Founded in 1998, Mason/Rhynes Productions is known for its mission to provide quality performing arts workshops, residencies, projects and performances designed to challenge, enlighten and entertain diverse populations.

The organization assists independent artists and emerging performing arts groups by creating performance opportunities and providing administrative, artistic and technical theatre support for many national, regional and local DC area groups. Additionally, Mason/Rhynes is a presenting partner for the 2009 VelocityDC Dance Festival.

VelocityDC recently spoke with Gesel Mason, Co-founder and Artistic Director of Mason/Rhynes Productions and Gesel Mason Performance Projects as well as co-host of VelocityDC Late Night, to get her insight on Mason/Rhynes’ Late Night series and the issue of pushing artistic boundaries.

Editorial Note: Our interview took place prior to the VelocityDC Late Night premiere on October 3rd, 2009.

vDC: Give us some insight into the artistic philosophy behind Mason/Rhynes’ Late Night series.

We created the Late Night series because we wanted artists to have an opportunity to let their hair down, experiment, and have a good time. Often as an artist, you have to be very aware of the family friendly crowd and we just wanted to give artists an opportunity to not have to worry about that – to go as far as they wanted in any direction they wanted in order to push artistic boundaries. So you know, sometimes it can get a little raunchy, risqué, or exciting but it’s just a lot more fun and that’s what we are going for. We really want people to have a good time.

vDC: It seems like the Late Night performances take a lot more interactive approach where audiences can interact with the performers directly as opposed to just watching. How does this work?

Yeah. You don’t have to sit with your hands in your lap and watch. We like to think of it as a cabaret. There are a lot of different acts and it’s shorter – you’re not going to see long, evening length works that you are going to see elsewhere. The audience can laugh, comment, and at the Late Night at Joy of Motion in Dupont Circle we also serve drinks and light refreshments. It just loosens everyone up for the show.

It’s our goal to replicate that at VelocityDC. It’s a big stage and a big audience, but you still want to give people that sense of a cabaret. That is, the artists are really interacting with the audience and breaking the fourth wall even though people may not be coming out off the stage itself. It’s more unexpected, fun, and laid back.

At the same time, though, we are still looking at artists pushing the boundaries of high-quality work. It’s about trying to go deeply into an idea which might mean that there is a cuss word or nudity but it gives permission to both the audience and the artist to go where they need to go in terms of expressing themselves.

vDC: From an artist’s perspective, what’s it like to do a Late Night? Is the preparation different?

I would say so. I’ve performed in several of them and there is a running gag that I always make a cameo appearance during Late Night. Like somehow I show up when someone needs an extra, like an extra dancer or whatever, and I’ve been making appearances in that way! So it’s kind of funny.

There’s a spirit of camaraderie amongst the artists involved. Some of it is that you take a little bit of the pressure off; it’s not as precious. But one of the things that you take away (and we encourage artists to do) is to really push boundaries. We had a group for one of our Late Nights that performed a twisted take on Alice in Wonderland and we kept pushing them because we felt that they weren’t going far enough. You know, if you’re going to go there, then go there.

I think we really don’t get to flex those muscles often enough as artists; we don’t give ourselves permission to be irreverent, unexpected, or really risky and I think that influences an artist ultimately in their work. How do you prepare a work or performance when you think, “Oh, I can’t do that”? There are can be these pre-existing boundaries of what you can or can’t do in terms of what’s acceptable and it can be very limiting.

vDC: What would you like newcomers to know who are interested in attending Late Night?

You basically do Late Night because you want to do Late Night. It actually doesn’t make a lot of money because it’s a small venue; we’re talking about 70 seats. There is just a small honorarium that artists get to participate, so as an artist you have to love it and have to want to participate.

It’s the same with audiences. Audiences come to Late Night because sometimes you don’t get to see artists in a raw state; it’s all polished and perfect. [At Late Night], you might be seeing someone who’s trying out a work in progress and you’ll be able to talk with them afterwards because after the Late Night performance, there’s always a party. It’s like a dance party – we turn on the music, have a few more drinks, and have a good time.

I feel like when people come to Late Night they always say, “I want to put something on at Late Night. I want to think about my work slightly differently and take a different approach than the one I’ve taken before.” That sort of feeling is something that our audience appreciates. It’s not going to be perfect and shiny. It gives you permission to see artists in a bit of a raw state, in a bit of a developmental state, or when they are really pushing it. For the artists, I feel like it’s of value because it helps you flex your creative muscles.

