Kickstarter

Hey Kickstarters!

My name is Jaema Joy Berry, and I'm an independent choreographer in New York City. 

"The Way We Danced 'Til Three" is a contemporary dance work set to the music of George and Ira Gershwin.  Why Gershwin?  First, I've always loved old movie musicals.  Secondly, there's something about those old love songs that still pulls at the heart of this 25-year-old.  And I know I'm not the only one.  I wanted to explore what it was about those old songs that holds our fascination some 75 years later, and how the old ideals of romantic love translate to our experience today. (Fred and Ginger's characters didn't put their relationship on Facebook.  You know?)  I started this project last year in Chicago, and now it's time to take it to New York, where the Gershwin brothers were writing this stuff!

I am reworking and editing TWWDTT for eight dancers.  We are rehearsing this fall, holding a free-to-the-public choreography showing in October, and (if funded!) a full-scale production in the spring.  All rehearsals and the showing will be at Steps on Broadway in NYC, and the production itself will be at Theatre80 St. Mark's.  Theatre80 used to be a speakeasy back in the Prohibition days, and the theatre still holds a lot of that charm and history in its exposed brick and red velvet seats in the East Village.  

We need your help renting our rehearsal space at Steps for ten weeks of rehearsal (I'm a work-study student there, so I get a deal, but I’m counting on you for the rest) and renting Theatre80 for a weekend (one dress rehearsal, two performances).  Funds will also go towards hiring a lighting designer, and, last but dearest to my heart, dancers' salaries.

All of that adds up to $4,570. We are handling costumes, marketing, show programs, and graphic design by ourselves, through thrifty creativity and ticket sales.

Obviously, your support is incredibly important to us, so we have rewards for you! Handwritten thank-you notes, mentions in the show program and on our website, access to rehearsal videos and other special footage, DVD copies of the performance, and tickets to the show are all available.  I'm also incredibly interested in YOUR two cents about relationships.  $20 and up backers will have access to an online survey to give us stories, ideas, thoughts, jokes... and we'll pull from that material for the show. You'll have access to the rehearsals that use YOUR material, so you'll get to see your creative input in action as the creative process unfolds.

You can find more information about my work and the show so far on my website, TimeOut Chicago, and SeeChicagoDance. Check out the video, check out the website, and consider backing us up. Your time is worth the world to us.  Thank you!

Photo and Lighting Design: Garen Checkley