CounterPULSE Archives - Page 6 of 11

20 Apr, 2011

Reflections on the opening weekend of “Our Daily Bread”

2016-03-18T22:35:15-07:00By AmaraTaborSmith|Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: AIR, Amara Tabor-Smith, ARC, artist residency commissioning, Artists in Residence, bay area food, commercial fishing, CounterPULSE, deep waters dance theater, food activism, louisiana gumbo, louisiana traditions, ocean life, our daily bread, tabor smith|

Reflections on the opening weekend of "Our Daily Bread" This past Thursday, Our Daily Bread opened to very supportive and enthusiastic audiences. It was an amazing experience filled with love, food, exhaustion and the absolute commitment of all of the performers and creators who were integral to this experience. Laura Diamondstone created a magical environment in the lobby of CounterPULSE which really set the tone for the evenings experience. The first day I walked into the lobby while she was

16 Apr, 2011

Fermented Art

2016-03-18T22:16:10-07:00By Eric Kupers|Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater|Tags: Artists in Residence, choreography, CounterPULSE, Dance, dancetheater, dandelion, Eric Kupers, friend, impermanence, Performance, residency, sharon mussen, theater|

I'm a big fan of fermented foods and drinks: sauerkraut, tempeh, kombucha, rejuvelac, kim chee, wine, beer and more. It's fascinating to me how completely new nutrients and beneficial bacteria develop when we let things settle for awhile. And then how new food and drink is created, not necessarily better than what was originally there, but different and fulfilling other needs. I'm realizing that I love fermented art too. When a project first appears to complete on closing night, I

8 Apr, 2011

As the Light Fades

2016-03-18T22:16:23-07:00By Eric Kupers|Categories: Archive, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: Artists in Residence, choreography, CounterPULSE, Dance, dancetheater, dandelion, Eric Kupers, friend, Performance, residency, sharon mussen, theater|

Transitioning back to ordinary life after a performance run is difficult for me. And this particular transition out of performances of Dandelion's Friend has been particularly difficult. Ram Dass wrote and spoke about how as he began to get in touch with larger and more beautiful spiritual experiences--as he got "higher" each time--the accompanying falls afterwards became increasingly painful. These performances were especially "high" for me. I made some big breakthroughs artistically: editing more fiercely, trusting my inner feedback over

4 Apr, 2011

The food chain is only as strong as the weakest link…

2016-03-18T22:35:28-07:00By AmaraTaborSmith|Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: AIR, Amara Tabor-Smith, ARC, artist residency commissioning, Artists in Residence, bay area food, commercial fishing, CounterPULSE, deep waters dance theater, food activism, louisiana gumbo, louisiana traditions, ocean life, our daily bread, tabor smith|

The food chain is only as strong as the weakest link and other thoughts leading up to this monster called, “Our Daily Bread” It has been a minute since my last post and sooooo much has happened. The artistic crew who are conjuring this work, Our Daily Bread celebrated the 100th anniversary of International Women’s day and Mardi Gras this year by having an Eat-In in the middle of the afternoon of Tuesday, March 8th. MJ’s Brass Boppers kicked it

1 Apr, 2011

Audience Reactions to Kegan Marling and Dandelion Dancetheater

2016-03-18T22:13:02-07:00By Shamsher|Categories: Archive, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Kegan Marling, Video|Tags: 2011, artist, artists, Artists in Residence, commissioning program, CounterPULSE, dandelion, dandelion dancetheater, emerging artists, Eric Kupers, friend, jump ship mid way, kegan, kegan marling, residence, residency, winter, winter 2011|

31 Mar, 2011

Impermanence Made Visible

2016-03-18T22:16:34-07:00By Eric Kupers|Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: Artists in Residence, choreography, CounterPULSE, Dance, dancetheater, dandelion, Eric Kupers, friend, impermanence, Performance, residency, sharon mussen, theater|

