GIRL FACT: Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.
Author’s Note: These monologues are not interviews. Each monologue is a literary text inspired by traveling the world, by witnessing events, by listening to real and imagined conversations. On occasion a monologue was inspired by an article, an experience, a memory, a dream, a wish, an image, or a moment of grief of rage.
Introduction:
Dear Emotional Creature,
You know who you are. I wrote this book because I believe in you. I believe in your authenticity, your uniqueness, your intensity, your wildness. I love the way you dye your hair purple, or hike up your short skirt, or blare your music while you lip-sync every single memorized lyric. I love your restlessness and your hunger. You are one of our greatest natural resources. You possess a necessary agency and energy that if unleashed could transform, inspire, and heal the world.
I know we make you feel stupid, as if being a teenager meant you were temporarily deranged. We have become accustomed to muting you, judging you, discounting you, asking you—sometimes even forcing you—to betray what you see and know and feel.
You scare us. You remind us of what we have been forced to shut down or abandon in ourselves in order to fit in. You ask us by your being to question, to wake up, to reperceive. Sometimes I think we tell you we are protecting you when really we are protecting ourselves from our own feelings of self-betrayal and loss.
Everyone seems to have a certain way they want you to be—your mother, father, teachers, religious leaders, politicians, boyfriends, fashion gurus, celebrities, girlfriends. In researching this book I came upon a very disturbing statistic: 74 percent of you say you are under pressure to please everyone.
I have done a lot of thinking about what it means to please. To please, to embody the wish or will of somebody other than yourself. To please the fashion setters, we starve ourselves. To please boys, we push ourselves when we aren’t ready. To please the popular girls, we end up acting mean to our best friends. To please our parents, we become insane overachievers. If you are trying to please, how do you take responsibility for your own needs? How do you even know what your own needs are? What do you have to cut off in yourself in order to please others? I think the act of pleasing makes everything murky. We lose track of ourselves. We stop uttering declaratory sentences. We stop directing our lives. We wait to be rescued. We forget what we know. We make everything okay rather than real.
I have had the good fortune to travel around the world. Everywhere I meet teenage girls, circles of girls, packs of girls walking the country roads home from school, hanging out on city street corners, arm in arm, laughing, giggling, screaming. Electric girls. I see how your lives get hijacked, how your opinions and desires get denied and undone. I see too how this later comes to determine so much of our lives as adults. So many of the women I have met through The Vagina Monologues and The Good Body and V-Day are still trying to overcome what was muted or undone in them when they were young. They are struggling late into their lives to know their desires, to find their power and their way.
This book is a call to question rather than to please. To provoke, to challenge, to dare, to satisfy your own imagination and appetite. To know yourself truly. To take responsibility for who you are, to engage. This book is a call to listen to the voice inside you that might want something different, that hears, that knows, the way only you can hear and know. It’s a call to your original girl self, to your emotional creature self, to move at your speed, to walk with your step, to wear your color. It is an invitation to heed your instinct to resist war, or draw snakes, or to speak to the starts.
I hope you will see this book as something living, that you will use it to help you to identify and overcome the obstacles or pressures that prevent you from being an emotional creature. Maybe after you read these stories and monologues you will be inspired to write and share your own, or paint your bedroom wall or fight for polar bears or speak up in class or learn about sexuality or demand your rights.
When I was your age, I didn’t know how to live as an emotional creature. I felt like an alien. I still do a lot of the time. I don’t think it has much to do with the country I grew up in or the language I speak. In this book you will meet girls from everywhere. Some live in remote villages, others in huge cities or posh suburbs. Some worrying about whether they will be able to afford the latest purple UGGs, some worrying if they’ll ever get home after two years of being held as a sex slave. Some deciding whether they are able to kill a supposed enemy, some on the brink of killing themselves, some desperate for the next meal, some unable to stop starving themselves. Girls from Cairo, Kwai Yong, Sofia, Ramallah, Bukavu, Narok, Westchester, Jerusalem, Manhattan, Paris. All of them, all of you, live on the planet right now. I think whatever country or town or village you physically live in, you inhabit a similar emotional landscape. You all come from girl land. There you get born with this awakeness, this open-hearted have to eat it, taste it, know it, defy it. Then the “grown-ups” come with their rules, their directions. They teach you how to make yourselves less so everyone feels more comfortable. They teach you not to stand out. They get you to behave.
