Dan Safer, Artistic Director of Witness Relocation and a respected director/choreographer, has been creating and devising works in the City for over 15 years -- but his most recent project might be one of the strangest. Entitled "Blue Wizard/Black Wizard", this 'philosophical musical fantasia' combines pop culture, musical theater, and electronic music with exciting results.
StageBuddy spoke with Safer over coffee about the differences between choreography and directing, what it means to be an Artistic Director, and "Blue Wizard/Black Wizard".
StageBuddy: What excites you about this musical?
Dan Safer: I like getting to do giant dance numbers with a bunch of people to Dave's [Dave Malloy] songs on [set designer] Mimi Lien's crazy star set is really really fun, like a big Vegas floor show. That's been the most fun, making these giant narrative songs come alive and getting to work with the performers has been great. Mikeah Jennings and Nikki Calonge are amazing performers. I've wanted to work with Jennings for years, but we never have before; and Calonge is a member of Witness Relocation, so we work together a lot -- it's great, she's always amazing to work with. I've admired Bent [Eliza Bent, chief collaborator with Malloy] in other people's stuff and I've never got to work with her as performer, so that's exciting.
Dave Malloy has fantastic shoes, incredible footwear. Oana Botez [costume designer] basically made these handmade couture alien-wizard type costumes. It looks spectacular. There is singing and dancing of 12 people in an ensemble with silver-glammed togas. Calonge does some fantastic model walking in it, and she's got great pink false eyelashes on and Jennings has on a turban -- you can't go wrong.
SB: What were some of your challenges and highlights in rehearsal?
DS: It's really hard working with performers who are also writing the script and the music because they keep changing brains. You want them to be performers but they're focused on being a playwright and composer. So that was the biggest challenge, having those guys [Malloy and Bent] switching hats so much.
Highlights: the first time we saw Botez's costumes and Yi Zhao's lights on the set, it was just spectacular; that was a huge highlight. When it all came together at the Incubator with the fog machine, that was pretty awesome.
SB: What character are you most like in the play?
DS: I'm probably most like Mikeah. He runway walks the way that I do.
SB: If this show was a spell, what would it be?
DS: Probably one that could turn glamour on and off; or it could make glitter appear and disappear at will.
SB: Advice to the young professional?
DS: I would echo Patti Smith and say, "Leave New York and go and do it somewhere else and then come back here when you've figured out what the hell it is you're doing," because it's too expensive here now. Don't try and do what the people you admire do because they're probably doing their own thing and you should do your own thing. And if you're going to fuck up, like crash, burn, and die, then don't do it timidly. That's probably the best advice.
SB: What are some of the biggest things you've learned as an Artistic Director?
DS: Don't do it unless you absolutely have to. It's annoying and tedious, and it's a bunch of administrative work that you really don't want to do. I know so many people who get out of school and say, 'Now I'm forming a theater company,' and they go get a 501C3, there is zero reason to do that at all. Just start making your work, and if a group of people form that seem to have an identity, maybe that's a company; maybe it needs a name, and then eventually maybe you need to incorporate. [Or] maybe you just need to find fiscal sponsorships somewhere and not worry about any of that crap. Put more of the energy into the work that you're doing: nobody cares if you have bylaws, nobody cares if you have a board; that's only there in place for funding and patent crap. Don't think just because you have a company name and someone's lawyer helped you incorporate, then suddenly you're making valid work. Just put your energy into making work is what I've learned.
I love the people I work with; that's why it's a company, because I would much rather work with them than with anybody. The people at Witness Relocation are my favorite people to work with, and what we do is indicative to us together not just a thing and that's why it's a company.
SB: Choreography and Directing: how are they the same, and how are they different?
DS: I don't really see a difference. I feel like they're in the same spectrum -- just at opposite ends, and sometimes they meet in the middle. Choreography is the art of moving bodies in space. Directing is also often the art of moving bodies in space. And I think it depends on what your definition of dance is, so when it comes down to it there's really not that big of a difference -- because I think good choreography encompasses elements of theater and directing, and good directing absolutely encompasses elements of choreography. Just someone moving can be considered a choreographed element and should be considered. Everything should be considered. That doesn't mean it has to look "dancey," but a body moving in space is choreography in some sort of way.
You can also look at the choreography of Times Square, of crowds walking -- that's choreography. So it's really just what lens you put on it. I'm always doing the same thing whether I have my more dancey lens on [or not]. There is behavior work, or there is dancey dance, or behavioral dance, and things in between that have elements of both. Dancey dance to me is more like Mercy Cunningham or cruise ship which I love and will fake doing often and behavior when you freeze the moment will look more like a snapshot of an intense moment of conversation as oppose to a more abstract typical dance moment but it's really all the same thing just depends on how you attack it.
Performances of “Blue Wizard / Black Wizard” continue through December 22nd. Check out our full event listing here: stagebuddy.com/listingdetail.php?lid=16434
