The above video shows a brief snippet of some work developed in a workshop hosted by The Art Haus SLC in Salt Lake this past Spring where I also guest lectured at UVU in the theatre department under the direction of Barrett Ogden.
From my previous post on this blog you are well aware that I was raised in a community of tight-knit artist types but my own interest in theatre and performance has always moved me to an ever increasingly smaller niche group of artists. My work is nestled in devising new pieces of performance where action is at the forefront of the creative process. To this end my research and development in rehearsal rooms has been working in the creation of movement structures based on the dreams and memories of participants. These workshop performers developed brief movement structures in a three hour workshop this Spring, which you can see in the video above.
I could talk about catharsis and the creative process, or I could quote a long list of practitioners working in the same vein of physical performance as myself. Instead I'm going to appeal to the logical side of our readers by talking about process and how my work based in New York City can benefit and be benefited by a collaboration with The Art Haus SLC. To give an example of how cross-country collaboration can be stimulating and exciting to the performance community and the local community, I'm first going to provide an example from a current project I'm working on with an artist in Los Angeles that is under consideration for a Creative Capital grant.
We began using text from Mark 5:25-34:
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years...27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment...30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?..32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
From this text these videos were produced:
From my previous post on this blog you are well aware that I was raised in a community of tight-knit artist types but my own interest in theatre and performance has always moved me to an ever increasingly smaller niche group of artists. My work is nestled in devising new pieces of performance where action is at the forefront of the creative process. To this end my research and development in rehearsal rooms has been working in the creation of movement structures based on the dreams and memories of participants. These workshop performers developed brief movement structures in a three hour workshop this Spring, which you can see in the video above.
I could talk about catharsis and the creative process, or I could quote a long list of practitioners working in the same vein of physical performance as myself. Instead I'm going to appeal to the logical side of our readers by talking about process and how my work based in New York City can benefit and be benefited by a collaboration with The Art Haus SLC. To give an example of how cross-country collaboration can be stimulating and exciting to the performance community and the local community, I'm first going to provide an example from a current project I'm working on with an artist in Los Angeles that is under consideration for a Creative Capital grant.
We began using text from Mark 5:25-34:
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years...27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment...30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?..32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
From this text these videos were produced:
The first pair of performers read the text and put the words into action. This short video then replaced the original source text and another set of performers watched this video as the source for their own performance, which follows:
And again, this video replaced the first as a source for performance and was viewed by another two performers who then interpreted it as follows:
When the project is fully funded the productions will continue through 1000 performances and 2000 performers. For this portfolio we stopped at three. When these videos reached me in NYC I then broke the movement down and analyzed it for it's movement qualities. I prepared for a group of dancers note cards describing snippets of movement. Let's get interactive for a moment.
Pretend you never saw these videos and only read a card telling you to embody these actions:
Read over the card for a few minutes (not too long) and then let your creative body take on the movement. Allow it to become whatever your body feels the words mean.
From dozens of these cards, drawings, and similar instructions, NYC based dancers/performers created this movement sequence:
Pretend you never saw these videos and only read a card telling you to embody these actions:
- Sit in a kneeling position with the ankles crossed, left ankle over right and with the right hand by the right hip and left hand resting on the left ankle. Weight rests heavily in the back right hip. The gaze is looking high to the right corner.
- Reach a fully extended left arm in a steady arc to eye level at the left side of the body. Let the arm curve down to touch the ground.
Read over the card for a few minutes (not too long) and then let your creative body take on the movement. Allow it to become whatever your body feels the words mean.
From dozens of these cards, drawings, and similar instructions, NYC based dancers/performers created this movement sequence:
Now what does this work have to do with The Art Haus SLC? Everything. We are ready to bring collaborations from around the world to the artistic and educational community in Salt Lake City. I mentioned in a previous post bringing artists from LA, Japan, and Salt Lake City together and I was serious about that because through the use of technology, we are able to do it with relative ease and minimal cost compared to 20, 15, or even 10 years ago.
We can even think more simply. What if we were to bring events that are already staples in the Salt Lake City performance community, such as the annual 24 hour play festival, and create a platform for arts communities in New York City, Los Angeles, and even Paris (Texas, obviously) to be involved in the work? In 24-hours, performers in New York City can easily access scripts from Paris (TX), and Paris (TX) can receive scripts from Los Angeles and Salt Lake City can produce work written that very day in Los Angeles, CA. In just one day we can have a cross-country collaboration at our fingertips.
This can even extend to education programming. Perhaps we can enter schools when they are studying China, or Hungary, or Japan and we can connect them to our colleagues working in these countries to deepen the student's understanding of their lessons. Classrooms can be taken through rehearsal rooms in Hong Kong or traditional folk performances in Spain. Technology brings endless options and we intend to take advantage of these options to benefit the international community and the community in Salt Lake.
This is why I am working for The Art Haus SLC. I want to see these collaborations and educational opportunities happen, and we will. We look forward to sharing this work with you from wherever you are in the world.
By: Sara Moncivais
Please go here to donate and make these little international dreams a reality
We can even think more simply. What if we were to bring events that are already staples in the Salt Lake City performance community, such as the annual 24 hour play festival, and create a platform for arts communities in New York City, Los Angeles, and even Paris (Texas, obviously) to be involved in the work? In 24-hours, performers in New York City can easily access scripts from Paris (TX), and Paris (TX) can receive scripts from Los Angeles and Salt Lake City can produce work written that very day in Los Angeles, CA. In just one day we can have a cross-country collaboration at our fingertips.
This can even extend to education programming. Perhaps we can enter schools when they are studying China, or Hungary, or Japan and we can connect them to our colleagues working in these countries to deepen the student's understanding of their lessons. Classrooms can be taken through rehearsal rooms in Hong Kong or traditional folk performances in Spain. Technology brings endless options and we intend to take advantage of these options to benefit the international community and the community in Salt Lake.
This is why I am working for The Art Haus SLC. I want to see these collaborations and educational opportunities happen, and we will. We look forward to sharing this work with you from wherever you are in the world.
By: Sara Moncivais
Please go here to donate and make these little international dreams a reality
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