Classic Jazz Dance – The Work of Danny Buraczeski and JAZZDANCE

Just got the brochure for spring 2020 arts events at Meadows. The Hope concert is listed but there was no Brown Bag. I called and was told that there would be no more spring Brown Bag performances. That time would be used to prepare for the Senior Dance Concert. I try and make it a point to be very positive with these posts. I am, however, disturbed by this development. There have always been a few faculty who did not fully believe in the value of Brown Bag. I feel it is a mistake.  That’s all I have to say. I just need to step away. It is almost two years since I have retired. Amen!

SMU is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Meadows School of the Arts all year long (2019). One way to celebrate is to create a series of podcasts having someone vital in that history being interviewed by another faculty member who has a strong connection to them. I was honored to be included and had my interview this morning (Tuesday December 17, 2019). I was interviewed by Patty Harrington Delaney. We have a lot of shared history in the Division of Dance and were both given a series of statements/questions as a starting point. It was a great experience. Mine will be posted beginning tomorrow. Chris Coats coordinated the entire process. It will be on iTunes and on the Meadows website.

The fall 2019 Brown Bag student choreography showcase was held from October 7- 11. I was the Artistic Director for fourteen years until I retired from the Division in the spring of 2018. Myra Woodruff was the Artistic Director in spring 2018. I was in the midst of preparing for the Hope Show mini retrospective of my work. Big surprise for me, many many students came back for that performance. When it was over, Stevie Wonder came on the sound system and the performed a version of the class I taught for 15 years. It was touching and lots of fun. Husband Les was there – the first time he had  ever come to Brown Bag. There was no Brown Bag in the spring of 2019. The Division was preparing forMeadows at the Winspear (the Winspear Opera House in the Arts District). It is a huge fundraising event for scholarships for dance majors. All the works are performed with live music, hopefully reflecting the three techniques that make up the core of the curriculum, ballet, modern and jazz. It is a major commitment for teachers, students and supporting staff.

Heather Guthrie, the Dance coordinator got me a parking pass and I got my old center seat back for the performance. The performance was on the short side, about 33 minutes. There are still two classes, the current seniors and juniors who I taught over the years. Quite a few of them danced and some were in the audience. They were all genuinely happy to see me – a lot of love and warmth was shared. We miss each other a lot.

There was one “controversial” issue. On the back of the program, I always listed the upcoming main stage performances, either the Hope Show with dates and choreographers or the Senior Dance Concert. It was missing in this program. On my way out, I saw Myra and asked her about it – very diplomatically, I thought. She said there no room left since there was such a large stage crew. It is great free publicity and I hope they can get it back in the next program.

Les and I flew to Minneapolis on Thursday June 13 after having dropped of the kitties at the vet for boarding. We requested that all three have their nails cut. Before we left, they brought Ella out saying that one of her nails was broken. The attendant suggested that Dr. Effie take a look later in the day. She called and said that other nails were shredded. No one could figure out how that might have happened. They gave her antibiotics and soaked her paws. They were going to do that again. It’s Sunday June 16. We will pick the kids up tomorrow morning. I hope Ella is on the way to full recovery.

Ella is just fine, thanks goodness. She is just about her old self. She used the scratching post. The photo on the left is Ella when she showed up. The one on the right is just so evocative.

This  is Rufus.                                                                                This is Sophie.

We flew from Dallas to Minneapolis on American and both legs of the trip were nightmares. We had a gate change on the way to Minneapolis and then almost at the last minute we had a terminal change! On the way back to Dallas we were three hours late due to weather.

We stayed with the wonderful Margaret and Dan Shulman on Pillsbury Avenue. It is truly like our Minneapolis “home”.

We had some great meals, Thursday at  Bar La Grasse Friday we had dinner with Dana Holstad, Joanne Horn Spencer at Cafe Lurcat (it used to be the Loring Cafe). We had lots of drinks. Les had the watermelon gazpacho and I had an amazing pot roast with mashed potatoes. Mariusz Olszewski showed up late for a glass of wine.

Saturday night was the big gala performance and reception. Lots of former Zenon dancers wee there and, I’d say, the entire dance community. Song Awakened was the last piece on the program. They asked that I speak on stage before the performance.

The reception was in the lobby. So many people to remember. Les and I did quite well.

