In Conversation with Molissa Fenley

After three decades of making iconoclastic work that has been presented and praised on four continents, Molissa Fenley has emerged a modern American master. Within a deceptively circumscribed vocabulary, Fenley–for those who watch mindfully—presents an ocean of wit and feeling. “One of the experimental dance scene’s most independent choreographers, admirably beholden to no faction or fashion,” is how the New York Times’ Anna Kisselgoff once justly described the choreographer.

Arriving in New York in the mid-1970s, shortly after graduating from Mills College, Fenley promptly formed a dance company and started creating group works—one of the earliest of which, Energizer (1980), was commissioned by Dance Theater Workshop. Then, after ten years of presenting such work, Fenley decided to go in a different direction: solo performances– like the iconic State of Darkness, to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (1988)– often created in collaboration with visual artists and composers. Now the Bessie Award-winning choreographer has returned to making group works. In December, during her 30^th anniversary season at the Joyce Theater, Fenley presents a program containing several treasures: Provenance Unknown (to a piano score by Philip Glass, played live by the composer on opening night), State of Darkness (performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers Jonathan Porretta and Rachel Foster); and a new work for seven dancers, Calculus and Politics, set to a 1952 score by Harry Partch, Castor and Pollux.

We spoke with Fenley recently in one of Dance Theater Workshop’s studios, as the choreographer took a break from a rehearsal for the Joyce season.

DTW: It’s quite an achievement to have remained a working artist in this city, over the last thirty years. Aside from your talent, what are the most important reasons for your survival?

MOLISSA FENLEY: I have made a point of reinventing myself. I started out choreographing and presenting evening-length ensemble works, like Hemispheres and Esperanto, that toured extensively. And around 1987, it seemed like that particular way of presenting myself was not working so well anymore. Dancers who had worked with me for a long time were leaving because of other life interests, and though the dancers I was replacing them with were wonderful, I felt somehow dissociated from the whole enterprise of teaching the repertory to another group. I felt like I was constantly repeating myself, and it was harder to make new work. I decided to disband and work as a soloist. Then, around 1997, I realized I was getting awfully lonely in the studio! And once again I invited some dancers to come and work with me, and that’s where I am now. I’ve increased the amount of dancers to ten for the Joyce.

DTW: What do you look for in a dancer?

MOLISSA FENLEY: Firstly– are they nice to be around? That is a big deal. We are going to be in the studio for countless hours together, so a dancer’s personality and working ethic are really important. Secondly, of course, is a dancer’s technical ability. My work is technical– and, particularly in this season’s premiere, Calculus and Politics, there’s a lot of counting the music. The Partch score, Castor and Pollux, is very difficult to count, so a dancer for this particular piece has to be able to keep track of measures and unfamiliar counting systems. It’s not in eight!

DTW: What was so appealing to you about Partch’s score? Was the music easy to work with? Did the myth itself inspire you?

MOLISSA FENLEY: The score is percussive. Partch made his own instruments and their sounds are very unique. And the counting systems are in cycles. To work with the music demands a lot of attention and concentration– keeping track of how many measures of a certain cycle have passed. Keeping all that together in rehearsal, we jokingly referred to the effort as “calculus,” so that title stuck. Two dances are seen simultaneously: a trio for three women and a quartet for four men. These dances intertwine around each other, but are essentially separate. The myth of Castor and Pollux was a means of image-making for the piece: they are the two Gemini twins born from Leda and the Swan, the latter whom Zeus was masquerading as. Castor is a horseman; his movement suggests running and jumping onto a horse, holding the reins, riding in the saddle, etc. And Pollux was a boxer; his fists strike, he is thrown against the ropes, his arms extend to brandish a trophy, etc. Steve [Greco, working as dramaturg] and I worked together on finding images of the myth. I wanted to bring in some props, so we’ve got some stuffed swans and a skipping rope. It’s a very fast-paced piece. The dancing at full tilt and the stage space completely activated.