(375) Lloyd Knight, dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company and New York Public Library Dance Research Fellow
Today on 'Conversations On Dance', we are joined by Lloyd Knight, a long time veteran of the Martha Graham Dance Company. We catch up with Lloyd about the work he has done in the past year with Twyla Tharp and on tours with the Graham company, as well as the time he's spent this year as one of the New York Public Library's Dance Research Fellows. The program this year is centered on Martha Graham, and Lloyd will present his research in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's Annual Symposium alongside the other fellows on January 26th. There will also be a virtual Symposium on February 2nd. Tickets are free and can be reserved via Eventbrite: CLICK HERE. For more information about the Jerome Robbins Dance Divison, visit nypl.org.
Try Audible Plus free for 30 days
LINKS:
Website: conversationsondancepod.com
Instagram: @conversationsondance
Merch: https://bit.ly/cod-merch
YouTube: https://bit.ly/youtube-COD
Join our email list: https://bit.ly/mail-COD
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript was generated automatically. It’s accuracy may vary.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:00:37]:
I'm Rebecca King Ferraro.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:00:52]:
And I'm Michael Sean Breeden, and you're listening to Conversations on Dance.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:00:59]:
Today on Conversations on Dance, we are joined by Lloyd Knight, a longtime veteran of the Martha Graham Dance Company. We catch up with Lloyd about the work he has done in the past year with Twilight Tharp and on tours with the Graham Company, as well as the time he spent this year as one of the New York Public Library's dance Research fellows. The program this year is centered on Martha Graham, and Lloyd will present his research in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's annual symposium alongside the other fellows on January 26. There will also be a virtual symposium on February 2. Tickets are free and can be reserved via eventbrite. Click the link in the show notes for event information. For more information about the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, visit nypl.org.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:01:50]:
Good morning, everyone. Lloyd, welcome back.
Lloyd Knight [00:01:53]:
Good morning.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:01:55]:
It's been a minute, right? It's always weird to kind of go back, especially with someone like you that we see, like at Vale or wherever I see you in the world. At the club, on the dance floor.
Lloyd Knight [00:02:08]:
Yes.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:02:11]:
But when was the last time we spoke? Was it even before the pandemic, maybe? Basically. Long story short on the podcast time.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:02:18]:
Yeah, on the record. It's been a long time.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:02:23]:
Yeah. So we got to catch up with you. Let's go. In reverse chronological order. You were just on tour in Europe. How was that? You guys were everywhere.
Lloyd Knight [00:02:35]:
Yeah, we were on tour a little over a month, and we were in Spain, Italy, and Germany.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:02:43]:
Wonderful.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:02:44]:
I'm sure not your first time in those places on tour, right?
Lloyd Knight [00:02:48]:
Like Bologna, Italy. That was my first time. Small city in Germany. It was a lot of first timers on this tour, but it was know you go to these smaller places that you normally sometimes wouldn't go to at all.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:03:03]:
Yeah, but touring is such a part of the company's identity. It must be so nice to be back in that swing of things after of course, that was the very first thing to go. Is touring during for sure COVID era.
Lloyd Knight [00:03:17]:
I really enjoy it. I'm usually the one I'm like, oh, I can go a little bit longer. Some people are like, no, thank you. No, ma'am.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:03:26]:
Get me after two weeks.
Lloyd Knight [00:03:29]:
It's like it's a wrap.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:03:30]:
Yeah. What are some of the things that you do to take care of yourself when you're on tour? As we know, it's so hard to be away from home and not have all the things you need. But then also when you're traveling from city to city, what are some of the things that you do to take care of yourself?
Lloyd Knight [00:03:47]:
For sure, a lot of body conditioning. I usually take everything that I need no matter what. Like I'll sacrifice some personal objects to bring, like an extra roller.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:04:03]:
I was going to say, are you just bringing suitcases full of foam rollers?
Lloyd Knight [00:04:07]:
Just like dance toys?
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:04:11]:
I have one shirt and then all this other stuff.
Lloyd Knight [00:04:14]:
That's all you're going to wear, but just stuff that's going to make you feel comfortable. And you don't have any worries about being unequipped for what you have to do, right?
