Artists in Residence

23 Jan, 2009

Some reflections, midway through the ANIMoid adventure.

2009-01-23T22:02:30-08:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Homepage Links|Tags: , , , , , , |

by Katarina Eriksson (Winter Artist in Residence in collaboration with Cathie Caraker) One of the breeding grounds for this project is the subtext of two aliens who have come to earth and inhabited human bodies. I do think of it as a dance piece (as opposed to a dance theater piece), where the human body with all its fascinating functions is the protagonist. The alien idea seems to provide us with pretty much endless inspiration, and it works as a

24 Jan, 2009

What’s Cookin’ So far……

2016-03-18T22:37:24-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Homepage Links|Tags: , , , , |

My company Deep Waters Dance Theater is in the process of making this piece we are calling, "...our daily bread". We are exploring the ways that food shapes our cultural identities, how we all have food stories and folklore that ties who we are to the food we eat. We are also looking at how our disconnection from our food sources is impacting our health and environment. So, we are in the process of finding ways to bring these stories

4 Feb, 2009

Who is the alien? Some ramblings during the making of ANIMoid.

2009-02-04T09:06:09-08:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , |

Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved science fiction. My mom used to write novels and stories herself. She introduced me to the great sci fi writers and I’ve been hooked ever since - not so much to the hard science, but to the question, “what if...?” I’ve especially loved the women writers like Ursula Le Guin, Joanna Russ and Doris Lessing who address social issues by imagining alien cultures on other planets with vastly different bodies, histories and

27 Feb, 2009

More food for thought on the making of “…our daily bread”

2016-03-18T22:37:05-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , |

So, next week my company and i will perform our new work "...our daily bread" that is this exploration of food and cultural identity. Forgive me if what I am about to throw down reads a bit like a high school essay that would begin with "what I learned......". But what has been the deepest revelation for me in this creative process which has included talking to and eating with my family, is that the part of my food identity

4 Mar, 2009

Conclusion: Whatever!

2009-03-04T01:32:20-08:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , |

It is only a few days left to the opening of ANIMoid, the piece that Cathie Caraker and I have been working with for some time now. We think of it as a post-modern dance laboratory. The research we are performing in that laboratory started with the question: What might happen if two aliens came to earth and inhabited human bodies? In our work we take inspiration from things such as developmental movement patterns, perception and body systems, and use

9 Mar, 2009

ANIMoid: the final week

2009-03-09T08:52:18-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , |

Chop wood, carry water, tape chairs and oh yes perform... 3/3 Night before the dress rehearsal. It's 11 pm and I'm still on on the sidewalk spray-painting my beautiful Mission-style dining room chairs a metallic silver, after spending way too many hours with Katarina covering their endless slats with gaffer's tape. Back aching, head thick from breathing paint fumes. It starts to rain again, creating splotches all over the wet paint. Someone from the contact jam comes outside, yells at

16 Dec, 2009

Thanksgiving and Performing Diaspora …by Charlotte Moraga

2009-12-16T02:49:31-08:00By |Categories: Charlotte Moraga, CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

November.  Thanksgiving.  Well, Performing Diaspora was a thanksgiving feast of a sort, for sure.  Dishes of quiet contemplative explosions and moments of mirth filled the platter,  like when Sri did her nonplussed "boob dance" and her sexy "butt dance."  With her back to the audience, she cocked her head as if to say, "I see you, watching me, watching you."  There was Devendra's utterly charming and engrossing nautanki play, Yannis' virtuosic and athletic dance -- one moment in particular took

14 Mar, 2010

Why focusing on Water?

2010-03-14T23:57:59-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Jose Navarrete|Tags: , , , , |

By José Navarrete In 2007 I went to India, and on that journey I experienced everything from horror to beauty: magnificent palaces and temples contrasting with the utmost human misery. Throughout it all, water was at the core of this gigantic human drama. On the one hand, there is a scarcity of the resource due to industrial overconsumption, and on the other, there is flooding due to the building of dams which, far from satisfying the thirst of millions of

25 Mar, 2010

The final week

2010-03-25T09:52:39-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Jose Navarrete|Tags: , , |

This is the last week of our residency here at CounterPULSE. It has been a honor and a great opportunity for us to be part of this residency, helping us to continue doing our work. The support and help we have received from CounterPULSE staff is invaluable, from their thoughtful feedback to the solutions of our tedious technical matters. Thank you so much for that. Lastly I would like to share with you a video we did last week exploring

4 Oct, 2010

Let’s get Cookin’!

2016-03-18T22:36:56-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

For the next year my blogs will be focusing on the development of my piece, “Our Daily Bread” which will premier next April at CounterPULSE…and the journey that this piece is taking me on is already soooo deep… Most recently, I cooked for folks who were taking Rashad Pridgen’s (AKA Soul Nubian) AfroHouseHop class at Dance Mission this past Saturday. I made my recession stew and rice for the students who joined me in the Dance Mission lobby glowing from

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