I sent these two messages by e-mail a week apart. I post them here, because I am always asking everyboidy else to post, too!!!

RIDER (December 1):
Wonderful, wonderful coaching session today led by the indomitable Diane Aldis, ably assisted by Derrik Phillips. Our Rider Dancers and their Teacher are fine and articulate and forthcoming.

The Rider Tech Team just doesn't stop until they get it right (Thanks, Mike! — and the TV crews!).

That Linda Lewett — such a fine and inspiring guide!

There is a Future for Interactive Coaching in this World. . .

ROWAN (December 8):
Subject: Rowan's coaching on a busy day!!!

DANA folks (& appended friends)!!!

Another fine coaching session today: clean, clear, innovative — truly promising — & certainly surprising.

This is the first of two (3, actually) interactive coaching sessions today, December 8:  

1. Rowan<---->TPL Offices (Studio), anchored at TPL by veterans Diane Aldis & Derek Phillips & at Rowan by Dale Schmid.

2. Rider<---->NYU, anchored by Dale Schmid at Rider, with an assist from Linda Lewett (& Jeff & Tom & Deborah) at NYU.

Following the coaching session, from NYU, Gus Solomons will teach a standing étude to Rider dancers. Gus will also coach their work on other movement phrases — & give an assignment for over the holidays. 

Quite a day!!!

Getting set up at Rowan has been a breeze. Special thanks to Melanie & Leslie for working the logistics out so early — & to Tom, Ted and Joe'l for handling things (apparently) effortlessly on that end. The dancers were true individuals & wonderfully responsive — fearless!

It's clear from this session with Rowan, from Gloria's work at SUNY Brockport and my and Linda's visit there, and from recent work between Rider & NYU & Minneapolis/St. Paul that interactive coaching — The TPL Model —  has a future!

Thanks to all!

It was an excellent session - Kim's students did a beautiful job of coaching as well as operating the mobile camera under Linda's astute guidance.   I really enjoyed hearing their responses to my question of "what are the big ideas about Gus's work that you'll remember from this experience?" Each of them came up with 2 key words such as clarity, power, crystaline, and elaborated on those aspects in the discussion.

Rick - we are all so grateful to you for your incredible visionary ideas and what my yoga teacher calls "the donkey work" of just getting it to happen.

Now that I've been the Guinea pig in two coaching sessions, I decided it was time to begin posting as well.

A little background: In addition to working with Diane at the Perpich Center (lucky me!), I perform with a number of ensembles in the Twin Cities area and also work as an independent dance educator, primarily with elementary aged students in community or school settings. Many of the kids i come in contact with have little or no dance experience, so I often find myself simultaneously introducing them to the larger concepts of dance (using the body to express oneself, the behavior and decorum of a dancer, etc.) as I teach them specific movement ideas.

At the end of today's session with the students at Rowan, I asked a question (mostly of myself) about how this technology requires me to teach differently. I often depend on my energy when I teach - the modulations of my voice, facial expressions, gestures, moving around the room for hands-on guidance or to whisper encouragement in a student's ear. Some of that has changed with interactive technology. I quickly let go of worrying about rhythm (because of the time delay) and rights and lefts (because I'm working with young children and it isn't critical to what's being taught). I'm learnng to speak slower, clearer and use fewer words (I still shout, though), keep gestures to a minimum, stay in one spot and wait for a response. I'm adjusting to looking at the near camera (instead of the far monitor) when I'm addressing students. I will often show a movement from two angles (front and side - easier if you're working with demonstrators) to give young students a sense of dimension.

In today's session, I became aware that it is also important for the student to ask for what they need as well. If they are unable to see part of a movement due to the camera angle, the instructor needs to know so they can adjust for the benefit of the student. During the screen sculpting portion of the session, we discovered that a hands-on person at both ends is very effective. It allows the dancer who is being corrected to focus internally rather than trying to see themselves in the monitor. After the session, Diane, Rick and I discussed how standard body-based vocabulary (opposition, homolateral, etc.) could be quite useful in clearly communicating across the wires.

I have a small curiosity about the physical aspects these sessions. Are there particular styles or colors of clothing (it's all about wardrobe!) that read better on screen? How much do lighting or background factor in? (We've been working out of TPL's office, but I've been delightfully impressed with the other spaces I've seen.) Is this important?

On a personal note, it's been interesting for me to be introduced to some movement approaches that are different from my German expressionist modern dance training. Who said an old dog can't learn some new tricks?

Thanks! I hope to hear from others as we move forward.

I understand what Linda was talking about when she noticed people's eyes drifting from the camera.  I feel this way in front of the camera.  I feel very uncomfortable, especially up close.  I really enjoy the process behind the camera though!  I feel like I can be creative in a different way.  

KT,

I do understand your feeling.

It takes awhile to feel that the camera is not invading your space.  

Kind of a "centered calm" does eventually take over — and you will know where to direct your energy/attention.

Think about it this way: you are not "on the hot seat" — like, some kind of quiz show or other — but at the center of things — everything radiates out from you — and you are in control.

You can MAKE the camera tell your story.

Ask Linda what I mean . . .

RAH [Rick]

Rick, I finally made it here without complication, thank you again.  I do agree with you about the small feeling of invasion at first.  The hardest part is keeping the room consistent with the camera.  As a class at Brockport we find it a little hard, and yet funny to that we try to mimick eachother but we are all facing in the opposites.  Once we figured it out it went quite smoothly

Yes, it really is a process to get used to the camera and where to look, and to become more reflexive about it quickly. I think we have actually come through a lot with these sessions. And I personally also thank Rick for putting extra elements onto the website, like the bio of Erick Hawkins, and the excerpt of his dance "Classic Kite Tails" so that you can absorb more than we can actually cover in the class time. (Well, yeah, there are also books....)

I reread Derek's reflections, too. You mention many aspects of dance vocabulary - like "opposition" and "homolateral".  Just developing vocabulary is a big process for beginners in technique.  

Derek, thanks for your contribution to the McLean/Brockport residency, too. Even though we never quite got to dealing with/analyzing the phrase you and Diane Aldis created for us, I appreciated it as another example of what we were learning, the undercurve/overcurve.
I'm sure the Brockport students can look back at it now and readily analyze the pathway of the curves.

Gloria