Bearnstow 2010 - Day 4

Yesterday was a relief. I wonder if the fourth day of workshops here are typically like this. Like Monday in a regular week has a certain feel, Wednesday, definitely Friday, of course Sunday – does the arc of workshops play out similarly? Just a curiosity. Here’s how my Thursday at Bearnstow played out:

We worked on theme and variation, starting off by picking movement based on any movement we created earlier in the week and then manipulating it. We moved next to text. We wrote one phrase and worked on variation. Here’s where things took a turn for me. Without painfully searching for something particularly clever to write, words just came to me. “I’ve been watching you.” Many possibilities here. Many comedic possibilities. I finally have a kernel of a new solo that feels relevant. I won’t have a finished product before I leave. Claire isn’t expecting a finished piece by the end of Friday (er, that would be today), so I’m happy.

I must mention a couple of other wonderful happenings today. 1) I had a long discussion with Vicki Angel concerning the Lincoln Center Institute and arts education. Vicki’s participation in this workshop has been a very happy coincidence for me. I see a visit to the LCI in my future! 2) I helped Claire create a Facebook event for her upcoming shows in the New York Fringe Festival. We are also coming up with plans to redesign her website. I'm super psyched about this! (Check out her current website for information about her performances – http://www.cportables.com.)

To sum up my Thursday at Bearnstow, I would have to say I am once again excited about possibilities. I am getting a lot out of this week – not only choreographically, but also professionally. I am inspired! This is why we come to Bearnstow isn’t it?

Bearnstow 2010 - Day 3

The rain continued through most of the morning, but eventually cleared up to reveal a gorgeous day. During the morning session, we worked with a partner to explore movement and voice at the same time. Eventually we took one movement and word idea and worked on developing it. I kept finding myself changing what I wanted to work on. I came back to the idea that my movement should be able to stand alone without the use of words. I am also reminded about all the physical theatre work I did in Seattle. I think a quick survey about what worked for me might be in order. I felt all over the place today.

During a mid-day respite, I went canoeing to a neighboring island and picked blueberries. While hanging out at the island, I waded in the water and thought of video work. I might try out some ideas tomorrow if I can get someone to man the camera.

I'm hoping for more clarity tomorrow.

Till then...

Bearnstow 2010 - Day 2

So much happened yesterday that I scarcely think I will get to it all in this little post. First of all - and this is pretty insignificant, or at least I think it is now - the rain started. It eventually let up in time for afternoon swims in the lake, but returned with a vengeance around 10pm. I guess this what Maine is like in the summer.

The morning session was great. We ran through some time honored improvisational warm-ups - follow the leader, mirroring, voice warmups, tongue twisters. We created a sound score based on Monday's writing exercise and from there chose an animal to go along with the sound of the words. Then we paired up and performed duets in an A-B-A structure, using overlapping transitions to connect our solos. I enjoy pairing up and creating duets. The performance of my own material quickly ratchets up when joined with someone else - especially someone with whom I am just beginning to know.

The afternoon session was intense and somewhat intimidating for me. Claire started the second session by announcing that we will be receiving a "present." "Rashana will perform for us." This was not a surprise to me. I asked her if I could show my work and receive feedback. I just didn't expect the word "present" to be associated with my showing. Don't get me wrong - I had something I wanted to offer. I just hoped the viewers would enjoying receiving such a "present."

The reaction to Bear Traps and Other Impressions was completely different than I had experienced. Not a peep out of the eleven observers. The lodge that I performed in was the most intimate of spaces. When I revealed my legs during the last half of my solo, they saw every mosquito bite, bruise and scar. During my performance I peered at them, they peered back. They were definitely watching my solo with critical eyes. I am in fact the youngest attendee at this workshop. My audience has a wealth of experience at watching dance. I didn't expect otherwise, however, during my performance I wondered what I was thinking by revealing so much of myself. Talk about vulnerability.

The feedback:

Claire saw a lot of grief. (I think the crying was more profound in this particular performance space - people commented on it a lot.) She thought some of my vocalization seemed forced and she wasn't sure why I sang. We talked about changing the treatment of my humming. She enjoyed the weightiness of my movement and wanted to see more. She felt like the solo was a psychological exploration.

Liz Keen offered some suggestions of changing the sequence of events, for example starting the piece already in movement. Vicki Angel (also an OSU alum) wanted to see more of each snippet. To her, I just piqued her interest before moving on. I received this comment last spring as well, but like last spring there were others who enjoyed just seeing snippets. Soooo - whatya do? Linn Schlaifer suggested I make it longer. I bemoaned making a solo that was longer than 5-6 minutes and she questioned why. Perhaps I'm not confident yet. Or maybe it depends on the venue. The whole group engaged in a discussion about the title. Due to the heavier interpretation of the solo, I received more serious title suggestions like Mine Fields or Mind Fields. All things to consider. All in all, the "present" at the beginning of the afternoon session was really a gift to me.

