GOING SOMEWHERE
Welcome to the third issue of The Double Scoop, where artists use words and pictures to report on the world around them. This issue is about moving and moving on.
Artist Vinetta Miller of Center for Creative Works animates bodies in motion. Double Scoop reporters meditate on movement and lack thereof in the early days of 2021. Reporter Heydi De Los Santos describes how she found love on public transportation and columnist Melanie Martin interviews New York City Ballet dancer Russell Janzen.
Now let’s get moving!
MEDITATIONS ON MOVEMENT
Double Scoop Reporters chew on what movement means under lockdown.
You’re always going somewhere, where it be school or work. But when you become an adult, where do you go after that? Nobody knows but you.
How do you move?
On a subway? A bus? Do you walk or do you dance?
Where do you go?
What moves you?
Would you take somebody with you or would you go by yourself?
At a time when people are physically very still, we’re all still moving. There’s even a sense that a movement is growing.
I am moving in my imagination because of covid.
I got an eighties spirit of movement.
I am moved by the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.
I am moving in and out with the help of rainbows and emojis!
I miss moving.
After all, using your imagination about movement can be totally fun!
Does your mind float to go to this place? Check your pulse. Follow your impulse! Where does the spirit move you?
You never know exactly where you’re going but you're always going somewhere.
🌍⭐️⭐️🌏🌙🌒🌗
And we’re going to mars!
LOVE ON THE GO
Reporter Heydi De Los Santos shares the story of how she met her boyfriend, a bus driver for the MTA, on a bus!
I met Travis when I was working at Panera Bread at Kings Plaza, six or seven years ago. Because of his schedule and my schedule, I got out of a job for the night and I was running to the bus and I caught it. He was a bus driver on the B46, the last stop, slash first stop is by my house. The 4 out of 7 days I worked at Panera Bread I took the bus from the first stop to the last stop, both directions.
I noticed he looked at me. I started staring at him and then back and forth at each other. At last we started talking and he told me he was doing that because he thought I was a pretty woman, he liked the way my voice sounded. He heard me talking with my mother on the phone and me telling her, “I’m on my way, I’m on my way.”
For our first date, I rode on the bus with him back and forth, back and forth. On my days off when he worked, or when I finished working, I would ride with him back to our houses. I would sit in the seat right by the door. Those were different buses than now, you had to go up the steps when you first go in and the seat was right there. That was my favorite seat in all the buses because I could talk to him.
He would tell me things about himself. I would tell him about myself. I was already so passionate about public transportation. I sat there in the past in that same seat because I made a lot of bus driver friends. I was always asking them questions about buses and trains and everything. Even before Travis came into the picture I was always fascinated by transportation in New York City.
He taught me about bus history, this does this, that does that, and about all those buttons on the bus. I learned the switch that opens the door doesn’t have to open all the doors. You can turn it a certain way to open one door but not the other.
I moved in with him 5 years ago. Since having him in my life, I have become a more responsible woman. I cook more than I did in my mother’s house and lucky for him he likes my cooking. We still have a lot of fun.
Every 3 months Travis and the other bus drivers have to either change their schedules by hours or by route. My favorite bus is the B46. When he’s leaving Fulton Street, I’m always counting the cars the train is passing by. Or looking at the numbers of the other buses passing by, trying to catch them before they pass by too fast.
Buses have turns and stop lights and honking and “Hey man, get out of the way!” And sometimes they go real fast. Sometimes there are detours, going on routes they don’t usually go to. So you can see neighborhoods you don’t always see.
It’s hard sometimes to take the bus but it doesn’t matter because you are going to where you are glad to be with someone you enjoy being with.
A FANTASTIC DANCER 🌟🌟🌞🌞
Melanie Martin interviews New York City Ballet dancer and Summertime enthusiast, Russell Janzen, about the joys, challenges and triumphs of his being a dancer.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen (9:47 AM)
Ready for our big interview? Hooray! 🐳🐳🐳
It’s a lot of movement and practice, any major injuries?
