Tuesday, November 4, 1997
Parkes’ autobiographical concert makes leaps, bounds onstage
DANCE Mix of writing, choreography pioneers new realm in the
arts
By Kristi Nakamura
Daily Bruin Contributor
Imagine exposing yourself onstage, not physically, but stripping
down the most intimate life experiences to your barest essentials
in front of a theater full of strangers and friends – all potential
critics.
That is exactly what Masters of Fine Arts candidate Jo Parkes, a
Fulbright Scholar, choreographer and writer in the World Arts and
Cultures Department, purports to do in her concert, "Bring Your
Distances To Mine," in the Dance Building, Theater 200 on Nov. 7
and 8.
"You have to be really brave to stand up on stage and say, ‘This
is who I am,’" Parkes says. "My constant note to (the cast) is that
they should really try to be themselves, to try and just really
recognize who they are when they’re on stage, and they’re really
willing to do that."
"Bring Your Distances To Mine" features seven different works.
Each of the works presents a different autobiographical story about
Parkes or her dancers. Often, however, the work is a fusion of the
experiences of both Parkes and the dancers.
"In a part (the piece) has been a lot about her movement, but
then again, it’s been about how we personally collaborate with one
another," says Danielle Zotter, a performer in the concert piece
"Silent Talking."
For Parkes, the initial stage of the choreographing process
begins not with dance but with learning about who her dancers are
as people and what their experiences have been.
Many hours of Parkes’ time have been dedicated to holding
workshops and talking to different people, trying to understand
where they are coming from in life. Parkes includes many different
types of dancers in her performance, both old and young,
experienced and beginners.
"The pieces start with who the dancers are and their stories.
I’m very concerned with having real people on the stage and not
ethereal things. You know, it’s really about real life," Parkes
says.
Among the topics Parkes covers in her performance are
euthanasia, the pursuit of the perfect bottom, abortion, ants in
the kitchen, and the secrets everyone has that they feel they
cannot talk about.
Parkes hopes her presentation of everyday life and actual human
experiences will attract more than the usual dance crowd. She
attempts to make the medium accessible to dancers and non-dancers
alike.
Her choreographic style of fusing text and movement adds a new
twist to the dance performance. Having been an English major as an
undergraduate student at Oxford University in England, Parkes feels
as much a passion for writing as she does for dance.
"I’m so much on the margin of theater," Parkes says. "Dance
people would call it theater, and theater people would call it
dance. It’s very on the edge and I’m excited by that, but that’s
very challenging because it means that dancers need to speak and
actors need to dance, and everybody needs to learn how to use their
breath and vocalize."
The combination of speaking and dancing is something that is new
for many of the dancers, and Parkes believes it’s a challenge that
can be scary for them sometimes. It’s even scary for her to expose
that much of herself on stage, she says.
Because of her desire to bring theater, dance and writing
together, as well her ambition to deal with real-life issues,
Parkes considers herself to be a demanding choreographer. She
commends her cast on being so willing to go to the places they
needed to go artistically.
"I know that as a choreographer working with other
choreograpers, she’s been very focused and very in tune to what she
wants out of her movements, and that relates to what her story’s
about," says Cassandra Chae, a dancer in the piece "Silent
Talking."
Parkes says she feels for most of her life, dance and writing
did not come together, and it was a struggle to decide between the
two. Modern dance was a point where Parkes found she could
communicate both with words and with movement. She credits UCLA and
the World Arts and Cultures Department with allowing her the space
to discover that.
"I think there are very few places in the world where I would
have had the freedom to combine text and movement in this way and
to really, to find my own voice, and it’s very distinctly mine,"
Parkes says. "Of course, the department has given me so much
financial support while I’ve been doing this, and it’s really
important that the university continues to do that. If you want a
generation of artists, you have to help them make their work."
When Parkes graduates winter quarter, she will return to England
to teach and perform. The immediate goal will be to have her work
seen in festivals and programs. Her ultimate dream is to have her
own company working together consistently somewhere outside of the
city.
For now though, every last bit of energy and dedication is being
poured into her M.F.A. concert, "Bring Your Distances To Mine."
"It’s a bit like making a patchwork quilt," Parkes says. "It’s
got to weave together, and the colors have got to match."
DANCE: "Bring Your Distances To Mine" will run Nov. 7 and 8 in
the UCLA Dance Building, Theater 200. Tickets are $8, $6 for
students. For more information, call 825-3951.