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:04:26]:
Yeah. You can get another shirt anywhere, but you can't get another foam roller.
Lloyd Knight [00:04:29]:
It's always a.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:04:36]:
True yeah, I guess I haven't thought about this because we didn't tour internationally much at all. I mean, we went to Paris one time for a few weeks and it's the jumping around for me, it's like, where's the Walgreens when you need it? Like our tour of the Midwest, there was always going to be a.
Lloyd Knight [00:04:59]:
You.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:05:00]:
Know, in Italy, they might just be keeping that cough syrup behind, locked under lock and key. And then what?
Lloyd Knight [00:05:08]:
Then what are you going to a we call it the PT bag, for example. And we all just throw all of our crap in there and yeah, it just makes things better.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:05:25]:
Yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:05:26]:
What was the rep that you were dancing? Of course. I'm sure that affects your tour experience.
Lloyd Knight [00:05:31]:
Yes.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:05:32]:
How difficult what you're doing is.
Lloyd Knight [00:05:34]:
We did whole fesh whole Fesh's new piece.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:05:37]:
So we all died cave like just.
Lloyd Knight [00:05:40]:
At the club for 30 minutes.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:05:42]:
I'm obsessed with that ballet.
Lloyd Knight [00:05:44]:
I love that. We did Cancer Cole and then we performed Aaron into the maze.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:05:52]:
So it was the same thing the whole time.
Lloyd Knight [00:05:54]:
Yeah, the program was the same. And yeah, we had two casts for Things Gosh that's Hard.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:06:02]:
That's a hard program.
Lloyd Knight [00:06:03]:
It was, but actually it was kind of smooth the way the program was set up. It's challenging, but we've definitely done more extremes, in my opinion.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:06:17]:
Right. Yeah. That is kind of like a ramp up into the evening. But yeah, I have seen I mean, you guys have done some really insane triple bills of death. What's the hardest triple bill you've had at Graham?
Lloyd Knight [00:06:38]:
I'm thinking back to this past joy season. Maybe it was all the new rep. Well, we had two new pieces and then into a gram classic, like in Battle Garden. It was just like a lot in there. And I did them all, and it was like, oh, and whole fesh. It was like a gram classic. It was the two new pieces and then whole fish to just add some sprinkle of, you know, that makes me think.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:07:14]:
So for, like, the thing that felt most comfortable on our bodies, michael and I would be like a balancing ballet. So if we had a program that was like a balancing ballet into something a little more modern and then like, socks at the end or yeah, that would feel bad on our bodies to kind of go through that. Do you guys kind of have that same feeling, like, when you do, like, a Graham classic into something that's more modern, that it's just like, you need a different feeling in your body or a different because it's a different technique, for sure.
Lloyd Knight [00:07:48]:
For me, I really enjoy getting the most technical stuff out of the way. So the Gram classics, I'm like, just, let's find our leg, let's do whatever we need to do, and then it's a little bit more freer, right?
Michael Sean Breeden [00:08:09]:
Yeah, that makes sense. It is interesting. And, I mean, I think those considerations, I think, do go into programming, but sometimes they just don't work out. Like, the dancers at City Ballet, they were complaining about some program where they had to change point shoes, and I was like, oh, you're mad about changing point shoes? Let me tell you what they did to the girls at Miami City Ballet. We had a program where they started out with Paul Taylor, paul Taylor work. Then they went into high heels for a ballroom ballet, and then it finished with Ballet Imperial, which is one of the hardest bouncing ballets.
Lloyd Knight [00:08:45]:
Like a ballroom like what ballroom piece?
Michael Sean Breeden [00:08:49]:
We did a piece by Edward Valella that was a ballroom dance, but it was just like it was the meanest thing to do to people's bodies. And I think maybe as an audience member, it's like you're getting something different. It's fine. But I just remember tears. A lot of tears.
Lloyd Knight [00:09:03]:
Yeah. It's hard to that exchange whipping from one dance style to the next. I mean, even in rehearsal sometimes, if we're working on a new creation, a contemporary work for hours, and then we have to jump into the gram stuff afterwards, it's hard.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:09:26]:
Right?
