(Camille)
Camille A. Brown is one of the choreographers/performers whom you know will end up making a huge splash in the dance world. Looking at her already impressive resume she already has. Brown danced for Ronald K.Brown and has choreographed for Hubbard Street, Philandanco and Alvin Ailey, all in her twenties. I remember her when i was a freshman at NCSA and she was a senior. I would hear all this buzz about her dancing and her work. At that moment in time i was coming from a strictly classical background and was not too interested in modern dance which interesting cause i was a modern major. And i digress...Every spring semester all of the seniors in the modern dept had to do weeklong performances titled "Emerging Choreographers". "Emerging" is the chance to work on new material that you have full control over concerning dancers, music, costumes and set. We all considered it a right of passage and eagerly awaited Emerging so we can see what our classmates have been working on and it inspired all of us lower classman to strive and work harder (not me at the time). As i said Camilles piece had all the buzz going around campus. By the time "Emerging" had come around i had already not been invited back into the program because i was more or less a little punk bitch with no real direction and still not feeling modern or contemporary dance. In class the floor combination would start right and i would be going left. Modern for me then was way more restrictive and less free then ballet and i would never let it on back then but the teachers intimidated the shit out of me so it was even harder to focus cause i had all this pressure built up. Not gonna lie the principals that were being taught to me by the teachers with trying to be "organic" and “transition” talk simply did not register with me. Sounded to me like hippy talk. I had no clue what they were going on about.
Finally, we had made it to the "emerging" week and all dancers were required to go to all dance performances and more or less the whole 1st half i was not to thrilled with. Simply did not care for the movement or dancing. I was too young to understand the simple complexities back then but a strange thing happened. After being utterly bored during the performances Camilles piece went on last, and rightly so. The dancers in her “emerging” were all upper classmen with a couple men from my class. Once the dancers took stage i was floored. The entire performance my focus was razor sharp looking onstage while trying to absorb every piece of movement. The music was so heart felt and the dancers were so giving with their movement while still being hungry to eat up as much space as possible. Watching her choreography was a turning point for me. The performance went on for a solid week after the 1st show i saw and i snuck in every night right before Camilles piece so that i could watch it again and again. It’s weird that the teacher’s weren’t able to get through to me but seeing what she had presented onstage i finally understood what they were getting at. All of the principals about releasing while maintaining strength and control made sense. Watching the dancers with their wild abandon yet still maintaining all control, I got it. I was so moved and touched by her work that it made me focus and snap out of me being a little punk kid who had a lot of potential but never had the focus to push it. Now I was ready to work. Now there was something to work towards. What sucked was by then it was too late for me. I had already been kicked out and everyone knows that if you were to fight it you still would not get back in. I’ve never heard a story of someone getting back into the program once kicked out. I got into the Ailey summer program and had my new found focus. I worked harder than i ever had in my life that summer for 8 long hot ass weeks so that i could re audition for NCSA. Once the summer was over and all the students were going back to school i had no clue what was going to happen to me but i was ready for whatever. Oddly enough I was not worried because my dancing and focus had changed. If it did not work out at NCSA I would have gone elsewhere. What happened to me was Bebe the dance secretary called me and told me to come back to school and re audition and i got back into the program on September 11th. Its crazy to think that i can trace exactly when and where i had the turning point to work for i wanted and that happens to be Camille A. Brown! Her emerging was changed my interpretation of dance and made me focus on movement. Dance is just a word ya know?
Since then i have had the honor to come back to my school and choreograph a piece using a soloist from the San Francisco Ballet and another from Hubbard Street for our deans stepping down of the post and the new dean Ethan Stiefel stepping up. It was like hell had froozen over or something. Me the black swan of the program got to share the stage with some of my best friends and dancers from Boston ballet, ABT, NYCB and most important Camille and it was soo sweet. Everything had come back around to that moment. Camille had inspired me without ever knowing it to push forward and work and i got the chance to share the stage with her and other dancers that I respected. Not too mention Ethan Stiefel. It was so special.
This weekend Camille is presenting a full evenings work at the Joyce theatre in NY. I hear that all performances are sold out but if you are lucky enough to go to the show i hope that you take away something as inspiring from her work as i did.
I wish her all the luck in the word in all future endeavors. She is an amazing artists and person.
more info.
Camille A. Brown
Joyce Soho
155 Mercer St between W Houston and Prince Sts
Soho
212-352-3101
Subway: B, D, F, V to Broadway–Lafayette St; N, R, W to Prince St; 6 to Bleecker St
Prices
Tickets: $18
Description
Camille A. Brown returns to the Joyce Soho with Mary, Matchstick, The Evolution of a Secured Feminine and The Groove to Nobody's Business.
When
Tonight–Sat 8pm , Sun 3pm
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