I went to see the last installment Here/Now http://www.herenowonline.blogspot.com/ which is a totally cool movement/music/improvisation/performance experiment where a musician and a dancer are randomly paired to improvise an on-the-spot performance.
What I saw there solidified something for me - Just make something happen.
Anything. Just make anything happen. I really do mean THING here, anyTHING. The pieces which were successful for me that evening were the ones in which a series of events were easy to identify... even shitty events. Now she has her hands in her pockets... Now is the part where her foot is stuck to the lid of the vase which is in the middle of the floor... Now she and the musician are kicking the lid back and forth to each other... etc. Even the most inane details are so interesting when they hint at a story. Dance works (that night or out in the wide world of set choreography) that are stocked full of endless abstracted dance movement just don't keep in the room with them. I space out. I feel the weight of everything about dance that irks me. I start to dance in my head. I'm not there. But even the lamest action which marks an impending change keeps me engaged. I'm in my seat like And then what?... And then what?.... And then what?
Let's get a few things straight here:
I don't mean story in a literal way. I don't even like story in a literal way. I am the one who will not get the story if one is presented, wont read the program notes before seeing the show, and don't want to read any reviews of anything ever. If you try to tell me a literal story with your show chances are that I won't get very much out of your show. That is just who I am and what I look for in art.
I mean Story as a series of episodes or actions. I mean A Series Of Episodes Or Actions as ways that the audience gets to witness the changing focus, intent, emotional space, or vibration of the performer(s). I have an idea that this witnessing can distract us from our own guardedness and our own expectations about art and being moved so that a real interaction with the art can take place. If your a smart maker, you'll use the momentum of story to engage and entertain while sneaking in the temporal information, to you know, make the art.
But that's just my opinion.
Also, many of the musicians, with a few really wonderful exceptions, didn't seem to know how to improvise with their dancer. Some stashed themselves in a corner and didn't even check out what the dancer was doing. One ran around the stage with signs. The signs had sounds written on them that the audience was to make. It was a super clever idea that I think could have been successful with a softer execution, but that night it was only successful at avoiding an improvised duet entirely.
There were some big generalizations in the night for me:
1- dancers want to touch the musicians
2- musicians don't want to touch the dancers
3- it can be difficult to have faith in something long enough to develop it
4- just make something happen
Go to Here/Now! It's a totally cool experience. I give everyone mad props for taking the risk and seeing what comes out of them on the spot and with a stranger (and potentially out of their element)! I'd love to be a part of it. I found it to be a great tool for my choreographic brain to root out what I am drawn to on stage. Just go.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Damn, Tony Robbins!
Via my mom...
A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided. ~Tony Robbins
More about that later...
A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided. ~Tony Robbins
More about that later...
Friday, September 10, 2010
Anniversary Gift
Speaking of Adam Kozie, who is my boyfriend...
He isn't moved by dance. Those are his own words.
What is it about dance that befuddles people? Is there another art form that gets this kind of black listing? Are there people out there who don't like music, or movies, or photographs? Miguel Gutierrez talks about a Perceptual Intelligence. He asserts that we can train our audience to have a perceptual intelligence in part by assuming that they already have one. By not dumbing down the work so that everyone feels that they "get it" we can create an opportunity for people to actually engage with the work and to cultivate a new sensibility. At least that is what I took him to mean. After spending some time around him I feel quite certain that he would let me know in a heartbeat if, in fact, that was not what he meant. I think another hefty factor is that a lot of folks only get exposed to shitty fucking dance.
For the most part I feel fine about the smaller artistic community around dance. I like that it is a special club and that we dancers and dance lovers generally relate to the world in similar ways. But Adam Kozie is my long time boyfriend and his not being moved by dance puts a bee in my fucking bonnet. This dance making thing is an essential part of my genetic make up. I am who I am because and in spite of it. It is the reason I'm on the planet and I now know first hand how devastating it is to remove it from me. How can my love not be moved by the thing I love, and in fact, am? Is there any planet on which this is acceptable? As you can see I've got a lot of questions.
A couple years ago on our first anniversary, I made Adam an anniversary dance called Big Year. I had two goals: to make a dance with an old shitty point and shoot digital camera and to move him, you know, with dance. Our first anniversary was this cruddy time in our relationship. It had a real Are we gonna do this, or not? kind of feeling and I felt it really strongly while making the dance. I cried over and over again while editing. I had hoped that the directness of it would help the "moved" bit along. This is just from me to you.
