Hey there interweb! Ellyn from the WAXstaff here. The weather may be cooling off, but WAX is heating up! We kick off our Fall 2015 THIS SUNDAY September 13th. Some of our September artists generously shared responses to my nosey questions early this month.
Find those answers below, and find the artists themselves THIS WEEKEND at Triskelion. Onward!
AIMEE PLAUCHE
WAXstaff: If you could only use three words to describe your work, what would they be?
Aimee Plauche: Theatrical, sometimes funny
WS: What part of the creative process do you find most challenging? What do you feel comes easily?
AP: The most challenging part is the beginning, when you've forgotten how hard the beginning will be. The easiest part is when you're done and can go out to celebrate with ice cream.
WS: Where do you find inspiration for your work? Or what motivates your work?
AP: Inspiration is anywhere and everywhere. The inspiration, once woven into a cohesive idea, becomes the motivation for me. I can't let a good idea go unrealized; I feel like I'm betraying it.
WS: Share a funny anecdote from a rehearsal or performance.
AP: While struggling in rehearsal with a new section of a piece, one of my dancers and I decided to make the worst dance in the world. What followed was a slapdash of bad pantomime, fish faces, and melodrama. None of it made it into the final piece.
WS: What specific ideas or elements in your work would you hope to receive feedback on?
AP: I would want to know the answers to these questions: (1) Which part, if any, do you remember the most? (2) Was it because you enjoyed it, wanted to know more, or hated it?
WS: What’s the last book you read? Movie you watched? Trip you took?
AP: Book: Special Topics in Calamity Physics, one of my favorite novels (I reread it at least once a year). Movie: Judex, a 1916 French silent serial film that is a complex detective story. Trip: Charlottesville, VA to visit my sister and her new husband.
WS: Anything else you want to share with us?
AP: Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmDTtkZlMwM
(The best part is the audience reactions, so make sure your volume is up!)
AINESH MADAN
WAXstaff: If you could only use three words to describe your work, what would they be?
Ainesh Madan: Where I’m At.
WS: What part of the creative process do you find most challenging? What do you feel comes easily?
AM: Currently, crafting the work is challenging. It’s been easier to be inspired and have more ideas.
WS: Where do you find inspiration for your work? Or what motivates your work?
AM: Right now it's streets, parks,rooftops and trains. More importantly, the people who inhabit them. Appreciating music and a a provocative read always gets me going.
WS: Do you have any secret talents?
AM: None that I know of yet.
WS: What specific ideas or elements in your work would you hope to receive feedback on?
AM: Currently, I’m curious to know what physical spaces, other than the traditional stage, the audience can imagine for the work.
WS: What’s the last book you read? Movie you watched? Trip you took?
AM: In the middle of reading Provo by Richard Kempton, which is about the Amsterdam anarchist movement. Recently watched Maachis by Gulzar, which I first saw when I was too young to appreciate it. Every day has sort of been a trip these past few months.
WS: Anything else you want to share with us?
AM: I’m just thankful and humbled by the opportunity to share my work through WaxWorks. Thanks Ellyn and Xan!
ROHAN BHARGAVA
WAXstaff: If you could only use three words to describe your work, what would they be?
Rohan Bhargava: Charged, Personal, Dynamic
WS: What part of the creative process do you find most challenging? What do you feel comes easily?
RB: Generating movement is quite easy for me. But, one of the most important and hardest part of choreographing is creating a satisfying and coherent arc in the concept, narrative, or vocabulary of the work.
WS: Where do you find inspiration for your work? Or what motivates your work?
RB: Recently, I have been experimenting with having very minimal notions of what I want to create before I start the work. I basically come in with a very simple idea such as a spatial image, a piece of music, a feeling or a mood, a concept from another piece of art, etc. and then I allow myself to be influenced and inspired by the dancers - who are crucial collaborators. So, instead of imposing onto the process, I like to discover the voice of the work in the studio.
WS: What specific ideas or elements in your work would you hope to receive feedback on?
RB: I would like to receive feedback on the movement vocabulary, the structure, and the emotion that the work generates for the spectator.
WS: Anything else you want to share with us?
RB: I am extremely excited to see the work of other amazing artists at WAXworks and also receive written feedback from the audience!