“I Dream America,” a powerful statement, through dance, about immigration, Katrina, and an exploration of boundaries (who’s in and who’s out) will be performed at CounterPULSE on August 29th and 30th - Fri./Sat. at 8:00 p.m. by the acclaimed Los Angeles Urban Latin dance theater company CONTRA-TIEMPO.

“‘I Dream America” represents the kind of socially aware contemporary work that only a few dance artists such as Bill T. Jones reliably provide.” — Los Angeles Times

“A passionately delivered performance communicates the often antagonistic relationships that exist among Latino immigrants to America, as well as the nature of the greater struggles that they face in the new country.”
- The Worldly

For more on CONTRA-TIEMPO, check out: www.contra-tiempo.org

Put this date on your calendar. Better … go to the link below and get a ticket before we sell out!

THE COMPANY WILL ALSO BE OFFERING CUBAN RUEDA/SALSA CLASSES ON SATURDAY BEFORE THEIR LAST SHOW!! 12 NOON is BEGINNING AND 1PM is INT/ADV - JOIN US!
CONTRA-TIEMPO ]]> http://counterpulse.org/blog/2008/08/23/contra-tiempo-two-days-at-counterpulse-dont-miss-out/feed/ http://counterpulse.org/blog/2008/08/19/enterradapart1/ http://counterpulse.org/blog/2008/08/19/enterradapart1/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:09:02 +0000 Violeta Luna http://counterpulse.org/blog/?p=123

this is a montage of part one of Part 1 of Border Tryp(Tych) by Secos Y Mojados. The Piece is about the experiences, emotions, memories, and the moment an immigrant leaves their country and crosses the border.

it features the voice and testimonial of the David’s mother, Rosa Molina.

Soundtrack: David Molina Video

Projections and Set: Victor Cartagena

Performance: Violeta Luna

Direction and editing: Roberto Varea & Victor Cartagena

enjoy

david molina-composer/musician for Secos y Mojados

www.myspace.com/losveneremos

www.restingbell.net/releases/rb037-canciones-del-futuro

www.myspace.com/transientelectronics

www.dorogrecords.com/agua-manos.html

www.myspace.com/ghostsandstrings ]]> http://counterpulse.org/blog/2008/08/19/enterradapart1/feed/ http://counterpulse.org/blog/2008/08/12/musa-modern-dance-and-live-music-sat-16th-830pm/ http://counterpulse.org/blog/2008/08/12/musa-modern-dance-and-live-music-sat-16th-830pm/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:07:26 +0000 MUSA http://counterpulse.org/blog/?p=119 MUSA is where modern dance meets emotive prog-rock, and the dancers and musicians tell personal, archetypal and universal stories reaching forward and backward in time. MUSA is also where the musicians and dancers communicate across the divides of their chosen mediums, entwining and unwinding again and again, searching for the perfect expression, and the most fulfilling communication.

MUSA is on tour from Olympia, Washington, down the West Coast to Santa Cruz and back.

Jaclyn and Carolyn

Tijuana – California Border, 2005 / Frontera Tijuana-California, 2005, photo Roberto Varea

Antes que nada quiero decir que me siento privilegiada estar como artista en residencia en CounterPULSE. El equipo artístico y técnico no sólo tienen un trato amable contigo sino que desarrollan su trabajo de manera muy profesional, dandote la oportunidad de que te enfoques en el trabajo creativo.

First of all I’d like to say that I feel priviledged to be an artists in residence at CounterPULSE. The artistic and technical staff are most kind, personable and professional which allows one to focus on doing the creative work.

Estas son algunas ideas para compartir, que estoy desarrollando en el proyecto Un cuerpo partido / A Body Parted, esta pieza es la segunda parte de Border TRIP(tych) / Tríptico de la frontera y trata sobre la temática de inmigración donde la figura central es el cuerpo del imigrante.

Dos aspectos importantes para mí son: El cuerpo del imigrante visto como “cuerpo ilegal” y reducido nuevamente como “cuerpo trabajador”.

Migrantes listos para cruzar, Tijuana, 1980’s / Immigrants ready to cross, Tijuana, 1980’s, source unknown / se desconoce la fuente

These are some ideas to share in regards to my project Un cuerpo partido / A Body Parted the second installment in our Border TRIP(tych) / Tríptico de la frontera dealing with issues of immigration, with the body of the migrant occupying center stage.

Two important aspects of this work for me are: The body of the migrant as an “illegal body” and also further reduced to a dimension of “working body.”

