By: Artistic Director, John Byrne
Last week, Fort Wayne Dance Collective hosted AXIS Dance Company from Oakland California. It was inspiring to say the least! As this is my first year in the role of Artistic Director at FWDC, this was my first opportunity to be on the presenter side of a dance company, other than my own. Below I will give you a play-by-play of the incredible four days we had with AXIS from March 9-12th, 2016:
Wednesday 9:16 PM
I am standing in the baggage claim of the quaint Fort Wayne airport terminal. It’s busier than I expected! There are families, and soldiers and suntanned passengers rolling out of the TSA exit doors. They are suntanned and in Hawaiian shirts. Definitely NOT AXIS (AXIS in on a plane from San Francisco.) I wait a little bit longer, and then see the familiar faces of dancers Keon, Julie and Kevin approaching me. I had planned to film their arrival with my iPhone but then they see me filming and it feels creepy so I just put the phone away. Hugs! The rest of the crew arrives – Dwayne, Sophie and Lena and Pat. Oh crap! There are eight people here. And I only have seven welcome bags back at the hotel waiting for them. (Learning curve #1 – double check the number of crew!) So more hugs, we pick up their bags, get their rental cars going and then I escort them back to the Courtyard Marriott. I used to be a front desk agent at Marriott in Marina Del Rey. Oh, the irony… Drop AXIS off and make a very quick run to TARGET to get another welcome kit together. I have literally four minutes to make this happen as TARGET is closing at 11pm. The woman at the TARGET checkout does not rush me; instead she wants to know who the gifts are for, and then who is AXIS, and where she can meet them? Ten minutes later, all welcome bags are complete and delivered and no one knows there was ever a problem! Brendan, the remaining dancer will arrive tomorrow, so I hold off on texting Jarin with an obligatory “Everyone is here” because – well – you never know!
Thursday 8:30 AM
I am back at the Marriott to pick up Sophie and Keon. Being that I am new-ish to Fort Wayne (I moved here last September) I suddenly have a great sense of pride and stewardship in driving our guests to our beautiful studios at Fort Wayne Dance Collective to experience Sacred Sunrise Yoga! “This is our gothic building. That is the building where Savannah works. Over that bridge, that is where I live.” Fort Wayne is a great place to be, and the weather could not be better for our guests. Sophie, Keon, Kristin Giant (our fabulous Development Officer), Kristine Bercot (I will introduce her later) and I take yoga with yoga instructor Jessica Kellenberger. It is an intense and beautiful journey, and the dancers love it! They are warmed up now and ready to tackle the day! I am on cloud nine………………..until…
Luke from the Arts United Center is on the phone. There is a slight problem. There was 1-inch white gaffers tape that was requested on AXIS’ rider. And it’s not here. Was I responsible for ordering it? Oh John! (Learning curve #2 double check the rider!) So we got the Marley floor, the ballet barres, the steamer, the Greek hummus and 3 cases of water, but the only theatrical element of the entire AXIS show, a 1-inch white gaffers tape is missing! Well if it is one thing I have learned about myself, I actually become more calm and solution-oriented in crisis situations. So I calmly and quickly start calling every place I can possibly think of to borrow buy or steal some 1-inch white gaffers tape. The Embassy Theater is VERY helpful and they have 2-inch white gaffers tape, but if you know a production manager, they usually are not the type of people you want to get to know by saying “excuse me, I only have two inch tape but feel free to tear it in half.” Long story short, I order the 1-inch white gaffers tape to arrive the next morning, and AXIS actually has their own supply with them, so it is not an emergency at all. And trust me I was READY to drive to Indianapolis and make this work. Note to self – John, read the rider again!
So around 1pm, the magic begins to happen. I am in the Fort Wayne Auditorium ballroom at the VA Hospital. Our hosts, Veterans Hospital Volunteer Coordinators Erica and Jamey have the room set up for our first creative movement workshop. The AXIS dancers, a motley crew of athleticism, wisdom and beauty arrive and begin to warm up. I shake hands with a veteran named Jerry who has been waiting in the room for over an hour for AXIS to arrive. He is a Vietnam veteran; a white haired stern looking man who I know has an interesting story. He tells me that he enjoys going to see the ballet. A few more veterans scatter in. Suddenly I see a man who sort of resembles my father and I have to hold back tears. I am moved beyond words, not only by the possible future resemblance but the fact that he and my father probably served in the same war. There is a wonderful energy in the room. There is a serendipitous combination of healing veterans, professional dancers, and volunteers and nurses who have no idea what is about to happen, but show up anyway.
