Artists in Residence

3 Jan, 2011

1/4 mark

2016-03-18T22:12:18-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Kegan Marling|Tags: , , |

When I think about my understanding of what it meant to be gay when I was 16, a handful of images come to mind. Walking down Stockton Avenue and trying to sneak a quick look into the old Renegades Bar when the door would swing open. I could never really see in, but stories unfolded in my head around the mystery of that worn-down pub with painted over windows and rough-edged leather bears occasionally outside inhaling a smoke. Quirky wall

9 Jan, 2011

The Best Laid Plans…

2016-03-18T22:19:57-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

A particularly challenging and fertile aspect of being a creator of experimental performance is that I often have to describe a project in detail many months or even years before I start on it. When working with 10 or more ensemble members and needing to plan out schedules and spaces that are accessible for dancing, instruments, wheelchairs, props, sets and more, I have to do a lot of advance planning. I joke often with my husband about how I have

9 Jan, 2011

Synchronicities

2016-03-18T22:19:45-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

One of my favorite things about the creative process is synchronicity. I follow intuition above all else in my art making and find myself continually rewarded by the ways that relationships I never could have dreamed up appear all of a sudden. Until recently I was planning on making a piece called Don't Suck! Cycle II as part of a four month residency at CounterPULSE in San Francisco. The recent deaths of my close friend Sharon and my grandmother moved

10 Jan, 2011

Narass ak jamm (digest in peace)

2016-03-18T22:36:33-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Well, it has definitely been awhile since I last posted…I have been on a journey with this food project that has taken me to the Republic of the Congo, New Orleans twice (I may be going back), several food parties in and around the SF bay area and most recently to Senegal from where I just returned less than 3 days ago. This last journey has been the most profound for me in so many ways but what I am

12 Jan, 2011

Public Showings

2016-03-18T22:19:33-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

We have our first work-in-progress showing for my CounterPULSE residency this coming Saturday, Jan. 15th. Even though we're still at the beginnings of our creation process, I'm very glad we have this showing to work towards. There are many reasons that I find public showings of performance works in progress useful. These include: --forcing us as artists to make some decisions about what we want to show --giving a deadline to a particular segment of our creation process --encouraging everyone

18 Jan, 2011

Injury as Teacher

2016-03-18T22:19:18-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm often able to tell other people when they are injured how much every injury can be a teacher. When it's not me having to hold back from moving with physical abandon, I see the benefit of learning about our limitations and our vulnerability through our injuries. When I have an injury, my vision is a lot murkier and I have to wade through a lot of resistance before I come to some kind of acceptance of what happened and

18 Jan, 2011

Trying to hold on to the magic of Africa….

2016-03-18T22:36:22-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Images|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

It’s been almost 2 weeks since I left Senegal..every day in Senegal I ate 3 meals a day. Everyday, 3 times a day, we stopped everything else so we could eat ( I say we because I never ate alone there). Whether it was Adama’s cooking that we ate everyday at L’ecole des Sables where I was studying dance, or with my brother and sister in law and their family’s house…I ate 3 meals a day

27 Jan, 2011

In a recession, you gotta have stew…..

2016-03-18T22:36:12-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Images|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I have to say…there is so much going on, I’m having a hard time keeping up in these posts! For the last 2 weeks it’s been about recession stew. Recession stew is a creation of mine that was inspired by the way my mama would take random left overs and hold overs in the fridge and make magical meals. I’ve been cooking up my stew at various locales over the last couple of weeks; fed it to the beautiful young

8 Feb, 2011

Ode to my Father and my brother…

2016-03-18T22:36:01-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Images|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I’m cooking as fast as I can! A week and a half ago, I found myself cooking for one food party after another and no sooner than I finish washing my trusty pot that I cook my stews in does Julie Phelps and Keith Hennessey call me and ask me if I can come cook for 150 people at the amazing marathon performance they produce at Dance Mission called, Too Much! What do I say? Hell yeah! I had a

12 Feb, 2011

Mid Way

2016-03-18T22:12:02-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, Kegan Marling|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I feel half gay. Not sexually that is... I'm not bisexual or sexually confused. I'm clearly hot for men. I just feel culturally half gay. Like somehow I've inherited or learned only a part of the culture, but not actually enough to pass a thorough inspection. If I was to try to board a plane to return to Gay Land, customs would have a field day before letting me pass through. Of course, I don't really feel half straight either.

12 Feb, 2011

Birthing Pains

2016-03-18T22:19:07-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

I see the creation of each art work as a kind of birth. There's both great connection and great pain in this process, and I often forget that the magnitude of how connecting a piece is directly relates to how painful its birth can be. Last week we tried out a structure for performing a lot of the most salient material we've been developing in our Friend project. It's a difficult feat to imagine how to collage together all the

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