Rehearsal mirrors multiply a horde of dancers practicing a section of “Bohemian Dawn.” From left to right are Katie Alexander (reflected) Britney Meunier, Caitlyn Gage, Danielle Cotnoir, Allison Whittemore, Maggie Jones, and Kathrine Mansfield. Photos by Joseph Gresser
NEWPORT — On a cold January afternoon the students on stage in the North Country Union High School auditorium were bundled up in hoodies, sweat pants, and school jackets. As their stretches, turns, and leaps started to warm them, the students shed layers of clothing.
Soon the theater’s seats were draped in discarded garments, and the students assumed the functional look of dancers in practice attire — outfits that allow them freedom to move and that let them clearly see the shapes made by their bodies moving through space.
The dancers, members of the North Country student dance company, were beginning work on a piece that would not be performed until the school’s spring dance concerts on May 17 and 18.
They had spent the morning learning a section of the piece, and now each practiced bits of movement in preparation for the afternoon rehearsal.
Arlene Steiner finished her preparations and waited for teacher Skurdall to call her dancers to order. Ms. Steiner knew the drill, because ten years ago she was a member of the North Country Dance Company. The former Newport resident graduated in 1998 and pursued a career in dance.
After graduation Ms. Steiner went to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts in dance. From there she went to Boston where she started Tandem Dance, a company that she ran for three years. After that she started teaching dance, became a personal trainer, and worked as a freelance choreographer.
Ms. Skurdall invited Ms. Steiner back to create a work for her company as part of a program to bring some of the North Country dancers who
During the last run through dancers wear costume elements designed by Robert Wing. From left to right: Britney Meunier, Jessica Poulin, and Danielle Cogan remain earthbound, while Analesa Muir, Allison Whittemore, and Kathrine Mansfield soar.
have made a career out of dance back home to share their experience with today’s students.
The dancers have been called to order. One group heads off to the left side of the stage ready to run through their section of the piece. The music starts — it’s Rebop’s remix of Dizzy Gillespie’s recording of “Caravan.” The composition’s sinuous melody is buried under the rhythm track, but the desert feel of the piece remains intact.
The group of dancers sweep on stage together, their smooth movements broken by sharp accents and dramatic poses. As they hit their mark and freeze, a second group of dancers moves toward them from the other side of the stage. Soon the first group is rushing through their lines, their run broken by little twisting leaps.
Ms. Steiner stops them, jumps on stage, and begins to move dancers around. Grasping one and then another by her hips, she rearranges the group so the patterns can be seen clearly.
The dancers look around and start again. One part of their job is remembering large and small corrections and incorporating them into the piece.
Once dancers recalled the morning work, Ms. Steiner moved on to the next section of the piece. This involved lifts, one dancer picking up another. Lifts can be dangerous, and Ms. Steiner worked slowly and carefully.
Arlene Steiner (center) shows dancers how she wants a movement to look. Around her are Allison Whittemore, Kathrine Mansfield, and Gwynne Jones.
With a volunteer she demonstrated how one person can simply roll up onto the hip of another dancer and allow that dancer to hold her sideways without ever having to actually pick her up.
Later she ran at full speed toward a dancer and jumped up on her, hooking her elbow over that dancers shoulder and tucking herself in, almost like a baby. The catching dancer reported that it was easy to bear Ms. Steiner’s weight.
When Ms. Steiner pushed off and landed on the floor, the watching students gasped, but they quickly caught up the trick of preparing themselves for what only looks like an uncontrolled fall.
Ms. Steiner used the dancers’ newly learned skills as she built more phrases for the dance. As they ran the piece, she stood in the auditorium, watching.
“It looks just like I pictured it,” she finally said.
Ms. Skurdall videotaped the session. She would have to rehearse the company until Ms. Steiner returned in April to polish the piece for performance.
The snow was almost all gone when Ms. Steiner came back to Newport in late April. While the dancers prepared for the rehearsal, she conferred
Lifts look hard and can be dangerous, but Arlene Steiner shows how to make them easy and safer. Ms. Steiner holds Gwynne Jones while, from left to right, Caitlyn Gage, Danielle Cotnoir, Shelby Blake, Katie Alexander, Danielle Cogan, Analesa Muir, Maggie Jones, and Kathrine Mansfield look on.
backstage with Robert Wing, a North Country English teacher with a passion for the theater. He showed an enthusiastic Ms. Steiner his ideas for costumes for her piece.
The rehearsal began, but the dancers were only in motion for an instant when Ms. Steiner stopped them. Their accents were no longer as sharp as they were meant to be.
Again the dancers started, again Ms. Steiner corrected them.
Slowly, with many pauses for correction and discussion, the hard work of cleaning the piece proceeded. Movements had become softer over the months of rehearsal, and off-beat accents had shifted to the beat, an easier thing for the dancers. Ms. Steiner would have none of it, and she pushed the dance back toward her original vision.
The hard work was interrupted by Mr. Wing, who arrived with completed costume elements, a slashed tube top, worn over the dancer’s leotard, and bright scarves for accents. The dancers laughed as they tried out different ways to wear the scarves.
Ms. Steiner watched and made suggestions. Finally a uniform arrangement was decided on. Taking the moment, she gathered the dancers to give them a series of images to help them capture the spirit of the dance.
A caravan is a group of people traveling together through the desert, she told them. This caravan is composed of people who stop and perform to earn money to continue their journey.
In a dramatic moment from “Bohemian Dawn,” Danielle Cotnoir leaps, while, to her left, Katie Alexander, Allison Whittemore, Hannah Ricard, Kathrine Mansfield, and Analesa Muir rise and run.
After the rehearsal Ms. Steiner expanded on that theme. “If the arts are your survival, you’d better be good at it,” she said emphatically.
Ms. Steiner said she started her piece by choosing the music. “I had to be smart enough to use what the music gave me.” In addition to the images, the music provided structure, she said.
“I totally developed the structure before I put the movement in,” Ms. Steiner said. Mapping out music was a skill learned at North Country from Ms. Skurdall, she said.
Back in the theater Ms. Steiner needs to find one more element for the dance, a title. She and Ms. Skurdall confer. They want something that will give the audience a key to the piece, but not something too obvious.
The final choice is “Bohemian Dawn.” The curtain will open on the completed piece on Saturday, May 17. Ms. Steiner won’t see the completed work with lights and costumes until Sunday, May 18.
As dancers try on costumes Cheri Skurdall, Arlene Steiner, and Jessica Poulin offer suggestions and encouragement.
