TETRISplus: Arch8 from the Netherlands

Cuesheet

Performance Guide

David M. Rubenstein Chairman

You Can Dance Anywhere

Deborah F. Rutter President

Who said you need an indoor theater space to dance? Erik Kaiel doesn’t think so. He likes to choreograph for unusual places including gardens, empty swimming pools, and even subway stations. While it’s easier to dance indoors and on a level floor, Kaiel’s choices are more challenging.

For example, when Kaiel’s dancers are outdoors, they interact with the surroundings.

They climb up the side of a building, slide down a pole, or balance on a park bench.

They interact with pedestrians. Oftentimes, they react to what is going on around them. They also improvise and create new ideas and movements right on the spot.

If this sounds like fun, it is. When the world around you becomes your playground to crawl over, wiggle under, slide around, or balance on top of, it will never look the same to you again. Try it!

Arch8 invites students to join their team and “dance” along with them.

Darrell M. Ayers Vice President, Education Additional support for TETRISplus is provided by The Clark Charitable Foundation; Kaplan, Inc.; Mr. James V. Kimsey; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Education.

Major support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by David and Alice Rubenstein through the Rubenstein Arts Access Program.

Arch8 Dance Company

Education and related artistic programs are made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.

Erik Kaiel, Artistic Director

www.kennedy-center.org/artsedge Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, a program of the Kennedy Center Education Department.

Learn more about education at the Kennedy Center at www.kennedy-center.org/education The contents of this Cuesheet have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education.

You should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. © 2015 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

This is not your everyday dance company.

Photo credits: Page 2, Robert Benschop; Page 3, Konrad Simowski; Back cover, Jeroen Bosch

Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by

I

f you were to ask Arch8’s choreographer Erik Kaiel how to spell “dance,” his answer would surely include four Cs. That’s because all of Kaiel’s physically demanding and theatrical dance works can be summed up in four words: connection, cooperation, communication, and creativity.

Watch how Arch8 dancers connect with each other in unusual ways.

Many call Kaiel’s dances “body projects.” His dancers work together as a unit or team, constantly changing form and depending on each other. Movements look like puzzle pieces connecting together and coming apart. This takes physical and mental cooperation. For example, dancers are asked to communicate their ideas and creatively contribute to the development process.

TETRISplus features two of Kaiel’s challenging “body projects,” No Man Is an Island and Tetris.

Tetris Choreography by Erik Kaiel

No Man Is an Island Choreography by Erik Kaiel Imagine the ground beneath you was hot lava and the only way you could move was to remain on top of someone’s body. That’s the concept behind Kaiel’s No Man Is an Island—basically it’s a balancing act like you’ve never seen before.

One dancer will climb, shift, move, pull, and push another dancer who lays almost lifeless on the ground. The dancer walks all over the body beneath him NEVER touching the floor.

He turns and twists his partner’s body into new positions until the partner manages to stand upright with the other dancer on his shoulders. During the performance, think about the different skills each of the performers needs. Which dancer would you rather be? Why?

Watch and listen for: the many different body shapes the dancer is able to create. how the dancer moves his partner’s body while never touching the floor. the amazing balance of the dancer on top. the slow, repetitious piano score that creates an atmospheric effect.

Watch how the top dancer’s feet never touch the floor during No Man Is an Island.

Do you know the electronic video game named Tetris®?

It’s all about strategy and having fun while trying to create order out of chaos. Various shapes in different sizes rain down on a screen and the player shifts, rotates, drops, and moves them around so they land in a row. When the pieces don’t fit together, they stack up awkwardly with lots of space in between. If the pile of pieces gets too tall, you lose the game. Sound familiar?

Like the video game, Kaiel creates all kinds of shapes in Tetris. But instead of colored blocks on a screen, Kaiel uses bodies in a performance space. Four (tetra means four) dancers flip over, slide under, and pile up on top of one another throughout the work. Dressed in colorful outfits, these dancers look like rugged acrobats challenging the laws of gravity. Their bodies combine to make interesting shapes, often with their legs or arms twisted together. As the interlocking shapes unfold, you’ll see that Tetris is about fitting into a group but also staying true to yourself.

Watch and listen for: how Tetris starts with one dancer fitting into the lap of another. This happens again, and again. how the dancers often make the same shape at the same time. This is called moving in unison. how the dancers create a complicated shape together, and then move across the stage by sliding, crawling, or walking on their hands. moments when the dancers move “in canon,” performing the same movement one right after the other.

the moment when a male dancer runs at full speed, jumps through the air, and is then caught by three others, only to be dropped immediately. the repetitious rhythms of the electronic music.