Las sociedades “receptoras” donde el flujo de migrantes es continuo, utilizan políticas de control y miedo exponiendo a los inmigrantes como el enemigo. Presentan el cuerpo del migrante, de forma estereotipada y reduce su expresividad y su corporalidad a mera herramienta de trabajo, extensión de una gran máquina que sólo sirve para producir. De la misma manera lo convierten en un “cuerpo ilegal” por el sólo hecho de haber cruzado la frontera en busca de mejores condiciones de vida.

The host societies where the flow of migrants is continuous, use politics of control and fear, exposing the immigrants as an enemy. They present the body of the migrant in stereotyped forms, reducing their forums of expression, and their “corporality” as a mere tool for work, the extension of a machine that is only good for producing. In the same manner it transforms the migrant into an ‘illegal body’ just because s/he crossed the border looking for a better life.

Ese cuerpo vulnerable que se invisibiliza, que siempre esta en el detrás, en el ‘otro lado’ en el margen, aterrorizado y criminalizado. Ese ‘cuerpo desechable’ que se usa y tira y que es sustituido por otro, se le domina con una política de terror para propiciar mejor su explotación y tenerlo amedentrando.

This vulnerable body, made invisible, is always on ‘the other side,’ in the margins, afraid and criminalized. This ‘discardable’ bodies that are used and thrown away, and easily substituted by others, is dominated through a politics of fear that assure his exploitation.

Rigoberto un imigrante salvadoreño miembro del colectivo teatral Teatero Jornalero! que dedicaba su vida a lavar platos, escribió para uno de sus trabajos con el teatro este texto con mucho dolor:

Rigoberto, a Salvadoran immigrant member of the theater collective ‘El Teatro Jornalero,’ who used to be a dishwasher, wrote for one of his assignments with the teatro this text full of pain:

“El Norte nos invita a bailar, nos seduce con su musica. Y luego nos desnuda, es un desnudo de tierra, de cultura, de nuestro propio ser… Se nos pone en bandeja de plata una suculenta variedad de frutas: ¡Mejor trabajo! ¡Mejor alimento! ¡Mejor porvenir! ¡Carros, Casas, Dinero!…Las fronteras son filtros por los cuales solo pasa lo más fino. Calla la boca!, ser que caminas de rodillas y limpias piso con tu dignidad quebrada- esa, es la respuesta.”

“The North invites us to dance, seduces us with its music. And then, it renders us naked, naked from our earth, from our culture, from our very beings… It offers us on a silver platter a variety of delights ‘better work!’ ‘better food!’ ‘better future!’ ‘cars, houses, money!’ Borders are filters that allow through the finest of us… ‘Shut up!’ you who walk on your knees and cleans the floor with your broken dignity. That is the answer.”

Rigoberto en la obra Aun sigo aquí del Teatro Jornaleno dirigida por Roberto Gutierrez Varea / Rigorberto acting in the play “Aún sigo aquí - I am still here,” directed by Roberto Gutierrez Varea - Photo Roberto Varea

Cada tipo de trabajo demanda un tipo de cuerpo, por ejemplo los cuerpos “fuertes” y “rudos” sirven para la construcción y la carga pesada, o a quellos trabajos de maquila que la mayoria requieren de cuerpos femeninos por que son más “delicados”. Por ejemplo las manos de las mujeres son mas finas y permiten ensamblar de manera mas rápida, las piezas pequeñas de electronica, lo mismo pasa en el mercado de la costura con los menores de edad.

Much of the immigrant’s work is gendered. Some bodies are seen as fit for hard labor, construction, heavy lifting, and others as most “maquiladora” work, require feminine bodies, which are more “delicate.” The slender fingers of women are preferred to assemble small pieces in electronics, and also delicate stitching. These jobs also hire children, for the same reasons.

De hecho en esos trabajos es donde la division de género se acentua dramáticamente. Sucede lo mismo en el trabajo domestico, en general realizado por mujeres que se les abusa, no solo como trabajadoras de largas jornadas de trabajo, sino también sexualmente, su cuerpo es ambiguo (trabajadora-objeto sexual), el patron de clase medi-alta que puede pagar los servicios de limpieza, se cree con el derecho de ser poseedor tambien del cuerpo

These gendered jobs, are, as in domestic work, for example, grounds for a number of abuses, not just due to the long work days, but also sexually, as this working bodies are seen fit to be “used” and “possessed” by the owners/supervisors along with the labor that they produce.

Me interesa pensar en la “corporalidad del inmigrante,” fuera de la visión que lo define como un cuerpo de y para el trabajo. Me interesa elaborar una visión alternativa que muestre las potencialidades del cuerpo del imigrante como un ser creativo. Destacar las distintas complejidades simbólicas que permiten dimensionarlo como un cuerpo capaz de expresar formas de ver, de sentir y de actuar.

