theater

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

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

22 Oct, 2009

Performing Diaspora on the Airwaves!

2009-10-22T17:30:44-07:00By |Categories: Adia Tamar Whitaker, Charlotte Moraga, CounterPULSE, Danica Sena Gakovich, Homepage Links, Performing Diaspora, Podcast|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

With Performing Diaspora fast-approaching, some of the artists took a break from the stage and headed over to KPFA's radio studios in Berkeley for a musical sneak-preview of their work on Stephen Kent's show, "Music of the World." In between tracks, our Executive Director Jessica Robinson Love joined them in the conversation about their performances November 5-8. If you missed the program live, give it a listen here!

23 Oct, 2009

Dance Discourse 7: How do we keep our dances from becoming museum pieces? Defining Tradition, Innovation, and Preservation in the Artistic Process

2009-10-23T17:47:02-07:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On October 15, 2009 a group of Bay Area artists, arts administrators and audience members met at CounterPULSE for the Dance Discourse Project 7: Dancing Diaspora. Co-presented by World Arts West/ San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and Dancers' Group the event was a part of the Fall 2009 season of Performing Diaspora. Learn more about Performing Diaspora at www.counterpulse.org/performing-diaspora/ At the exciting event participants were broken up into small groups where they discussed a variety of pertinent issues concerning traditional

6 Nov, 2009

CounterPULSE premieres Performing Diaspora!

2009-11-06T20:40:17-08:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Let the Festival begin! Last night, CounterPULSE opened its doors to Performing Diaspora artists and audience members -- check out some of the audience's reactions here!

10 Nov, 2009

Podcasting Diaspora!

2009-11-10T20:24:29-08:00By |Categories: CounterPULSE, Performing Diaspora, Podcast|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last Saturday, artists and community members used the CounterPULSE stage not for dancing, but for discussion: participants in the Performing Diaspora Symposium took the day to explore the rich, challenging themes that the Festival explores. In three separate sessions, panelists and audience members articulate some of the ideas that each Performing Diaspora artists stirs up onstage. Give a listen here! Appropriation: Dilemma in Dance Panelists: Deborah Vaughan, Anne Bluethenthal, & Denise Pate Facilitated by Laura Elaine Ellis The subject of

9 Jan, 2011

The Best Laid Plans…

2016-03-18T22:19:57-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

A particularly challenging and fertile aspect of being a creator of experimental performance is that I often have to describe a project in detail many months or even years before I start on it. When working with 10 or more ensemble members and needing to plan out schedules and spaces that are accessible for dancing, instruments, wheelchairs, props, sets and more, I have to do a lot of advance planning. I joke often with my husband about how I have

9 Jan, 2011

Synchronicities

2016-03-18T22:19:45-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

One of my favorite things about the creative process is synchronicity. I follow intuition above all else in my art making and find myself continually rewarded by the ways that relationships I never could have dreamed up appear all of a sudden. Until recently I was planning on making a piece called Don't Suck! Cycle II as part of a four month residency at CounterPULSE in San Francisco. The recent deaths of my close friend Sharon and my grandmother moved

12 Jan, 2011

Public Showings

2016-03-18T22:19:33-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

We have our first work-in-progress showing for my CounterPULSE residency this coming Saturday, Jan. 15th. Even though we're still at the beginnings of our creation process, I'm very glad we have this showing to work towards. There are many reasons that I find public showings of performance works in progress useful. These include: --forcing us as artists to make some decisions about what we want to show --giving a deadline to a particular segment of our creation process --encouraging everyone

18 Jan, 2011

Injury as Teacher

2016-03-18T22:19:18-07:00By |Categories: Artists in Residence, CounterPULSE, Dandelion Dancetheater, Video|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm often able to tell other people when they are injured how much every injury can be a teacher. When it's not me having to hold back from moving with physical abandon, I see the benefit of learning about our limitations and our vulnerability through our injuries. When I have an injury, my vision is a lot murkier and I have to wade through a lot of resistance before I come to some kind of acceptance of what happened and

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