Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 647
(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome back into a fantastic new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. We have a fabulous dance show to talk to you about today and we are joined by an incredible artist Mimi Garad, the creator and choreographer of today's show. She's here to talk to us about Mimi Garad and her collaborators presentation of Global. Now this is happening on Saturday, September 21st at 2pm at the Rubin Museum of Art. And though performances are by invitation only, you can still get more information about this great organization by visiting mimigaraddance.com. We are so excited to be diving into this piece, to this artist. We always love exploring more of the world of dance. So let's go ahead and welcome on our guest Mimi, welcome into Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you, it's great to be here. - I'm so happy that you're here. I can't wait to learn more about this show Global 'cause it's got a few different pieces in it. So why don't we start by having you tell us a bit about what Global is and is about? - Okay, well Global does consist of four pieces. There are four dances involved and therefore composers. So it's really four by four. This is a second work that I've done for the Rubin Museum. The first one was called A Spiritual Journey and that was done about a year ago. But both pieces, Global and A Spiritual Journey, were created to fit into what I think the museum likes, which is more spiritual work. But anyway, the four pieces in this program, the first one is called Dark Mountain. And it's very, it has a Japanese singer. It has a mythic Eastern aspect to it. The composer is Alice Shields. The second piece on the program is called E Trange Global. And that piece is very strange. And the music is by Tom Hamilton. The third piece on the program is called The Breaking of the Scream. And the music is by Jose Hallock. I mean, this is an incredible, intense piece of music. It was, I mean, it was written in 1995, but it is so incredibly intense. It is The Breaking of a Scream. It's pure pain. I've since worked with this composer on another couple of pieces. But anyway, I made this piece because I thought his music was so amazing. But anyway, the last piece on the program is called Cause of Sweet. And that music is by Joel Castro-Pinto. And it's about a self-causing universe. The composer is very philosophical and this is a philosophical piece. But I just wanna say that all these pieces will be done as films. I mean, this is a program of film, but anyway, the first one we did, as I said, was a spiritual journey and it was extremely successful. And so I'm really happy to do it again. - That all sounds so wonderful, so cool and exciting. So let me ask you, what inspired you to create these works? - I think it's just, I need to do it. You know, I've been working this way since 2001 and my work has changed a lot over the years. But I started, I used to be a choreographer only for the stage and now I occasionally do things for the stage, but I mostly am doing things for video. But in 2001, I watched the Twin Powers fall on Worcester Street in Manhattan and it just had this incredible effect on me and I thought, well, I have to change what I'm doing. So I decided to start making dance for video. But over the years, my work has changed so much. At the beginning, I did what I, similar to what I did for the stage, I'd make a complete piece and then I would change it electronically. But now I create material with the dances and the final piece is made in the editing process. I love what I am doing. I don't think anyone else is doing work like mine. It has been well received all over the world and film festivals and I've won many, many first place awards. But I do think no one's doing anything like this. I would love to know if someone is. That's why I like to say it because maybe someone will come up and say, "I'm doing this too." But anyway. - That is fantastic though. What an inspiration, what a journey. So I wanna know, at the time of this recording, we're just two days away from these pieces debuting. What has it been like developing these works and getting them on their feet? - Well, I think it is a process that goes all the way back to the beginning and seeing things change over time. I've made probably maybe 600 pieces since maybe 2006. So that's a lot of pieces. And before then, from 2001 to 2006, I made a lot of pieces, but most of them aren't saved. But I think when I wanted to do this program, I picked pieces that I had already done that I thought would fit into the category global. But I think what caused me to make the pieces was a long process. But I think it was mostly the fact that I really enjoyed doing it. I love working with my dancers and I love working with the composers. So I work with, I think, some of the best dancers in New York City. And I work with some of the best experimental composers. And I feel we're really a team. And without my collaborators, I would not be able to do anything. But I think it's just the process that keeps growing. It's not like I'm ever going to finish it. It will just keep, I mean, the work that I'm doing now is even very different from what's on these pieces, which are fairly recent, but I feel like they've developed in many new ways since this program was put together. - I love that. The true definition of art right there, it's never complete, it's always continuing. So that's wonderful. Now, with these four great pieces that you're creating, is there a message or a thought you hope audiences take away from them? - I hope they just experience what they experience. I mean, I don't want them to think anything in particular. I think they should feel open to whatever they think. And usually people see things in different ways and that's fine with me. But at the last concert, I mean, the last, you know, when I did a spiritual journey, there were a lot of composers who came. And I think through that contact, I walked through the contact with those composers, I was able to, someone recommended Jose Howe, I closed the one, the composer for the breaking of the screen. So I feel like every time I do something, there's something that leads to some new way of working on new person to work with. And so working with Jose Howe has been amazing. And I only did his piece of music because I think it's such an extraordinary piece of music. - That is so fantastic. How? Well, that leads to my final question for this first part, which is who are you hoping have access to global? - Well, I love to have artists. I like visual artists, I like composers, I like dancers, I like actors. I love having any artists, but I also like anyone who's interested in exploring the journey of life. So I feel like my work is trying to understand this world we live in. (gentle music) - Well, for the second part of our interviews, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better, pull the curtain back, if you will. And I would love to start with my first question, which is what or who inspires you? What playwrights, composers or shows have inspired you in the past? Or just some of your favorites? And since we're dealing with the world of dance, of course, we can't forget about choreographers as well. - Well, one theater experience I had very early on was watching this German dance, "Dor Hoya" perform. - She did a dance, I think it was called "Circle" and it was amazingly mesmerizing. I mean, it still, I can still get goosebumps from thinking about it. But you know, this was a long time ago, she died in 1967. Mary Vigman called "Hoya's Europe's Last Great Modern