I am older now. I finally know the difference between pleasing and loving, obeying and respecting. It has taken me so many years to be okay with being different, with being this alive, this intense. I just don’t want you to have to wait that long.
Love,
Eve
Showing posts with label Artsy Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Artsy Stuff. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Fiddler on the Roof--Director's Note
I first experienced Fiddler on the Roof when I was in 8th grade, a few short years after moving to a new town. I was cast as a villager, with seemingly little to do other than sing songs, dance steps, and imagine times and places I never knew. That didn’t matter to me, though—I began to breathe-in each moment, as if I’d held my breath for years. I remember watching my peers playing the lead roles, in awe of their confidence and talent. I remember seeing how close they were, how beautifully they sang, and how effortlessly they joked and performed drama together. But mostly, I remember feeling like an outsider looking in.
In high school, I became more and more involved in theater. Those people I once watched from afar became my people. We rehearsed together. We laughed, cried, sweat, and bled together. We challenged and fought with each other. We connected with each other in ways not possible anywhere else. And while I couldn’t place it yet, there was something happening each time we sang those songs, danced those steps, and imagined ourselves into other worlds. Some ineffable thing was bouncing among and within us.
Now, many years later, as I immerse myself in Fiddler with a new and wonderful group of people, I find myself reawakening to lessons I began learning long ago—lessons that have lain dormant for some time. This show explores family, friendship, and faith with such candor and beauty it transcends barriers. Fiddler challenges the idea that we must do what we’ve always done and follow rules before following our heart; so often we find ourselves standing at the cross-roads between what is right, according to tradition, and what is right for us. Through Tevye’s struggles, we learn to be true to ourselves, to place the important of happiness before riches, and to allow for change and advancement while always remembering our roots.
This story also shows us that reality and uncontrollable forces often complicate our lives and cause us to reconsider everything we thought we knew. Throughout the play, we see prejudice, narrow-mindedness, and fear. We see oppression and violence. We see people struggling to consider each other equal, even though they’ve lived as neighbors for years. But in spite of all this and perhaps most importantly, love and hope remain. In the darkest times, these characters hold strong—using the faith they have in themselves, their loved ones, and their God to carry them through, to truly live.
Somehow, the first time I experienced this show, I was not consciously aware of these lessons—just as I was unable to name that ineffable thing joining us together. Maybe my friends and I were too young or too preoccupied to see it, but we were steadily developing into the adults we would someday become. We were learning who we were and how to live our lives.
Now I see it, ever so clearly, in the magnificent cast and crew surrounding me. When we are faced with challenges, whether with each other or in the complexities of producing a show, we always find a way to maintain hope. Each time we struggle, if we come back to the heart of why we are here—our love for theater and this group of people—we always get through the hard times. Every time we rehearse a song or a step, explore a scene, imagine it alive; every time we let go of our judgments and insecurities; every time we allow ourselves to be present and attune to magic moments—every time, we grow a little bit closer to ourselves and the people around us.
To my “drama weenies”—take the time to breathe. Allow yourselves the chance to appreciate the moments you’re in. Don’t let so much time pass before you realize how magical this was and how important these lessons are.
Here’s to a great show! Here’s to great people! But most importantly, here’s TO LIFE!
In high school, I became more and more involved in theater. Those people I once watched from afar became my people. We rehearsed together. We laughed, cried, sweat, and bled together. We challenged and fought with each other. We connected with each other in ways not possible anywhere else. And while I couldn’t place it yet, there was something happening each time we sang those songs, danced those steps, and imagined ourselves into other worlds. Some ineffable thing was bouncing among and within us.