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (9:53 AM)
Yes! When I started dancing, I had one major injury almost every year for three years. And then I was relatively healthy, until last year when I fractured my fibula.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (9:54 AM)
Moving around a lot! What outfits do ballet dancers wear?
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (9:54 AM)
Everyone dresses differently! Some people wear tutus and skirts. Some people wear tights and shirts. I like to wear sweatpants or gym shorts with a fun t-shirt. But that’s only in class and rehearsal. Onstage, we wear beautiful costumes.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (9:55 AM)
It appears that we’re stuck in covid !🐩🐇🐇
From Russell Janzen to (9:55 AM)
Yes, it sure does.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (9:56 AM)
What do the costumes look like? 😴😴🤓🤓
From Russell Janzen to Everyone: (9:57 AM)
It depends on the ballet. A lot of times I wear white costumes with jewels and gold. I guess I’ve worn some pretty wacky costumes too. Once I wore a wedding dress. And I wore a bald cap for one show too.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (9:57 AM)
A bald cap! How many hours do they train for?🏵🎟🎨
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (9:57 AM)
Well right now, I dance maybe one hour a day, but typically I dance three to six hours a day.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (9:57 AM)
🙏🏼🙏🏼💋💋 Do you travel for work? How do you travel?
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (9:58 AM)
I do! I’ve been all over the world to dance. Usually I fly to the places I’m dancing because they’re far away, but sometimes we drive.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (9:58 AM)
You would get tested before flying! ❤️❤️❤️
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (9:58 AM)
I would but I haven’t flown to dance in well over a year . Maybe this summer!
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:00 AM)
That would be cool! 😎💙🎪🎭
What music do you listen to...classical?💜💜 😇😍🙃😂
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:00 AM)
I personally listen to a lot of different types of music, but typically when we’re onstage, we dance to classical music. But there have been ballets recently to contemporary popular music .
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:01 AM)
What did your dance style consist of? 🍑🍑
Did they look like acrobatics?🌈☀️🌧⭐️💧☂️🌔🌸 🌈🌈😋😋🏝🏝
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:02 AM)
My dance style is pretty standard ballet. My dancing does not look like acrobatics because I am not super flexible and I can’t do tricks and flips.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:02 AM)
No tricks! Any splits?😱😱💩💩
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:02 AM)
I can sort of do splits. Sort of.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:02 AM)
You’re not even trained as well as me! 💔💔💙💙
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:03 AM)
Probably true! Can you do splits?
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:03 AM)
I can never do that junk of a split!
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:03 AM)
Overrated!
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:03 AM)
Save the last dance, it’s a modern classic! 😚😚😋😋
What is one of your favorite dance flicks? 💔💔💙💙
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:04 AM)
I really like Center Stage because the dancing is great, and some of my friends are in it!
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:04 AM)
Who are your friends?
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:04 AM)
None of the leads are people I’m friends with, but lots of the dancers in the background. And that’s my company’s theater that I dance in .
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:04 AM)
21 years of center stage! 💙💙💞💞💙💙💞💞
From Russell Janzen to Everyone: (10:04 AM)
It’s true - it has been 21 years! Hard to believe .
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:05 AM)
Any plans for a virtual ballet?😘☯️📖🍝🎆🌺
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:05 AM)
Yup - lots of virtual ballet these days. I take class on Zoom, and some of my dancing is posted to YouTube every once in a while for my company’s digital seasons. No new ones right now though, no. Would you be interested in making a virtual ballet?
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:06 AM)
Possibly, with learning new steps!😍😍💚💚
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:06 AM)
That would be great! Maybe there should be an emoji inspired ballet? Mel, you could send the emojis and then someone would build a dance out of it .
