This week, spheres elicited wonder within us, letters were written to friends abroad, Sara hosted her own home vigil, the fanatics cheered, and people refused to be chased by the cheetah.
Monday December 5th
Title: “Wonder”
Instructions: Bask in the glory of two red Christmas ornaments.
Why? Christmas. Wonder. Gazing into a reflective sphere carries wonder. Rehearsal discoveries: Don't break them. Don't forget them. Bring them. Wonder. Hold by the string, looped around your finger.
Performance write up: Spheres inspire outer space. They also inspire the micro energies. They function as points in the spacetime continuum very well. Look at them. Spheres.
View on Youtube ----> https://youtu.be/3tCiNAgHJhQ
Tuesday December 6th
Title: “Lithuanian Man”
Instructions: Write over a prerecorded audio track a letter statement to the Lithuanian man. Then sing the letter. Perhaps dance or free improvise afterwards.
Why? Psychomagic. Processing. #PromptYourThoughts
Rehearsal discoveries: Nancy came and we were considering setting up a tall stick figure man but we decided against it. We brainstormed ideas over the five minutes we had together. One of those ideas was that she would sing as the voice of the Lithuanian man from behind the curtain. We were undecided about whether or not to use the cardboard man.
Performance write up: That was weird. I think it was just my neighbor there and maybe one other person that day. Something about the whole soundscape reminded of my days at UCSD, exploring more atonality and uneven phrasing. I felt the same feeling I used to feel back then about non-musicians listening to this sort of stuff. That feeling included a little anxiety over whether or not the audience was comfortable.
View on Youtube ----> https://youtu.be/J1wfOVm_jFY
Wednesday December 7th
Title: “Home Vigil"
Sarah presented on the richness and beauty of home vigils. She prompted everyone to contemplate their own death and imagine what they might want from the experience of passing onto the other side. She then practiced her own home vigil.
View on Youtube -----> https://youtu.be/MHFweYBTfhc
Thursday December 8th
Title: “Fanatics" Ft. Nancy Ross, Natasha Kozaily, and Lexi Pulido
Instructions: Natasha is the artist. The fanatics have come to watch. They are big, big fans of the show. They brought snacks. They're counting the score. The stakes are high.
Why? The hilarity of sports fanatics as posed with art. The joy of becoming a fanatic. Tapping into the primal 'yes'.
Rehearsal discoveries: Put the snacks in a cup. Natasha had the idea that she would be outside and we would be inside. I loved it. I loved the idea.
Performance write up: If people could hear those conversations behind the glass the show would have been a lot more volatile and crazy. The fact that it was contained draped a completely different curtain onto the situation. Some of the things Nancy and I spoke about involved our deep love of the artist, so much so that we would kidnap her and put her in a cage to make art. You can see when I open the gate after the performance the energy that was built for Natasha. Natasha made a beautiful painting of a bird. Thanks Natasha. Again thinking about the variations on performance, if the artist had been behind the glass door and us fanatics outside, it would have been a completely different experience, as already said.
View on Youtube -----> https://youtu.be/dDRgd_UND3U
Friday December 9th
Title: “run like a gazelle"
Instructions: Wear a cheetah mask and then write on sheets of paper, in quotes, "You are a gazelle. Run.". Hand to random passerby's and try to chase after them.
Why? I think I saw a video of a cheetah attacking a gazelle.
Rehearsal discoveries: Try to do some toe circles.
Performance write up: No one really was down.
Listen to the audio reflection here:
View on Youtube ---->. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP21f28FHyg