Christine Maginnis

Heidi Kalwait

Jane Shockley

Andre Shields

Devin Carey

Keith Thompson was there as well as Mary Harding, Greg Waletski,  Amy Behm, Erin Thompson and Denise Armstead. Linda Shapiro, dance critic Camille LeFevre were there as well as Gary Peterson, Zenon’s former Executive Director and Mary Jo Peloquin, his assistant, Tom Kanthak, director of music at the Performing Arts High School and Joanie Shapiro and Neal Cuthbert, formerly of the McKnight Foundation and Louise Robinson.

It was a most festive evening. In my speech I remarked that this might be the last time I would see Song Awakened performed. Keith Thompson just got anew position as Chair of Dance at the University of Arizona. He wants me to set Song Awakened there. I told him that I would need an assistant since there is a lot of movement I cannot do any more. He said no problem. Mary Ann Bradley said she would love to do it. We just have to coordinate schedules. Ah, Mary Ann.

I have taken a stab at writing my very first academic abstract – an interesting thing to do having left academia! Lindsay Guarino and Wendy Oliver are going to put together a second volume of Jazz Dance, the Roots and Branches. They put out a call for papers. I have decided to address Choregraphy and Performance of Jazz Dance. It is a subject I am most familiar with. The abstract is about 500 words. If they decide to include it, I will expand it into a full chapter.

Choreography and Performance of Jazz Dance

Concert jazz dance is a singular and unique aspect of the jazz dance aesthetic. It requires a deep knowledge and exploration of the history of America, its music and its dances. Classic jazz dance is historically the most prevalent form in American population entertainment. It is a lens through which to view 20th Century American society and culture, It necessitates  a wholehearted embrace of he vernacular. Classic jazz dances like the Cakewalk, Charleston,Lindy Hop and Blues have been a goldmine for American musical theater. there are steps associated with these dances that are instantly recognizable and constantly reimagined – think One Singular Sensation from A Chorus Line ( a Cakewalk if ever there was one). A concert jazz dance choreographer needs to make up new steps and new vocabulary that respects the originals but acknowledges the present. It is a search for an authentic, intelligent and contemporary jazz dance language.

Armed with this knowledge, the development of a clear point of view in essential. In general, musical theater jazz hopes to seduce. Concert jazz dance seeks to engage.It is the relationship of the performers and the dances they are doing to the audience that is different. Musical theater choreography is always aware of the audience. The “story” or situation gives the dances context. Withe great concert jazz dance, the relationship between the dancers is paramount. They are expressing a shared set of “ideas” and the audience watches that. The Fourth Was, in theater terminology is maintained.

Jazz dance is energy based. It is not an architecturally based form. The approach to rhythm is key. It represents the triumph of rhythm over the disorganized human condition. The arms and hands are like the gestures in a conversation, not positions or shapes.

Jazz dance and music developed along parallel lines. Jazz dance does not exist without the music, a specific kind of music. The great artists that created these art forms expressed every aspect of the human condition.Their created histories are a wellspring of material to explore in choreography. One could think of this as a house that does not always  sit in the sun with all doors and windows open. One should think of this as a house where some rooms are dark and closed. Some may even have a rank smell.It should be reflective of he full range of human emotion.. This is what concert jazz choreographers need to explore.

This could be characterized as a music first approach for  historically based jazz dance choreography. Choreographers can mine the past, look at the present or even suggest a future with the ideas they explore on the concert stage.

Critics respond strongly to jazz dance when it displays qualities that are most often associated with modern dance – structure, theme and variation, and a strong sense of sce and design. Not looking front all the time is a huge plus.

I will start working on my 2018 taxes soon. It will be interesting. I will get a W-2 from SMU which goes from January 1, 2018 up until my retirement on July 31. I will also get forms from Transamerica, my 401(k). When you take a disbursement, they deduct taxes automatically. I will also get something from Social Security. They take tax out as well. I will also get one 1099 from The Eclectic Edge Ensemble. I set my dance Points on a Curve on the company for its fifteenth anniversary this past June. Doing work outside of SMU will allow me to take deductions. That will make all the difference. Brad Begley in Minneapolis continues to prepare the returns. He is the best. I will file jointly with Les Johnson.