I don't think that I was successful in moving Adam, but I am curious about what came out of it. I did things I might not let myself do for public consumption and I like that. Most profoundly it is a marker in time for me. Yes, that is just the way it was. Phew, it is not that way anymore.
Adam is also an incredible drummer (INCREDIBLE), who you can check out here with a project called X-Ray Press http://www.xraypress.net/, though I think you'll dig 'em a whole lot more if you go here http://www.myspace.com/xraypress and play the song Chord & Mumble.
Ps-
Adam did really enjoy Diana Szeinblum's Alaska (which is fucking incredible) and had more to say about it on our way out of the theater than I did. And I love to talk shop more than anything!
You can pay On The Boards five bucks and stream it here http://www.ontheboards.tv/alaska BUT I tried it and had to wait for it to load every minute or so even after trying it on windows which Adam says is better with those things. Fair Warning.
He isn't moved by dance. Those are his own words.
What is it about dance that befuddles people? Is there another art form that gets this kind of black listing? Are there people out there who don't like music, or movies, or photographs? Miguel Gutierrez talks about a Perceptual Intelligence. He asserts that we can train our audience to have a perceptual intelligence in part by assuming that they already have one. By not dumbing down the work so that everyone feels that they "get it" we can create an opportunity for people to actually engage with the work and to cultivate a new sensibility. At least that is what I took him to mean. After spending some time around him I feel quite certain that he would let me know in a heartbeat if, in fact, that was not what he meant. I think another hefty factor is that a lot of folks only get exposed to shitty fucking dance.
For the most part I feel fine about the smaller artistic community around dance. I like that it is a special club and that we dancers and dance lovers generally relate to the world in similar ways. But Adam Kozie is my long time boyfriend and his not being moved by dance puts a bee in my fucking bonnet. This dance making thing is an essential part of my genetic make up. I am who I am because and in spite of it. It is the reason I'm on the planet and I now know first hand how devastating it is to remove it from me. How can my love not be moved by the thing I love, and in fact, am? Is there any planet on which this is acceptable? As you can see I've got a lot of questions.
A couple years ago on our first anniversary, I made Adam an anniversary dance called Big Year. I had two goals: to make a dance with an old shitty point and shoot digital camera and to move him, you know, with dance. Our first anniversary was this cruddy time in our relationship. It had a real Are we gonna do this, or not? kind of feeling and I felt it really strongly while making the dance. I cried over and over again while editing. I had hoped that the directness of it would help the "moved" bit along. This is just from me to you.
I don't think that I was successful in moving Adam, but I am curious about what came out of it. I did things I might not let myself do for public consumption and I like that. Most profoundly it is a marker in time for me. Yes, that is just the way it was. Phew, it is not that way anymore.
Adam is also an incredible drummer (INCREDIBLE), who you can check out here with a project called X-Ray Press http://www.xraypress.net/, though I think you'll dig 'em a whole lot more if you go here http://www.myspace.com/xraypress and play the song Chord & Mumble.
Ps-
Adam did really enjoy Diana Szeinblum's Alaska (which is fucking incredible) and had more to say about it on our way out of the theater than I did. And I love to talk shop more than anything!
You can pay On The Boards five bucks and stream it here http://www.ontheboards.tv/alaska BUT I tried it and had to wait for it to load every minute or so even after trying it on windows which Adam says is better with those things. Fair Warning.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Hooray!
No meniscal tear for me! Just an over use injury!
Physical Therapy! I love Physical Therapy! Apparently I don't know how to use my very strong rotators and that causes my knees to track poorly. At Cornish I "learned" that my bony structure was such that my knees would just track poorly...
What The Fuck, Peeps?
I was like: Wait a minute, are you telling me that I can learn not to do this anymore?
and he was like: of course!?
phew.
Today's sermon comes from Adam Kozie, who is not only a super fox, but one of the coolest human beings that I have ever known. It's an idea I've been obsessed with for many, many years now:
amen.
Physical Therapy! I love Physical Therapy! Apparently I don't know how to use my very strong rotators and that causes my knees to track poorly. At Cornish I "learned" that my bony structure was such that my knees would just track poorly...
What The Fuck, Peeps?
I was like: Wait a minute, are you telling me that I can learn not to do this anymore?
and he was like: of course!?
phew.
