Saturday October 22, 2011 - Choreograper/dancer Deborah Lohse invited Kokyat and me to her studio today where she was creating a dancework with a very special partner: her father. Deborah told me about this idea a few weeks ago and I was really curious to see what she'd worked up. Hank Lohse has no dance experience to speak of, but he gamely went along with his daughter's plan to present his dancing debut...at Joe's Pub, no less.
The duet, entitled DUPLICATE, was created for a showing at the Pub which has a very small stage. In the studio, Deborah had outlined a small practice area so she and her father wouldn't go out-of-bounds. Set to Liberace's Boogie-Woogie, the duet is playful and has a vaudeville feel to it. Childhood games like Patty-Cake and Rock-Scissors-Paper play in the mix - games that dads used to teach their kids from an early age. On the surface the duet is just a bit of a romp, but there were subtle resonances reminding me of how much fun we have with our parents when we're little, and how that can alter over the years as we beome our own person.
More images from this rehearsal:
Deborah, who just presented her intriguing film Spark at Joyce SoHo now heads off on travels that will take her as far away as Alaska where she'll be working on a holiday NUTCRACKER. When she gets back to NYC, we'll catch up with her again.
Photos by Kokyat.