Well, it didn’t quite work out as I’s hoped. We owe $11. Could be worse.

I don’t know what it is about this street and this house but we continue to attract kitties. We have been feeding Midnight. I think he is taken care of by others on Roswell Court as well. He is quite skittish and doesn’t let you get too close. When we first encountered him, his back left foot was a mess. He couldn’t put any weight on it. Luckily it is almost back to normal. Our neighbor Beverly across the street has also been feeding him. She bought a small carrier and puts the food inside hoping to have a “capture”. We could then take him to the vet. So far it hasn’t happened.

Next we have Simone. She is a beautiful little kitty. I did get her in a carrier and went to the vet. There was no microchip and it is definitely a girl. Les and I debated about keeping her and decided to name her Simone (after Nina, of course). The vet thought she was about three months old. She can’t be spayed until she about six months. We will do it. So far she is doing well with Ella. There should be no problem there. Rufus has been interacting with her in the back yard and nothing intense has happened. I think it’s because she is female and he is male. Never a dull moment!

I made my first visit back to Meadows since retiring yesterday, October 2, 2018. I went to see the fall 2018 Brown Bag performance series. Myra Woodruff was the Artistic Director. Heather Guthrie got me a parking pass. I was able to enter the lot with my Emeritus faculty ID card. It was wonderful seeing all the dancers again. They were happy to see me as well. Took along my list of dance majors just in case – a cheat sheet of sorts. I did quite well. The dancing was beautiful and passionate as always. I enjoyed it.

I had a reserved seat – thank you Heather and Myra

I went to the Fall 2018 Hope concert last night – Celebrating Women’s Voices, with work by Cherylyn Lavagnino, Bridget L. Moore and Brandi Coleman. I enjoyed it. It was the last “event”to experience after retirement. I think I am done!

One of the things about retirement that I have enjoyed the most is getting back to reading. So far, I have read seven books. The latest is Play It As It Lays, by Joan Didion. It is a brutal look at life and the deals we make with each other to make it work. The movie version came out in the early 70’s and was one of my favorites, starring Tuesday Well, Anthony Perkins and Tammy Grimes among others. My friend in Memphis, Lester Nunalle took me to see it for the first time and we must have seen it four for five times together after that. The lead character is Maria (Marya) and she says at the end, I know what nothing means, and keep on playing. Why, BZ would say. Why not, I say”. Brutal

I also read My American Dream, A life of Love, Family, and Food by Lidia Bastianich. It is a memoir. Lidia has a cooking show that is usually scheduled on Saturday afternoons. It is one of my favorites. I also have one of her cookbooks.

I also read Stephen King’s new horror fest, The Outsider – creepy and scary, and a Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child mystery, City of Endless Night. Also read (a great read), the Bill Clinton and James Patterson thriller, The President is Missing. Lastly, I have Arthur C. Clarke’s A Fall of Moondust. Arthur C. Clarke also wrote 2001 – A Space Odyssey.

I also read a very Gothic thriller called The Little Stranger – extremely creepy. They actually made a move of this book starring Charlotte Rampling (8/30/18). Just got a Nordic thriller called Nightblind by RagnarJonasson.

Done with Night-Blind, I will now move on to Jams Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk.

I read it years ago. It is well deserving of a revisit. So, I am reading the Baldwin book. I have certain pages circled and brackets around certain lines or paragraphs. When Philip Hamilton and I were rereading all the Baldwin books in preparation for Ezekiel’s Wheel, that is what I did. We ultimately decided to abstract the ideas and came up with the three R’s of James Baldwin, themes that appeared in all the novels, Recognition – Responsibility and Redemption. It was the right way to go. Here is a short passage from the book.

“I guess it can’t be too often that two people can laugh and make love, too, make love because they are laughing, laugh because they are making love. The love and the laughter come from the same place: but not many people go there”. AMAZING!

The Dark Lake was a bust – four hundred pages with a female detective as the protagonist. She was annoying and completely unsympathetic. I did not enjoy it at all. I have much hope for the latest John Grisham book, The Rooster Bar.

The Grisham book was a huge disappointment – I had to make myself finish it. Here’s to P. D. James!!!

This was one of my favorite novels when I was in high school. It was made into a movie starring Natalie Wood. I hope it still resonates.