Now, many years later, as I immerse myself in Fiddler with a new and wonderful group of people, I find myself reawakening to lessons I began learning long ago—lessons that have lain dormant for some time. This show explores family, friendship, and faith with such candor and beauty it transcends barriers. Fiddler challenges the idea that we must do what we’ve always done and follow rules before following our heart; so often we find ourselves standing at the cross-roads between what is right, according to tradition, and what is right for us. Through Tevye’s struggles, we learn to be true to ourselves, to place the important of happiness before riches, and to allow for change and advancement while always remembering our roots.
This story also shows us that reality and uncontrollable forces often complicate our lives and cause us to reconsider everything we thought we knew. Throughout the play, we see prejudice, narrow-mindedness, and fear. We see oppression and violence. We see people struggling to consider each other equal, even though they’ve lived as neighbors for years. But in spite of all this and perhaps most importantly, love and hope remain. In the darkest times, these characters hold strong—using the faith they have in themselves, their loved ones, and their God to carry them through, to truly live.
Somehow, the first time I experienced this show, I was not consciously aware of these lessons—just as I was unable to name that ineffable thing joining us together. Maybe my friends and I were too young or too preoccupied to see it, but we were steadily developing into the adults we would someday become. We were learning who we were and how to live our lives.
Now I see it, ever so clearly, in the magnificent cast and crew surrounding me. When we are faced with challenges, whether with each other or in the complexities of producing a show, we always find a way to maintain hope. Each time we struggle, if we come back to the heart of why we are here—our love for theater and this group of people—we always get through the hard times. Every time we rehearse a song or a step, explore a scene, imagine it alive; every time we let go of our judgments and insecurities; every time we allow ourselves to be present and attune to magic moments—every time, we grow a little bit closer to ourselves and the people around us.
To my “drama weenies”—take the time to breathe. Allow yourselves the chance to appreciate the moments you’re in. Don’t let so much time pass before you realize how magical this was and how important these lessons are.
Here’s to a great show! Here’s to great people! But most importantly, here’s TO LIFE!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Getting Back in the Saddle
This is an excerpt from a proposal I just wrote. I'm hoping to get involved more in my dancer and artist side. I think--I hope--that will reunite me with myself.
My personal mission:
I believe in the healing and growth properties artistic endeavors provide people of all backgrounds and levels of experience—but I especially see the relevance of and necessity for the Arts during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
I’ve always been fascinated with the real world applications of a production process, whether musical theater, dance, music, or drama. The act of learning new things, practicing them, working through and around them with other people, young and old, is invaluable to any human out there. Through collaboration and overcoming artistic challenges, we can all become better performers and better people. And when young and old, novice and professional, come together to encourage and inspire each other, magic can be made.
Ultimately, I hope to continue learning about and expressing myself and my world through the various artistic media available to me—choreography, dance, theater, poetry, prose, song writing, etc.—and I hope to involve myself as a lifelong role model and mentor to young people.
Some things I could offer:
- Workshops (which I can use to offer exploration and expression through collaboration with me, their peers, and other artists):
- Writer’s workshops—where we explore aspects of creative and personal writing processes, as a method for self-awareness, healing, and expression.
- Choreography workshops—where we explore elements of space, movement, and composition, culminating in either one or multiple dance pieces.
- Viewpoints workshops—where we explore the various ways an actor can utilize his/her body, fellow actors, and the existing performance or practice space to create organic and dynamic theater. (I am by no means an expert at this training, but I have attended a workshop by a student of the creators and I do use elements of Viewpoints training in my drama classes, as well as the shows I direct.)
- Dance classes (although I feel out of practice, I would be willing to throw myself back in as a means to whet my appetite and get myself moving again):
- (Primarily) Modern/Contemporary dance—my choreography style melds together elements of ballet, jazz, and contemporary styles, all combined to create movement pieces which tell a story or evoke emotion.
- I could also offer beginning and intermediate Jazz or Musical Theater style classes, as well as beginning and intermediate Ballet classes.
- Directing (again, this is a new realm for me, but I love it and the possibilities it provides):
- I’d be happy to help explore various real-world topics.
- I’d also be into the possibility of writing and creating original theater.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Good evening—
On behalf of the cast and crew, I’d like to welcome you to the GHS Drama Club’s production of Crazy For You.
