Q+A
I love it when
audiences read
anything into
anything. People
come up and say,
“So, what was
that piece about?”
“Well, what do you
think it was about?”
I would much
rather hear what
they have to say
than what we have
to say about our
own work.
A R T I S T S
by
back like, “You guys, this is amazing!” We
actually used her voice telling the story in
part of the score, and it’s really cool. The
tribe really opened up. And that would not
have happened if we hadn’t been open to
Tim going off and doing that. So, really
cool things came out of the experience that
surprised us. If we had just gone in and
had our vision only, it would have been a
great piece; I’m not saying we wouldn’t
have done something great —
ES: Of course we would! It would have
been fabulous!
DK: But we wouldn’t have been surprised.
ES: He took it in directions we would never
have foreseen.
DK: I think when we’ve found success in
our collaborations, it’s because we’re open
to it. We’re open to the input, to the backand-forth and not a lot of artists are.
ES: But that’s just … they work differently.
DK: Oh, yeah, there’s nothing wrong with
that. There are some people who just have
that clear vision, and no matter what’s in
their way, they’re going to knock it out.
ES: And we know where our strong points
are and where we’re not so strong.
DK: And we like to surprise ourselves, too!
R E P E R T O R Y
Nina Raine
Dámaso Rodriguez
directed
by
FEB 3 - MAR 1
“THE BE
BEST-PL ST-WRITTEN,
MOST DA OTTED, DEEPES
T,
R
NEW PLA ING, AND FUNNIE
Y IN R
ST,
– WALL ST ECENT YEARS.”
REET J
PDX PREMIERE
SEASON SPONSOR
RONNI LACROUTE
36
T H E AT R E
ARTSLANDIA AT THE PERFORMANCE JANUARY | FEBRUARY
OURNAL
a r t i s t s r e p .o r g
503. 241 .1 278
THE WHITE BIRD EFFECT
ES: Paul King and Walter Jaffe of White
Bird have changed the dance landscape
in this city. I mean, they’ve educated this
community in so many different forms of
dance from all over the world.
DK: They’ve raised the bar.
ES: And they’ve also made Portland a
pretty savvy dance town ... And I think,
also, that’s made all of the artists who’ve
been here for years step up their game a
little bit. It challenges them, which I think
is a healthy thing, really great ...
DK: At first people were like, “How can I
compete when you’re selling tickets to Paul
Taylor? We can’t compete with that.” But
I knew even then that it was only going to
broaden the dance audience. Bringing in
the Paul Taylor and the Martha Graham
companies, and all of these great shows
that they have, has benefited everyone.
ES: In the beginning I think some people
were threatened, but they quickly realized
that, you know, Paul and Walter were
so encompassing of everybody and just
wanted to be there to support everybody.
I think once everybody kind of just took
a breath and settled down, they were like,
“Ok, this is a good thing.”