On Saturday June 13th, I got to perform at the lovely Skwhirlhaus, an outdoor theater built by Maryn Whitmore in her backyard. This was truly an environment where artists who essentially love to perform can put up a show on her stage and present their craft for people who essentially love to watch genuine performances. What's so great about this is the idea that this is still going on. Being able to know that there are people still in the world who love to foster art and bring together a community of artist who just love the idea of performing for pure enjoyment. I found that really inspiring and hope that I am lucky enough to be able to meet people like Maryn when I decide to travel after college with a performance piece and am greeted with the hospitality and positivity that we all felt when performing in her space.
(The Stage at Skwhirlhaus )
What was so interesting about the process of this performance was the idea that there were already 3 solos that were established within the piece between Celeste, Andrea Trombetta, and Julie Rothschild, and they wanted us to construct a quartet that was constructed on the foundation of an improvisational structure. What I found to be so effective about doing improvisational structures was that I feel like it truly reflected my essence and learning style as a performer. While learning set choreography has its benefits, it's when I'm given the task to create a phrase and basically do whatever I want with it. That's when I feel like it becomes my own. When I can take movement and improvise, I draw on experiences that resonate with me and fuel that into the type of sequence I want present to an audience. I also found the other sensorial elements that are present amongst the body during the performance to help play a factor in what kind of movements my body would produce. Seeing that this performance was outside, there was the element of heat, bugs, humidity...with sound, there was the recording of the cello being played while hearing Celeste read some quotes of an interview from NPR regarding Karim Wasfi, the conductor of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra discussing his actions of going to bombing sites in Baghdad and playing his cello. There was also the sight of other dancers around me sometimes leading us to feed off of each other and sharing movements or traits of the movement constantly. With all of these added elements, as well as contributing my own story to why I chose to do the movements I did, there was a general feeling that every time we would work on this piece prior to the performance, I would feel inspired to do something new, which was really empowering.
Another great event that took place on the 13th was the Playmaking for Girls performance through Synchronicity Theater. I thought it was great to see the transformation that these girls went through in a WEEK. When coming to the first tech they did, there was already a different feeling in the air between the girls and how comfortable they became with each other, their relationships with the interns as well as the teachers, and just the general confidence that they had with their lines memorized as well as the stage presence that they developed when transferring from a rehearsal space to the actual stage. I saw many "magical moments" between the girls whether it was witnessing a teacher run lines of a play or song that one of the girls was having trouble with and constantly motivating her to push through it, or seeing another teacher try to learn the nae nae from some of the girls, to seeing even the girls standing up for each other when tensions were high amongst the lot of them, it was ALL such a great experience to witness and they were so welcoming to us as observers which made the entire process so delightful :)
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