I

f you were to ask Arch8’s choreographer Erik Kaiel how to spell “dance,” his answer would surely include four Cs. That’s because all of Kaiel’s physically demanding and theatrical dance works can be summed up in four words: connection, cooperation, communication, and creativity.

Watch how Arch8 dancers connect with each other in unusual ways.

Many call Kaiel’s dances “body projects.” His dancers work together as a unit or team, constantly changing form and depending on each other. Movements look like puzzle pieces connecting together and coming apart. This takes physical and mental cooperation. For example, dancers are asked to communicate their ideas and creatively contribute to the development process.

TETRISplus features two of Kaiel’s challenging “body projects,” No Man Is an Island and Tetris.

Tetris Choreography by Erik Kaiel

No Man Is an Island Choreography by Erik Kaiel Imagine the ground beneath you was hot lava and the only way you could move was to remain on top of someone’s body. That’s the concept behind Kaiel’s No Man Is an Island—basically it’s a balancing act like you’ve never seen before.

One dancer will climb, shift, move, pull, and push another dancer who lays almost lifeless on the ground. The dancer walks all over the body beneath him NEVER touching the floor.

He turns and twists his partner’s body into new positions until the partner manages to stand upright with the other dancer on his shoulders. During the performance, think about the different skills each of the performers needs. Which dancer would you rather be? Why?

Watch and listen for: the many different body shapes the dancer is able to create. how the dancer moves his partner’s body while never touching the floor. the amazing balance of the dancer on top. the slow, repetitious piano score that creates an atmospheric effect.

Watch how the top dancer’s feet never touch the floor during No Man Is an Island.

Do you know the electronic video game named Tetris®?

It’s all about strategy and having fun while trying to create order out of chaos. Various shapes in different sizes rain down on a screen and the player shifts, rotates, drops, and moves them around so they land in a row. When the pieces don’t fit together, they stack up awkwardly with lots of space in between. If the pile of pieces gets too tall, you lose the game. Sound familiar?

Like the video game, Kaiel creates all kinds of shapes in Tetris. But instead of colored blocks on a screen, Kaiel uses bodies in a performance space. Four (tetra means four) dancers flip over, slide under, and pile up on top of one another throughout the work. Dressed in colorful outfits, these dancers look like rugged acrobats challenging the laws of gravity. Their bodies combine to make interesting shapes, often with their legs or arms twisted together. As the interlocking shapes unfold, you’ll see that Tetris is about fitting into a group but also staying true to yourself.

Watch and listen for: how Tetris starts with one dancer fitting into the lap of another. This happens again, and again. how the dancers often make the same shape at the same time. This is called moving in unison. how the dancers create a complicated shape together, and then move across the stage by sliding, crawling, or walking on their hands. moments when the dancers move “in canon,” performing the same movement one right after the other.

the moment when a male dancer runs at full speed, jumps through the air, and is then caught by three others, only to be dropped immediately. the repetitious rhythms of the electronic music.

Cuesheet

Performance Guide

David M. Rubenstein Chairman

You Can Dance Anywhere

Deborah F. Rutter President

Who said you need an indoor theater space to dance? Erik Kaiel doesn’t think so. He likes to choreograph for unusual places including gardens, empty swimming pools, and even subway stations. While it’s easier to dance indoors and on a level floor, Kaiel’s choices are more challenging.

For example, when Kaiel’s dancers are outdoors, they interact with the surroundings.

They climb up the side of a building, slide down a pole, or balance on a park bench.

They interact with pedestrians. Oftentimes, they react to what is going on around them. They also improvise and create new ideas and movements right on the spot.

If this sounds like fun, it is. When the world around you becomes your playground to crawl over, wiggle under, slide around, or balance on top of, it will never look the same to you again. Try it!

Arch8 invites students to join their team and “dance” along with them.

Darrell M. Ayers Vice President, Education Additional support for TETRISplus is provided by The Clark Charitable Foundation; Kaplan, Inc.; Mr. James V. Kimsey; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Education.

Major support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by David and Alice Rubenstein through the Rubenstein Arts Access Program.

Arch8 Dance Company

Education and related artistic programs are made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.

Erik Kaiel, Artistic Director

www.kennedy-center.org/artsedge Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, a program of the Kennedy Center Education Department.

Learn more about education at the Kennedy Center at www.kennedy-center.org/education The contents of this Cuesheet have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education.

You should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. © 2015 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

This is not your everyday dance company.

Photo credits: Page 2, Robert Benschop; Page 3, Konrad Simowski; Back cover, Jeroen Bosch

Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by