contemporary dance

Next, we catch up New York City's Marjani Forté. Marjani is a touring member of Urban Bush Women Dance Co. (who performed in Pgh in the '07/08 season), half of LOVE|FORTÉ with Nia Love, and has worked with Earl Mosely's Diversity of Dance, Garth Fagan, Blondell Cummings, Camille A. Brown, and others. Marjani will perform Friday, May 11 alongside idiosynCrazy Productions (NYC), anonymous bodies (PHL), and August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (PGH). Check out the interview below and head over to Kelly-Strayhorn Theater's website for ticket and performance info: http://www.kelly-strayhorn.org/calendar/event/newmoves2012/

DB: What piece are you performing at newMoves? Who is involved in the ensemble?
Marjani Forté : I'll be performing EGO. EGO is solo, choreographed and performed by myself Marjani Forté (www.loveforte.org), with an original composition by Everett Saunders/Ngozi Flux (www.ngoziflux.com). The work was our second collaboration.

DB: Where does your piece originate from? What themes are you hoping to explore?
MF: EGO came from my observations of who and what I became in crowds, among strangers, or even close acquaintances. As it evolved, the piece began to capture, at a glance, my journey towards self-acceptance, and Everett's journey towards self-acceptance. It manifested in 3 distinct personalities, that held the multi-faceted and complex nature of over and under compensating.

DB: How does the choreography process start? What steps occur along the way?
MF: I began this work drawing inspiration from a song, that seemed to speak my frustrations with self- "Out my mind" by Erykah Badu. It quickly evolved beyond the song and into my body. It was first presented as an idea at New Orleans McKenna Museum. It later found its way into my journal. I began writing about the work, thinking about who or what I was trying to protect by "putting on". What if the song was really addressing the emphatic destructive commitment to one's own EGO or ideal self. I later fashioned my words into a Haiku Structure, then deconstructed the product of that work. The text spoken in the score is the remnants of that work.

DB: What else is going on? Any upcoming performances or projects?
MF: I have an ongoing creative "marriage" with choreographer Nia Love, called LOVE|FORTÉ, a collective committed to making work with social and politically conscious weight, that challenges norms, and shifts the performance and witnessing experience. We'll be performing this month at Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and Movement Research's Judson Church. I am currently an Artist-In-Residence with Movement Research. I also recently premiered a new work at Danspace for the PARALLELS: Platforms Series curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones. I'll be looking to develop this work, titled Here..., over the next few years. Here... was an observation of Mental Health in the face of systematic oppression, and will evolve to examine Addiction through the same lens. 

The newMoves Contemporary Dance Festival is back next week at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater from Thursday, May 10 through Saturday May 12. Check the Facebook page for more info. Choreographers from Hungary, New York, Philadelphia, and Ohio will be coming to town. Also, Pittsburgh's own Pittsburgh choreographers will be presenting new work. The newMoves festival is a great chance to see some emerging locals. Beth Ratas is a local dancer and now choreographer that will be presenting a brand new piece. Beth's piece will be performed Thursday, May 10 at KST alongside Jamie Murphy and Renee Danielle Smith (PGH), Simone Sobers (NYC), Alan Obuzor (PGH), Jasmine Hearn (PGH), Shannon Murphy (PHL). Beth shared a little about her work process and what we can expect next next Thursday.

DB: What piece are you performing at newMoves? Who is involved in the ensemble?
Beth Ratas: I am creating a new work. It is a work-in-progress with the working title 'I dare you'. I am using 3 dancers plus myself. The dancers names are Alyssa Mayfield, Mariana Batista, and Jasmine Hearn.

DB: Where does your piece originate? What themes are you hoping to explore?
BR: My piece originated with the idea of women feeling the need to cover or veil themselves in society. As I became more clear, it shifted to the focus/idea of forbidden fruit/temptation. Through dissecting this topic, I started to explore the words allure, devour, and retract. If you are tempted by something, what do you choose to do, devour it or retract from it? 

DB: How does the choreography process start? Is improvisation involved?
BR: I like to start with a guided improvisation. Allowing the dancers to become aware of how their structure is working. Often times, I gravitate to how the body feels from the inside, out. Inspired by skeletal structure, blood flow, connective tissue and working my way out to the epidermis. Then I start to add words that relate to my piece like: allure, devour, retract, sensual, bound, violent, and orange just to name a few. I allow the dancers to create movement based on improv, and then I start to structure the piece around their own improvised movement language. 

DB: I noticed a new facebook page (LINK) - can we expect more Beth Ratas work in the future?
BR: Yes, you should expect to see more of Beth Ratas! I actually have a performance coming up on Friday July 6th @ 6pm @ The Union Project titled 'Relative Positions'. Curated by Shana Simmons, it is a multi-media/multi-room art happening that will bring many different artists together.

Photos by Jasmine Hearn.