I can't believe the week of the show is finally here. Two years of research, growth, late nights, and wishes, lies and dreams (Sorry, I couldn't resist!). I'm so proud and excited to show the first iteration of this work with my Ann Arbor family. Everything is starting to come together, including all the work my collaborators have been doing behind the scenes! Percussionist and composer Chris Sies has provided beautiful (beautiful!) music, Sally Davis has done an amazing job with the video projections, and Kate Nelson has designed the look for the costumes. CJ Burroughs has also been incredible as a dramaturg--so much wisdom and support as a sounding board! Tomorrow I'll post more info about each of the production collaborations.
Of course, my main collaborators have been the cast of amazing dancers that have invested so much in this work: Ambika Raina, Chloe Gonzales, Luna Lemus-Bromley, Paula Modafferi, Alayna Baron and Maddy Rager. I can't wait to share the stage with them! Merde.
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Michael Pollan's essay "Why Bother?" has influenced much of the dance in ways that aren't really obvious, but were a really important part of the process. Early on, I gave the dancers the task of reading the essay and highlighting all the words and phrases that seemed the most important or poetic to each of them. From these lines, each dancer wrote a separate poem. Then, the lines of text were used to create movement studies, and some of these were then integrated, manipulated and developed to become part of the dance. This was a really interesting and exciting way of working that really seemed to resonate with the dancers. I enjoyed it very much too! Looking back, I think I could have made an entire work out of this task.
Anyway, these didn't quite make it into the performance text, but because they did influence the content of the work, I thought I would add them here: I. inconvenient heart a crisis sink your magnitude running crimson with heavy habits of mind, our needs we delegate "would I have to", lurking sheepishly cheap dismissed failure daunting from seed to ripe fruit, we face softheadedness invisible warming melting greener, invisibler, too little too late nourished, I do. sort of thinking, like an airport runway at night innocent. nothing more or less. free free free. -Luna Lemus-Bromley II. what was he asking us to do do you want to talk think for a moment the things you suddenly need to do when the power goes out why bother not having things might become cooler he probably can’t imagine us doing anything much more challenging never plan or predict or count it’s a bet maybe you decide to give up reduce your footprint abstain you can grow you’re getting pretty good burning calories without having to get in the car victory but there are sweeter reasons to bother -Maddy Rager III. change our light bulbs? That’s when it got really depressing some carbon-footprint doppelganger fear of having it wrong obscures the lines of connection & responsibility Here’s the point: Viral social change And at least in this one corner of your yard &life heal the split (spirit) the garden teaches. -Ambika Raina For months I've been trying to write a poem honoring the Monarch. How to honor the butterfly, while also staying true to my memories and my purpose? Yesterday morning I finally wrote something I felt happy about. No title yet, but here it is:
As a child I ran through green and orange landscapes; As a child I chased dreams and butterflies, Clouds of fluttering visions and songs, That knew no boundaries, borders, nor bothers; Now my body is polluted with worries, Smog fills my lungs with a desire to-- breathe the air my ancestors knew, to catch a glimpse of the green between the gray, to feel the earth between my toes, and watch the lights that come from above-- I hear the wings of a butterfly-- the vibrations rippling through the atmosphere ever more quietly and I wonder-- If the sound one day may be as quiet as a memory, as distant as reason and justice, and as far away as myth. I can admit that I'm not much of a poet! I'm also not sure how this might appear (if at all) in the performance, but I think it's something I can work with... it’s not an easy one to answer--
it’s enough to sink your heart. A sense of personal virtue; let’s say turn my life upside down plant, turn down, forsake, trade in, get off, go completely local. halfway around the world my footprint, my most debilitating weakness what exactly would I have to show for all my trouble? a sense of personal virtue? What good is becoming... a term of derision. a mark of liberal soft headedness. a handful of studies; have recently suggested even if-- shift, emit, consume, one of the absurdities of the modern division-- indirect but related nevertheless. the way we feed ourselves, we forget-- each of us is responsible. dependence and dividedness have you looked into the eyes? they make you wonder, it will be too little too late. it’s a bet. create a tiny space e x p a n d e d t o t a k e i n to live on this earth as if forever! but there are sweeter reasons to plan and plant: the sun still shines! gardens provide! still more valuable habits of mind plan and plant: growing, walking. if we bother to try. Over the past few rehearsals, the dancers and I have created poems based on an article published in the New York Times by Michael Pollan (author Second Nature, The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore's Dilemma), titled "Why Bother?" This article appears in the book Hope Beneath Our Feet: Restoring Our Place in the Natural World, a collection of essays edited by Martin J. Keogh which has inspired me greatly.
Funnily enough, I found the book during my summer research at the Earthdance retreat. It was the only copy (signed too!) among kneepads, granola bars, and books on somatic practices at the little store near the office. Perhaps this was one of the most important, and serendipitous discoveries in my research because it made me realize what I had been really asking myself for the past year. Keogh asks, “If we face a time of environmental crisis, how do we live right now?” This question is fundamental to my thesis project because it asks not what organizations are doing, or what governments should be doing, but instead prompts people to re-examine how they live their lives. The collection offers answers from the most the most cynical to the most hopeful, but the stories are intriguing either way because they appeal to the individual. Through this dance, I'm attempting to answer this question--somewhat selfishly--for myself. How do I live right now? How can I make dances that align with my values and what I want of my life? I had forgotten about the article. Until a few weeks ago when I re-read it and had one of those "aha!" moments. I had digressed so much. I had been trying to force something that wasn't there. Yes, dance is abstract and poetic, and maybe that's what this dance needs to do. Acknowledge what it can do and do that well. It's winter. Still, I return to walking and gardening. During the summer and last semester I kept a process journal on jux.com. Unfortunately, the company abruptly shut down, and I was unable to recover my content. I can't say how disappointing it was! Especially considering that I did not do any backups. (I know shame on me...but I couldn't have predicted this happening so suddenly). Even so, I came to the conclusion that it is all alright. The incident reflects some of the ideas and themes I've been exploring especially conservation and loss. What happens when we lose something we care about? Loss is something we are having to deal with when it comes to the environmental crisis--loss of habitat, loss of natural resources, loss of species...
I am reminded that loss (and then renewal) are all part of nature. What is important is to learn from that loss. To accept what cannot be changed, and keep going forward with wisdom. So here I am, adapting... Let's try this again. |
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