When we were choosing our shows for this year’s season, we decided to follow our hearts and our passions. For a transition year and for two directors’ debuts at GHS, we thought it best to utilize our strengths. We chose our fall production because of the director's infectious enthusiasm for Our Town. We chose this musical because it is a big dance show, and dance is what I know best. Looking back, however, I think both of us learned far more than we expected. We started in our comfort zones, and the magic of theater took us to a beautiful new place.
Crazy For You shamelessly celebrates the musical theater genre. It oozes dance, music, and laughter. It is over-the-top and sentimental. It breaks from reality and brings us directly into our characters’ dreams. It is often cheesy and cliché. But scattered among all of that shines a few simple messages: be brave enough to love, follow your passions, hold out for what you deserve, and let people give you a hand once in a while. And if you do that, your dream world might actually become a reality.
Like Zangler’s Follies and the people of Deadrock, Nevada, this cast and crew set out to put on a show, a big and challenging show. We didn’t do this to save a theater or make money, however. We did it because this is what we love. This is how we breathe, how we move through the stories of our lives with purpose and flare. This is how we learn to understand each other and ourselves. Through the production process, the fusing together of theatrical elements, we learn how to be better people.
Also, like the people of Deadrock, there were moments in this process when we found ourselves in the middle of everything, looking out, wondering how we’d make it through. In my life, I’ve often found solace in the messy madness of art, but I must admit there were moments this time around that seemed insurmountable. However, at each one of these moments, without fail, someone stepped up—sometimes it was a student; sometimes it was an adult; sometimes it was a friend or a parent. Regardless, we helped each other. We encouraged each other to keep a “stiff upper lip.” We “put on [our] dancing shoes and watched [our] spirits climb.” And the moment we collectively believed it, when we realized “we got rhythm” and “we got music,” was when it did come together. It was then we realized we couldn’t ask for a single thing more.
And that feeling is magical. It is the over-the-top, the dream-turned-reality. It is why we do this time and time again.
For that, I would like to say thank you to every person involved. To all of the designers and directors, students and adults alike—you helped actualize this vision. To the pit, thank you for providing the music that carried us through. To the crew, it is because of you that we feel like we’re “up among the stars.”
To every one else who supported us along the way, thank you. Parents, thank you for all of the rides and for supporting our crazy schedule. And thanks to the cast of The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged—your talent and time helped buy some of the instruments we are using tonight.
To the cast, you truly were a joy to work with. Every time you tap together, turn on the charm, or hit that last pose, I get chills. I feel like a little kid again. Never lose your passion and your energy. I am CRAZY FOR YOU.
On behalf of the cast and crew, I’d like to welcome you to the GHS Drama Club’s production of Crazy For You.
When we were choosing our shows for this year’s season, we decided to follow our hearts and our passions. For a transition year and for two directors’ debuts at GHS, we thought it best to utilize our strengths. We chose our fall production because of the director's infectious enthusiasm for Our Town. We chose this musical because it is a big dance show, and dance is what I know best. Looking back, however, I think both of us learned far more than we expected. We started in our comfort zones, and the magic of theater took us to a beautiful new place.
Crazy For You shamelessly celebrates the musical theater genre. It oozes dance, music, and laughter. It is over-the-top and sentimental. It breaks from reality and brings us directly into our characters’ dreams. It is often cheesy and cliché. But scattered among all of that shines a few simple messages: be brave enough to love, follow your passions, hold out for what you deserve, and let people give you a hand once in a while. And if you do that, your dream world might actually become a reality.
Like Zangler’s Follies and the people of Deadrock, Nevada, this cast and crew set out to put on a show, a big and challenging show. We didn’t do this to save a theater or make money, however. We did it because this is what we love. This is how we breathe, how we move through the stories of our lives with purpose and flare. This is how we learn to understand each other and ourselves. Through the production process, the fusing together of theatrical elements, we learn how to be better people.
