At Amanda Selwyn’s Rehearsal

Monday January 28th, 2019 – Photographer Travis Magee and I stopped in at the Ailey Studios today where Amanda Selwyn and her dancers were rehearsing their work-in-progress, CROSSROADS. Inspired by the art of Magritte and Escher, the premiere performances will be given June 20th thru 22nd, 2019, at New York Live Arts.

In October, we had a first look at CROSSROADS when the Company held an open rehearsal. There, we watched the individual dancers creating movement phrases which are then taught to their colleagues, and later elaborated on or modified by the ensemble, to be finally woven into the overall fabric of the dancework.

This process continued today, and Amanda described to me the set pieces (doors, re-arrangeable boxes) that will become part of the staging. This afternoon, the stackable boxes were in play, with the dancers getting used to using them as seats, pedestals, and springboards for athletic feats.

The rehearsal atmosphere is relaxed, but with a strong focus on mastering the various movements that will become part of CROSSROADS.

The dancers of Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre are: