Suzanne Hill
In the Fall of 2016 the Atlantic Ballet were kind enough to let me sit in on a couple of "ordinary" days' work and rehearsal. I watched, photographed, sketched and considered their work process, the development of performance from scratch. Most significant was the opportunity to look at each dancer - what they wore, how each prepared for "class", the shapes, exercises, and movements involved in stretching and warming up their bodies - the tools their discipline requires (expects?) to execute/communicate whatever is asked of them. Hard work ...it was COLD in that rehearsal space, and gradually the leggings, the quilted jackets, the layers of warmth were shed. The impressive bodies emerged - to rehearse, to experiment and repeat until it was "right".
My residency resulted in heightened awareness of the practice, the work that goes into the development and maintenance of a dancer's expressive medium. Each individual body must be able to do anything that is needed to execute, to perform, and communicate as a solo movement or as part of a group. And then, as a comparison, to create images of the explorations that went into the development, execution and presentation of a series that illustrates some of this extensive work that must happen both "pre-performance" and "pre-visual art".
Shown here are 4 wall hung layered groupings of life size standing/moving/practicing dancers, both drawn on brown paper, mylar, and acetate.