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:07 AM)
🍕🍰🍮🌰🍪🎂🍿🍩🍣
ha ha! 💗❤️💗❤️💗❤️
How do you get along with other dancers? 😍😍
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:09 AM)
I get along pretty well with the other dancers. Most of what I do is partnering, so a lot of my job is developing relationships with my partners - trust, etc.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:09)
How do you do that?
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:09 AM)
I try to be kind and generous, and understanding of everyone’s needs in the studio and on the stage
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:09 AM)
It’s all about trust, you see? 🌈⚡️🌘🌸🌹🍃🎄🐾🐲🌩
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:10 AM)
It is! Especially when I’m lifting and supporting other dancers. They really need to trust me.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:10 AM)
Any drama? 🔥🔥🌥🌥
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:10 AM)
Sometimes! There’s always drama when there are lots of artists in one room.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:11 AM)
How will you keep in contact with the dancers? 😇😇
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:12 AM)
I text and FaceTime and Zoom a lot these days.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:12 AM)
I would love to do FaceTime one day! 🦄🐺🐗🐦😎😎
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:12 AM)
Yeah! Me too. Let’s do it.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:14 AM)
What will you inspire the next generation of dancers? 🕸🐍🐙🐠🐊🐬🦈🐋🦕🦂🐜
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:14 AM)
Oh, I don’t know that I’ll inspire the next generation. But I look forward to seeing what they do!
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:14 AM)
Any advice? 🕌💒🌌💒🏭🏝
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:14 AM)
Make sure you love it! Because it’s a lot of hard work, and it hurts.
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:15 AM)
And to not give up, as well! 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Don’t forget to wear a mask!
💜💙💚💚💓💘💘💟
💕❣️💕❣️
From Russell Janzen to Melanie Martin: (10:18 AM)
Thanks for the reminder and thanks for the chat!
From Melanie Martin to Russell Janzen: (10:19 AM)
It's been a pleasure, so have fun and stay safe!
💜💜😋😋🌃🌃 🕉🕉🕉🍡🍣🍣 🚾♿️💠✳️❇️🈯️💹🚺🈁🚻 🍡🍦🍰🍭🍫🍿🍩
🚹🚺🚺🚺🛄🈂️🚺🛄🛄 🚺💙🕉🔯✡️🔯❣️🔯🔯 ☮️🕉🕉🔯🔯🔯🔯
Keep doing what you’re doing. You're an inspiration.
LOOPED MOVEMENT
Russell Janzen, a dancer with the New York City Ballet collaborates with Vinetta Miller, a painter and animator who works out of Center for Creative Works in Wynnewood, PA.
I first saw one of Vinetta Miller’s animated dancers on Instagram in June. I could feel the groove and almost hear the music. They are an absolute joy, and I found myself returning to them again and again - watching them on an endless loop. Trying to find new ways of engaging with dancing in the pandemic, I reached out to Vinetta to ask if she would be interested in animating my colleagues at the New York City Ballet. She agreed and chose two clips to work from: Taylor Stanley in Kyle Abraham’s Ces noms que nous portons, and Indiana Woodward in Justin Peck’s Pulcinella Variations. These two GIFs capture the vibrant energy of the dancers: they’re celebratory flashes of bodies in motion.
THE DOUBLE SCOOP TEAM, DRAWINGS AND ANIMATIONS
Everette Ball, Anel Jean Baptiste, Jr., Mary T. Bevlock, Heydi De Los Santos, Priscilla Frank, Russell Janzen, Melanie Martin, Manny Mattei, Anna Schechter, Jimmy Tucker + Larry Willoughby Jr.
Double Scoop Logo, Everette Ball
The Man is Dancing Outside by the Waterfall, Vinetta Miller
The Woman is Walking the Horse at the Farm in Colorado, Vinetta Miller
The Women is Playing the Piano and the Ballerina Dances, Vinetta Miller
Indiana Woodward, Vinetta Miller
Ice Cream Cone, Everette Ball