Saturday, April 2, 2011
Baltimore
I've been reading up on Baltimore. Not in My Neighborhood and The Baltimore Book. Really interesting histories of bigotry and greed shaping the city. I noticed a plaque dedicated to William Marbury, promoter of segregation, in the park in front of my building. I visited pool number two while in Druid Hill yesterday. I like that the city filled it in but kept it as a reminder of segregation. List of interesting empty places in Bmore: Pool number two, Jones Falls, Greenmount cemetery, vacant land in Westport, vacant row homes.
Catch-up post on rehearsals
It has been a few weeks since I last posted but I've been moving along with rehearsals. The work now has a tentative title, Duo Loops for Future Memories. The movement content has been evolving into a deconstruction of ballet and belly dance technique, alternating with a growing mass of stories that we can tell to individuals in the audience. Here's a few selections from my rehearsal journal:
April 1
How does this relate to my thesis work? I'm working out issues with dance that need to be resolved for me. Discomfort with the seduction/sexiness of dance, desire to make the 4th wall very fluid, need to address what is real and what is performed. Rehearsal process, really engaging with what is in our bodies and minds. Moment of performance is the moment of framing and formalizing.
Tim mentioned surveillance when I talked about the work - that's definitely in there but it is also as much about self-surveillance through imagination and mirrors. I'm hoping not to create a negative view of this, I need to think of a few stories about the joy of being watched.
March 30
Two more stories: Eve's reason for quitting ballet and my story about turquoise unitards. Worked on expanding our movement vocabulary.
March 29
We worked on telling our two stories, one on one. It was good to find a way to be natural in our bodies yet communicate the story clearly. We also tried to then take those movements and re-work them in the center, drawing a line from the stories to the movement. I should work more on how we approach the audience, use more gradual approaches that engage the gaze. Would setting sequences help? I like the sense of discovery in the improvisation but I wonder if some structure could give it more meaning and push the movement? Perhaps a spatial structure? . .. . Perhaps it isn't time to set or create more structure. It got really boring when I tried.
March 26
Repetition is a way to move from the form to what is behind the form, desire for perfection obsession, hanging on to time, a desire to test limits. How is this work a puzzle? How is it an experience? How is it intellectual? How is it sensual? How is it sculptural? In performance we must: be aware of how everything fits together, be sculptural, be personal, know movement possibilities, present all of this.
What should I do about the behind the scenes presence of Matt and Rolando? Kind of like the man behind the curtain in the wizard of Oz.
March 15
Yesterday's rehearsal was very clear. Eve understood when I talked about shifting from feeling states of being seen and showing to being seen and showing. We both played with deconstructing techniques familiar to us with an obsessive and sculptural feeling. Now, I'm trying to go to more extremes, be more patient and still with the movement, stick with states and use repetition for longer. Trying to be extremely honest. I began to think about who I am as a performer - I hope to be transformed and open the doors to transformation and perception of others. In this work, I'm working on being truly present with a story rather than relying on pre-set movements to tell it.
Eve has an incredible set of movements from middle-eastern dance that are unfamiliar and difficult for me to copy, I'm not going to try. Its great learning something about the folk meaning of the movements. Fishing, horses, tiredness, female strength, making fun of men all come into it.
March 14
Today has been about working with a mix of ballet technique/sexy dance moves. It seems to work when I can get the feeling state right: a sort of hyper self-awareness from the outside meeting a deep feeling from the inside and letting that drive the manipulation of the movement. Reminded me of Deborah Hay.
March 11
Working on a sort of improv that is about a story of my body, using particular articulations, fetishizing differetn parts, lots of isolations and revealing how something is constructed and de-constructed. Trying to be a little humorous without going over the top. Working on rhythms and overall flow of structure rather than setting movement at this point. A sense of presenting and being looked at.
April 1
How does this relate to my thesis work? I'm working out issues with dance that need to be resolved for me. Discomfort with the seduction/sexiness of dance, desire to make the 4th wall very fluid, need to address what is real and what is performed. Rehearsal process, really engaging with what is in our bodies and minds. Moment of performance is the moment of framing and formalizing.
Tim mentioned surveillance when I talked about the work - that's definitely in there but it is also as much about self-surveillance through imagination and mirrors. I'm hoping not to create a negative view of this, I need to think of a few stories about the joy of being watched.
March 30
Two more stories: Eve's reason for quitting ballet and my story about turquoise unitards. Worked on expanding our movement vocabulary.
March 29
We worked on telling our two stories, one on one. It was good to find a way to be natural in our bodies yet communicate the story clearly. We also tried to then take those movements and re-work them in the center, drawing a line from the stories to the movement. I should work more on how we approach the audience, use more gradual approaches that engage the gaze. Would setting sequences help? I like the sense of discovery in the improvisation but I wonder if some structure could give it more meaning and push the movement? Perhaps a spatial structure? . .. . Perhaps it isn't time to set or create more structure. It got really boring when I tried.
March 26
Repetition is a way to move from the form to what is behind the form, desire for perfection obsession, hanging on to time, a desire to test limits. How is this work a puzzle? How is it an experience? How is it intellectual? How is it sensual? How is it sculptural? In performance we must: be aware of how everything fits together, be sculptural, be personal, know movement possibilities, present all of this.
What should I do about the behind the scenes presence of Matt and Rolando? Kind of like the man behind the curtain in the wizard of Oz.
March 15
Yesterday's rehearsal was very clear. Eve understood when I talked about shifting from feeling states of being seen and showing to being seen and showing. We both played with deconstructing techniques familiar to us with an obsessive and sculptural feeling. Now, I'm trying to go to more extremes, be more patient and still with the movement, stick with states and use repetition for longer. Trying to be extremely honest. I began to think about who I am as a performer - I hope to be transformed and open the doors to transformation and perception of others. In this work, I'm working on being truly present with a story rather than relying on pre-set movements to tell it.
Eve has an incredible set of movements from middle-eastern dance that are unfamiliar and difficult for me to copy, I'm not going to try. Its great learning something about the folk meaning of the movements. Fishing, horses, tiredness, female strength, making fun of men all come into it.
March 14
Today has been about working with a mix of ballet technique/sexy dance moves. It seems to work when I can get the feeling state right: a sort of hyper self-awareness from the outside meeting a deep feeling from the inside and letting that drive the manipulation of the movement. Reminded me of Deborah Hay.
March 11
Working on a sort of improv that is about a story of my body, using particular articulations, fetishizing differetn parts, lots of isolations and revealing how something is constructed and de-constructed. Trying to be a little humorous without going over the top. Working on rhythms and overall flow of structure rather than setting movement at this point. A sense of presenting and being looked at.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)