AXIS begins promptly and their keenly crafted skills are apparent. They have the entire room gathered in a circle. And not long after EVERYONE is dancing. People are making dance moves with their names, they are traveling through space as they walk, or move in wheelchairs. They are sharing their body weight with other patients, nurses and dancers in duos and trios and making shapes that are high, middle and low. Suddenly this room full of people of all ages and abilities are working together and AXIS has managed to create an improvisational jam that looks not much different than a group of professional dancers! Jarin, Cassie, Kristin and I have to try HARD not to cry because the emotion is so overwhelming. The honor of witnessing people who may have been shut down physically – for years, coming alive in this room is just awe inspiring. At one point I see an elderly man in a chair and he needs a dance partner. I approach him and hold his hands, rocking side to side. I think to myself “I could gently pull him forward but I don’t want to hurt him” Before I know it, he is bending forward and goes beyond what I think is possible! I’m freaking out inside and smiling on the outside. There are people taking pictures. I hate pictures in moments like this because it changes the dynamic. But then I see the artistic images that Cassie from FWDC has captured and I am so grateful. She has captured each moment with sensitivity and dignity. I am so glad we have these memories in photos now.
We all settle down and then it is time for AXIS to perform their work “to go again” by Joe Goode for the veterans. It starts very matter-of factly. There are no costumes, or microphones and no stage lighting other than the fluorescent tubes overhead. It is quite something to witness a young dancer interpreting a vivid story of combat trauma and survival right in front of a real life veteran. AXIS is moving and their visceral expression of the scripted veteran’s stories is honest and authentic. At one point I think “Oh no, this might feel derivative or like pandering because here are these young artists saying to these true war veterans – hey! This is what its like to have survived war!” but it was anything but that. It was a beautiful memorial to these veterans in Fort Wayne. It was an honor and tribute to them and they were mesmerized. I remember that AXIS dancer Dwayne is an actual veteran who served in Desert Storm. At one point during the performance, a veteran in the front row begins reaching out to the dancers. He is talking to the dancers. This was an uncanny celebration and a day I wont forget. (I think I personally preferred seeing “to go again” in this setting rather than Saturday’s theatrical presentation, which is also stunning, because of its intimacy and rawness.) It is a real privilege to see AXIS do what they do so well with our veterans!
After the turn at the Veterans Hospital, we have a lunch break. AXIS dancer Dwayne and I go to Lowes Hardware to get some tools he needs to repair his wheelchair. This is a pleasure and an enlightening experience for me. I will never hop out of the car and “run” in the store again without thinking about how, for Dwayne, it is a carefully choreographed process to assemble his chair, strategically place it by the car, maneuver into the chair by literally jumping out of the car to land in the chair, and then close the car door while moving away in perfect timing. Dwayne is one of the coolest guys I have ever met and he has such a positive attitude. He suffered a spinal injury when he was 20 years old in a diving accident. Since then, he has started his own dance company, has redefined the word “disability” and he’s proven that his injury was just the beginning of a discovery in dance possibilities. While in Lowes Hardware, I start to imagine being Dwayne because he has to reach so high to get some items in the aisles. See, things are placed in stores to be reached by people who are standing and walking. For Dwayne, everything seems to have an added step, but he does not miss a beat. He is incredibly resilient and more capable than I will ever be!
We make it back to the enormous and magnificent complex that is Turnstone Center for the next events. AXIS dancers are so impressed; they have never seen such a beautiful and state of the art facility that accommodates people of all needs. Again, I have a “proud to be Fort Wayne” moment and give them a tour. Tina Acosta, our friend and angel from Turnstone, shows us our room, and like clockwork the dance educators and healing artists from FWDC arrive to take a professional development class with AXIS. The class starts with an icebreaker. I look around and see what amazing people we have working with us! Allison Ballard makes me laugh when she invites us all to her dance show. She says, “ Don’t come to the dress rehearsal. It’s a nightmare and you will wish you never came! But the show is going to be amazing!” And it always is amazing. And it was amazing (another blog another time.) We have a group of humble, loving experts in our midst, and I constantly thank Liz in my head for making my job so easy. She assembled this group!