Also, like the people of Deadrock, there were moments in this process when we found ourselves in the middle of everything, looking out, wondering how we’d make it through. In my life, I’ve often found solace in the messy madness of art, but I must admit there were moments this time around that seemed insurmountable. However, at each one of these moments, without fail, someone stepped up—sometimes it was a student; sometimes it was an adult; sometimes it was a friend or a parent. Regardless, we helped each other. We encouraged each other to keep a “stiff upper lip.” We “put on [our] dancing shoes and watched [our] spirits climb.” And the moment we collectively believed it, when we realized “we got rhythm” and “we got music,” was when it did come together. It was then we realized we couldn’t ask for a single thing more.
And that feeling is magical. It is the over-the-top, the dream-turned-reality. It is why we do this time and time again.
For that, I would like to say thank you to every person involved. To all of the designers and directors, students and adults alike—you helped actualize this vision. To the pit, thank you for providing the music that carried us through. To the crew, it is because of you that we feel like we’re “up among the stars.”
To every one else who supported us along the way, thank you. Parents, thank you for all of the rides and for supporting our crazy schedule. And thanks to the cast of The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged—your talent and time helped buy some of the instruments we are using tonight.
To the cast, you truly were a joy to work with. Every time you tap together, turn on the charm, or hit that last pose, I get chills. I feel like a little kid again. Never lose your passion and your energy. I am CRAZY FOR YOU.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
Inspiration.
I am reading for me again, and the most recent was a collection of essays from director Anne Bogart: "A Director Prepares."
The last passages (as well as most of the preceding ones) rang true for me. And in a creative draught of my own making, any bit of inspiration will help. Also, it just might kick my bony ass into gear.
___________________________________________________________
A working artist is in a constant struggle with the brain's attempts to ambush their work through diversion. Do not be seduced by the buzz. In all the work with artifice, while going through the back door, keep your inner eye secretly on paradise. Stay true to a deeper pursuit.
...
Today we live within another kind of totalitarianism. Each of us is a target of the attack machinery of consumerism. A media-drenched culture aims aggressively at our psyches with a constancy that breaks and numbs the spirit. This dangerous environment offers us an opportunity: the challenge to think and to act.
Laziness and impatience are constant internal resistances and they are very personal. We are all lazy. We are all impatient. Neither are evil qualities; rather, they are issues that we learn to handle properly and act on at the right moments. We navigate them in our aim towards expression.
...
Your attitude towards resistance determines the success of your work and your future. Resistance should be cultivated. How you meet these obstacles that present themselves in the light of any endeavour determines the direction of your life and career.
Allow me to propose a few suggestions about how to handle the natural resistances that your circumstances might offer. Do not assume that you have to have some prescribed conditions to do your best work. Do not wait. Do not wait for enough time or money to accomplish what you think you have in mind. Work with what you have right now. Work with the people around you right now. Work with the architecture you see around you right now. Do not wait for what you assume is the appropriate, stress-free environment in which to generate expression. Do not wait for maturity or insight or wisdom. Do not wait till you are sure that you know what you are doing. Do not wait until you have enough technique. What you do now, what you make of your present circmstances will determine the quality and scope of your future endeavours.
And, at the same time, be patient.
The last passages (as well as most of the preceding ones) rang true for me. And in a creative draught of my own making, any bit of inspiration will help. Also, it just might kick my bony ass into gear.
___________________________________________________________
A working artist is in a constant struggle with the brain's attempts to ambush their work through diversion. Do not be seduced by the buzz. In all the work with artifice, while going through the back door, keep your inner eye secretly on paradise. Stay true to a deeper pursuit.
...
Today we live within another kind of totalitarianism. Each of us is a target of the attack machinery of consumerism. A media-drenched culture aims aggressively at our psyches with a constancy that breaks and numbs the spirit. This dangerous environment offers us an opportunity: the challenge to think and to act.
Laziness and impatience are constant internal resistances and they are very personal. We are all lazy. We are all impatient. Neither are evil qualities; rather, they are issues that we learn to handle properly and act on at the right moments. We navigate them in our aim towards expression.
...
Your attitude towards resistance determines the success of your work and your future. Resistance should be cultivated. How you meet these obstacles that present themselves in the light of any endeavour determines the direction of your life and career.