For the audiences, it gives you permission to relax and not to have to “get it”. The feeling of Late Night lets you let your hair down so you don’t feel the same sort of pressure either, in terms of watching a performance. And some people prefer this to regular performances, in the sense that they feel closer to the artist and their ideas. So, I think both artists and audiences go because they want to go. You are going to get something that you’re not going to get anywhere else and this is something that we are looking to bring to the larger stage of the Harmon Center.

Gesel Mason co-hosted a sold out performance of VelocityDC Late Night with Peter DiMuro at Sidney Harman Hall on October 3rd, 2009.

Photo Credit: Paul Emerson

If you missed VelocityDC Late Night (or attended and want to see more),  check out Mason/Rhynes’ Halloween Late Night on October 31st, 2009 at Joy of Motion – Dupont Circle.

Featuring performances by Boris Willis, Komplex, Elizabeth Johnson, Reggie Glass, Contradiction Dance, Silk Road Dance Company, and Micia Mosely, what better way is there to spend Halloween in DC?

Seating for this exclusive event is limited to 80 tickets. Don’t miss out on seeing DC’s best cutting edge performances – Get your tickets NOW!

Founded in 2003, Furia Flamenca has been lauded for its passionate and unique performance style which mixes the best of modern choreography with its dancers’ diverse training to produce engaging performances that redefine widely held perceptions of the traditional art form of flamenco.

The company has performed extensively throughout the DC Metro region at venues including the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Publick Playhouse, Alden Theatre, National Theater, Dance Place, Jack Guidone Theatre, Carter Barron Theater, the Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Ernst Community Cultural Center as well as at numerous local festivals. On Saturday, October 3rd at 10:30 p.m., they will take the stage as headliners during the VelocityDC Festival’s Late Night performance.

We recently caught up with Furia Flamenca’s Artistic Director Estela Velez to discuss Saturday’s performance and get insight on her unique artistic vision and the current state of DC’s dance community.

vDC: Estela, give us some insight into the performance we will see on Saturday.

I tend to present the company as a whole, not as solo performers even through a lot of traditional flamenco identifies in that way. It’s just more exciting to me to get ten people together on stage, moving together at once with the power of flamenco.

Since our focus is more on the group as opposed to solos, Furia Flamenca will be bringing a group performance that is lively, flirtatious, and sexy specifically for VelocityDC Late Night. The piece we’ll be performing is actually a tango and because it is for an adult audience, we are going to spice it up a little bit with sexier and slightly more dramatic moves.

Nothing will be too risqué or extravagant. We really try to stay true to the art form and flamenco doesn’t necessarily need to be altered to be sexy since it is that way by nature, but you can always push boundaries to make it more provocative!

vDC: That an interesting point you’ve raised about artistic conventions. Furia Flamenca’s style has been described as “traditional with a modern touch” and know that you tend to build upon your dancers’ varied backgrounds. How do you manage that and what are the dancers’ competencies within the company?

Some of them come to me without dance experience and I teach them flamenco and that’s their only exposure to dance. But more than half of them have experience in either modern, jazz, or tap.

It fits perfectly within flamenco because it’s an individualistic dance and even when you are performing as a company, one of the most beautiful things to see is that everyone can be choreographically synced without losing individual expression.

In Furia Flamenca, however, we stay uniform and synchronized but everyone has their own individual flavor. For the audience, it’s a unique to experience to see ten dancers all moving, each with their own individual style. It’s so exciting and varied that when you are watching, it’s like – who do I look at? What do I focus on? There is so much to absorb and I find it all to be so much more exciting.

With my dancers instead of trying to make them all look alike, I see their personalities and style and fit all of that within the choreography to allow them an individual sense of expression. My hope is that when they go out and perform the dance as a soloist, instead of the audience seeing my influence, they see the dancer standing on their own. I really try to enhance them in that way.

Also, I always learn from them! I look around when we are rehearsing and when the dancers do something unique, I am like, “Wow! I like how you’re doing it. Look at him (or her)! Maybe we can do that!” It’s a real give and take. I’ve done a lot of dance forms in my life, but I’ve certainly not done everything that’s out there.

vDC: You’ve been in DC since 1998 and founded Furia Flamenca in 2003. In the ten years that you’ve been here, how has the dance community in DC changed? What’s exciting to you now?

Wow! We can talk about that forever! What I find exciting that’s going on now in DC is all of these initiatives to bring dance to the forefront.

When I first came to DC, dance was prominently covered in the media, especially the newspaper. Dance was out there in front of everybody. I noticed that after my first three or four years, however, times changes and I really don’t know what happened. I found that you no longer saw the same coverage and that the media didn’t seem to be involved as much.