Lloyd Knight [00:09:27]:
It takes a lot of work.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:09:29]:
Yeah. And your class is so specific to get you exactly where you need to be to do gram stuff. Right, yeah, I totally understand that.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:09:38]:
Can we talk about another choreographer of note? When I said we have to catch up on a lot of things? We got to catch up on a lot of things. So this was over a year ago, but I want to hear about your experience working with Twila. Was that your first time working with her?
Lloyd Knight [00:09:51]:
First time? I was just talking about her the other day. Love her to death. It was by far one of the most challenging, most rewarding experiences I've been through. I've been trying to work with her for a while. I followed her work growing up. And, yeah, it was amazing. It was an amazing experience.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:10:22]:
What did you dance for that evening? What were you?
Lloyd Knight [00:10:25]:
Sinatra songs? And I did upper room. In the upper room.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:10:31]:
Were you a stomper in Upper room?
Lloyd Knight [00:10:32]:
Stomper? Yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:10:34]:
Which song of Sinatra did you dance to?
Lloyd Knight [00:10:39]:
Oh, my God. Wait. Shit. All the way.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:10:45]:
All the way, all the way.
Lloyd Knight [00:10:47]:
Okay.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:10:47]:
I was like I could tell you the names of them. We could figure it out. Process of elimination.
Lloyd Knight [00:10:52]:
It's early.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:10:55]:
So what was it like doing in the Upper Room? In the Upper Room is something that Michael and I are very familiar with. The company did it a lot in Miami. Miami City Ballet just did it. It's such a fun piece. It's so fun to watch, but is hard, especially when you're a Stomper man. It is hard. Hard, hard, right?
Lloyd Knight [00:11:11]:
It's hard. I remember that first day, still, like, the music coming on, and I was like, Whoa, this is real life. Like, this is about to go down. But it was a challenge. You can tell she really there. Was she expected she expected a lot out of the somburst, especially that first opening coming out, and she was just very clear with even the energy she wanted. It was hard. It was hard.
Lloyd Knight [00:11:57]:
But definitely we felt pushed, and she inspired me to want to take it there, but nerve wracking. I remember that first Tech rehearsal, even like, you have the washing machine curtains down and all the fog, and you're like, what is happening?
Michael Sean Breeden [00:12:17]:
I can't see that. PTSD. I had to do Upper Room with one rehearsal. Sorry, I'm talking over you.
Lloyd Knight [00:12:28]:
Go ahead.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:12:29]:
No, go back in.
Lloyd Knight [00:12:32]:
You had been rehearsing it. No.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:12:34]:
Well, in the back of the studio by myself. But then someone went out, and it was a Sunday. It was the last day that we were going to do the ballet on tour, and someone went out, and I had to do it with one rehearsal.
Lloyd Knight [00:12:48]:
I would have been throwing up.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:12:50]:
That's why I said it's.
Lloyd Knight [00:12:51]:
PTSD.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:12:52]:
Vom.com. Sorry, I really interrupted you to brag about myself. It's what you think when you're young, when you're a student, you're like, why is that person, like, showing this so full out? They're old and they need to get over their careers. And then you become that yes.
Lloyd Knight [00:13:10]:
You become that dancer.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:13:14]:
I'm curious. Yeah, I'm curious. For the Upper Room process, how involved was she with giving you the choreography, or was there someone there to teach you the choreography and then she was coaching it or what was that like.
Lloyd Knight [00:13:26]:
For very involved the we it was straight up boot camp. Twila's boot camp. We started before the ballet crew, and I want to say we started, like, late May, like, the entire summer. It was just the stompers with her every day, all day. And it was just us and Twyla at 09:00 A.m.. Right. Working it out.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:13:58]:
Wow.
Lloyd Knight [00:13:59]:
But those kind of experiences is what made it extra special. Yet she had people know Shelley Washington came in and was it was fun just to be with Mama T. Mama.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:14:17]:
T. That's cool, because since you got so much in depth information from her, probably someday you could set the ballet if you were interested in doing something like that. I don't know if that's something that's in your mind.
