Rehearsal #6 - February 3rd
The guys rehearsed on stage and I did my best not to hop up and dance with them. I really wanted to though. Since I'm not performing however, I needed to stay out of their way. A couple of observations - Eric's vocalization resonated, literally. I felt his voice. It's amazing how a man's voice can carry in a way a woman's does not. Dante changed the words to: "Down. Set. Girl." - as in football. I liked the change. It held more meaning for me - like the act of finding a girl as a sport - which to me had good connotations as well as bad. I'm noticing that being around all this testosterone is starting to affect me a bit. When I get home I want to rough-house with David, as in wrestle him to the ground and slug him a little. Poor guy - to him, it always comes out of left field. I'm trying to restrain myself.
Brenda Dixon-Gottschild
That's right - I said Brenda Dixon-Gottschild. She gave a couple of talks Thursday, the 4th. While her name seems unexpected for this post, it's right on target. Her morning talk touched on appropriation and what it means to take movement from another culture/heritage. In my Postmodern readings, I enjoyed Jane Desmond's article, "Embodying Difference: Issues in Dance and Cultural Studies." I especially liked the section which discusses transmission in appropriation. I will never be able to dance like a man, but what happens when I take movement crafted for a man and put it on my body? What does that transmission look like? How does it change?
Dress Rehearsal #7 - February 6th
The guys finally got the chance to step onto the Mershon stage. I waited for this moment for a long time - the moment when they realized just how massive that stage is. Their running patterns were going to be much longer. I was happy to see that they responded the same way I would (as in - "Oh crap!"). Again, I filled the role of observer, gave feedback, and ran the sound. I love watching rehearsals, but at the same time I still found this to be a frustrating place. And then it dawned on me - what I would like to do is to perform in an all male piece - not to pass myself off as a man, but to see if I can keep up with them or run in their pack. Right now I'm learning about their rehearsal dynamic with an outside eye but maybe performing will be the next step?
Super Sunday, February 7th
The guys rocked their performances. Quite honestly, I was struck by their athleticism. Also, after going through the Hard Targets exhibit at the Wexner I left quite enamored by the different shades of masculinity. Looking at Wladimir Klitschko sitting square in front of a video lens staring down at me, made me a bit uneasy. The tension between me and the screen seemed real. He was motionless for the most part, so I felt a little safe - until he moved slightly and I realized it was a video instead of a photograph. He exuded power, strength and looked like he could knock my block off. Oddly, I found this fascinatingly mesmerizing. What is this thing, "maleness?"
Parting Thoughts
There's more that I've discovered this week, but I need to end this post sometime. Eventually I'll post videos. In fact, there are a couple of old videos I want to post but need to get the rights to do so. I'm starting to track my fascination with this topic. It goes further back than I imagined.
No comments:
Post a Comment