It used to be that every weekend at least one or two reviews would come out in the Post and you saw the active involvement of media in the productions that were taking place from both the very professional companies to the emerging companies. It was right across the board. In the past few years, though, all of that has disappeared and is something that you don’t see as much.

It’s been disappointing from an artist’s perspective. You know, we are working and trying so hard to bring this to the public and it seems like the word does not really get out there. We really try to get the word out on our own but that can be difficult when dance is not being supported the way it should be by the wider community. So, it’s exciting to see all of these new initiatives to bring dance back to the forefront of what’s happening in this area.

Also, it’s exciting to see that maybe now we are going more towards the atmosphere of a city like New York where arts are inherently part of a city and are prominently displayed. So, I think all of these initiatives like VelocityDC and work of Peter DiMuro [Executive Director of Dance/Metro DC] who is doing a fabulous job; all of these things give you a breath of fresh air and puts a fire under your feet as an artist.

vDC: Where would you like to see DC’s dance community in the next 5 years?

I personally hope to see the same excitement that there was a few years ago come back. I think that at this point there are so many talented local companies that need to be showcased and brought to the public’s attention. We are cosmopolitan area, a truly international city. It would be really nice to see dance (and art in general) gain its former popularity locally and not just focus on importing talent. It is possible to use what there is here to excite and educate the city. You know, we don’t need to go very far. We really only need to look within to bring out beautiful and exciting performances.

vDC: In thinking about that goal, what needs to happen in DC to make it a better place for artists to present their work?

Right now, funding and venue accessibility are huge issues. Bringing a program to a theater is very costly, so increased funding and more collaboration between theaters and local talent would definitely help bring dance back to the forefront. Theaters are generally gun-shy about showcasing local artists during their performance season, so we often do not have the same performance opportunities that outside talent has. Making it a point to present local talent would really help raise awareness in the city.

Also, the dance community is being helped a lot with the public’s enthusiasm for shows like “So You Think You Can Dance”. On that show, they’ve showcased contemporary dance, ballet, ballroom, and jazz – it showcases every single dance form except world dance.

I’ve been waiting for the time when one of these shows makes world dance its focus. It doesn’t necessarily happen because our techniques are very unique to the particular dance form you are interpreting and aren’t fungible across the line or transferrable to other art forms. For example, if you do ballet you can transfer that technique to modern and vice versa, but world dance is quite specific. Our techniques are just not as universal. As much as I’d like to see it, I don’t think it will happen.

vDC: Given the public’s lack of exposure to world dance, how do you think that interest in the field can be encouraged?

Like I said before, DC is a very international community but there is only one dance festival within the city – the Dance DC Festival. Years ago, it focused solely on world dance but in the intervening years the scope has grown to include other types of dance. This is great and there is room for us all, but it would be really nice to see an event devoted to world dance. We are surrounded by embassies and the world truly lives in DC and yet there is no focus on that particular artistic perspective.

Now there is also the Annual World Dance Showcase in Prince George’s County which does a fabulous job and focuses solely on world dance, but we need so much more than that. And again, that’s in Maryland. We need that in DC, Virginia, and around the world. I think that we can and should be at the forefront of world dance here in DC because of our diversity.

There are some initiatives that have begun to address the issue, but it’s a difficult process. In spite of the obstacles, I remain hopeful that we’ll be able to achieve something like this in the near future.

vDC: How do you think an event like VelocityDC helps expand opportunities for our local dance community?

As an artist, there are many opportunities for performance in this town, but to have access to more types of venues is always exciting.  Also, it’s nice to have more opportunities to bring the dance community as a whole together.

You know, the arts tends to be organized by seasons. During this time of the year, activities are geared towards bringing dance to the public following the Dance DC Festival at the end of August in the form of showcases at Dance Place and Joy of Motion. These are events that are similar to VelocityDC, but don’t necessarily happen throughout the year

So I think that being in the heart of DC at Sidney Harman Hall which is an exciting and new place keeps the excitement of the Dance DC Festival going versus letting it dwindle until the next opportunity. It’s a good bridge – you get the Dance DC Festival, then the Metro DC Dance Awards and a month later you have VelocityDC and hopefully a month later you have something else that brings us together again so that the line doesn’t get broken and the excitement continues to build throughout the year. We definitely need more productions like this to keep things going.

Estela Velez and Furia Flamenca will be performing during VelocityDC Late Night on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 10:30 p.m.

Want to see them live at Harman Hall? Don’t miss out – Get your tickets now!