I am interested in wrestling with this issue of the “corporality of the migrant” outside of the view that limits it to being a body only for work. I am interested in elaborating an alternative vision that highlights the creative potentiality in the body of the migrant. Work with the different complexities that can open a dimension to the immigrant as a being capable of self expression, of seeing, feeling and acting on these impressions.

Para este proyecto he invitado a una compañera -Reyna es su nombre- que compartimos la condición de ser imigrantes Latinas-Mexicanas, Reyna desde que llego a USA ha realizado diferentes tipos de trabajos: costura, trabajo domestico, janitor, etc.

An important aspect of this residence and work for me was to invite Reyna, with whom I share the condition of being a compatriot and an immigrant from Mexico / Latin America. Reyna has done several jobs in the US since arriving: sewing, domestic work, janitorial, etc.

Migrantes cruzando la frontera, 1980’s / Immigrants crossing the border, 1980’s - source unknown / se desconoce la fuente

Para mi esto presenta un reto, por una parte me interesa integrarla al espacio creativo descontextualizandola de su espacio real y contextualizarla en un espacio metáforico y por el otro me interesa incorporar acciones realizadas sin ningun tipo de representación sino presentación. Usar el performance no sólo para re-construir nuestra identidad como imigrantes, sino para construir narrativas que se contrapongan a los estereotipos con los que frecuentemente somos estigmatizados.

Working with Reyna on stage is a great challenge for me. On the one hand I want to include her in the creative space that I am entering into with this piece, “taking her out of the context” of her usual work space, and re-contextualizing her in a poetic space, and on the other, I am interested in investigating the use of actions not as “re-presentation” but as “presentation.” Using performance art not just as a way to re-construct our identity as migrants, but also to construct narratives that oppose stereotypes with which immigrants are usually stigmatized.

Pero esto me lleva a interrogantes, por una parte de que manera integrar a Reyna a este espacio escénico donde no se sienta expuesta, violentada o “usada” ahora para hacer arte. Mucho del trabajo que estoy realizando con ella es apartir de crear y fortalezer una relación de confianza y de conocimiento en lo que se refiere a nuestras experiencias de vida, en la cotidianeidad fuera del escenario. Para mi es claro que cualquier decisión estetica que involucre a Reyna de manera directa e indirecta, debe ser estudiada a detalle y consultada con ella. Por otro lado esta el trabajo creativo de construir narrativas y metáforas producto de esa relación y llevarlas al escenario por medio de imágenes y acciones.

But this leads me to several questions: How to best create a space for the integration of Reyna in ways in which she is not exposed and violated, or “used” for the purpose of art. Most of the actions that I am doing with her are built on creating and strengthening a trusting relationship and of mutual knowledge/understanding with her, as it relates to our life experiences, off-stage. I do have it clear that any aesthetic choices that has to do with Reyna directly or indirectly needs to be studied in detail and consulted with her. On the other hand, I also need to engage on doing creative work based on my relationship with Reyna, and translate it into stage actions and images.

Reyna y yo estamos conversando desde nuestros territorios de trabajo: el espacio teatral y la maquina de coser, que hemos elegido como objeto central de la pieza y que ha sido por largo tiempo el espacio de trabajo de Reyna. El espacio teatral resulta nuevo para ella, y es como si estuviera aprendiendo los primeros pasos, para mi la maquina de coser es lo mismo, mi dedos se mueven torpemente y mis pies no terminan de coordinarse con el pedal.

Reyna and I have been in conversation from our different “territories” where we work: “The theatrical space,” and her “sewing space” the sewing machine, which we have chosen as a central place for this work. This theatrical space is new to her, so she is taking her first steps, and I feel the same as it relates to the sewing machine, my fingers work clumsily in it, and my feet never quite coordinate with the pedals.

En un primer momento, tenía imagenes muy claras que queria explorar con Reyna, y que al momento de realizarlas resultaban muy vacias e impuestas, por tanto tenia que escuchar como se iban modificando con la ejecución que les daba Reyna. Era como estar viendo a un actor interpretando un texto, dandole vida y voz, para mí más que ver que ella lo representaba, lo estaba presentando, por que no tenía la preocupación de actuar la acción, simplemente la ejecutaba. Tenía la claridad, como en el campo de la costura, de donde empieza y termina un corte o una costura, donde no te puedes equivocar porque te cobran la pieza, o recibes un castigo, o te corren del trabajo o tienes un accidente aveces irreversible. Ha sido una gran lección.