After taking up part of class (which admittedly I felt a little bad about), we continued our work with combining words with movement, overlapping transitions and giving/receiving more feedback. Before dinner I spoke with Claire about creating, managing and promoting a solo career. I have a few more ideas about how my MFA project can feed into my work after graduation. The conversation was extremely helpful and useful - yet another gift.

The day finished up beautifully with a spectacular meal - thai fish stew followed by a light and tasty lemon bundt cake. Looking around the table I wondered if I was in the midst of a kind of family reunion. Granted I didn't know these people before arriving at Bearnstow, but I definitely felt like we came from the same stock. Eh, or maybe it was the wine. In any case, it was nice. Also, Olivia, Claire, Liz, Judith and I ended our evening watching episode one of the latest season of Project Runway. So entertaining!

Bearnstow 2010 - Day 1

Good morning Parker Pond! (This is what I see in the morning.)

Today we worked on Theme, Content, Structure. Claire gave wonderfully useful directives and limitations. We shared our phrases with each other, learned each other's phrases and gave titles to what we saw - one that I might consider using is: Down the Other Street.

Shortly before lunch we were invited to peruse Claire's books. The following are books that I would like to have for myself:

"Action Theatre"

"Acting Games"

"Theatre Games"

"The Art of Comedy"

I had a relaxing nap by the lake (well, they call it a pond) while my feet dangled in the water. Heaven! And then it was back to afternoon class.

What do I want to work on Claire asks. Writing several short (very short) stories and creating work from them. I suppose my theme is Memory. From a particular memory I drew these lines. They were spoken by other dancers as I moved:

She tossed the clean sheets over the hyper chickens.

He told me to move on and then he kissed my hand.

He kissed my hand.

He kissed my hand.

He kissed my hand.

I kissed his hand.

This came from a dream about Woody a couple of months before his passing. Obviously I have a lot of work to do, but this was the first thing to come to mind.

Another highlight of the day - talking to Vicki about taking performances into schools. She is involved in a program that takes Bill T. Jones' Ghost Catcher into schools. I read about this earlier this year and was intrigued. Now I'm in a workshop with one of the people making it happen. I need to find more time to talk with her this week!

One last thing - I asked Claire if I could show her my solo, Bear Traps and Other Impressions. She said absolutely! I show tomorrow before the afternoon session. I'm looking forward to it!

Time to slip under three blankets to prepare for a cold evening/morning. I froze last night! (But I secretly loved it.)

Bearnstow 2010

I managed to make it to Bearnstow! Two beautiful days of driving and I'm here! There are ten of us taking the workshop and of course Claire Porter leading us. I've enjoyed meeting everyone and getting settled. Each day I'm adding a little reading from Terry Barrett's class. And how fortunate that today I chose the preface to Kitchen Table Wisdom.

At the onset of writing her book, Rachel Naomi Remen was asked by her editor to write an outline. (Remen was unsuccessful with the outline, but successful at putting my mind at rest when it comes to knowing what will come out of this week.)

“What is the book about?” she asked.

I did not know.

“Rachel,” she said. “When you meet a new counseling patient, surely you identify their problem, decide what to do and in what order you need to do it, and make a plan, don’t you?”

I had felt exposed.

“No,” I said. “I don’t know what people need to do or who they need to become. When I first meet with someone, I have no idea where we are going, and where we end up is usually a surprise to us both.”

She sat back in dismay. “Then how do you get quality outcomes?” she asked.

“I just follow the natural process of things."

So that's what I'm going to do....

Summer of Wheels

This summer I'm training a little differently. Cycling and roller derby. It's all about the wheels!

Summer Time!

It's been a year since I drove into Columbus - July 4, 2009. It's been an incredibly intense year and now I must admit, I'm really happy that it's summer. While I still have school work and work at the Wexner Center, I'm pleased to have more time at home. David and I are getting to know each other again. We walked to Whetstone Park Sunday to watch fireworks. They were over fast, but they were beautiful. Fifteen-minute fireworks. Sixty minute round trip walk. Invaluable time with the hubbie.

We started clearing out the front yard. This is something I put off doing until I had weekend mornings to devote. Since it's hot out now, I only work in the morning and try my best to stay in the shade. David doesn't seem to mind working in the hot afternoon sun. Right now I'm trying to come up with some kind of analogy to give you a good idea of how much sweat David produces. Horses, pigs... Anyway, I digress. We're finding a lot of plants we didn't know existed underneath all the ornamental grass. This poor yard has been neglected for so many years. It's obvious that at one time the landscaping was quite stunning, however that was several owners ago. So sad. It's hard for David and I to continue living in this house without taking care of the front yard properly. I don't care if it is a rental. Now, if I can only convince our landlord to purchase some mulch....

The other, non-academic noteworthy development is my acceptance into the Ohio Roller Girls Derby team. I'll have more on that later. Tomorrow is my orientation. We're meeting at a bar in German Village. I'm looking forward to working out three times a week with these women. They're sooo going to kick my rear-end.