Today's sermon comes from Adam Kozie, who is not only a super fox, but one of the coolest human beings that I have ever known. It's an idea I've been obsessed with for many, many years now:
amen.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Dear Knees,
Hey sugar pops, I love you. Come on into the body. I can't wait for you to get here. Come on Left Knee I've got a space all ready for you. It's going to be great. We're going to dance again. We are going to dance on stages and the lights are just going to drip over us. We are going to make big works about even bigger ideas. We're going to jump and fall and belly flop. That dance engine that is made up of all those bodies pushing against the pattern of time and space, entrance and exit, deeply articulated and making a weather system of wind in the room - we're going to be a part of that. Come on in.
We're going to teach too. We get to learn all about the Yogis. We get the immense luxury of saturated study. We get to go: Body Mind Desire Intent! Body Mind Desire Intent! So come on into the body. We get to teach other knees. We get to encourage other knees into their bodies. We get to be a part of everyone's homecoming. I can't wait for you to arrive. Hey - Neck and Jaw, you guys come too!
We don't need to be afraid of greatness. We don't need to be afraid of being awful. We don't need to be afraid that we don't believe in ourselves. We don't need to be afraid that we are arrogant. We don't need to be afraid of being seen. We don't need to be afraid of being overlooked. We don't need to be afraid of our uniqueness. We don't need to be afraid of our cliches. We don't need to be afraid of our needs. We don't need to be afraid of what we disregard. We don't need to be afraid of our mistakes. We don't need to be afraid of the fruits of our labor. We don't need to be afraid of the results of our work. We don't need to be afraid of shifting our weight. We don't need to be afraid of bending. We don't need to be afraid of leaning forward. We don't need to be afraid of stepping forward. We don't need to be afraid of moving forward. We don't need to be afraid of being forward. We don't need to be afraid.
I love you guys,
Lasara
We're going to teach too. We get to learn all about the Yogis. We get the immense luxury of saturated study. We get to go: Body Mind Desire Intent! Body Mind Desire Intent! So come on into the body. We get to teach other knees. We get to encourage other knees into their bodies. We get to be a part of everyone's homecoming. I can't wait for you to arrive. Hey - Neck and Jaw, you guys come too!
We don't need to be afraid of greatness. We don't need to be afraid of being awful. We don't need to be afraid that we don't believe in ourselves. We don't need to be afraid that we are arrogant. We don't need to be afraid of being seen. We don't need to be afraid of being overlooked. We don't need to be afraid of our uniqueness. We don't need to be afraid of our cliches. We don't need to be afraid of our needs. We don't need to be afraid of what we disregard. We don't need to be afraid of our mistakes. We don't need to be afraid of the fruits of our labor. We don't need to be afraid of the results of our work. We don't need to be afraid of shifting our weight. We don't need to be afraid of bending. We don't need to be afraid of leaning forward. We don't need to be afraid of stepping forward. We don't need to be afraid of moving forward. We don't need to be afraid of being forward. We don't need to be afraid.
I love you guys,
Lasara
Friday, September 3, 2010
Calling Out
You guys,
I went to the doctor on Tuesday about some increasing pain in my left knee. It's really preliminary, but it looks like I may have a meniscal tear. Which is knee surgery. Which is a straight leg for months. Which is a lot of rehab. The next step is to head to a Sports Med and see what they say, then to have an MRI. I'm a server with no health insurance and I'm really freaked out. Don't even know how to make these next steps happen.
I'm also all set to begin a Yoga Teacher Training in October, start work on a show with Paris Hurley, and make something of my own - and Mother Fucker I want it.
So I'm calling out to you. Give me all the mojo, healing tinctures, positive thoughts, prayers to God, laying on of hands, and whatever else you've got. I really need it.
love-Lasara
I went to the doctor on Tuesday about some increasing pain in my left knee. It's really preliminary, but it looks like I may have a meniscal tear. Which is knee surgery. Which is a straight leg for months. Which is a lot of rehab. The next step is to head to a Sports Med and see what they say, then to have an MRI. I'm a server with no health insurance and I'm really freaked out. Don't even know how to make these next steps happen.
I'm also all set to begin a Yoga Teacher Training in October, start work on a show with Paris Hurley, and make something of my own - and Mother Fucker I want it.
So I'm calling out to you. Give me all the mojo, healing tinctures, positive thoughts, prayers to God, laying on of hands, and whatever else you've got. I really need it.
love-Lasara
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