Of course there were other people attending the New York workshop besides Ruth Grauert. It was a very small but very good bunch of old friends. There were five of my dance buddies from the 1960's two of whom I hadn't seen for 40 years. Susan Crietz, Virginia Laidlaw, Bob Beswick, Ruth Grauert and Jeanette Stoner, (who just watched the last Sunday session), made this a very nostalgic event. They were joined by Pamela Knowles who first did a few weekend workshops with me in Sydney several years ago and the lovely young Cammie Kelly both of whom are now living in New York. I had Pamela who is a very good jazz singer do a vocal accompaniment to a solo movement piece of mine. She was absolutely magnificent.
It was with great delight that I watched Cammie, who I believe is still in her twenties, dance along side these much older improv people. It stimulated me into doing a rolling duet with her, something I thought was totally beyond my soon to be 66 year old body. Then there was the trio she did with Ruth and Virginia, the three of them doing a silent dance piece totally connected in their use of time, space, shape and motion (Nikolais words) primary movers, basic articulaters, facings and spacings (my words). I loved seeing my two worlds (student & teacher) mesh so easily.
In the next two weeks I get to be with the two women who were so influential in helping me evolve my teaching style, Ruth zaporah and Terry Sendgraff. I'll teach weekend workshops in Santa Fe and Berkeley. Stay tuned.
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