Also, a clarification regarding the GAWRs: notions of "old" and "new" vary pretty dramatically by discipline. Perhaps the field of modern dance is by its nature skewed toward relatively recent developments, but it is worth noting that a piece such as Appalachian Spring might be a solidly-placed canonical milestone in one discipline (modern dance), while being thought of as more recent and outside-the-canon (though probably not terribly "edgy") in another discipline (music). I'm reminded of a dear friend from graduate school who proposed programming Arnold Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht on a contemporary music program. (The piece was composed in 1899; Schoenberg died in 1951.)
So when I talked about re-creating the works of masters as a primary mission of some academic arts pursuits, I was speaking from the vantage point of a university music department. Compared to a representative university music department, there is a markedly greater amount of new work created in a dance department, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of total effort. Imagine a music program where each faculty member was charged with being a composer, and about three-quarters of each concert performance consisted of works less than five years old. It happens in a few places, but not many. In fact, the revival of an older work for dance is usually a noteworthy event-- I'm reminded of the special-occasion-ness of Sabatino and Barbara Verlezza's re-creations of May O'Donnell's Dance Energies (1959) and Suspension (1943) at Kent State.
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I could really relate to the message Ira was conveying in the first video posted, both in dance, but moreover as a Visual Communication Design major. I often find myself in a familiar state of mind to that of a young Mr. Glass in "thinking my work is crap", to put it lightly. We have critiques each week, where our work is posted on the board so the professor can evaluate our progression on the project. I often find myself cringing at what I felt was a masterpiece the night before. The message I was aiming to achieve doesn't come across or "I swear it looked better in InDesign." Anyway, his video gave me reassurance that it takes awhile to get to where we want to be in a field, that we must work for what we want, and we will learn in the process. Nobody begins as a professional, but if you fight for your goals and stick it out, "the work you are making will meet your ambitions."
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