A bit of perfection in an imperfect world - Summer Stages Dance/Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist Residency Project 2008

Last Saturday, Summer Stages Dance was at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) to present a special showing of their joint 2008 Artist Residency Project. It was a spectacular evening of celebration, as the past and current recipients of the award, and the future candidate, all showed in the evening's program.

Chris Elam/Misnomer Dance Theater (2007 recipient) and the Dance Conduction Continuum with Burnt Sugar Arkestra (2009 candidate) opened and closed the program. Guests also were treated to a sneak preview of a work in progress—a collaboration between New England-based new media artist/choreographer Nell Breyer and dancers/choreographers Alissa Cardone, Lorraine Chapman, and Bronwen MacArthur, all recipients of the 2008 Artist Residency Project award. The work will have its full world premiere during the 2009 Meet the Artist Performance Series at Summer Stages.


Jake Dresden, head of School at Concord Academy, where Summer Stages is in residence, was honored at the start of the evening for his commitment to arts education. Summer Stages co-founders and directors, Amy Spencer and Richard Colton, approached Head of School Dresden in 2005 with the idea to collaborate with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the Boston Ballet. Dresden supported the initiative, which has evolved into the Artist Residency Project.

The Summer Stages Dance/Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist Residency Project supports choreographers and their companies as they develop new works. Residents spend three weeks in July at Summer Stages Dance in Concord and three weeks in late fall at the BAC in New York. Colton called the residency “a bit of perfection in an imperfect world.”

At the event, Spencer thanked Dresden for his support of creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit at Concord Academy, and Dresden praised Summer Stages as “one of the thrills of the time I've been at the school. I've had a great deal of fun supporting it, watching it grow, and seeing the dancers who were at CA, now in NYC and other places.”

Several Summer Stages and CA alumnae/i, parents, and past parents attended the performance and a reception. Also on hand were representatives of our friends at the LEF Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and the New England Foundation for the Arts, all supporters of the Artist Residency Project.

Here's to next time

Summer Stages was a beautiful setting in which to explore the current phase of my work.  I collaborated with Jennifer Schmermund to both rehearse a dance installation that she and I premiered this August in New York City, and to create a group piece with ten Summer Stages Dance students.

The dancers that Jennifer and I got to work with were so dedicated and enthusiastic about the work, there was no way we couldn't love the experience of making a piece. Somehow, amidst classes, rehearsals for repertory, and ice cream at Bedford Farms, our cast had enough energy at the end of each day to find their way into the work -- to deepen their understanding of their individual place in and ownership of the piece.  The ongoing dialogue with directors Richard and Amy, the resident teachers, fellow students, and choreographers was invaluable both in refining the piece from the choreographic standpoint and giving the students the benefit of other perspectives on their performance.  By the end of the three weeks I think we were all proud of the work we'd done. The performance was wonderful, but I'll certainly remember the many hours of work and play in rehearsal with the most affection. 

Overall, I found it satisfying to participate in and see so much work in such a short period of time.  The work that came out of my three weeks at Summer Stages Dance will be a part of the pieces I make for at least the year to come.   I look forward to seeing many of the people I met at Summer Stages Dance again in New York and beyond.  Many thanks to Jen and the dancers, and to Amy, Richard, and the Summer Stages staff.  Here's to next time.

~Kimberly Young, '08 CPF

Thoughts from Choreographers' Project Fellow '08 Esteban Donoso

Summer Stages was the perfect setting for my collaboration with Laura (Chiramonte). The many showings and exposure of the works-in-progress really helped us find its shape onto the performance. Both Amy and Richard and the staff were very supportive and open to our many experiments and re-definitions of the work. The relaxed-but-still-pushing atmosphere allowed us to establish a dialogue and have way into eachother's thoughts, but not linger or get lost in the process.

I felt very lucky to work with a group of Summer Stages dancers so open and willing to experiment within themselves at great depth. The group of fellows became quite a supportive environment for exchanges, insights and examination of my own biases.

Summer Stages allowed me to take a more objective look at creative processes.

Esteban Donoso