Allow me to propose a few suggestions about how to handle the natural resistances that your circumstances might offer. Do not assume that you have to have some prescribed conditions to do your best work. Do not wait. Do not wait for enough time or money to accomplish what you think you have in mind. Work with what you have right now. Work with the people around you right now. Work with the architecture you see around you right now. Do not wait for what you assume is the appropriate, stress-free environment in which to generate expression. Do not wait for maturity or insight or wisdom. Do not wait till you are sure that you know what you are doing. Do not wait until you have enough technique. What you do now, what you make of your present circmstances will determine the quality and scope of your future endeavours.
And, at the same time, be patient.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
My first directing gig!!
Director’s Note—
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the cast and crew. I am in love with the passion and excitement that I see in every one of our performers—this is why I do what I do. In addition, this particular production crew holds a special place in my heart, as each of them has played a role in my past and continues to enrich my life. To Dan, Margaret, Jim, Nancy, Danielle, and Evan—thanks for everything you do. And to my old-school pals Jeff, Mary, Ernie, and Vince—I’m so lucky to have worked with all of you.
This story, loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, has been told for hundreds of years. Shakespeare was not the first to tell it, and Disney will not be the last. What I love about High School Musical is its humor and hope. In it we see traces of the original tragedy, but we also see Disney’s trademark happy ending that is often described as cliché. But I like this cliché. Perhaps we should ask ourselves why we are so drawn to this type of story and why we keep coming back to it. This musical shamelessly ends on a positive note, and I think we can and should learn from that—why can’t we challenge each other to be caring, fearless, and true to ourselves? It seems these traits could improve the quality of life for us all.
It is my honor to work with young people everyday, and I believe we can learn a great deal from them. As Shakespeare’s fourteen-year-old Juliet so wisely questions, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet,” let us too echo High School Musical’s teen inspired anthem. Let us break free from our preconceptions, our stereotypes, our cliques, and realize that we truly are “all in this together!”
Enjoy—And please feel free to laugh heartily, sing loudly, and bebop bravely!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the cast and crew. I am in love with the passion and excitement that I see in every one of our performers—this is why I do what I do. In addition, this particular production crew holds a special place in my heart, as each of them has played a role in my past and continues to enrich my life. To Dan, Margaret, Jim, Nancy, Danielle, and Evan—thanks for everything you do. And to my old-school pals Jeff, Mary, Ernie, and Vince—I’m so lucky to have worked with all of you.
This story, loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, has been told for hundreds of years. Shakespeare was not the first to tell it, and Disney will not be the last. What I love about High School Musical is its humor and hope. In it we see traces of the original tragedy, but we also see Disney’s trademark happy ending that is often described as cliché. But I like this cliché. Perhaps we should ask ourselves why we are so drawn to this type of story and why we keep coming back to it. This musical shamelessly ends on a positive note, and I think we can and should learn from that—why can’t we challenge each other to be caring, fearless, and true to ourselves? It seems these traits could improve the quality of life for us all.
It is my honor to work with young people everyday, and I believe we can learn a great deal from them. As Shakespeare’s fourteen-year-old Juliet so wisely questions, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet,” let us too echo High School Musical’s teen inspired anthem. Let us break free from our preconceptions, our stereotypes, our cliques, and realize that we truly are “all in this together!”
Enjoy—And please feel free to laugh heartily, sing loudly, and bebop bravely!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Director's note: Summer Dance Show
In its third incarnation, the "Dance Thing" has evolved into a new and distinctive entity from the first, but with the ever-pervasive intent for young artists to create and perform something they can proudly call their own. Five summers ago, I didn't realize how central the concept for this "Thing" would become to my life and the way I navigate through it.
As artists and as people just trying to live our lives, we go through a natural process of things. With beginning, middle, and end to each subplot, we find catharsis in having gone through each. But I find comfort and inspiration in the middle--the mess, the confusion, the process. In that space we can truly learn about ourselves, finding purpose and satisfaction.
This show is a tribute to all artists and creators who know that struggle--the bitter trials we gladly face. Let us not rush through the middle of things, because in rushing we'll have missed all the good stuff.
