| Margaret Jenkins |
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At MANCC, the set for A Slipping Glimpse was re-designed for touring purposes, and the work was re-mounted with all collaborators prior to touring Maryland, New York and Chicago. In highlighting the significance of the set, Jenkins said, “I wanted, through the physical environment of the interior set, to suggest inside and outside at the same time, a work about being “in space” and “in place.” The work was originally commissioned as a site-specific work for the large forum space at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco in 2006. Jenkins utilized the Grande Studio of Montgomery Hall to re-stage the work in a smaller space before the tour began.
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Jenkins rehearsed with ten MJDC dancers and four dancers of the Tansuree Shankar Dance Company. Because there was a new configuration of the Shankar dancers since they last performed together in April 2007, the residency provided the only rehearsal period Jenkins had with all 14 dancers before their tour. Jenkins was also able to experiment with the new design of the set, thus re-setting the dancers’ transitions accordingly. The composers and musicians for A Slipping Glimpse, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, also joined the residency, which allowed them to accommodate to the choreographic timing shifts due to the re-designed set and find the ideal location for their stage positioning.
The FSU students/faculty/staff and the Tallahassee community saw the first showing of A Slipping Glimpse with its rescaled design. They also engaged in dialogue with Jenkins, the MJDC dancers and the Shankar dancers about Jenkins’ creative process in India and the U.S., Jenkins’ historic and present experiences as a choreographer, and the dancers’ cross-cultural opportunities. Our community gained insight about how the movement for A Slipping Glimpse originated by watching an improvisation that Jenkins simulated based on the initial improvisations in India.
Choreographer, teacher, and mentor Margaret Jenkins began her early dance training in San Francisco, and continued at Juilliard and UCLA. In New York during the 1960’s, she danced in the companies of Viola Farber, Gus Solomons and Twyla Tharp’s original company with Sara Rudner. Jenkins also taught on the faculty of the Merce Cunningham Studio and often restaged Mr. Cunningham’s works for companies in Europe and the United States.
MJDC Dancers Heidi Eckwall, production/stage manager
Tanusuree Shankar Dancers Jaydip Guha, dancer
Paul Dresher
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