I've gotten several requests from people to explain a bit more about the Crystal Ballet (working title) I've been working on, and for good reason. Art by its nature can be very abstract (i.e strange) and the subject matter of this project is no exception. I'll try and explain the idea behind the ballet, our collaboration, and what my collaborators and I are hoping to achieve with it.
The project got its start in the spring of 2013, when my friend Laura Donnelly, a dance instructor at Kansas State University, met Amit Chakrabarti, a physics professor and chair of the physics department at KSU. Amit mentioned that he had an idea for a ballet based on the physics of a solid crystal structure melting, then resolidifying into a glass. Laura was quite intrigued by the concept and decided to make it a reality. Shortly after, I was asked to provide the musical material. Before making the ballet, however, Laura and I needed a little bit of a physics lesson from Amit to grasp the science behind crystals.
Amit drew several pictures as he talked to make the concepts easy to understand. I haven't taken physics since high school, so this helped GREATLY in getting an idea of what a crystal is! Essentially, a crystal has its atoms arranged in a tightly packed, grid-like structure. When enough heat is applied to this grid, the atoms begin to move and eventually break out of the grid, traveling in random directions. If the heat is then turned down slowly, he atoms eventually return to their normal grid structure. However, if the atoms are quickly cooled they instead come together in tiny, random clumps, forming a glass.
After this bit of learning came the hard part: figuring out what we wanted to SAY with this ballet. One of the first guidelines we agreed upon was the work wasn't to literally depict physics through music and dance as a sort of teaching aid. This is what's known as arts integration, and while it has become a great educational tool in recent years we felt the project wasn't a good fit for that approach. Instead, we decided to have the physics guide and inspire the music and dance as a unifying theme. We feel that both the arts and sciences can benefit with each informing the other this way. In addition, we wanted to show the world the level collaboration that we wanted to do; each of our creative input to this work would inform the others' and change the overall outcome of the project. Above all else, we wanted to inspire others to undertake their own collaborations and see what they might discover.
Then our talk got down to brass tacks. How long would the ballet be? Who would perform the music? When would it be performed? How would we get it funded? Also, how do you advertise something like this? Could we distribute it somehow?
After a bit of brainstorming, we settled on a three-movement form for the ballet, corresponding to a crystal's solid, melted, and glass forms. Each movement would transition seamlessly from one to the next, as we thought this would reflect the gradual morphing of one form to the next. The ballet itself would be around 12-14 minutes; any longer and the dancers would begin to have fatigue issues (dancing takes a LOT of energy). As for the music performers, I decided I would write for a solo percussionist (myself) playing both acoustic and electronic instruments along with an audio track. The "when" question was answered by having a series of performances. The first movement would be premiered one semester, the first and second the next, and the entire work the third. This made it much easier for Laura, as she could choreograph and teach her dancers one movement at a time (pun intended), and not have the monster task of setting an entire work in one semester. Plus, it gave our collaboration more visibility with the added performances (which means more opportunities for me to play percussion, always a plus!).
Funding this project has involved a variety of sources which have evolved over time. Each of the ballet's performances are a part of either SpringDance or WinterDance, which are biannual recitals KSU's dance department puts on. This means thankfully we didn't have to spend much money on advertisements or performance spaces, which can add up quickly. I also received a Graduate Creative Endeavors Grant from Central Michigan University this spring to offset much of the travel costs getting to the performances, of which I am very thankful for as well (plane tickets aren't cheap, people). Finally, we've also applied for a New Music USA grant to offset costs with equipment, performers, and other production costs. We'll find out tomorrow whether that has been rewarded and I'll be sure to post an update.
Next week I'll discuss how I wrote the first movement of the ballet, which premiered this March at KSU's SpringDance. Of course, it would would be silly of me not to give you something to listen to, so here's a recording of said premiere!
After this bit of learning came the hard part: figuring out what we wanted to SAY with this ballet. One of the first guidelines we agreed upon was the work wasn't to literally depict physics through music and dance as a sort of teaching aid. This is what's known as arts integration, and while it has become a great educational tool in recent years we felt the project wasn't a good fit for that approach. Instead, we decided to have the physics guide and inspire the music and dance as a unifying theme. We feel that both the arts and sciences can benefit with each informing the other this way. In addition, we wanted to show the world the level collaboration that we wanted to do; each of our creative input to this work would inform the others' and change the overall outcome of the project. Above all else, we wanted to inspire others to undertake their own collaborations and see what they might discover.
Then our talk got down to brass tacks. How long would the ballet be? Who would perform the music? When would it be performed? How would we get it funded? Also, how do you advertise something like this? Could we distribute it somehow?
After a bit of brainstorming, we settled on a three-movement form for the ballet, corresponding to a crystal's solid, melted, and glass forms. Each movement would transition seamlessly from one to the next, as we thought this would reflect the gradual morphing of one form to the next. The ballet itself would be around 12-14 minutes; any longer and the dancers would begin to have fatigue issues (dancing takes a LOT of energy). As for the music performers, I decided I would write for a solo percussionist (myself) playing both acoustic and electronic instruments along with an audio track. The "when" question was answered by having a series of performances. The first movement would be premiered one semester, the first and second the next, and the entire work the third. This made it much easier for Laura, as she could choreograph and teach her dancers one movement at a time (pun intended), and not have the monster task of setting an entire work in one semester. Plus, it gave our collaboration more visibility with the added performances (which means more opportunities for me to play percussion, always a plus!).
Funding this project has involved a variety of sources which have evolved over time. Each of the ballet's performances are a part of either SpringDance or WinterDance, which are biannual recitals KSU's dance department puts on. This means thankfully we didn't have to spend much money on advertisements or performance spaces, which can add up quickly. I also received a Graduate Creative Endeavors Grant from Central Michigan University this spring to offset much of the travel costs getting to the performances, of which I am very thankful for as well (plane tickets aren't cheap, people). Finally, we've also applied for a New Music USA grant to offset costs with equipment, performers, and other production costs. We'll find out tomorrow whether that has been rewarded and I'll be sure to post an update.
Next week I'll discuss how I wrote the first movement of the ballet, which premiered this March at KSU's SpringDance. Of course, it would would be silly of me not to give you something to listen to, so here's a recording of said premiere!
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