As artists and as people just trying to live our lives, we go through a natural process of things. With beginning, middle, and end to each subplot, we find catharsis in having gone through each. But I find comfort and inspiration in the middle--the mess, the confusion, the process. In that space we can truly learn about ourselves, finding purpose and satisfaction.
This show is a tribute to all artists and creators who know that struggle--the bitter trials we gladly face. Let us not rush through the middle of things, because in rushing we'll have missed all the good stuff.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
we create a world of beauty where
people come to forget the horrors
or the dull drone of life
they sit down
wiggle down into the worn red velvet seats
glance down at the program
look at the nose picking plump guy in seat 3D
snortle, scratch their butts and
shoot the shit with the person in 6E
lights blink
on off on off
curtain opens
lights come up
music starts
gasp! they can't wait!
their reality is put on hold
they watch our bodies
enjoy our bodies
envy our bodies
want our bodies
we work for applause
we crave a standing ovation
praise
attention
from complete strangers...
so much of our self-worth comes from outside ourSELF
and when the curtain closes,
the audience files out,
and the dressing rooms empty,
all that remains is
a lonliness
an emptiness
an echo of a person,
a shell that exists larger than life
somewhere else
people come to forget the horrors
or the dull drone of life
they sit down
wiggle down into the worn red velvet seats
glance down at the program
look at the nose picking plump guy in seat 3D
snortle, scratch their butts and
shoot the shit with the person in 6E
lights blink
on off on off
curtain opens
lights come up
music starts
gasp! they can't wait!
their reality is put on hold
they watch our bodies
enjoy our bodies
envy our bodies
want our bodies
we work for applause
we crave a standing ovation
praise
attention
from complete strangers...
so much of our self-worth comes from outside ourSELF
and when the curtain closes,
the audience files out,
and the dressing rooms empty,
all that remains is
a lonliness
an emptiness
an echo of a person,
a shell that exists larger than life
somewhere else
for all participants to fill out...
... and then the answers will be abstracted into movement phrases for each individual dancer in the show... and integrated into a montage for the intro leading into Beautiful by india.arie (played and sung live), which is to be another thread holding the whole thing together...
Beautiful looks like ____________
Beautiful tastes like ___________
Beautiful smells like ___________
Beautiful feels like ____________
Beautiful sounds like ___________
Beautiful is ____________________
Beautiful looks like ____________
Beautiful tastes like ___________
Beautiful smells like ___________
Beautiful feels like ____________
Beautiful sounds like ___________
Beautiful is ____________________
my parents always told me i was beautiful
my gramps calls me cutie
my pops calls me sweetness
my mama looks at me, and in her eyes i feel like the. most. spectacular. flower.
yet i rarely believe
i look in that damn mirror and see a form not belonging to me
i see a face filled with doubt, veiled with desire
i see a body objectified as an ideal feminine form
but one that brings me uncertainty and shame
one that i've yet to embrace lovingly
calling it my own
urging it to live inside love and art
this body,
this form,
is to be the vehicle for my art.
but how can i create art that i love in a body i don't?
my gramps calls me cutie
my pops calls me sweetness
my mama looks at me, and in her eyes i feel like the. most. spectacular. flower.
yet i rarely believe
i look in that damn mirror and see a form not belonging to me
i see a face filled with doubt, veiled with desire
i see a body objectified as an ideal feminine form
but one that brings me uncertainty and shame
one that i've yet to embrace lovingly
calling it my own
urging it to live inside love and art
this body,
this form,
is to be the vehicle for my art.
but how can i create art that i love in a body i don't?
a dancer's tool is her body
it must be kept fit
strong limber trained beautiful
(but what equates beauty?)
the mirror reflects strength
but magnifies weakness
everytime she falls out of a pirouette
everytime her extension plateaus
everytime she grabs for the barre like a person drowning
gasping for air
everytime
the mirror is there
reminding her of those faults and failures
that prevent her dreams
it must be kept fit
strong limber trained beautiful
(but what equates beauty?)