Dancer". But I studied with Alwyn Nikolai and I particularly liked his early work at the Henry Street Playhouse and also the early work of Nurse Cunningham. But in terms of, I think there's a lot of literature that in my early work, I've used a lot of literature. I've used the poems of Emily Dickinson, but I have recently done, well, I've used notes from the underground. That was the first concert that was done at the Rubin. So, and that's a very dark piece. It's one of the darkest pieces in literature. Have you ever read that? I think you should read it. It's just the darkest piece in literature, in my opinion. Well, I would say just to say a little bit more about me, what I'm reading now is the biography of Kierkegaard. And you may never have heard of him, but he was a theologian and a philosopher that had a lot of influence on me and college. And this is a book that's about almost 1,000 pages. But it's very, it's like, it's hard to put it down. It's very interesting. And I think one thing that comes out in his writing about, or his thinking of himself was, so much of his writing was trying to understand himself. And I think to me, and yet he was such a brilliant man, and his thinking was so different from most people, and so much in a way more advanced and more articulate. But I think that is something that I'm thinking about right this minute. But I've used different people in my work. I've worked with the poetry of Emily Dickinson. I did a piece anyway. literature has been a big influence on what I'm doing. - I love that. Let me ask you, what is your favorite part about working in the performing arts? - I think the process of working. I love to make things. I mean, everything else is a little bit not that interesting to me, but to make things is so exciting. I mean, I love working with the dancers because I'm actually with the dancers when we're creating. I love working with the composers, but I am not working in the same room with the composers. But I like getting to know the composers and knowing the kind of work they do. And I let the composers create whatever they like, usually. And if I'm doing something for the stage, I would not do that. But if I'm doing something for video, I let the composers do something that they want, and that expands my horizons. And then I work with the dancers and I love that because they are so creative. But then I have to do the editing alone and I enjoy that too. I feel like each time I make a piece, I try to do something different and I've made in the past, try to make it better than the last one. And I may not always do that, but that's my aim to try to be better each time, to keep learning, keep evolving. - That is a wonderful thought. Someone put that on a t-shirt, put it up on a banner. That is exactly the mindset we all should be having in the art. Keep learning, keep getting better. That's beautiful. - And it leads to my favorite question to ask guests, which is what is your favorite theater or in our case, performing arts memory? - Well, I would say one thing I saw recently, I mean, I'm not gonna say this is a favorite in my whole life, but it was so amazing to me. It was a performance by, it was called Foreign Experiences by Robert Ashley. Have you ever heard of him? - No, no, I'd love to know more though. - Okay, well, this is an opera that was based on speech. There was seven singers and it seemed like a stream of consciousness, although he says it's not a stream of consciousness, but the words are very disjointed. And I think a lot of inspiration came from his own life, but these singers either together or one at a time, sometimes it's, the whole opera is really based on speech rather than on some singing, but the composer created the speech patterns, but in a very precise rhythmic organization. And so it's really incredibly interesting and I would recommend, I think they may do another performance of his at some times. I mean, his work was done a long time ago. Yeah, it seemed to think like things that were done a long time ago, but it was so contemporary at the same time. - I'm loved, I'm gonna have to look into this now. What a brilliant thought. Thank you for sharing that. I mean, that was wonderful. As we wrap things up, I would love to know, are there any other projects or productions you have coming on the pipeline that we might be able to plug for you? - Well, I have a program that I have created, but my dancer, that the main dancer ended as injured. So I don't think it can be plugged right now, but I was working on a new piece with my dancer and the piece was called Fire as a metaphor for change. I tend to like philosophical works. And this was based on reading Heraclitus and the philosophy of his was Fire as a metaphor for change. And he was the earliest philosopher that I know of. But anyway, we have made a program that would consist of fire as a metaphor for change and another piece called money and another piece called junk. And we will do it at some point, but I have to wait for my dancer to be okay. - That is exciting to hear. Oh, I, so we're gonna have to stay tuned to you for these great new pieces. And that is a beautiful lead into my final question, which is if our listeners would like more information about you or your company or about this piece global, how can they do so? - Well, I would say YouTube, you know, I said YouTube, www.youtube.com/memegaraddance. If you go to Meme Garad, it wouldn't take you to the right place, but it would be Meme Garad Dance as one word or to my website, memegaradance.com. - Wonderful. Well, Meme, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your brilliance. Honestly, these beautiful works, your process, just everything. This has been such a joy. So thank you for your time today. - Well, listen, thank you, Andrew. And I hope you have a good rest of your day. - Thank you. My guest today has been an incredible creator and choreographer, Meme Garad, who joined us to talk about Meme Garad and her collaborators presentation of Global. This is happening Saturday, September 21st, at 2 p.m. at the Rubin Museum of Art. And though tickets are by invitation only, you can get more information about the show and about Meme by visiting her website, memegaraddance.com. We also have some contact information, including a link to her YouTube channel, which will be including in our episode description as well as on our social media posts. But right now, head to her website, memegaraddance.com, get all the ends on this fabulous artists and company and all the amazing works they do, especially their upcoming work, Global, happening Saturday, September 21st at 2 p.m. And we wanna add for our American listeners that election day is November 5th. Make sure you are registered to vote, have a plan to cast your ballot and do your democratic duty. You can find out how and where you can register and vote by visiting vote.gov. The future demands that we fight for it now. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, and keep talking about the theater. - In a stage whisper. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - If you like what you hear, please leave a five star review, like and subscribe. - You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at stagewhisperpod. - And feel free to reach out to us with your comments and personal stories at stagewhisperpod@gmail.com. - And be sure to check out our website for all things stage whisper and theater. You'll be able to find merchandise, tours, tickets and more. Simply visit stagewhisperpod.com. Our theme song is Maniac by Jazzar. Other music on this episode provided by Jazzar and Billy Murray. 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