Lloyd Knight [00:14:27]:
I mean, if she would want that.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:14:30]:
Well, sure, but I just mean that was an extra experience that you got with her that so few dancers get.
Lloyd Knight [00:14:38]:
And we got all of her. I saw every emotion, all of.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:14:48]:
It.
Lloyd Knight [00:14:49]:
Very, very rewarding special.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:14:54]:
Let's switch gears to something else that's very exciting. You're a New York Public Library dance research fellow this year. This year has a focus on Martha Graham. How did you hear about this opportunity? What made you want to be a part of it?
Lloyd Knight [00:15:10]:
So I recently had a residency through the Guggenheim and was working with Jack Ferber and Jeremy Jacob, and I was concentrating on my life in dance, basically, like creating a one man show. And through the process, we realized that most of my influences are these legendary women. And, of course, Martha Graham. And I've been in the company for so long now, and we were just getting that up and going. And then Duke Dang from the Guggenheim, he was like, you know, there's this fellowship you should check out. And I just jumped on it and I applied, and luckily I got it. And it's been a lot of fun. It's interesting going into this scholarly world.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:16:11]:
Yeah. Tell us a little bit about what you've been working on and kind of what the steps have been as you've been going through this fellowship.
Lloyd Knight [00:16:19]:
So, for me, it's been more a study of why Martha became the person that she became, why she did what she did. So I've been really kind of researching why she created the technique or why she just loved dance in general, what she found, what she wanted in dancers or students in her school, how she pushed the dancers. So I've been watching a lot of rehearsal footage, for example, that I didn't necessarily know. I didn't know all this footage existed. And they just put a camera in the room, and it's her in the studio working with the dancers for hours on new creations. And it's beautiful just to hear her talk to the dancers and just to see what it was like back then, because you hear stories here and there, but to actually see her yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:17:21]:
Is there anything that she said? I mean, to me, I think she's so imminently quotable. Is there anything in there that struck you right away? I think she offered a lot of imagery who was the last person we were talking to that said that she actually didn't give a lot of coaching, but occasionally would offer really clear imagery?
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:17:42]:
Yeah.
Lloyd Knight [00:17:43]:
Did you speak to Janet?
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:17:45]:
Maybe.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:17:47]:
Was it Janet Maybe?
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:17:48]:
It was. Oh, my God. We talked to yeah, it was Janet.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:17:52]:
It was Janet.
Lloyd Knight [00:17:53]:
Y'all talk to a lot of people.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:17:56]:
We're graham girlies.
Lloyd Knight [00:17:57]:
You know, we're here for it. We love really, I love it.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:18:03]:
It's been so fun to be like a later in life Graham convert. I mean, I just didn't know anything. And then now we have all these guests and we've gotten to see the company more and more and it's illuminated a whole world for us. It's so amazing. We thank you for sharing it.
Lloyd Knight [00:18:21]:
No, thank you guys for loving it. Even with my time here, I've seen the change and younger people getting into the work. And it's nice because I definitely feel like there is a gap where people just kind of neglected it or they really weren't interested or even open to the idea that we weren't what people's ideas of what we were. Because usually when people think of gram dancers are the work. It's just very tight and stiff and just so serious. But there's so many different layers to it. And I'm happy that people are waking up.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:19:12]:
Yeah. But back to talking about some of the things that you see in these videos and things that she's talking about.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:19:17]:
What's peak.
Lloyd Knight [00:19:21]:
One thing that stood out was she was working on the creation of the rider spring. And I could tell that she was maybe a little bit frustrated. She's much older, so she's not showing things. She's barely showing anything. She's just giving imagery and whatnot. And I think there was just a high demand. She knew what was in front of her. And at some point she starts talking about the challenge of producing.
Lloyd Knight [00:19:59]:
And she gave this story about witnessing these caged alligators in a park being fed me and alligators are ripping apart the meat. And she's just watching this attack going on. And she was like, sometimes I feel like that piece of me, everybody is just taking a part of me and I'm just, like, trying to gain control. And I was like, Work, girl. That's how I feel, too. I was like bruce. Yes. Speak.
