INTERVIEW: ECHOensemble dancers become ‘One’
Photo: ECHOensemble presents the world premiere of One by Jonah Udall. Photo courtesy of David Gonsier / Provided by Michelle Tabnick PR with permission.
Jonah Udall’s new evening-length piece, called One, is a combination of sound and movement that is brought to life by the performers in ECHOensemble. Performances of the premiere take place Jan. 27-28 at Dixon Place in New York City.
It took two years to develop the show, which explores how musicians and dancers become resonate bodies and instruments of space.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Udall about One. He is both the director and a guitarist for the company. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can audience members expect from One?
I describe One as evolving architecture of movement and sound. ECHOensemble coaxes out what is already there in the space and the moment, inviting the audience to experience this discovery with us. It’s an evening-length work in three parts, featuring nine performers — all very individual musicians and dancers, that have developed an incredible group connectivity that I think really shows.
How long and difficult was the development process for the show?
The creative process that created One began over two years ago with musicians in Miami, but the work actually materialized with ECHOensemble, this amazing group of musicians and dancers that began coming together weekly to research these ideas starting early 2018. I feel so fortunate we’ve had such a durational process; it’s allowed us to really grow together organically. I don’t want to say it has been difficult. Every challenge has led to major revelations, and I’ve loved every minute of it.
How do the dancers and musicians ‘blur the boundaries’ of their respective art forms?
We all use the same processes to create both movement and sound — as opposed to the usual following or accompanying each other. This levels the playing field, inviting us all to see eye to eye. It’s a very exciting way to create because it immediately stretches your imagination. Mary Overlie’s Viewpoints training has been transformative for us because it offers an approach to working with space and time as discrete materials that we share.
Is everything the audience will experience staged and choreographed, or is there an improvisational aspect as well?
In fact, the entire work is improvised, in a sense. I use that word with trepidation because while the practice we create with is entirely of-the-moment, it is a far cry from the spontaneous creative agency usually associated with improvisation. One is based in a practice we call SHIFT, of letting go into natural processes of repetition through evolution.
What’s your role like as guitarist for the evening?
This work requires an entirely different relationship to an instrument, informed by shape and space. As it turns out, a guitar and human body create quite a strange, clunky geometry, which pushes me creatively in amazing ways. But in order to fully take on the role of director, I have reduced my performing role, which has actually been quite liberating. These artists are phenomenal, and I feel like I’m playing vicariously through them.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
ECHOensemble’s One will play Jan. 27-28 at Dixon Place in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