the mirror reflects strength
but magnifies weakness
everytime she falls out of a pirouette
everytime her extension plateaus
everytime she grabs for the barre like a person drowning
gasping for air
everytime
the mirror is there
reminding her of those faults and failures
that prevent her dreams
five six seven eight
and one...
lift
present
turn out
extend
show me your jewels
hold it
be great
point your feet
stretch your leg
spot
beat
faster
listen to your music
get it up!
you sound like an elephant
land softly
again
the floor is your friend
take a chance
do it better
get up and try it again
i shouldn't see any sweat
no pain, no gain
open your back
find your center
turn out
lift
again!
hold it
lift it
stretch
smile
push harder
plie!!!
quick turn turn turn leap
slow breathe extend
turn out!!!
AGAIN!!!
perform
command attention
dancer's don't hurt
dancer's don't cry
dancer's don't sweat
dancer's are everything unrealistic
be beautiful
and one...
lift
present
turn out
extend
show me your jewels
hold it
be great
point your feet
stretch your leg
spot
beat
faster
listen to your music
get it up!
you sound like an elephant
land softly
again
the floor is your friend
take a chance
do it better
get up and try it again
i shouldn't see any sweat
no pain, no gain
open your back
find your center
turn out
lift
again!
hold it
lift it
stretch
smile
push harder
plie!!!
quick turn turn turn leap
slow breathe extend
turn out!!!
AGAIN!!!
perform
command attention
dancer's don't hurt
dancer's don't cry
dancer's don't sweat
dancer's are everything unrealistic
be beautiful
When a character, idea, melody inhabits my body, I can safely lose control. I use my body to voice things I can't say. Or that I don't know how to or even that I want to say.
The essence of me was alive and well the moment my mother bore me into this world, with all my potential successes and blunders. And though it's shell took a number of years to develop, it has taken much longer for me to even begin to like the physical representation of myself.
The essence of me was alive and well the moment my mother bore me into this world, with all my potential successes and blunders. And though it's shell took a number of years to develop, it has taken much longer for me to even begin to like the physical representation of myself.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
number nine, number nine...
another inspiration from the beatles!
listen to Revolution 9 off of the White Album.
i want a crazy sound engineered piece (B, that's all you!!) with voices, obscure sounds, a bit of warped melody....
this will be a scene kind of like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz... with a smattering of the pieces from the beginning of the show... themes and motifs haphazardly thrown togeter... chaotic entrances and exits... wacky lighting... flashes of multimedia (the documentary pieces, photos, etc)... musicians moving about in the mayhem as well - as they won't necessarily have to be playing....
it's kind of an identity crisis where all the pieces flail about looking for meaning, for a place to land....
this will happen right before the resolution of the whole show...
confusion followed by order. craziness followed by calm (this scene i haven't conceptualized yet).
listen to Revolution 9 off of the White Album.
i want a crazy sound engineered piece (B, that's all you!!) with voices, obscure sounds, a bit of warped melody....
this will be a scene kind of like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz... with a smattering of the pieces from the beginning of the show... themes and motifs haphazardly thrown togeter... chaotic entrances and exits... wacky lighting... flashes of multimedia (the documentary pieces, photos, etc)... musicians moving about in the mayhem as well - as they won't necessarily have to be playing....
it's kind of an identity crisis where all the pieces flail about looking for meaning, for a place to land....
this will happen right before the resolution of the whole show...
confusion followed by order. craziness followed by calm (this scene i haven't conceptualized yet).
Monday, June 27, 2005
another...
trio - tapper. break dancer. jazzer.
instrumentation - drums. bass. guitar/saxophone.
concept- hacky sack game.
drum improv, tap answer.
bass, break dance answer.
guitar, jazz answer.
reverse it. dancers initiate, musicians answer.
gradually speeds up. mess with order. mix up instrumentation/dancer groupings. overlap.
end with high energy breakdown.
instrumentation - drums. bass. guitar/saxophone.
concept- hacky sack game.
drum improv, tap answer.
bass, break dance answer.
guitar, jazz answer.
reverse it. dancers initiate, musicians answer.
gradually speeds up. mess with order. mix up instrumentation/dancer groupings. overlap.
end with high energy breakdown.
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