in/divisible

from brittany: (www.danceceres.org)

In this work, I am reminded how many times it takes an idea/concept to enter the body before it actually sinks into to my bones? Some times a feeling is instantaneous- other times it takes years to absorb and safely reside. How long does a new experience rest quietly in the bones before our consciousness gives us context towards a deeper grasp– before a reason to understand that backlogged experience presents itself and we fully come into the next manifestation of our selves? Can we learn from history? I try to… this work folds in its thoughts and records, indivisible – self from time, time from past, experience from present, all things. Sometimes art facilitates and sometimes it rides along side trying to keep up. Either way, a comfortable companion, even in all its challenges.

We’ve tried to: use movement to unlock experiences, emotionally stored in individual physiological spaces, in order to distill their characters into a comfortable understanding so as to activate self alignment with community and cause. It’s taken me so long to unlock some of this. Here’s a little window inside my head– travel always makes me pensive and hyper-focused and I’ve had to travel lot in the past month.

My work is dedicated to L. Tarin Chaplin (1941-2009)– mentor, teacher, choreographer, author (The Intimate Act of Choreography), caretaker of the earth … my dear friend who died this week as she has lived these last many months/years, with grace, and grit, and gratitude.

Metaphorically for the dancers in our last month of rehearsal: (thank you to Cari, Rebecca, Claudia, Erin & Sarah!)
From the very start: claudia takes a more direct role- her action twist and bend your experiences… The idea that claudia is all of history- that which has happened before and everything in this instant gets recorded on claudia- she then has the ability to transmit, predict, remind, conjure, clarify, record moments and guide you, propel you or hold you back.. Sometimes you listen to her, sometimes you ignore or repress her involvement- other times you actively try to rewrite.
Then there are times when you fight or don’t sync up with history- holding in a state of confusion of repetitive winding and unwinding, sorting and resorting in search of a clear path. There are also other times wherein you spend time listening to your experiences and connecting the historical dots- learning from others mistakes to gain ground and time to make your own on a deeper or at least different (non-repetitive) path. Which times are we which kinds of people? Structurally- claudias ‘back seat’ in the majority of the dance upstage will facilitate her conjuring character.
In times of unison, history is always present.
So the piece will function in and out of communication with history. –Similarly to how I asked you to define your level of connectedness to the midline.  

There is certainly a more for me to clarity structurally and transitionally- but this metaphoric decision will help guide those final choices.

This may be abstract work- as is my medium- but it is becoming more clear to me that in my social commitment to equality, I easily recall the past– not just my experiential past, but the historical past that clearly outlines progress as community aligning towards equality. Despite convoluted emotional content, it remains easy to dig through each experience for the truth and move forward in clarity and with collective purpose. These are the qualities, people, ideas and ideals which I collect into my sightlines because they reflect back to me my commitment to the pursuit of joy and ultimately, peace. It takes time to unweave years of storage to reveal that which is core– that which feeds you in reflection. Core is the new starting block. Sans baggage. Call it simple, but it is a new time and all parts of life are distilling into essence.
My consenting heart
Vibrating, it sounds like OM
Open full and sweet