The professional development training is more than I can ask for. The AXIS team has us creating these improvisational movement phrases together as a whole. I look in the mirror and I see us as a giant sea anemone. Even Jarin Hart gets in on the action! That’s right Jarin is dancing! AXIS is GOOD!!!! My favorite exercise is one in which dancer 1 and dancer 2 work back to back while dancer 3 sits on the side. Dancer 1 begins to move improvisationally. Dancer 3 verbalizes what dancer 1 is doing and dancer 2 is supposed to try his best to recreate the movement in which dancer 1 is doing, without seeing it. I know, sounds complicated but it was thrilling! We have a lot of laughs and ah ha! moments. I can speak for FWDC staff when I say we all left this workshop with tools that we will use in our own classes for years to come!
On Thursday evening, AXIS leads another workshop for Turnstone clients, which is open to the public. We could not have had a more diverse turn out. There are dancers of ALL ages, backgrounds and circumstances. One young dancer catches my eye, DeMarco. DeMarco had called me earlier in the week to say he would be driving up to the event at Turnstone from Cleveland. He is a dancer who uses a wheelchair and wants to work with AXIS…
The workshop AXIS does is lovely. They perform an excerpt from “to go again” and have everyone moving.
And then this happens…
As the AXIS dancers are packing up, I mention to DeMarco that now is his time to show off his skills. I can tell that he is a talented young man. Incredibly physical and agile in his movement. I tell him he should do a solo for AXIS – you never know. Then I clear it with AXIS and they want to see what DeMarco has to show. I tell DeMarco that auditioning for AXIS here is probably cheaper than attending their audition in Oakland.
So after this long day, we all head back to the Marriott. AXIS wants to try pizza from Fort Wayne. I let them try Pint & Slice. AXIS has a tradition of trying and comparing pizza from each city they visit. Did I tell you I’m from New York 🙂
Friday 9 AM
One of the pleasures of being an Artistic Director is keeping the guest artists fed and hydrated during their visit. So today is the day I need to get them lunch and snacks at the theater. Thankfully the dancers have requested a vegetarian meal (I’m a veggie too.) So I have the shopping list from the AXIS rider. Greek food, yogurt, falafel. You know, the norm! Well by 11am Daisy, our artistic coordinator and I are knee-deep in Kroger. We plan on getting heated falafel and a tray of veggies from the deli and then leaving on our merry way.
“Excuse me, Ms. Where do you keep your falafel?” I ask the Kroger lady. “Fa- what sir?” SO I say, “Falafel. I think its like ground chickpeas.” And then we find ourselves in the “healthy” aisle. Side note – did you ever notice there is only like a quarter of one aisle in the miles of supermarket aisles that is “healthy.” So anyway, I look at Daisy and then we say to each other, “There is no falafel here.” Plan B.
I start throwing anything healthy and frozen I can into the cart. “Daisy, we are going to make lunch!” So we have 30 minutes to get all of this food (sweet potato fries, vegan chicken nuggets, chips, hummus, fruit, etc.) into the car and into my kitchen, and back at the theater in time for lunch. So we get to my house, and we destroy that poor kitchen, which has not ever been used in my presence. Miraculously we put together a good lunch for AXIS in less than 30 minutes. People love sweet potato fries!
So around the time I am handing out Dominican coffee backstage and checking on the costumes that have been steamed and pressed by our volunteers, the AXIS production manager approaches me. I’m thinking oh no, I am in trouble. The floor tape!!!! Well she begins to tell me how amazing the volunteer crew is. She tells me that they are the kindest, most focused and helpful volunteer crew she has met and it has made her job a dream. I don’t even know how to respond. But I know it is true.
