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.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Rehearsal notes from March 2, 7
I've been working with Eve on movement for the version of the circle piece that we'll perform in transmodern. Here are some notes from rehearsals:
March 2
Finally, a bit of direction in movement terms. Before rehearsal started I played enjoyable music and danced in a carefree and energetic manner. When Eve arrived we started talking about a dance show that we had seen. The work in the show had been promoted as 'experimental' but I couldn't see anything experimental within it. It was a standard approach to choreography by stringing steps together and drew on a range of pop influences. The level of execution was mediocre at best, perhaps that was what made it experimental? Anyway, we talked about how the young women seemed to be in a conflicted stage of understanding their bodies - drawn to performing as sex objects but also not comfortable with this.
After this conversation it felt strange to ask Eve to dance in a 'pop' way to the music as I had been doing before she arrived. As she put it, she started to feel it was too 'pretty'. But I was interested in this uncomfortable place and started to play around with deconstructing the movement. There was definitely something there - stopping in awkward places, changing rhythm and becoming obsessive with a body part.
Eve said Bill T. Jones said all dance begins with an act of seduction. I'd like to question this. I also thought about telling stories conversationally in the moments when we are not dancing (I'm imagining we'll be taking turns dancing in the circle). Or perhaps it is better to ask questions than tell stories?
March 7
We started with a writing exercise and created two stories each. Mine were about fantasizing about my talent being recognized and about learning how to swing my hips. Eve's were about being watched in Damascus and being asked out after a master class.
It felt right telling each other these stories and laughing and then going back to dancing in slightly seductive ways interrupted by other associations. The stories seem to be coming more easily than the movement at this point but at least there is a clear direction. We focused some on using breath and awareness as a way to interrupt the music-driven movement.
I think we need three sound environments: 1. private music tracks for us to dance to using ipods. 2. conversational space to tell stories to small groups of the audience 3. headphones that are somehow mixing both of those together.
March 2
Finally, a bit of direction in movement terms. Before rehearsal started I played enjoyable music and danced in a carefree and energetic manner. When Eve arrived we started talking about a dance show that we had seen. The work in the show had been promoted as 'experimental' but I couldn't see anything experimental within it. It was a standard approach to choreography by stringing steps together and drew on a range of pop influences. The level of execution was mediocre at best, perhaps that was what made it experimental? Anyway, we talked about how the young women seemed to be in a conflicted stage of understanding their bodies - drawn to performing as sex objects but also not comfortable with this.
After this conversation it felt strange to ask Eve to dance in a 'pop' way to the music as I had been doing before she arrived. As she put it, she started to feel it was too 'pretty'. But I was interested in this uncomfortable place and started to play around with deconstructing the movement. There was definitely something there - stopping in awkward places, changing rhythm and becoming obsessive with a body part.
Eve said Bill T. Jones said all dance begins with an act of seduction. I'd like to question this. I also thought about telling stories conversationally in the moments when we are not dancing (I'm imagining we'll be taking turns dancing in the circle). Or perhaps it is better to ask questions than tell stories?
March 7
We started with a writing exercise and created two stories each. Mine were about fantasizing about my talent being recognized and about learning how to swing my hips. Eve's were about being watched in Damascus and being asked out after a master class.
It felt right telling each other these stories and laughing and then going back to dancing in slightly seductive ways interrupted by other associations. The stories seem to be coming more easily than the movement at this point but at least there is a clear direction. We focused some on using breath and awareness as a way to interrupt the music-driven movement.
I think we need three sound environments: 1. private music tracks for us to dance to using ipods. 2. conversational space to tell stories to small groups of the audience 3. headphones that are somehow mixing both of those together.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Peggy Phelan says:
"If the performance cannot be influenced by the interaction between the performer and the viewer, then it evades the burden and opportunity of live art. The potential to be transformed by the other allows the aesthetic to embrace the ethical.”
This quote keeps tugging at me like a little sister who wants me to stand up for her against the bullies that I'm really afraid of too.
