Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Questions for Choreographers: Merryn Kritzinger

How would you describe the piece you are currently working on?

It is an exploration of human insecurities and social interactions. I like small spaces so I am doing a piece in the closet. I like the idea of the differences in how a person acts when they are by themselves and when they are among people they are comfortable with and how they act when they are in social settings. What parts of their personality do they hide? What parts do they decide to show? Why do they choose those things and what in their life has set up those boundaries?

What inspired you to create this piece?

The amazing opportunity that I can make a piece in a house that I am living in! We have this great double closet upstairs and I really like the idea of being in a space where no one can see you. Even the person you are in the room with can’t see you. Jasmine and I did some improvisations where we each took a closet and we watched them on video. We noticed how different our dances were when we knew that we couldn’t see each other. I also have been dealing a lot lately with wondering why I feel like a certain part of me is not real, not honest when I am around other people. I’ve been interested to know why I’ve set these restrictions or why I’ve created this mask that I put on outside and when I am around other people. With a month of time to work on it, I thought that would be a really interesting thing to explore.

Where does this piece fit into your overall body of work?  Is it more similar or dissimilar to the rest of your work?  How?

It’s very different from anything else I’ve ever done. In one way it’s different because I’ve never worked in the title of choreographer and most of the work that I’ve done, if I have been in that role, I’ve taken very light heartedly. I will do a joke or a spoof on a dance, make mock pieces or make jokes about music videos. I’ve never actually taken it seriously until now. Also, It differs a lot because all of the work I’ve ever done has been based in movement. I’m a mover and I work as an interpreter most of the time, so it is all very physical for me. A challenge that I’ve added in for this exploration is to step out as the mover and try to communicate verbally with my dancer so that I can develop work that has my concept but is less about how I move. It’s quite a challenge.

Why do you choose to express yourself with dance (this medium)?

There are two parts in answer to that question. The first is that I’ve always been a mover and a dancer and I’ve always felt that I could articulate best through movement. Even when I’m having a conversation it always has to be very physical for me. I’m not so good on the phone etc. I like physical interaction, I like how honest it can be.

The second part to that is that it is not the only way I express myself. I have a large interest in writing and video and in other forms of expression. I think that in exploring those other mediums I am fueling the dance as well.

What about today's environment feeds your work? What is your favorite things about dancing and creating now? What do you find the most challenging?  

That dance is starting to be more widely excepted and explored by the general public. It’s being brought into the media a lot more and I find that when I have conversations with people about dance more and more people understand what it is what we do.

The main thing that I am thinking about now is that I can actually do this as my job. Maybe it’s a selfish answer That I am being given this house for a month and a half to create my art and express myself in. I never imagined that this would be something that I would be able to do.

The most challenging is having the money to be a creator. The arts are always the first things to go in a budget. And with our government right now with Stephen Harper...I’m lucky as an interpreter that there are established companies that will still have funding. But, to be an independent choreographer is not something that gets a lot of attention or funding because people are afraid to trust in something new.

What is your happiest dance memory?

One summer I was doing a program in toronto with Milton Meyers, I was very near finishing at Ailey and was demonstrating for Milton’s classes. We were doing rep from Alvin Ailey’s Revelations and we did the amazing piece Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel. The way Milton Meyers was expressing it with his face and his whole body it was so beautiful to translate that and then to dance it is my happiest dance memory.

What do you do on a daily basis to support your choreography?

The first thing that comes to mind is my physical upkeep. When I’m good I give myself my own class stretching and strengthening exercises and finding something else inspiring had been a more recent but most improtant edition to my regular schedule. Looking elsewhere to music, singing, painting or taking pictures, not being any good and and not being well trained. Being physically active and being around people that inspire me. My boyfriend is in theater and I have other friends that are artists, they inspire me.

If you were interviewing yourself, what would you ask?

I would ask what my biggest fears are. It takes up a lot of my brain space for me as it does for all artists. I would answer myself with insecurity. I place so much of my success in other peoples happiness and pleasure, if they are having a good time. The insecurity that comes when I am not getting that feedback or reaction is my biggest fear, not having it and not knowing that it is there.

Merryn Kritzinger is a Canadian artist, raised in Toronto and currently living in Montreal where she works as a dancer, singer, and actress. She began training in Toronto at the National Ballet School of Canada, Canadian Children's Dance Theater, Pia Bouman School for Ballet, and Etobicoke School of the Arts. She furthered her professional training as a Fellowship student at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. During her time at Ailey she worked with American choreographers Peter London, Troy Powell and Takehiro Ueyama, and Paris Opera's Alexandre Proia. In 2006 Merryn joined the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company as a company member. With NNCDC she performed in New York, New Jersey, across America, and on international tours to Mexico and Poland.

Since her move to Montreal in 2007 Merryn joined Hélène Blackburn's Cas Public, and will be part of the company's new creation in spring 2010. Merryn recently returned from The Netherlands, where she participated in an arts residency as both dancer and choreographer. You can view some of the work and documentation at dydances.blogspot.com.