our daily bread

13 Nov, 2012

Digest in Peace: The Beginning…

2016-03-18T22:34:30-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Events, Free Events (donations welcomed), Talks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

We are winding our way towards opening night this week. What started out as a conversation with my mother about our gumbo tradition many years ago, has become this little monster of a dance theater piece that has forever changed my life and how I think about food. With this incarnation of Our Daily Bread my collaborator and director, Ellen Sebastian Chang and I engaged in daily conversations about food; about the difficulties of having a slow enough life to

30 Oct, 2012

And the Pot Thickens…

2016-03-18T22:34:20-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Archive, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Free Events (donations welcomed), Images|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

If I had the time it would be better to keep me on track if I would blog every day during this process... but these days are full and there is much to say about what has taken place over the last month so forgive me if this blog is more like a sampler plate, with only a small taste of many ideas... Since the last blog there have been several food parties that have gone down. We had a

15 Oct, 2012

How many people does it take to make a salad? All of us!

2016-03-18T22:34:41-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Free Events (donations welcomed)|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

We are in full effect with the food parties and gatherings that will lead up to the remount of Our Daily Bread at CounterPULSE coming up this November 15-18. Though I love the performance work, I have to say these parties are what really FEED me! (yes, pun fully INTENDED!) Coming together with folks in public as well as private spaces to share food, stories and get to know folks in deeper ways is really what it is all about.

27 Apr, 2011

Thank you’s, a poem and a recipe…..

2016-03-18T22:35:03-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This past Sunday was our final performance of, “Our Daily Bread” at CounterPULSE. After a two week run which included 8 sold out performances and one show for students from Mission High School, I am still feeling the overwhelm of such a wonderful, ass kicking, joyous and painful experience that was the making and performing of this work. It has been a journey that felt so right to complete it where it all began-at CounterPULSE. The process was magical in

20 Apr, 2011

Reflections on the opening weekend of “Our Daily Bread”

2016-03-18T22:35:15-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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

4 Apr, 2011

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

2016-03-18T22:35:28-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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

14 Feb, 2011

Letting go of gumbo..

2016-03-18T22:35:39-07:00By |Categories: Amara Tabor Smith, Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Images|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

For many years on my birthday, my mother would make her seafood gumbo. It was one of the few times I would ask her to make this dish and I always liked to share this experience with family and friends because my mother’s gumbo is an experience. It is thick, messy, full of crabs legs, shrimps, oysters and okra. We used to spread newspaper on the table, wear bibs and used nut crackers to crack the crab, the sound of

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

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

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

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