Lloyd Knight [00:20:36]:
It's real. And I got it. I mean, yes, it sounds so dramatic, but you get what she's feeling because she's trying to produce all this. She's trying to produce high art for.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:20:51]:
Years and years and years.
Lloyd Knight [00:20:52]:
Yeah. And you can see her on the videos, too, which is interesting, is you see these sudden spurts of movement coming out for like she might kick a leg or a hand or she's just like he's feeling it so deeply, even though she's not dancing anymore.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:21:11]:
Right?
Lloyd Knight [00:21:13]:
Yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:21:14]:
I mean, she really one up to Katy Perry there. Do you ever feel like a plastic bag? No, I feel like a piece of meat being ripped apart by alligator.
Lloyd Knight [00:21:28]:
It was great. I love it. Whenever I have to watch those videos, I always make sure to give myself time because you never know if you're going to miss her talking or information because she really shoots out some poetry.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:21:48]:
Yeah.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:21:50]:
How are you taking some of this back to your own dance career? I'm thinking of, like, Jennifer Homans, for example. When we spoke with her, she's done all this research on balancing, but of course, she's passed her dancing. So I wonder for you, while you're doing this research into Martha Graham, you're dancing her work still. How is that impacting your career as a dancer still, and how are you approaching things differently?
Lloyd Knight [00:22:09]:
I mean, for sure, because it's Martha talking about her work and you're seeing the dancers of that time, like either creating it or rehearsing whatever's already been done. I take that into rehearsal. Hopefully, we are working on something that's on that footage, but for example, like the Ride of Spring, all that footage we're doing again this season. So I'm definitely taking that knowledge or taking the imagery that some of the dancers are Martha is talking about and trying to include that in my work. Luckily, we have coaches and Janet, of course, even though it's set, the choreography is set, they still want us to bring our own into the work. So it's nice to have that feeling behind us that you're not trying to be like, dancer. A, you have the frame.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:23:22]:
I'm thinking about how in rehearsals, sometimes we'd be like, oh, I remember ballet before someone be like, I remember we have that. The arm used to be like this. And you're going to be like in the 1954 video, actually, I saw that the hand was here, except for you're going to have real information as opposed to just I remember.
Lloyd Knight [00:23:41]:
We definitely get that, which is fun, too, because sometimes you hear things, you're like, what we're not doing? That's so good.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:23:57]:
Have you been able to interact with the other fellows at all? Like, do you guys ever cross paths?
Lloyd Knight [00:24:02]:
Sometimes I've walked into the library and I'll see somebody and, you know, because we're in totally different worlds, I feel like the person that I see the most is the other fellow. One of the other fellows, Virginia Missen, and she's the director of Gram, too. So I see her all the time and we'll bump into each other in the hallway and I'm like, how are you doing? I'm good. Trying to make it happen. But we had an update meeting, like last month, and it was fun to hear the process and how other people have been feeling because I know for me, I want to present the best possible presentation, and I at least felt a little bit lost at some point because you have this clear idea going in. But then once you start doing the research and finding things are not finding things also, which creates a whole nother layer of confusion. So it's fun to see, it's interesting to hear other people's take on it. But it's a fun group, a lot of personality.
Lloyd Knight [00:25:33]:
It should be.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:25:34]:
What can you tell us a little bit about what the, I guess expectations are for a presentation or what you're planning going into that moment?
Lloyd Knight [00:25:43]:
So for me, it's really connecting the dots between Martha and I, especially the theory. So I'm trying to connect it to doing research. Know this potential one man show. One special finding that I had was speaking to my collaborators for the show was this idea of doing all these iconic works of Martha. Sometimes you feel very heroic and it can create imagery. We were talking about maybe an opening image of me standing on some rock and wind blowing and fabric and just the most dramatic, fabulous thing you could ever have. And we just thought about that and we sketched it out and that was.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:26:39]:
Sign my ticket already, honestly.