This quote keeps tugging at me like a little sister who wants me to stand up for her against the bullies that I'm really afraid of too.
Some places I have shot video in Baltimore
Westport Asphalt plant
Pigtown empty parking lot
Westport railroad tracks
Jones Falls river near 1801 Falls road
Cemeteries (Greenmount, Mt. Olivet, Loudon Park, New Cathedral)
These are very empty places in the middle of the city
Pigtown empty parking lot
Westport railroad tracks
Jones Falls river near 1801 Falls road
Cemeteries (Greenmount, Mt. Olivet, Loudon Park, New Cathedral)
These are very empty places in the middle of the city
A beginning
One of the many things I'm interested in is using Baltimore as a source for material. Walking has always been a part of my process so I'm planning on taking a lot of walks in Baltimore.
I started at an ending place, Greenmount Cemetery.
From the summit point, the view is of a slope of neatly tended and historically rich graves but also of the neighborhood on the next hill. You can see the sky through the windows of vacant houses. When sitting on one gravestone the sight lines were such that cars driving on the next hill over seem to be driving right on top of the cemetery wall.
There was a gravestone that said: Henry Hooper April 15 1845 - November 25 1910. He went about doing good.
That's nice. I try to go about doing good too.
Since I had started with one cemetery, I decided to visit the only other Baltimore cemetery I had visited before: New Cathedral Cemetery. I checked google maps for directions and headed towards Frederick Ave. At the first cemetery I pulled in but once I was inside I realized that nothing was familiar. There were crows everywhere and a view of the Key bridge, Baltimore Port and the incineration tower. It seemed barely taken care of and I shot some video of myself walking over a mound of brush and stone.
I continued up the road and briefly entered Loudon Park National Cemetery. A plaque with a long quotation from the Gettysburg Address stood at the entrance.
I realized I had taken a wrong turn and found that Frederick Ave. took a sneaky swing north that I had missed. I almost didn't bother continuing since I had already visited three cemeteries and was unsure of the point of going to new cathedral. But I had more time so meandered through a quiet neighborhood until I came to the cemetery and went into the office. The woman at the desk adopted a face of stricken mourning when she spoke to me. I asked for the Flanigan plot. She was able to direct me from memory to the other end of the cemetery, near Edmondson Avenue. I followed the orange path on her photocopied map and found the monument and 16 graves. I shot some video of the graves and tried to figure out who everyone was.
I started at an ending place, Greenmount Cemetery.
From the summit point, the view is of a slope of neatly tended and historically rich graves but also of the neighborhood on the next hill. You can see the sky through the windows of vacant houses. When sitting on one gravestone the sight lines were such that cars driving on the next hill over seem to be driving right on top of the cemetery wall.
There was a gravestone that said: Henry Hooper April 15 1845 - November 25 1910. He went about doing good.
That's nice. I try to go about doing good too.
Since I had started with one cemetery, I decided to visit the only other Baltimore cemetery I had visited before: New Cathedral Cemetery. I checked google maps for directions and headed towards Frederick Ave. At the first cemetery I pulled in but once I was inside I realized that nothing was familiar. There were crows everywhere and a view of the Key bridge, Baltimore Port and the incineration tower. It seemed barely taken care of and I shot some video of myself walking over a mound of brush and stone.
I continued up the road and briefly entered Loudon Park National Cemetery. A plaque with a long quotation from the Gettysburg Address stood at the entrance.
I realized I had taken a wrong turn and found that Frederick Ave. took a sneaky swing north that I had missed. I almost didn't bother continuing since I had already visited three cemeteries and was unsure of the point of going to new cathedral. But I had more time so meandered through a quiet neighborhood until I came to the cemetery and went into the office. The woman at the desk adopted a face of stricken mourning when she spoke to me. I asked for the Flanigan plot. She was able to direct me from memory to the other end of the cemetery, near Edmondson Avenue. I followed the orange path on her photocopied map and found the monument and 16 graves. I shot some video of the graves and tried to figure out who everyone was.
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