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OGRES OF LIFE: Serge Bennathan and the original cast of "Chronicles of a Simple Life"

 OGRES OF LIFE: Serge Bennathan and the original cast of “Chronicles of Simple Life” written and compiled by Lucy Rupert FIRST STEPS “Because our conceptual systems grow out of our bodies, meaning is grounded in and through our bodies. Because a vast range of our concepts are metaphorical, meaning is not entirely literal.” Lakoff and Johnson, Philosophy of the Flesh, p. 6) Meaning is embodied. This is true for the meanings found by the dancer and by the audience member. Dance strives to reveal something to the audience, perhaps something they didn’t realize they needed to know. In the best situations, this audience experience happens viscerally and invisibly. On November 5, 1993, as a second-year student pursuing a Joint Honours bachelor’s degree in dance and music at the University of Waterloo, I had my first visceral and invisible experience as a dance audience member: Chronicles of a Simple Life, choreographed by Serge Bennathan and performed by the Dancemakers company at the Hu...
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Dancemakers Interviews for Serge Bennathan's Chronicles of a Simple Life: Julia Sasso

 Dancemakers/Dance Collection Danse Research project celebrating Dancemakers 50th anniversary Interviews with original cast members of Serge Bennathan's "Chronicles of a Simple Life" (1993) DANCEMAKERS: CHRONICLES OF A SIMPLE LIFE RESEARCH PROJECT JULIA SASSO June 25, 2024  Interviewed by Lucy Rupert at Julia’s apartment LR: I’ll give you my official little spiel about why I proposed this to the dancemakers 50th project. I saw Chronicles of a Simple Life when it came to the University of Waterloo and I was in 2nd year in the dance program there. It had a big impact on me in several ways: one was the subject matter. I’d never seen death and grief dealt with in a way that wasn’t operatic and over the top. My mother had passed away just a little before, and this piece sparked a way through – not finishing the grief, but moving through, not being stuck. Another aspect of it was that I grew up in Sarnia, Ontario and I watched all the Martha Graham videos the library had but th...
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Dancemakers Interviews for Serge Bennathan's Chronicles of a Simple Life: Carolyn Woods

 Dancemakers/Dance Collection Danse Research project celebrating Dancemakers 50th anniversary Interviews with original cast members of Serge Bennathan's "Chronicles of a Simple Life" (1993) DANCEMAKERS: CHRONICLES OF A SIMPLE LIFE RESEARCH PROJECT CAROLYN WOODS June 18, 2024 Interviewed by Lucy Rupert via Zoom LR: What are you doing these days? CAROLYN: I’ve been teaching Pilates for a long time. The last time I really danced was in 2012. But once a dancer always a dancer. I don’t go looking for gigs but if something really special came along I wouldn’t say no. When I left Dancemakers a critic said that I was retiring – and it didn’t feel like that for me. I wasn’t retiring, I was moving on from Dancemakers and to something else. I’m turning 59 this year and some life stuff has happened, and I feel like…. well, I love Pilates, but I do this other technique called ELDOA and I teach kundalini yoga as well – there’s something in those two forms that’s very interesting for me...
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Dancemakers Interviews for Serge Bennathan's Chronicles of a Simple Life: Gary Tai

Dancemakers/Dance Collection Danse Research project celebrating Dancemakers 50th anniversary Interviews with original cast members of Serge Bennathan's "Chronicles of a Simple Life" (1993) DANCEMAKERS: CHRONICLES OF A SIMPLE LIFE RESEARCH PROJECT GARY TAI June 4, 2024  Interviewed by Lucy Rupert via Zoom LR: I’m so glad the community is doing something to celebrate 50 years of Dancemakers, given the current state of flux. I have a few questions about Chronicles, but I’m hoping it can be a free conversation about the piece and your work with Serge in a larger context.  I saw Chronicles of a Simple Life at the University of Waterloo, while I was a student in the dance program there.). Seeing Dancemakers, and this piece in particular, created a little spark in my heart that ignited the feeling that I was seeing my people. The world created on stage and the people and the shoes, and the style of the movement. It felt like maybe I had found someplace in the world where I might...
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