CounterPULSE

19 Aug, 2009

The Memo

2009-08-19T10:19:12-07:00By |Categories: Adia Tamar Whitaker, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I didn't get the memo. You know the one that breaks down the ways in which descendants of enslaved Africans have a different (but just as post traumatic stress disordered psychosis) than the descendants of colonized Africans. To be fair, I looked completely different when I've traveled abroad before (I had long hair), AND there is no pronoun for "he"or "she" in Ghanaian language. Word. My bad. Yet and still, I was expecting some kind of Haiti-ish/Southern American Negro/Caribbean stratification

19 Aug, 2009

Towards Chicano Dance

2009-08-19T13:33:23-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Gema Sandoval, Images, Performing Diaspora|Tags: |

When you choreograph folk dance and work to transfer movement from its natural habitat to the stage the considerations are: : Is the representation accurate? Am I being true to the spirit of the dance? Have I accurately reflected the integrity and idiosyncracy of the music, dance and people of that area? As important as these questions are, they are also the very elements that discourage creative evolutions from that dance. Additionally, I have always been keenly aware that ,

20 Aug, 2009

Approaching the Feminine – Prumsodun Ok for Performing Diaspora

2009-08-20T04:41:20-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora, Prumsodun Ok|Tags: , , , , , , , |

"He, who is described as male, is as much the female and the penetrating eye does not fail to see it." - Rigveda It is 4.06 AM.  My eyes tell me that I need to sleep but lying in bed is proving useless as thoughts race through my head.  I was in Cambodia for ten days, just two days ago and have brought so much back with me.  New knowledge, new costumes, new energy, and the pop song that currently

21 Aug, 2009

Do You Have Those in Black?

2009-08-21T19:31:38-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Images|Tags: , , |

Ok so we aren't quite finished but we are nearly there.  We had to use the white because in the entire Bay Area it is apparently the only color in which they make Fire Retardant paint.  Patrick Simms and I slapped the first coat of black on before we left yesterday and I think they are going to look great.  We are looking for a big push over the weekend to bring this puppy home, so come lend a hand

25 Aug, 2009

Bihag, my choreographic take on the Hip hop Tinikling – part 2

2009-08-25T21:33:52-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Dulce Capadocia, Performing Diaspora|Tags: |

Archival Photo of  Silayan Dance Company  featuring dancers Sandy Mendez and Mandy Burgos  from article on  "Filipino Life",   Los Angeles Times 1986 (Costume idea for Tikling Bird Goddess in "BIHAG" - look at male dancer in the back) I write in my pajamas in this late bright sunny afternoon wondering why I haven’t changed since the morning.  I hesitate;   feeling deeply exhausted  from last month’s activities,  I am slow to  recuperating.   I keep having to convince myself that being

26 Aug, 2009

developing the script… the bare bones

2009-08-26T10:01:34-07:00By |Categories: Ana Maria Alvarez, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: , , , , , |

So I haven't been good with updating the blog regularly - I am the same way about my own personal blog - but when I do it is thorough! We have been traveling all summer and I have been very in my head about this work - working on skill building and movement material but not setting anything - that will begin next week - what I have been working on this summer is more the structure and 'script' of

28 Aug, 2009

Koreni, making peace with the past to move forward as life gets in the way of ART

2009-08-28T15:09:33-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Danica Sena Gakovich, Events, Performing Diaspora|Tags: |

The very spontaneous nature of art rarely gives way to "schedules", ie. scribbling notes on a bathroom floor at 4am so as not to wake up the household, 2-hour rehearsals that turn into 10 hours, starting with violins and ending up with tambourines, constant breaking of commitments due to double-booking or financial constraints...and yet as performers, choreographers, collaborators we must adhere to some semblance of organization so as not to disappear into our microcosmic "bubbles".  A famous Spanish dancer who

29 Aug, 2009

Cry into the song

2009-08-29T19:36:19-07:00By |Categories: Adia Tamar Whitaker, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Ewe say " ... you must cry into the song." A man in the taxi said "... you are beautiful when you cry." ... But these things are not easy. To cry into the song when you are still so sad ... To let your beauty shine thru when you feel as though there is nothing to hold you up. Today "Ampey!" took it's first breath. It's a girl and a boy. A mommy and a daddy ... very

31 Aug, 2009

Devendra Sharma for Performing Diaspora: “Mission Suhani”- Reflections from India!

2009-08-31T23:34:58-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Devendra Sharma, Performing Diaspora|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Hi friends! I spent last three months living in India, co-writing the new Nautanki performance script for the “Performing Diaspora” with my father-- the renowned Nautanki artist, Pundit Ram Dayal Sharma, I loved my time in India. It was so much fun, and a learning experience, working with my father on this script that focuses on the issue of Indian men living in the U.S., who go back to India to get married to young Indian women and receive huge

2 Sep, 2009

Free Ram Board

2009-09-02T18:32:23-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE|

Hey All, So as we near the end of our Riser Rebuild we find ourselves with about 1000 sq. ft. of decent Ram Board that we protected the Dance Floor with. If you want it it is free, just email andrew@counterpulse.org

3 Sep, 2009

Works in Progress Showing

2009-09-03T17:35:31-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE|

This past weekend, a few of our Performing Diaspora artists gave audiences a sneak peek on how their work's progressing.  It was incredible to see how far they've come in these past few months, and we're excited to see the final performance!    Check out videos of their performance on YouTube - CounterPULSE has a page all of its own : http://www.youtube.com/user/counterpulse.

7 Sep, 2009

Thoughts by Gómez-Peña on Corpo/Ilicito

2009-09-07T15:56:50-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , |

Corpo/Ilicito premieres Sept 11th and 12th, 8:00 pm @ CounterPULSE 1310 Mission St @ 9th, San Francisco Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/73700 Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Violeta Luna's latest duet Corpo/Ilicito premieres in San Francisco next weekend and we wanted to share with you some thoughts behind the project -- as articulated by Guillermo himself: "We are now facing serious challenges as artists: The performance work we have created in the past 8 years -- which has been mostly in opposition to the Bush

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