And while Baker supports network neutrality—keeping the internet as free as possible from telecom and cable-companies' influence and restrictions—he justifiably insists that we take responsibility along with all the apparently free stuff.
"People need to stop thinking of the internet as a magical ether that creeps freely into their homes from their neighbor's wi-fi," he writes, "and start realizing that the internet—even with all of its wondrous magical potential—requires huge amounts of infrastructure, energy, and labor to keep everyone connected. We rarely see images of the massive data centers full of computers, cords, air-conditioning units, etc. Every Google search has a cost."
Dancing Across the Screen
Related Content
More About
By Caroline Palmer
Mifa Ko in Solo: 1x2, photo by V. Paul Virtucio
THE ACT OF MAKING dance, particularly solo work, is intense and intimate. Long hours of rehearsal are filled with experimentation, trial and error, perhaps conflict. There are always artistic, as well as personal, high and lows. We rarely see this give-and-take shared by choreographer and dancer, except when a filmmaker is invited behind the scenes. For two years, local director Bob Hammel tracked six recipients of the McKnight Fellowship in Dance as they worked with six choreographers to develop specially commissioned solo pieces. Their experiences shape Hammel's first feature film, SOLO: 1 X 2, created with his family—writer Michele Blanchard and editor Caitlin Hammel of Perimeter Productions. The Southern Theater will host a pre-release screening later this month.
Hammel first encountered dance by reading the influential Village Voice critic Deborah Jowitt's columns during the 1970s. He became a regular audience member, served on the Southern's board, and partnered on dance-related video projects. When Mary Ellen Childs, the McKnight fellowship administrator at the Southern, heard that Hammel was looking for a new endeavor, she suggested he focus on the artists paired up in the McKnight program. The idea became a film that closely examines the individual and shared creative process. Now Childs is executive producer and composer, and Jowitt, as well as other dance-world notables such as Douglas Dunn, have lent their insights on camera.
"Mary Ellen set up a meeting with the dancers and eventually everybody came on board, although some were more reluctant than others," recalls Hammel. "We just started filming and following their lives as they went along." Working with twelve artists in three states and two countries was difficult, but writing and editing has proven even trickier because there are so many stories to unpack and interweave. "It became my job to figure out a structure," Blanchard says. "We have to keep track of all these people." The filmmakers identified an overall theme about risk-taking, but it means something different for each dancer as they explore new artistic territory. They also confront common daily challenges like long rehearsals, teaching classes, dealing with injuries, and struggling to find time for personal relationships. Hammel filmed everyone at work and home to show their multifaceted lives.
While the film portrays the sacrifice of time and body, it spotlights the passion for artistic growth that keeps the dancers' souls engaged. Colette Illarde, for example, traveled to Madrid to work with flamenco choreographer Manuel Reyes Maya, and caused a small commotion at his school when the local film crew arrived. "Now everyone knows there's a dance scene in Minneapolis, that there is flamenco somewhere other than Spain," she says enthusiastically. Illarde also wants the film to show "not only am I serious about my dance but I'm also serious about the other things that I do. I hope that they appreciate all the hard work that it takes to make a name in flamenco. There's a lot that has to go in there to make it true, and I try to follow that path."
Tamara Nadel worked with mentors Aparna and Ranee Ramaswamy from Ragamala Dance to learn more about the expressive aspect of Bharatanatyam dance. "It's the deepest, most intricate work that we do," she explains, but she did not have an opportunity to perform it before receiving the fellowship. The film, she continues, allows others to learn more about Bharatanatyam. "The most important thing for me is to give people an idea of what we do. I [found] myself talking a lot about depth, emotional content, rhythmic intricacy, everything that goes into the form that most people don't know."
Like Nadel, Laura Selle Virtucio appreciated the opportunity to speak up despite the sometimes "unnerving" experience of having a camera present during her rehearsals with New York-based choreographer Colleen Thomas. Hammel "helped me find words for what I do," says Virtucio. "I don't feel like I'm a very verbal person, so to talk about my process, and my life, and how that was relating to the piece I was making—it brought up new information for me." So too for Karla Grotting, who traveled to New York City to work with Max Pollak, creator of Rumba Tap. "Bob asked questions that informed the process and made me think about things in a new way. He laughed so easily it helped to put everything into perspective." The film contrasts Grotting's efforts to master Pollak's innovative choreography with her life as a soccer mom. At one point she's seen dropping into a deep plié while playing catch with her son. "Very few people in my community have seen what I do," she observes. "But my dance community, they know exactly what my life is like."
