7 Stages is with us! - raising money and working to get "The Annunciation" presented there in the Fall. I am dreaming of a cast of thousands - or at least a dozen. And I am dreaming of an intergenerational cast. Suzanne has been helping me to put this part of the dream together. Nicole has most generously made her studio available.... now we just need to walk in the door....So for all, any, of you interested we will be meeting on these dates for rehearsal/creation sessions. We will work from 12:30-2:30. The idea is to gather for four times, and then take a break. And then re-group. Part of this is to accomodate my tour schedule. and it is also to give us time to take care of the rest of our lives..... Please join if you can:
Here is our January/February schedule: All sessions are from 12:30-2:30
Jan 31
Feb 8
Feb 14
Feb 15
Then we won't get together again until March
March 8
March 15
March 21
March 28
Then not again until April 11.
For awhile we will be meeting at Nicole's studio at Studioplex, then we will probably move to my studio. Small, but it will be spring and we can start dancing outside. Nicole's studio is at Studioplex, at the
Corner of Irwin and Auburn. Enter Studioplex parking lot from Auburn. Go to the back of the buildings and turn right. Park in any unmarked spot. Nicole's studio has a large number 7 painted outside. it is on the ground level. It also says, with a small sign, Gardenhouse Dance and has photos of Gardenhouse dancers in the window.
You should also know that The Annunciation has expanded... Darwin has shown up and wants to dance, too.
Hope you can join us!
love, c
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, October 5, 2008
running into walls, OR when your life is your own allegory
okay. so i have had so much in my head lately.... ever since completing the (head-y) MFA -
and: have been feeling stuck in my artmaking. I have been bored (maybe not "bored" but feeling empty) with the performance mode of performer/audience seperation of roles. Performer performs, audience watches. I know I can do it. I do it well. But it is feeling empty. but this information has been making me just want to go take a nap.
so it was such a gift to be invited by Ann to perform The Annunciation at Virginia Tech a few weeks ago. In an environment that encouraged (challenged) me to step beyond the limits of
THIS IS A PERFORMANCE...
THE PERFORMER GOES HERE, THE AUDIENCE SITS THERE.
LIGHTS ON,
PERFORMANCE GO,
LIGHTS OUT,
PERFORMANCE OVER.
But here is my favorite thing that happened.
I ran into a wall.
Literally.
Twice!!!
During the performance - both performances! Same Wall!
Really hard. I could have (or maybe I did.....) given my self a concussion.
(Ann checked my eyes, said they looked ok)
The performance really pushed some boundaries for me of how to engage the audience, how to play with time, engagement, intimacy, "celebrity" -
ANd I am very excited about what happened. I realize I am stepping even further onto the fringes of the dance and performance world. Its bad enough I dance, then I dance and talk, then I get old and refuse to stop dancing, then I reject the marketplace system that has provided my "success" and "getting a gig" life for so long..... and now I am messing with core fundamentals of the relationship between performer and spectator, while still desiring to make meaning and to make it matter.
So I ran into a wall.
twice.
hard.
same wall. and the second time i did it, i was also locked out of the theatre because for some (unknown) reason the door for my entrance was locked and i had to find a new way in...
so here I am - running into walls, getting locked out.... and really excited about what happens next
and: have been feeling stuck in my artmaking. I have been bored (maybe not "bored" but feeling empty) with the performance mode of performer/audience seperation of roles. Performer performs, audience watches. I know I can do it. I do it well. But it is feeling empty. but this information has been making me just want to go take a nap.
so it was such a gift to be invited by Ann to perform The Annunciation at Virginia Tech a few weeks ago. In an environment that encouraged (challenged) me to step beyond the limits of
THIS IS A PERFORMANCE...
THE PERFORMER GOES HERE, THE AUDIENCE SITS THERE.
LIGHTS ON,
PERFORMANCE GO,
LIGHTS OUT,
PERFORMANCE OVER.
But here is my favorite thing that happened.