So around 5pm we all head over to the studio because AXIS is giving the onsite school a master class. By this time, AXIS dancer Brendan has arrived in Fort Wayne to complete the look and I am able to say to Jarin, “Jarin ALL of the dancers have arrived.” AXIS rehearsal director Lena is in the hall and she hears something. I tell her it is the Taiko drums. Lena lights up and then I take her into the small studio. Taiko instructor Sarah welcomes Lena into the Taiko class, and now Lena is drumming! This is another moment when I am thinking – what a cool exchange. I love residencies!
So, the master class. The master class is nothing short of exceptional. Again, here is a diverse group of dancers, some amateur and some professional. But AXIS is able to make everyone into a courageous movement artist for at least 90 minutes. Beth from New American Youth Ballet (love her!) has sent over a handful of her ballet students. At the start of class I note to myself, “oh there are the ballerinas and they are amazing.” By the end of class I am like, “wow these kids are powerful and they are dynamic and they are doing modern dance and they are amazing! They can do anything.”
During the master class, the FWDC lobby is in a flurry to set up the welcome reception for AXIS. Our go-to caterer, Judith from On the Avenue Catering has set up a spread of chocolates, and orange cakes and spinach pies tasty enough to put a first class airline lounge to shame.
As the master class begins to let out, a wave of dancers, friends, volunteers, staff and Board members begin to warm the lobby. Another beautiful ensemble of artists and art lovers coming together. If no one told you, dancers love to eat and drink and carry on, so there are plenty of smiles and laughs in the room. It is a nice party, and an intimate something my heart has longed for after years of being in old’ New York City.
More cleaning up by Jarin, Cassie Kristin and the staff. And what can I say; we are all excited and relieved for tomorrow to come!
Saturday 8 AM
It’s a beautiful day! Rumor has it that AXIS has pushed their call time back an hour, so I let the crew know they can sleep in. I am relieved to hear the good news that our trusted volunteer (and fellow Yogi) Kristine Bercot will take over the homemade catering position. Food and Beverages was never really my thing anyway. I still want to do my part, so I get the Dominican coffee ready and take it over to the theater.
Then, I stop by the studio. We have a young new student. A boy. He is taking ballet and wants to start Taiko lessons. Yeh! His mother begins to speak to me in Spanish. She explains that she was a dancer but then became injured and is unable to walk anymore. She tells me that she has instructed her young son “You are going to dance for me, because I cannot.” While we are talking, the mother notices the AXIS poster hanging in our lobby. I explain that AXIS is performing tonight. “You mean they dance in wheelchairs?” She begins to cry. I begin to cry. I let her know that after tonight she will have no excuse to not dance herself. They leave with three tickets.
Back to the theater.
The crew is all set and waiting in the wings. I walk on to the stage where the AXIS dancers are warming up. I notice there is GLITTER ALL OVER THE STAGE? I notice one of the dancers has some evidence of glitter in his-or her hair – so – if my hunch is right it was… Well I will keep this confidential!
Well, thank God there is glitter everywhere, because our hard working and eager backstage crew finally has something to do! The AXIS cast completes their warm up and we get to sweep and mop the stage.
See, a dance show is not usually like a theater show when it comes to handling sets and props. Unless you are Pina Bausch and you have a giant rock and swimming pool on stage, dance shows are usually pretty basic. The backstage crew is mostly responsible to change colored gels in the tree lights (the lights that hang vertically in the wings that side light dancers, sculpting their bodies). Other duties include keeping the marley floor clean and then serving as human goalies, catching dancers as they make quick exits into the wings to avoid a head smash with the said tree lights!
So the energy is pretty calm on this almost-Spring day. I’m back home. It’s time to put on a suit. My friend has loaned me a blue dress shirt to go with my dark suit, but I am feeling the suntanned-tourist inspiration look I saw at the airport on Wednesday night, so I opt for a white dress shirt. Wearing white makes one glow!
Back at the theater I find volunteer Kristine with daughter Vanessa in tow. They have made an incredible healthy feast for the dancers and crew. I think of the buffet at Whole Foods! Yummy!
I feel so grateful to be in this theater and I am reminded that I have the best job in the world. Ask Liz. It can be stressful, but anything worth something is usually hard work!
