Worker History @ the Beach House

Rachel hanging out! Photo by Eric Davis

At the beginning of the residency, I was able to borrow the documentary about Marion Davies from the Santa Monica Public Library and it filled me with with information and ideas about the dances I would make.  I made contact with the documentarian, a woman named Elaina Archer, and we exchanged supportive introductions.  Yesterday, I emailed her with some questions about the working staff at the site when Davies lived there.  In response today, she directed me to Taylor Coffman, who has written a thorough examination of the site's history.  He's collected his information into an ebook he calls Hearst and Marion: The Santa Monica Connection.  It's filled with great first hand info--newspaper clippings, announcements, etc.

Unfortunately, Mr. Coffman bemoans the lack of archival records about the staff at the house in MD's time, though he does recall the names of two butler/housemen in the big house:  George Eckert and possibly Eckert's successor, a man named Constantine Fox, usually called Connie.  Disappointing for that to be the extent of available info, but great to have their names.  

This past Sunday, after working with dancer Gloria Tinajero in the artist-in-residence office and then on the beach, I wanted to find out how long it would take to crawl along the path by the sand from one end of the property (by the edge of the pool and the front office) to the edge of the property in line with the Guest House.  The dancers had tried crawling a few times before and the visual impact of the action was dramatically evocative!  To me, it refers to all the workers that have kept that place running--the unseen and unacknowledged, but without whom the place would fall down within minutes!  

I had a great chat with one of the landscapers after my crawl, a young guy named Ricardo who told me he spends abut an hour a shift sweeping the sand off the pathway, trying to avoid the possibility of anyone slipping on the premises.  Ricardo doesn't complain about this thankless task and it reminded me of Northeasterners shoveling snow.  Ricardo said there are times in the year that the sand blows heavier up to the Guest House property than other times and the recent inclement and windy weather has resulted in some long hours sweeping the path.  

If interested, you can find Taylor Coffman's ebook here!

Workshop in the Surf and Sand Room

Keith with Rachel, Christine and Jillian discussing the plan (photo taken by Eric Davis)

On Monday, I led a movement workshop in the Surf and Sand Room at the Annenberg Community Beach House for a group of about twenty adults.  The event was listed as part of the Beach=Culture series and was a chance for me, the choreographer in residence, to interact with the Santa Monica community.   Ir was a blast!

One gentleman arrived early and chatted with me and Naomi, the coordinator of the B=C program.  We talked about his interest in ballroom dancing and his desire for there to be free classes offered at the site in the future ;-)  Naomi encouraged the smiling man to find a ballroom teacher somewhere and incite that person to propose teaching at the Beach House.

By the time the event began, small groups and individuals arrived and found seats along the back wall of the long and narrow room.   Surprised as I was by their choice to sit down for a movement workshop, I immediately invited them back onto their feet.  I asked several people why they had come and what they were hoping would happen and I had to disappoint a few whose desires would not be met by me at this time ;-(  I had a loose idea of what I wanted to do and would decide what I thought would work best when I saw who was there and what they were interested in doing.

I didn't plan on defining what specific movements "mean" and, though there are some ballroom dancing steps in some of the choreography in the new pieces, I wasn't going to lead a class on waltzing or fox trotting or anything else like that.  I did consider some charleston-ing . . . but that didn't happen, either.

Instead, we started with a standing warm-up; quietly moving our arms and legs around, isolating different muscle and bone sections of our bodies and stretching some always-too-tight muscles.  It was great to loosen things up and I could see that almost everyone was enjoying what they were doing and feeling in their bodies.  Then, the real fun began!

Quickly describing the fact that Marion Davies threw lots of parties in her home when she lived there, we preceded to play some movement-based games . . . like party games!  Dividing into pairs, we started with a blind (wo)man walk:  with one person's hand in the hand of her or his partner, the partner led the closed-eyed accomplice in a walk around the room.  Careful not to lead the "blindfolded" person into any dangerous situations, (s)he was led here and there in the room, getting to notice what (s)he felt with eyes closed and what one participant called a "liberated" experience--someone else was making all the decisions and making sure everything went well!

Next, drawing directly from one of the Marx Brothers' 1930 movies' scenes now referred to as "The Mirror Scene," where Harpo and Groucho, dressed in identical night clothes, hats and mustaches face each other and one imitates the other (as in a mirror).  In the beautiful Surf and Sand Room overlooking the majestic Pacific Ocean, each couple chose a leader and the other partner had to imitate the leader, as if (s)he were looking in a mirror!  This was great!  Some people moved carefully and slowly (my suggestion), but others moved crazily, quickly and humorously with the partner trying to find their way to match them.  Funny and cool!