At first, I had very clear images that I wanted to explore with Reyna, and that in doing them, they would feel empty and forced, making me need to “listen” how things were actually evolving in real time with her. This is where I relate to her work not as representation but rather as “presentation” as she is not preoccupied with “acting” but just with execution. She has always been clear, as in the field of sewing, where things begin and end, where you can miss something in ways in which you will later “pay” if you them wrongly, including losing your job, or worse. This has been an ongoing learning experience so far.

Illegal Body – Violeta Luna – Photo by Victor Cartagena / Cuerpo Ilegal – Violeta Luna Photos by Victor Cartagena

Links:

The New York Times

Immigrants Facing Deportation by U.S: Hospital /Inmigrantes deportados por hospitales de EE.UU.

By Deborah Sontag, published: August 3, 2008

Inquiry Finds Under-Age Workers at Meat Plant / Investigación encuentra menors de edad trabajando en un matadero

By Julia Preston, published: August 5, 2008

After Iowa Raid, Immigrants Fuel Labor Inquiries / Despues de las redadas en Iowa, inmigrantes e investigaciones laborales

By Julia Preston, published: July 27, 2008

We wanted to give Oasis for Girls participants a place to post their experiences through the creative process. Young Ladies Against Lies please share your stories!

Cultivating Generations of Strong, Empowered,
and Creative Women

Our Vision: Oasis for Girls cultivates generations of strong and creative women who realize their potential, live healthy lives and make a positive impact in their communities.

Our Mission: Oasis for Girls provides a safe space where girls and young women are inspired and empowered to become strong and creative leaders in their communities.

Oasis for Girls on YouTube

Maz Jobrani Axis of Evil on YouTube

ARTIST+NUDE= Benefit Art Sale, Auction and Raffle of Original Nude Art Hosted by Peaches Christ and Nudist Volunteers.

On Friday June 27, CounterPULSE and Marrvelous Films presents ARTIST+NUDE= an art sale, auction and raffle of original nude art and photography made exclusively for the funding of “Faerie,” a documentary that chronicles the history of contributions imbued by mankind by queer people – and the injustices they face today.

The evening will feature original drawings, paintings and photography from artists such as Shaun Johnson, Kenney Mencher, Kevin Rolly and more. Hosted by drag-diva Peaches Christ, the event is an Official Event for Pride 2008 and hopes to please local and out-of-town nude art collectors!

“I want people to understand that “Faerie” is a film about justifiable human rights,” says David Marr, producer and director of the film and owner of Marrvelous Films. “this project is a learning tool and I hope it changes the way society views and respects people who have a queer perspective on life.”

Where: CounterPULSE
When: Friday, June 27, 2008. 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Cost: $10-$15 sliding scale @ door.
Info: Visit www.faeriefilm.com for more information and examples of art.

This was one of those rare nights in the theater where you feel grateful to be alive, to be sharing oxygen and living in these apocalyptic endtimes. Taylor Mac and Dynasty Handbag are a wonderful complement to each other — I’d highly recommend seeing both in a single night. They’re different in key aesthetic ways — Taylor Mac is explosive and emotional, while Dynasty Handbag is mysterious and kaleidoscopic.

Taylor Mac bristles at the idea of comparisons to other artists, so I’ll honor his request to simply describe his work and my experience of it. I’ve never seen Counterpulse so successfully harnassed by a performer using their unamplified voice. Taylor Mac’s solution was to do the entire show next to the audience in a single pool of light. Being a master of stagecraft, he understood how to make the space intimate and immediate. Between rapidfire monologues, he played a ukulele, singing about politics, travel, war, relationships and childhood. He sings with a gorgeous, affecting voice — he did time in “Beach Blanket Babylon” in the early 90s and it shows. There were a number of times I teared up during the show. His drag aesthetic is homemade and approachable, coming out of a tradition of radical faeries, the Cockettes, the Angels of Light and the Ridiculous Theater movement. Taylor Mac is a beautiful freak. If you ran into him on the street, dressed in all his “finery” (as he puts it), instead of saying “You look FAB-ulous,” you might say “You look EXCITING.” You wouldn’t be intimidated or distracted by how perfectly his eyelashes were applied. Rather, you’d be inspired by how freely he shares the essence of who he is. He’ll make you want to walk through the world in a bolder way.