I go through a series of corridors and doors that connect the backstage to the front of house. I see the orchestra pit is lowered and 2 ramps are in place to make the pit available to audience members using wheelchairs. My heart sings! Access Fort Wayne has arrived and they are pepped to film the show for public broadcast. I make my way through more corridors and doors and to my utter joy, I find Jarin, Kristin, and Cassie have everything ready on the audience side! Like magic, all of the front-of-house volunteers are in place and poised! Sadie and Corinne are at the will-call table, Greg and Gloria are at the FWDC info table, Kristin is welcoming and ushering and then there is this angelic voice strumming to a guitar! Addison Agen is in the side lobby, with full sound system attached, singing for the Gods. The lobby is filled with Addison’s layered voice with perfect tone! I am loving this lobby.
Crowds begin to roll in and I see the familiar faces of our loyal supporters, students, and patrons. I see many of the people we have met at the Veterans and Turnstone workshops. Savannah Robinson, our Board president appears like a vision. She is poised to present AXIS with a curtain speech at the top of the show and she might as well be dressed for the Oscars! I am so proud of everyone and feel like everything is off to a pretty good start.
Savannah and I head backstage. We are talking. And then – like clockwork Luke says – “ok John and Savannah…now. “ He says it calmly like in the way you say thank you to the person who just gave you fries in the drive-thru. So Savannah and I look at each other and we are like “Lets do it.”
So Savannah and I head on stage, in front of the main blue curtain. (We are NOT wearing blue – see, Artistic Directors have to think ahead on these things!) What the audience doesn’t see in the blinding spotlight that is catching our moment – there is less than a foot of space that Savannah and John have to traverse in front of the curtain without toppling over. Remember the orchestra pit is down for the accessible audience seating and so one wrong step and it’s a ten-foot ride to the basement.
I manage to get through my gratitude list of our generous sponsors. And then, like a pro – Savannah just nails her speech. No note cards, no hiccups, just a brilliant and seamless delivery. See, I told you she was dressed for the Oscars!
We traverse back across the narrow edge of the stage, into the dark backstage and make our way to our seats. I remember that I had meant to peak around the curtain and give the AXIS dancers one-last “Break a nail!” before the show started. Darn! I will have to wait until next year.
The AXIS show is moving, dynamic, and an honor to watch. They perform “Dix minutes plus tard,” “Divide” and “to go again.” In this performance, I am most connected to “Divide” by Marc Brew. Watching the complex patterns, dynamic lighting and circuitous sound mix calms me and puts me in a meditative state. I won’t say more about the performance, because it is such a subjective experience and I can’t pretend to be a reviewer of dance. I will just say one more thing – AXIS did a great job. Their tech director (1-inch white gaffers tape) Pat did a brilliant job and handled this show like a BOSS. The FWDC volunteer crew was flawless and I believe they all came out of this experience with much knowledge and professional experience.
After the show, there is pandemonium in the lobby because everyone wants to meet the dancers! I escort the AXIS dancers up to the Gallery for the talkback. This takes a significant amount of time because people of all walks of life are coming up to praise them, ask them questions. The audience wants to relate with the dancers. They want to tell them their own stories and establish a validation in their own story of resilience by connecting to the AXIS dancers. This is a beautiful experience to witness!
We have a well-attended talkback, which Savannah leads effortlessly. I finally have a moment to publicly thank Liz and give her the applause she deserves for having had the vision to bring AXIS to Fort Wayne. Liz blushes and again my heart sings!
There are selfies, and we-ies and autographs to follow and like a flash, its time to say goodbye. I hug the dancers, my new friends. I escape into the crowd of AXIS’s new adoring fans and back through more corridors and doors to the backstage. The Fenstermacher family is helping strike the stage. The Louis Kahn designed stage is bare of any black curtains, backdrops or wings. It is massive now and a vast space. I think to myself – we should do the June Concert (SCI-FI FACTORY FIASCO) on a bare stage. It will be interesting and give the effect of a factory and let the dance be a more raw, thrilling experience.
I salute Luke and the crew and find myself in a deserted parking lot behind the theater. The pavement is wet with that Hollywood look. I feel a moment of bliss. It is all over and no one got hurt! Not even a paper cut. And AXIS was magnificent.