People! This is Jesse Hewit. Ya’ll, I’m not gonna beat around the bush: 2019 has been a doozy. It felt like the world was extra on fire. As I reflect on the big and fast and difficult swirl of the past year, I think of just how much I needed CounterPulse. I needed pulsating, breathy, sharp art. I […]
So CounterPulse is centering their second annual festival around improvisation and the pursuit of “freedom,” and this… is just a very real workout for all of me: brain, bod, heart, etc. I think it’s a bold move on our part. And I say: thank goodness for bold moves. Years ago, I used to co-teach a […]
I don’t actually remember the first time that I met Julie, but I do have a picture in my head of sitting at my desk at the old CounterPulse, at 1310 Mission, and looking to my left and seeing her working at a desk that we rented out to Jess Curtis at the time for […]
An excerpt from Jesse Hewit’s piece on Upstanding Others as part of the 2018 CounterPulse Festival. Originally published on SFMOMA’s Open Space. Read the full piece here. The premise: Upstanding Others was an experiment that happened within the inaugural CounterPulse Festival, and it happened from March 12 through March 17, 2018. There were eight to ten […]
last post. i am scared to ever self present again. CounterPULSE has spoiled me absolutely rotten. Jessica, Andrew, Hae-Jin, Estacia, Ryan, Julie, Roz, Margarita, Meleta, and Cameron…my lord, what solid supporters. I am calm. The performers of ‘Tell Them That You Saw Me’ are holding this work with fire and commitment. Long live the sextet: […]
I wish I could say that I came to it on my own, but I didn’t. Yesterday’s work-in-progress showing was very important for the development of this work. And I’m feeling pretty emotional about it right this second. The question/”issue”/conflict of me as a male auteur, making this work very much ON the women of […]
Today is May 27th, 2010…that never gets old. So, Tell Them That You Saw Me (which I’m realizing is kind of a very Miranda July-esque title…funny how subconscious influences work on us) is being built. Julie, Maryam, Loren, Shawnrey, and Anna are all pretty much on fire. I’m learning not to fixate so much on […]
Writing that title makes me remember my self-scripting teacher in undergrad, Rosemary Quinn, and how she would so clearly and ritualistically STATE the date at the opening and closing of each of our sessions. It has stuck with me. And its funny, I use it for all sorts of things. When I’m having a sad […]