I ran into a wall.
Literally.
Twice!!!
During the performance - both performances! Same Wall!
Really hard. I could have (or maybe I did.....) given my self a concussion.
(Ann checked my eyes, said they looked ok)
The performance really pushed some boundaries for me of how to engage the audience, how to play with time, engagement, intimacy, "celebrity" -
ANd I am very excited about what happened. I realize I am stepping even further onto the fringes of the dance and performance world. Its bad enough I dance, then I dance and talk, then I get old and refuse to stop dancing, then I reject the marketplace system that has provided my "success" and "getting a gig" life for so long..... and now I am messing with core fundamentals of the relationship between performer and spectator, while still desiring to make meaning and to make it matter.
So I ran into a wall.
twice.
hard.
same wall. and the second time i did it, i was also locked out of the theatre because for some (unknown) reason the door for my entrance was locked and i had to find a new way in...
so here I am - running into walls, getting locked out.... and really excited about what happens next
Monday, July 28, 2008
dance-making as research
Chip and I premiered "The Annunciation" at ADF ten days ago. After the performance I left Durham and drove to Blacksburg to spend time with Ann (Kilkelly thesis advisor) and Carol; and to reconnect with Normando.
To be in the mountains to reflect.
Now I'm at Hollins embarking on the written part of the thesis.
The writing I embark on for these next two weeks will be a reflection on the document of the research. (the dance)
The exploratory part of the research process, the artistic process with its objective to make something: the document of the research - in this case that document being the performance: the performance is the Thesis, the document of my research.
So this is different. This is the reflection on that!
Here's the tricky part, to remember/recall what was that process of that exploration? What were the processes of research? My embodied research process is always very particular.
It involves reading, yes.
It involves seeking out information in dialogue with other people, yes.
It involves thinking through that information, yes.
It involves responding to that information and testing it in relationship to other information.
But its the How that is the embodied practice. The material that is gathered is then deciphered into ideas/actions of the Body: gesture, direction, energy, shape, time, interiority/exteriority, liminality, intent, ephemerality...
I sat down to start my writing by writing about the process. And I realized its all here, in this blog. I like that if I keep this as my process section - the reader goes backward through time.
This way the events (epiphanies, activities, questions) proceed their announcement.
Their annunciation.
To be in the mountains to reflect.
Now I'm at Hollins embarking on the written part of the thesis.
The writing I embark on for these next two weeks will be a reflection on the document of the research. (the dance)
The exploratory part of the research process, the artistic process with its objective to make something: the document of the research - in this case that document being the performance: the performance is the Thesis, the document of my research.
So this is different. This is the reflection on that!
Here's the tricky part, to remember/recall what was that process of that exploration? What were the processes of research? My embodied research process is always very particular.
It involves reading, yes.
It involves seeking out information in dialogue with other people, yes.
It involves thinking through that information, yes.
It involves responding to that information and testing it in relationship to other information.
But its the How that is the embodied practice. The material that is gathered is then deciphered into ideas/actions of the Body: gesture, direction, energy, shape, time, interiority/exteriority, liminality, intent, ephemerality...
I sat down to start my writing by writing about the process. And I realized its all here, in this blog. I like that if I keep this as my process section - the reader goes backward through time.
This way the events (epiphanies, activities, questions) proceed their announcement.
Their annunciation.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Nicole snacking thoughts
I like angel food cake. also pomegranates and figs. For some reason almonds come to mind. Makes me wonder if the food should be in a suitcase, like the fuller brush man....
love,
Nicole
love,
Nicole
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
snack of the annunciaition
Would love input on this question......
I know there is a Feast of the Annunciation, and I always like to share food at the beginning of a performance. I usually give out oreo cookies. What food/snack might welcome us into this piece? thoughts?
I know there is a Feast of the Annunciation, and I always like to share food at the beginning of a performance. I usually give out oreo cookies. What food/snack might welcome us into this piece? thoughts?
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