Lloyd Knight [00:26:41]:
And then went to the library and I found this sketchbook by this artist who had come in and did all these beautiful sketches of particular works. And there was a work that he sketched out and it's her on the damn rock. And I was like, oh my God, that is it. That is the image. So during the presentation, I want to do exchanges like that the ideas behind the show and the theories, but also how they relate to the real work and theories on dance and my ideas of why I dance and why I love the work and hearing her talk about it as well. So really just an exchange of ideas.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:27:35]:
I think that story is so powerful because I think when you dance a choreographer's work A, like, I'm just again equating it to us with balancing. You feel like you know him in a certain know. And so I love that because that does mean that you do have this understanding of Martha. Like you almost were like in her head for a moment where you created something that she also had an idea of. And I just find that really interesting. And if there's been other AHA, moments like that where you see a story about her, you see something and you're like, I would expect that.
Lloyd Knight [00:28:04]:
But also, I think maybe you guys have had this too, with the balancing work, but maybe she might have not necessarily described everything or gone into full detail, but just working on that movement vocabulary for so long, you should understand it. You don't necessarily need to hear a word or you should get it physically because of the way the feeling that you have in your body, what comes out of it.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:28:41]:
Yeah, like when we would be setting a piece and we would be like, oh, is it this? And we would do it and be like, no, that feels awkward. So it can't be that because it doesn't feel know, it's like you feel like you understand a little bit, or.
Lloyd Knight [00:28:51]:
Then you have the coaches that come in that maybe created that work or work with Martha, and they help guide you into the right path.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:29:02]:
Right.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:29:07]:
Are we yet into the three year celebration of the 100 year anniversary? Yeah, we just kicked it off. That's amazing. I couldn't believe it's. A fantastic idea, I think, right? Yeah. 100 is crazy.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:29:23]:
It really is.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:29:23]:
That's wild. Yeah. We have a dance organization in America that is 100 years old. That feels crazy when you think about I don't know, just feels like dance is still kind of in its infancy in America compared to other places in the world. But dance company, amazing company in America.
Lloyd Knight [00:29:44]:
It's wild.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:29:46]:
So of course it makes sense, I think, to have this extended celebration. Can you tell us a little bit about what is happening this year for the company?
Lloyd Knight [00:29:55]:
So this season is going to be Bomb, where we have a City Center season, and we are doing the Ride of Spring. We are doing appellation spring. We are doing Agnes de Mills rodeo. There's Maple Leaf Rag. There's a new work by Jamar Roberts, and I'm sure there's possibly more in it's. It's really full.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:30:29]:
Yeah. I'm super intrigued by the addition of, you know, Demel and Graham were kind of contemporaries, and I don't know. Rodeo hasn't been seen in New York in a minute. I know Abt did it at City center back when they used to do city center season, but that was the last time. Yeah. I think it's cool that Janet has programmed it. And have you guys already started working on it?
Lloyd Knight [00:30:58]:
Yeah, we've already later on.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:31:01]:
Oh, God. Wow.
Lloyd Knight [00:31:02]:
Yeah. So we kicked off the celebration, the 100 year celebration in Norfridge, California, at the Soraya, and that's where we premiered Rodeo. And we did it in Santa Barbara after that. It's wild. You know, at first when she said rodeo, we were all like, okay, work. Yeah, it's cowboys. Let's do it. And it's fun.
Lloyd Knight [00:31:36]:
I think it's interesting seeing the work now, now that I'm older, because you should think of it in a certain way, at least for me when I was younger, you should maybe seeing it a little bit superficially, but diving more into the work. And she's very similar to Graham that time period and really storytelling and each gesture, like, really having this meaning. And it's not about a pointed foot. There's moments in there they're like, do not point your foot. And you're like but wait. They're like, no, it's not about that. You're a real cowboy on the land, and no cowboy is pointing their foot. And it's creating this image.
Lloyd Knight [00:32:33]:
That's just one example.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:32:35]:
Yeah. Who staged the ballet for you?