This is an amazing book. It is the first in a trilogy. It is a reread. Fox will debut a new series based on the three books on Monday  January 14, 2019. Good luck.. The plotting is impeccable, extremely complex but easy to follow.  Can’t wait.

This is book #2.

The Finale!!

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The Latest

Here’s hoping that this is good. It was most annoying.

This is a re-read. I am taking it on our trip to Minneapolis.

They are doing a new series on Netflix. It is odd because at the end of this book, Anna Madrigal dies at Burning Man. The Netflix series is OK. We’ll see ow it develops.

This is one of three order mysteries written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. I have heard great things. Looking forward to getting started! Unfortunately, this book was twice as long as it should have been – overblown and overinflated.

Let’s hope this is better. It was reviewed very positively by Stephen King in the New York Times. Here’s hoping. It was one of the best books I have read in a long time!!

Just got back from the Dallas Public Library. There is a local branch across the street. After I read a bunch of books, I donate them to the library. They are always most appreciative. It is a good thing.

This is the latest. Don’t know much about it.We’ll see. It turned out being a bit too hysterical.

This is the next – hopefully a change of pace. It is described as something like The Hunger Games. I have postponed reading this. It is like The Hunger Games but I am not ready to invest in figuring out the mythology.

This book got an amazing review – the scariest book I have ever read. Sounds promising. It enjoyed the writing. Scary is not quite the word I would use and the ending was a bit hard to accept.

Back to Anne Rice and vampires. We will see. At least it’s not too long. I will give it a try. I did enjoy the writing but the number of characters was a bit much. It assumed a great knowledge of previous Rice novels.

This was a re-read, although I don’t remember it. It was quite brutal in a lot of ways, but fascinating  in that you learned a lot about Afghanistan. It was worth it.

The latest Stephen King got amazing reviews. It is inspired, in large part, by the awful immigration policies of the Trump administration – the separation of families at the border. It is apparently scary in a somewhat realistic way.

The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage is the first of a trilogy. The Book of Dust – The secret Commonwealth is the second in the trilogy. The first trilogy was The Golden Compass. It was made into a film staring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. The movie was not that successful. It was too complicated and a bit hard to follow. It was beautiful to look at, though and. I really enjoyed it. It is unlikely that they will try and make a movie out of the second trilogy. I think a made for TV miniseries would have a greater chance of success.

Had the best time in New York. We left on Thursday morning, nothing too brutal. We stayed with Frank Davis on West 10th Street. We went to New York because I was being interviewed on Friday for a new jazz dance documentary.

Thursday night we, of course had dinner at the Red Farm, a dim sum restaurant right around the corner  from Frank’s apartment. It was as good as ever. We had, among other things, spicy crispy beef, a salad with arugula, mango and raspberries,  pac man dumplings… and more. Les and I had vodka martinis and Frank had dewers and water.

It has been a hot summer in New York and Frank does not have air conditioning. He has some great fans and the sleeping was OK.

The interview went very well – about an hour.They were very prepared and had done a ton of research. The documentary is called Transmission – Roots to Branches. It was inspired by the recent anthology, Jazz Dance A History of the Roots and Branches, edited by Lindsay Guarino and Wendy Oliver. The documentary is being produced by Lisa Donmall-Reeve, LDM Inspiring the Bigger Picture. Here are some photos from the Interview. The photographer was Daryl Gatman.

I was exhausted. Went back to Frank’s and had a nap. I had gotten tickets to see Bette Midler in Hello Dolly at the Shubert Theater. We had dinner at Osteria el doge on 44th Street, one of my favorites.

We were on the mezzanine, not too bad. It was a thrilling experience. Ms. Midler was having the time of her life and the audience was sending waves of love her way. She and David Hyde Pierce had great chemistry together. I lost count about standing ovations during the show. The production itself was lavish and beautiful. Both the sets and costumes were designed by Santo Loquasto. In the Hello Dolly number, Ms. Midler began to improvise. At one point, she leaned against the wall on stage right and said, “I hope you like red because this goes on for a long time”.  Eating chicken during the “trial” she waded into Bette Midler shtick. It almost became too much, stopping luckily just at the right time. It truly was a great night in the theater.

The $40 T-shirt!!! Have yet to wear it.