In an airy art gallery on a side street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Montreal-based ballet-dancer-turned-contemporary-choreographer Andrew Skeels presented a new work, Meanwhile, for the acclaimed CARVALHO gallery performance series. Curated and produced by the Brooklyn gallery’s founder, Jennifer Carvalho, the biannual event pairs contemporary dance and visual art, situating performances within large, immersive installations. Meanwhile is a duet set to baroque music and performed within Hudson Valley-based designer Nicole Rossi’s installation Desire Path–a sculpted living meadow made of reeds, willows, verbena, hare’s tail, and steel grasses. I spoke with Skeels about the process of creating this new work.
Caedra Scott-Flaherty: Congratulations on your New York debut! I saw the performance on July 9th, and I loved it. The installation and duet were both so beautiful. I’m curious–how much did you know about what Nicole was going to build in the space before you started choreographing?
Andrew Skeels: I did a bit of research on what she was planning to create, but I had no idea what the space’s configuration would look like when we first started making the piece, so that was kind of a shot in the dark. I knew I wanted to replicate, or speak to, the fact that the exhibition would go through a metamorphosis during the six weeks we were presenting the work.
CS: How much did the ideas behind the installation–the natural world, growth, change–feed into your choreography?
AS: I had two starting points for Meanwhile. Definitely, the ideas of change and growth were inspirations for the piece, but so was the location. I met my husband three metro stops away from the exhibition 23 years ago, and my mentor, the late Anne Tolbert, was from New York too. New York, for me, is a place of reflection. I have so many long-term relationships and friendships that developed here, and I was thinking a lot about them: How they are about continually finding new ways of communicating, how they change over time yet always stay the same in some way.
CS: Speaking of new relationships, how was it working with Lloyd Knight (Principal with Martha Graham Dance Company) and Jacquelin Harris (of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)?
AS: Amazing.
CS: Had they ever danced together before?
AS: No. This was their first time dancing together.
CS: Wow. They had such a great connection!
AS: I know. I think they’re both geniuses.
CS: How did the choreographic process work for you all? Like, how much did you come in knowing what you were going to do versus having them play with material?
AS: It was about half and half on this one. I’m one of those people who really needs time to reflect on an idea and explore different possibilities. So I workshopped a lot of Meanwhile in Montreal with my company. I staged about half of it from prepared material we had developed, and I wanted to do the other half with Lloyd and Jacquelin.
CS: I’m curious how the physical space of the gallery–not just the installation–affected your choreography.
AS: Well, it’s a concrete floor, which isn’t ideal for dance, so we had to make sure none of the movement was high-impact and that we stayed safe. We found out about a week and a half into the process where Nicole was thinking of placing the installations, so we taped out the floor to have a rough spatial guideline. We had to make some adjustments, but most of what we were already developing fit really nicely inside the environment. Personally, I wish we had had more opportunity to play with the installation, but it’s impossible when you’re working with something as delicate as flowers. Like, you’re not going to be able to roll around in these things.
CS: Have you collaborated with visual artists on other projects before?
AS: Yes. I’ve been working with my team in Montreal for about 10 years, and each time I start a project, I try to bring in a visual artist to do the set design. The environment is really important for me in my work.
CS: Was this the smallest space you’ve created a work for?
AS: Yeah, actually.
CS: How did that affect the work? Were there any unexpected benefits?
AS: Absolutely. It’s a very intimate space, and I wanted the work to reflect that. It’s almost like an immersive theater piece because the audience is so close to the performers. You really get a chance to see every single detail–Lloyd and Jacquelin’s facial expressions, the way they touch each other. I think that level of intimacy definitely became a huge part of the work.
CS: For me, it was so thrilling to watch two people I’ve seen for years from a distance, up on a stage, and to see them that close and hear them breathe. I also loved that the gestures weren’t theatrical. They were smaller, more intimate.
AS: Yeah. We did a version that went full-out on the drama, and then when we watched the run-through, we thought, “Nope! That’s not it.” There are flowers, we’re two feet away from the audience, there’s baroque music. It’s a lot. We had to make sure that everything was appropriate for the environment that we were in.
CS: Tell me about your choice of music.
AS: I just love baroque music. There’s something very universal about it, in the sense that everyone in Western culture knows it. It’s beautiful and powerful and haunting. But the music came last, actually. I layered it on, almost like a soundscape for a film.
CS: Interesting! That reminds me that you have a background in film editing. How does that affect your choreography?
AS: My creative process is completely based on how I would put together a film. After rehearsals, I watch the footage to see what’s working and what’s not. And then I move forward based on what the dailies tell me.
CS: You also have a background in ballet, having performed with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal for many years. How would you describe your style now?
AS: Eclectic. I’m 45, and I still enjoy trying on different forms of movement. I started Krump seven or eight years ago and love it. I think it’s the best form for dance training and freedom. And I go to Contact Improv jams in Montréal twice a week. They’ve been such a source of inspiration for me. Even though my body is getting older and I can’t do the same kinds of things I could even 10 years ago, there’s still a part of me that wants to keep going, exploring, and expanding my vocabulary as a dancer and a mover.
Meanwhile, Andrew Skeels, CARVALHO, New York, June 25/July 9/July 25/August 8. Installation on view June 26 through August 8.
