what I'll stumble across at my local Value Village or Goodwill. I take a chance whenever I visit that I'll find a bargain that interests me and that I can't live without.

Merce Cunningham introduced chance operations in dance creation and made indeterminacy an important compositional device. For instance, he would roll a die to reorder dance phrases, discovering endless variations for a finite number of movements.

The roll of a die is a new way of working for me as a choreographer. It is hard for me to give up control in the structuring of the dance and let the die tell Onur to start with phrase one but Laurel has to start with phrase 2, etc. But I'm finding new connections and interactions through this method, ones I wouldn't have found otherwise.

Two Company Positions Available

Full Radius Dance has two immediate openings for adult female or male dancers with a strong level of modern dance technique. Paid rehearsal/performance, some touring. Must be available MWF from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Contact artistic director Douglas Scott at fullradiusdance@aol.com or 404-724-9663.

The Evolution of the Dance

We've continued to work on the phrase I, along with dancers' input, created in a rehearsal on Monday, August 15. (Please check out the previous blog posting.) The phrase continues to be refined, to grow in meaning, and to expand in length.

After watching Monday's video - which I watched it too many times to count - I took the basic footprint of the movement phrase, and manipulated it to add more substance. I'm still mulling the results. Does it say/communicate what I want it to say?

While creating the newer version of the phrase, I was also working on the "Fridays with Full Radius Dance" class. I couldn't remember a CD I used for a stretching combination a number of years ago, so I pulled out an old notebook. I found the name of the CD and unexpectedly, found something more - a few lines of poetry that I had carefully tucked away, saving for a future purpose, words that were perfect for the current creative situation:

"It seems only yesterday i used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I would shine.
But now I fall on the sidewalks of life.
I skin my knees. I bleed."
- Billy Collins, On Turning Ten

I divided the lines amongst the two couples, and asked them to create movement informed by the words. The results were inspired. Here are Onur & Samir, Laurel and Marshall in the third rehearsal for "The Path Beyond", section two:

The Return to Rehearsal

After the June residencies/performances in Tucson, AZ and Tampa, FL, Full Radius Dance took a well-deserved rest during the month of July. We returned to the studio this past Monday, August the 15th, to begin preparing for the new season, which runs from September through June.

This was my 'play day' for the final section of 'The Path Beyond'. 'Play day' is when I bring the nucleus of the idea into the studio and my wonderful dancers allow me to see the idea translated into movement. It serves to clarify my vision before we launch into the setting of the choreography.

In this case, I began with simple, mirroring port de bras (use of the arms). I liked it, but felt it needed to be richer. The dancers willingly took on the challenge to do the same movement, but with a turn. Then Paulo added an additional arm, and I said "keep it!" Karin took the final movement into an over tilt, pulling over her footplate and front casters, which then Laurel and Samir translated into their duet.

Can I just say I love my dancers?

Workshops and Auditions!

Workshops - Fridays in August

Announcing the return of Fridays with Full Radius Dance: partner stretching, contact improvisation, physically integrated technique and choreography with one of the nation’s leading physically integrated (dancers with and without disabilities) modern dance companies.

Pay what you can!!

Friday, August 5
Friday, August 12
Friday, August 19
Friday, August 26

Sessions begin promptly at 10:00 AM and will continue until 11:30 AM. Please come early in order to be fully prepared prior to the starting time.

Open to adults and teens (14 +) with and without physical disabilities. No experience necessary.

Attire: Comfortable clothing that allows for freedom of movement.

Held at the Atlanta Ballet Cobb Studios, 2000 Powers Ferry Road, G-4, Marietta, GA 30067. (The intersection of Windy Hill Road and Powers Ferry Road.)

Questions and/or to register, please contact Douglas Scott at

fullradiusdance@aol.com or 404-724-9663.

Auditions - August 12, 2011

Full Radius Dance seeks dancers with and without physical disabilities to join the professional dance company.

For dancers with disabilities, no previous dance experience is necessary. Successful applicants will demonstrate good body awareness and, if used, chair control. Persons without disabilities must exhibit a professional level of modern dance technique.

Members of Full Radius Dance receive payment for both rehearsal and performance. Company members rehearse MWF from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Auditions will be held at the Atlanta Ballet Cobb Studios, and will begin at 12:00 Noon.

Contact Full Radius Dance at fullradiusdance@aol.com.

Better Late Than Never

I had planned on blogging during the experience in Tucson, and later, in Tampa. As you know, if you follow this blog, this didn't happen. I had good intentions. In the hotel room, after a day of workshops at Arts for All in Tucson, I sat down to write, but couldn't remember my password. I took it as a sign that blogging could wait until I had time to process the experience. (It certainly couldn't be a sign of failing memory!) So it is now two weeks plus a few days later, and I am back home in Atlanta after the week of June 6 - June 11 in Arizona and June 13 - June 15 at the Florida Dance Festival.

I have a couple of standout memories from each location. In Arizona:

• Early in the week, I didn't feel that one of the dance workshops went very well. The group was larger than I expected and I didn't get a good 'feel' for the energy in the room. However, a Arts for All staff member was watching this class, and later raved about it. She commented specifically about one of the students (a student with autism) who usually does not participate or interact. She thought it remarkable that this individual was a full and active participant in the dance class.


• We led a workshop open to the Tucson community on Saturday, and had over twenty folks show up. The session absolutely flew by, and the participants were reluctant to leave. Amazing how these dancers -- many of them strangers to one another -- came with open minds and hearts and a willingness to learn and experience. Wonderful!


• Kudos to Karin, Onur, Samir and Marshall for their great work during the week, both in the classroom and onstage.

In Tampa:

• Two television interviews and three print interviews! I felt like a celebrity. It is nice to be appreciated!


• Speaking of appreciation, Karin, Paulo, Vincent and Masha gave a stunning performance of section one of "The Path Beyond".

So, what is next for Full Radius Dance? For starters, the 2011/2012 season is the 20th anniversary of the founding of the precursor to Full Radius Dance, Dance Force! Stay tuned for news!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho . . .

It is off to rehearsal I go. And then in two weeks, off to Tucson followed by off to Tampa.

Remember the quandary I had with naming the new dance piece Full Radius Dance premiered at the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival? And how I finally settled on "The Path"? Well, turns out I wasn't through yet. I've slightly re-named it to "The Path Beyond", as I feel it is a clearer description of the dance's theme. (So what's the theme? Review our previous blog postings, if interested.)

Today, I'll finish a new section of "The Path Beyond", which will be performed in Tucson following our week-long residency at Arts for All. It was also be seen at the Florida Dance Festival as part of a oddly titled 'Disability Dance' concert. (I'm sure I'll have many interesting conversations about verbiage while in Tampa). In addition to the performance, I'll be teaching daily classes in physically integrated technique and a choreography workshop. Students from the choreography workshop will perform at the Festival's closing night concert.