An Interview with Rock Bottom Movement Founder Alyssa Martin
Meet Alyssa Martin
Alyssa Martin is a Ryerson Dance graduate and the founder of Rock Bottom Movement. She has been blowing away audiences with her comedic and theatrical choreography since the company's foundation in 2012, and was even commissioned by DanceOntario to be a part of DanceWeekend 2017. This August, Rock Bottom Movement will be performing at SummerWorks - a must-see show for all Toronto audiences!
1. Hi Alyssa! First off, tell us about your background in dance and performance.
Hello! Thanks for having me! Ok, my background. I grew up in Ottawa and started dancing when I was two. I spent my childhood and teen years taking all sorts of dance classes and competing in ballet, jazz, musical theatre, contemporary and hip hop. I did the glitter bodysuits and false eyelashes thing for about 10 years and then after a summer at an Arts Leadership Camp (and an epiphany-revealing conversation with an acquaintance in the lobby of my high school), I decided to pursue dance as a career. I went to Ryerson for my undergrad where I studied modern for the first time and fell in love with it immediately. In my first year my modern teacher told me to wear black turtlenecks and a braid, and when I choreographed a solo project to an Icelandic chant, she told me it was good and I decided suddenly I was an artist (ha!). We also had to take acting and singing classes, where I discovered my love for watching people try things they’re not trained to do. I would recite YouTube videos as my monologues and run around the room like a maniac. (Theatre?) In my final year of school, a dance injury took me out of all class and shows, so I had to focus all my energy into choreographing. Then I decided I wanted things to stay that way!
2. Purple Glow Mag loves your performance company, Rock Bottom Movement; give us some history!
Thank you!!! In my third year at Ryerson I decided to start a company to create more opportunity for my friends and I to perform. I was feeling very overdramatic (read: total brat) at the time, and figured school wasn’t cutting it for “stage time” so I’d just have to create it for myself. I hopped on the bus and got a busker’s permit and then asked some very talented friends if they’d like to come dance on the street with me. I created a 15 minute dance for 6 people and asked a saxophonist friend to play for us with his quartet. In the spring of 2012 we went to David Pecault Square, performed for 7 people and then got kicked out. The next day we went to a new park, and the next, a new one, on and on. I think we made a grand total of $20 busking that summer and we spent it on beer for the saxophonists. I had a couple mentors at Ryerson who were so incredibly supportive of the new initiative, namely an incredible teacher named Kenny Pearl, who chatted with me and helped give Rock Bottom a bit of lift off after that summer.
3. How has Rock Bottom Movement evolved since then?
We’ve since moved indoors! We’ve toured within Ontario and to America, met some amazing audiences, built a little community of the most special people, held workshops, produced our own shows, shown work in festivals, shared stages with other friends and companies who inspire us, had parties, and have gotten some grants, support and recognition. It’s had its ups and downs (predominantly ups so far), but being able to make the kind of work believe in is very important to us and we’re extraordinarily lucky to be able to do it.
4. Rock Bottom Movement is all about undoing the separation of dance and theatre in performance. As a result, what does your choreographic creative process look like?
It depends on the piece! Usually I start with an image or vision of the idea and then I’ll go on the hunt for music. From there I begin creating movement, recording improvised phrases, scoring tasks and trying things out with the performers. I’ll also start chatting regularly with David (Bernstein!) my incredible dramaturg/artistic advisor/life coach about some sort of through line. Once we get working all together in the studio it becomes a really relaxed space of “joke making,” trying out a thousand different things and sending half of them to the “Rock Bottom Grave Yard”. (never to be seen again) Once we have a skeleton, we begin working on rearranging things, adding theatrical elements and getting a feel for the thing as a whole. With the exception of “string quartet no. 14 in g major” all the pieces have started with dance. This last one we did started with David’s script. David and I, as well as the dancers, all collaborate to fuse our resources. I think that’s what helps meld the styles/disciplines etc.
5. You recently put on your hour-length work MANICPIXIEDREAMGIRLS at Factory Theatre here in Toronto. Tell us more about this production.
We started creating MANICPIXIEDREAMGIRLS in October 2015 as a 15 minute work for DanceOntario that year. We then expanded it into an hour-long work and self-produced it at Pia Bouman in May 2016. We had three overwhelmingly supportive audiences who encouraged us to keep going with the work so I submitted the video to Next Stage and they invited us to be a part of the 2017 lineup. This piece is based on Natalie Portman’s MPDG character in Zach Braff’s Garden State and is a response to my younger self. It’s an exploration and exploitation of the flawed-female-character-created-for-mass-adoration I remember gushing over/aspiring to be in my youth. It was so lovely to have the opportunity to work on this one over the course of the year and grow with the piece. We were all really happy to have so much opportunity to share it.
6. Earlier this year you premiered Dolphin for DanceWeekend 2017 at Fleck, commissioned by DanceOntario. What was it like, being a part of that?
It was such an honour to be the commission for DanceOntario this year. I’d been dreaming of it for a few years! Also, it was such a special thing to share the program with Ryan Lee, who we LOVE! Truly, though, in the lead up, I was the most nervous I’d ever been. I had nightmares of the curator setting me on fire because she hated the piece. It was a new experience creating something with the (self-imposed) pressure of wanting to do a good job to please an organization. Once the festival came though, we had an incredible time. We were so happy to share our work with new audiences, meet new people and get to do to it all at the beautiful Fleck! And no fire! I also think I learned a huge lesson in how to deal with pressure and more importantly, how not to.
7. Do you have any upcoming projects that we should look out for?
Yeah! We’re sharing Dolphin as a 30 minute work this year at SummerWorks in the Theatre Centre Incubator. December 13 - 15, we’re presenting our newest work, “string quartet no.14 in g major” as a DanceWorks CoWorks production at The Citadel.
8. Lastly, how do you hope that this kind of work will affect and influence audiences? Performers?
That’s a loaded one! Ultimately, we want to give people little surprise performance treats as we gather our audiences together to escape into new worlds and adventures. We hope people will use our work as a little brain vacation to lighten up, ask questions, maybe laugh, maybe sing and leave with a new little dumpling of inspiration for their own creative lives, however that manifests for them! We truly want to help people find some big love for dance! Our Oprah-esque ethos is that we want our work to nudge individuals within the audience to embrace their flaws and be the unique, forward marching and loving weirdos they are. As a choreographer, I feel consistently indebted to my performers and work to serve them with something that will expand their capacity as artists, allow them to discover a new part of themselves, surmount an uncomfortable hump and show a(n otherwise shaded) version of themselves. I try to hold a safe and open space throughout the whole process so that the performers look forward to our work together; a rehearsal without tears of laughter is a failure on my end!
Keep up with Alyssa Martin and her company at their website, Facebook, and Instagram.
For more information on Rock Bottom Movement at SummerWorks click below:
http://summerworks.ca/artists/dolphin/