It’s hard to be prepared for Dynasty Handbag because there aren’t a lot of obvious precursors for the work she’s making. She works seamlessly with technology, creating audio tracks and projections that she interacts with onstage. One one level, her work has a quality of childlike innocence; she animates images of cute animals and uses stretches of preverbal sounds. There’s a way in which you’re truly watching a child at play when you see her onstage. But she is also a very controlled performer. She’s not afraid to leave a pool of light and stand in half-darkness. She leaves the stage altogether for several costume changes. While many solo performers could be accused of oversharing, Dynasty Handbag serves up a tall cup of crazy but is skilled in the art of tease and restraint. She knows that people watch the show with equal measures of delight and perplexity. Her work is truly multimedia — the stretches of video and audio are particular to her voice and obviously part of a large theatrical vision. Her eccentricities are a gift, like an irradiated bird’s plumage. Dynasty Handbag generously shares those spots and stripes. She confuses the hell out of you and yet makes perfect sense. But that depends on your willingness to admit your own level of insanity.

A very satisfying evening in the theater. Thank you, Earl Dax, for bringing these folks to San Francisco!

If you’re not familiar with Taylor, check out the links below to view online videos:

Taylor Mac at SF MOMA
Taylor Mac & Novice Theory Performing in LA

You can also visit Taylor online:

www.taylormac.net
www.myspace.com/taylormacny

As a part of “The Mapping Project” performance, coming to CounterPulse June 6-8, I’m creating some digital prints that illustrate stories that come from some of the dancers. We’ve interviewed the dancers about the experiences of their grandparents, relating to the second world war. Going back two generations, the family lines of these Bay-Area based dancers get flung pretty far, geographically: the stories touch on, among other things, the bombing of Frankfurt, the Japanese occupation of China, a kind of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and the Japanese internment Camps at Rowher and Tule Lake. Most of the maps that form the backgrounds of the prints were scanned from the collection of the Prelinger Library, an absolutely wonderful resource on 8th street. Anyone who’s even remotely bookish is bound to have a great time there.

Below are two of the five prints, and their accompanying stories. If you’d like to see the full suite of five, visit the blog I’ve set up for the performance: themappingproject.blogspot.com

Anna’s story

 
My family lived in Frankfurt while it was being bombed. There was an air raid and the family went down to go to the shelter. But my dad, he was about seven, he didn’t want to go. He got absolutely hysterical about it, screaming that he didn’t want to go. They gave up, and went back to their house. And found out, the next day, that the shelter had suffered a direct hit. Everyone in it had died. Dad doesn’t like to talk about this. Whenever Oma talked about it, her voice would get full of emotion, quivering, almost crying. That seemed to be one of the reasons Dad didn’t like to bring up the war – it would make Oma very emotional. He didn’t want us to learn German. I didn’t understand all the implications. I knew my grandfather was in the army, but Oma said he wasn’t in the Nazi army, he was in the “other” army. It wasn’t until much later, somehow this came up with my boyfriend, who was Jewish. I told him my Opa was in the other army, and he said “Anna, there was no other army.” And a little light went off in my head.

Kristen’s story

The main story I remember about the war was how my grandmother’s sister had been forced to kneel and crawl over broken glass by Japanese soldiers. There were many other hardships under the Japanese occupation. They tried not to eat meat unless they slaughtered it themselves. The rumor was that the meat sold at the market was actually human flesh since the Japanese took all the livestock. There were other stories—Japanese fighter planes shooting down family villages, best friends being shot down and killed in plain sight. But the story about Po-Po’s sister crawling on broken glass—that one haunted me. How could anyone do something so cruel to another person? Every time I see broken glass on the sidewalk, I think about how it would feel to have shards of glass pierce and tear into the flesh of my knees and palms.

It was that broken glass story that made me as a child understand why Po-Po hated Japanese people for so long. Funny thing is, I actually remembered the facts of that story wrong. It turns out it wasn’t the Japanese who made Po-Po’s sister crawl on glass. It was actually the Chinese communists during the Cultural Revolution. Actually, I didn’t hear the story directly from Po-Po. It was my mother who told me. I had asked her why Po-Po didn’t like the Japanese. It’s funny, in school the kids assumed that being Chinese and Japanese were the same thing. There was one Japanese boy in my class, and the other kids assumed the two of us—me being the only Chinese girl—would get married. Now my grandfather, he was in the U.S. at the time of the war. He would have been sent to Normandy as a soldier, but he got out of it. He spoke both Chinese and English, but when he got drafted, he pretended he didn’t know any English. That way he wouldn’t be sent into battle. You might think he’d want to get in there, to fight the Japanese, but he pulled one over on the army instead. It was more important to him to stay alive. He ended up stationed in Arizona and worked as an army cook.