We followed that with a version of the 60s floor game called Twister.  Instead of a floor map with colored circles and a spinner telling us where to place arms and legs, I encouraged players to place specific body parts on other specific body parts on their partner (as in the preceding game, we switched partners and roles so that everyone got a chance to do each thing).  This started with something like "Your left hand to your partner's left shoulder" and kept adding things on. including traveling in a circle, "The crown of your head to your partner's chest" and more and more.  It became a little bit silly, a little bit embarrassing, with a lot of laughing and fun throughout.  I was thrilled at how willingly everyone tried everything, didn't blatantly flinch.  Everyone survived with a smile ;-)

The session soon ended and one participant, a docent named Kathy, brought some delicious cookies for everyone to share.  A sweet way to end the evening!  I also got to chat with some of the others and found out that some of them might be interested in performing with my company . . . VERY COOL!

More on all this later ;-)

SURFERS WANTED!

photo found in Marion Davies Guest House display table

Please pass the word . . .

Surfers wanted! 

for on-the-sand performance at Marion Davies Beach House, Santa Monica.  No performance experience necessary.  Short celebration of surfing in the history of the site.  Attendance at as many of the following times as possible requested.

Performance:  Monday May 16 6:30 pm (be there by 5:30-ish)
Dress Rehearsal:  Sunday May 15 2:30 pm (be there by 1:30)
Rehearsals:  Saturdays May 7 and 14 from 10-noon

No parking fee.  Travel allowance provided.

For more info or to participate, please email current Marion Davies Beach House artist in residence Keith k@keithglassman.org or call 714-658-3272

Moving on!

Jillian Stein and Rachel Lopez in photo taken by composer Eric Davis

 Well, now we're into it!  I recently uploaded a bunch of video bits from our rehearsals and am happy to share them with all!  I'm tickled by the duet with septuagenarians Ken Takemoto and Klyda Mahoney against Groucho Marx singing  "Everyone Says I Love You," stoked with the Friday rehearsal trio learning the beach section from repertory (Mavericks), compelled after crawling from one end of the Beach House grounds to the other in half an hour and totally blown away by composer/music arranger Eric Davis' collection of sound ideas from '20s and '30s popular and stage/film music!  He even has audio of Marion Davies singing some classic tunes!

The Friday trio at the wall continues to explore and reveal more and more exciting options for action set against the architecture.  And, did I mention I'm in conversation with Aqualillies synchronized swimming company director Mesha Kussman about closing the performance with escapades in the pool?  RAD! 

Stop there and take a look at the vids.  The one with the kids is just what happens when we rehearse in public--everyone wants to get into the act!  That's Rachel Lopez leading the young people's procession in the splash pool area and Gloria Tinajero and Carmen Rojo cavorting with the patio furniture.

Click here & enjoy!

Cold and Wet At the Beach!

We had our first rehearsals in not too-perfect weather this week, though I'm happy to say things are changing as I sit here in the artist's residency office of the Marion Davies Guest House.  Though right now the sun is shining brilliantly, the other night Louie and I showed up to play in the spaces and we wore layers of clothing, hoods and hats to keep warm!

We played around the sculpture ("Shadow") and on the ground/basement floor entryway of the Guest House.  The movement experience was chilling to watch as Louie negotiated his weight on the steps to the basement doorway and around the sculpture.  One of the other great realizations we had was about the scale of what we could do around the artwork.

Given that the Beach House Complex is several acres long, most of what I've been doing refers to that grand scale.  Audiences walking around will watch what we do from several feet (if not yards) away.  So, the visible movement needs to reach folks at that distance from the performer.  So, bigger is almost better! ;)

Different from making work for the concert stage, which I often fill with nuance and detail, the movement choices I make here have to incorporate those elements from a longer viewing range.  Nevertheless, the work we're doing around "Shadow" will be seen by people just feet away from the dancer . . . which means the viewer can almost feel the energy of smaller scale action. And,just as significantly, the audio accompaniment can include more complex sounds, aka words!

So, Louie and I talked about having other live performers talk about the site and its history while he dances . . . maybe we can collect anecdotes and recollections from folks who worked here back in the day and present them with the movement.

Cool!  Let's see where we go with that idea!

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Working at the Beach!

There we were--Rachel, Christine, Karla, Carmen, Stefanie and I--applying high factor sunscreen to protect our skin from the all-so-powerful sun that was beaming down on us at the Pool House.  It was a beautiful day--warm from above and the breeze was just cool enough to keep us comfortable.  We were embarking on a new adventure at the site, with eyes wide open and energy abounding!

We were exploring the architecture--the tall white "footprints" of the original Hearst-built home, the Dressing Room Slatted Wall, the outdoor furniture, the stairs, and the second story View Deck.  It was rad!

The dancers (dressed mostly in dark colors against the white of the stanchions) popped out and created compelling counterpoint to the linear edifice.  The shade of the building hid some of the exploration, but we were learning about what would and wouldn't be effectively seen in the space at this time of day (with the sun moving, each moment yields a different lighting arrangement).

The dancers and I took breaks to hydrate and discuss some of our findings and then we resumed the investigation.  Though it was several hours before we called it quits, the day was a blast for everyone!  I could've stayed there even longer watching the movers address new and different aspects of the building, but we were ready to approach a differerent locale.  Onward!!

above photo  taken by Cheryl Ann at the opening of the facility in 2009!