My current favorite definition of the word "dance" is: "Impermanence made visible." That seems to cover the immensity and the minutia of this slippery form. I'm particularly in touch with impermanence as Dandelion moves into our premiere of Friend tonight. It strikes me as odd how performance is what I pour my most extreme efforts and longings and strivings into--and then it's gone so quickly after it arises. This is particularly true in the experimental dance world wherein we often

30 Mar, 2011

Entering the Temple of Tech Week

2016-03-18T22:16:47-07:00By Eric Kupers|Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: ARC, artist in residence, CounterPULSE, Dance, dandelion, dandelion dancetheater, Eric Kupers, Performance, Performance art, sharon mussen, theater, Video|

I've come to love tech week--the week leading up to a performance run in which we have tech (technical) rehearsals, dress rehearsals and last minute scramblings to finish. I notice that during this time I am highly energized with a mix of anxiety, anticipation and joy. And I notice that the main thing that keeps me grounded is spending as much time as possible at the theater. I like to get to the place we're performing hours before each event,

29 Mar, 2011

Showings, Feedback and Protecting Clarity

2016-03-18T22:16:59-07:00By Eric Kupers|Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dance, dandelion, dandelion dancetheater, Eric Kupers, Performance, sharon mussen, Video|

The showings that Dandelion has been doing as part of our residency at CounterPULSE have taught me a lot. Here's an incomplete list of insights, reminders, clarifying moments that I've gathered so far from the three monthly public showings of our Friend project: 1. Public showings are crucial to the development of the kind of experimental performance we create. They force us to get things together on a deadline, to try them out and then to retreat and re-tool. There

25 Mar, 2011

Falling Apart / Piecing Myself Together

2016-03-18T22:17:21-07:00By Eric Kupers|Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater|Tags: Artists in Residence, choreography, CounterPULSE, Dance, dancetheater, dandelion, Eric Kupers, friend, Performance, residency, sharon mussen, showing, theater|

It's been longer than I would have liked since my last post. I'm in the final stages of "birthing" our Friend project, and these past few weeks have felt like the major hump to get over. As I catch up with myself and the work, I'll be posting some eclectic reflections from the adrenaline-fueled final phase of this particular creation process. Here is a post I started two weeks ago, when I felt right in the middle of the fire,

10 Mar, 2011

Artist Interview: Kegan Marling

2016-03-18T22:13:29-07:00By Shamsher|Categories: Archive, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Kegan Marling, Video|Tags: artist, artist in residence, artist residency commissioning, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, in, jump ship mid way, kegan, kegan marling, marling, residence, residency|

PART 1 PART 2

10 Mar, 2011

Artist Interview: Eric Kupers of Dandelion Dancetheater

2011-03-10T17:45:34-08:00By Shamsher|Categories: Archive, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: Artists in Residence, choreography, CounterPULSE, Dance, dancetheater, dandelion, Eric Kupers, friend, Performance, residency, sharon mussen, theater|

PART 1 PART 2

3 Mar, 2011

Surprise Gifts

2016-03-18T22:17:32-07:00By Eric Kupers|Categories: Archive, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: Artists in Residence, choreography, CounterPULSE, Dance, dancetheater, dandelion, Eric Kupers, friend, Performance, residency, sharon mussen, theater|

There always seems to be surprise gifts that come from creating a performance work--things that enhance my life and/or art making that I didn't expect to receive from the project. With the Friend project, a major gift has been a reminder about the joy of making stuff. By stuff I mean visual art (sculpture, collage, installation, etc.) This gift has come at me from two sources. My friend Sharon was a visual artist at heart, always making sculptures of various

Reflections on the opening weekend of “Our Daily Bread”

Fermented Art

As the Light Fades

The food chain is only as strong as the weakest link…

Audience Reactions to Kegan Marling and Dandelion Dancetheater

Impermanence Made Visible

Entering the Temple of Tech Week

Showings, Feedback and Protecting Clarity

Falling Apart / Piecing Myself Together

Artist Interview: Kegan Marling

Artist Interview: Eric Kupers of Dandelion Dancetheater

Surprise Gifts

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