Lloyd Knight [00:32:40]:
Diana Gonzalez. Yes. Very sweet lady. And she really gave us her whole.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:32:53]:
It'S. It's interesting because when you think, know, people like Graham and Balanchein are just a lot better preserved and cared for, and DeMille's legacy is a lot more fragile. Her work is done less. Like, the responsibility and the intensity of that, I bet, is probably different.
Lloyd Knight [00:33:15]:
Yeah. I mean, Diana for sure she stuck her ground and things were very set. And we watched archival footage. There's one video, I think it's from, like, the 70s Abt, and we watched Ballet West and all these different versions just to see what she really wanted us to do. And she was very excited to see a modern dance company take on the work. And she really felt like we could bring in some substance into some of the movements that Miss DeMille had asked for.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:34:03]:
Yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:34:05]:
Which of our gram queens does the central role?
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:34:13]:
He's like, give me the casting.
Lloyd Knight [00:34:15]:
You have Laurel and you have Marcia.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:34:21]:
We love to see. Yeah. Oh, my gosh.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:34:26]:
I love it.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:34:27]:
I bet they eat that up.
Lloyd Knight [00:34:29]:
They really do. It's like, perfect casting.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:34:33]:
Yeah. I want to pop back to the Fellowship just before we wrap up. I just am wondering while you will be dancing for a long time in the future, I'm sure, I just wonder how you think that some of this research might help you in whatever comes next for you in your career a.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:34:53]:
Long time from now.
Lloyd Knight [00:34:55]:
Good question. I mean, definitely giving me a better understanding of who I am as an artist right now, how I want to continue to grow. I think that's been the most important finding that I've had or what I want to push on with. Definitely the gram work is there, and it's special. As I continue to dive into that, even I keep talking about the Rite of Spring, but it's just something that's happening right now. Going back into rehearsals for that. You grow every year, especially going through the pandemic, it was just a time loss. So right now, this period just feels very needed, I guess I could say.
Lloyd Knight [00:36:00]:
And I'm not taking anything for granted, so just really trying to get the most out of these experiences and my dancing years.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:36:12]:
Yeah, I love that. I feel so inspired to be able to just kind of dig deeper into that.
Lloyd Knight [00:36:19]:
It is because if I go to the library and I do research in the mornings and then I go into rehearsal that afternoon, I really feel I'm pumped with Ms. Graham. Yeah, it's really inspiring. It makes me just want to do more and be better.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:36:43]:
I love it.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:36:45]:
That's so great. We love that our friends at the library are helping. When is the presentation itself?
Lloyd Knight [00:36:54]:
The presentation is in February, and yeah.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:36:59]:
I'm really nervous, but you've got lots of time.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:37:05]:
Yeah. How will the presentation work? Is it going to be just purely dancing? Are you going to be talking as well?
Lloyd Knight [00:37:12]:
So I'm doing a mix. Okay. I will be. Acting. There will be some dance theater in there. Dancing theater to be multimedia. I'm trying to do a real mixed presentation.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:37:30]:
Very cool.
Lloyd Knight [00:37:31]:
Yeah. And you'll see all of the fellow presentations that day as well. It's a full day event.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:37:38]:
Oh, cool.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:37:39]:
Well, we're really looking forward to it. I hope I'm in town, and I can come and wait. When is the city center season?
Lloyd Knight [00:37:47]:
City center is in the spring.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:37:50]:
And then in the spring, we'll see you right in the spring. You'll see you in right of spring.
Lloyd Knight [00:37:54]:
That's it. And I will be dancing with Marcia, the.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:38:01]:
Fun.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:38:03]:
Oh, wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Lloyd. We always love having you on. It was so wonderful to hear about everything that's been up with you. And we can't wait to hear how your presentation goes. We know you're going to kill it.
Lloyd Knight [00:38:15]:
Thank you so much. Thank you. This is a fun reunion.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:38:19]:
Yes, always.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:38:20]:
Thank you for having me. Thank you.
Michael Sean Breeden [00:38:22]:
Thank you, Lloyd.
Lloyd Knight [00:38:23]:
Thank you, everyone.
Rebecca King Ferraro [00:38:28]:
Conversations on Dance is part of the Acast creator network. For more information, visit conversationsondancepodpod.com.