Thanks to a grant from the Network of Ensemble Theaters, I spent (nearly) two weeks this summer (that is, winter in the Southern Hemisphere) working with my friend and collaborator of three years, Sam Fox, director of Hydra Poesis in Perth, Western Australia. During my mini-residency at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Arts Studios, Sam and I (who had never met in person) had an opportunity to reflect upon our online collaborative projects (PROMPTER and Sibling Rivers), and think about models for future online and intermedia collaborations. We gave a workshop exploring some of our ideas, and went out into the "urban bush" of the Swan River to film some footage for Sibling Rivers!
Montreal, j'adore!
Just returned from 10 days in Montreal, Quebec, for the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics Encuentro, a bi-annual hybrid performance art festival and conference convening hundreds of leading scholars, artists, and activists from across the Americas.
Here's a video postcard from the road, made as a THANK YOU to everyone who helped fund our trip via our Indiegogo campaign. Beloved "S.W.A.T.T. Team," you Sent Witness All The-way There!
Merci! Gracias! Obrigada!
La Zanja Madre performances
As part of Sibling Rivers, my international collaboration with Sam Fox (Perth, Australia) and Terrance Houle (Calgary, Alberta), I have been spending a lot of time researching and tracing the path of La Zanja Madre, the original aqueduct around which the Puebla de Los Angeles was founded in the 18th century.
As a resource for collaborators on the Zanja project (which will be presented in Los Angeles as Tracing Mother Ditch), I set up La Zanja Madre Performances, a repository for images, inspiration, and research links.
Tracing Mother Ditch, a 90 minute participatory tour/pilgrimmage/peregrinación along the path of the long buried ditch from the Broadway bridge, through Chinatown, and ending at Olvera Street and Union Station, is expected to premiere later this summer. Stay tuned for more information, and in the meantime, check out my Tumblr:
Paying tribute to Highways' 25 years of LA performance
The "Life in the Fast Lane" line-up, May 3, 2014.
It was an honor to be a fly on the green room wall last night at the legendary Highways' 25th anniversary "silver" jubilee event "LIFE IN THE FAST LANE: Doing Performance Art in the Big 80’s." Organized by The Dark Bob, the evening featured 5-minute performances by some of the legends who graced the space's stage in its infancy.
Gregory Barnett and I were invited by Marcus Kuiland-Nazario (who was in Puerto Vallarta opening the new contemporary art space Oficina de Proyectos Culturales) to perform on Marcus' behalf, following instructions that we were sent the day before the performance.
Marcus asked us to (1) ask the audience members for their favorite memories from Highways' infamous past, then (2) solicit audience members to join us in (3) re-creating or evoking some of these memories onstage.
Some of these memories included:
- Curtis York hanging from a ladder singing "Happy Birthday" (possibly with sparklers)
- Rachel Rosenthal Company performing with dogs onstage
- Guns in performance
- Kristina Wong auctioning off her bad memories
- Asher Hartman slow dancing with audience members to 80's hits...
Gregory and I were fortunate to be joined by six very capable volunteers, and accompaniment by Fat & Fucked Up members Michael Intriere (cello) and Josie Roth (viola). In true Highways style, the performance ended with Gregory and myself stripped nude, surrounded by general good-natured insanity.
The performance was dedicated to the late and very great Cindy "Pop" de Santis and Curtis York.
Flora Wiegmann's 'Dyslexicon' @ C Nichols Project
On April 30th, from 7-9pm, nine dancers will perform multiple versions of dances created in response to a set of instructions displayed as text pieces on the gallery walls. These texts represent dance notation: choreographic records by artist Flora Wiegmann, who will also perform. Following a month-long studio process in the gallery, the dancers will dance together for the first and only time.
Participating dancer/choreographers include: Rebecca Bruno, Margherita Elliot, Busy Gangnes, Jil Stein, Christine Suarez, Alexa Weir, Lisa Wahlander, and Allison Wyper.
"Encounter" goes public for Highways' 25th birthday!
After 2 years of monthly gatherings–in private studios, rivers, and even caves!–our practice of "Encounter" will be performed for an audience as part of the 25th anniversary of the venerable Highways Performance Space.
We will be joined by very special guest Alastair MacLennan (Black Market International) from Belfast.
"Encounter is a space where we encounter each other, ourselves, and the space itself. We perform with and for one another within given conditions. There is no preparation, no agenda. Things unfold on their own. We agree that there will be no idle observers; everyone is active in the space.
We are comprised of a fairly consistent group of art makers from widely different backgrounds and we’ve established familiarity and a history of working together in this manner over the past two years. With no regard for hierarchy of acceptable or preferred practice styles, we move fluidly between ritual, task, movement, theatrical and improv-based performance practices. We come to the space with our own histories. We are rigorous in our willingness to be open to the unplanned. We trust the unpredictability of the moment. We agree to fully commit to what is there."
Participants: Mariel Carranza, Dino Dinco, Rafa Esparza, Rochelle Fabb, Doran George, Douglas Green, Rebeca Hernandez, Carol McDowell, Alastair MacLennan, Sara Schnadt, Rossen Ventzislavov, Samuel White, Allison Wyper
Info: http://highwaysperformance.org/highways/event/mariel-carranza-encounter-20/