Thursday, February 6, 2014

Dreaming for the sake of spirits


Hello,
Since my last post I noticed some 2,000 folks have visited our blog. This subtle form of cheerleading is very welcome, I need it today. I am stuck on the couch with the local bug. I am frustrated because I cannot give massage when I am sick and thus cannot make income and thus cannot purchase Foxy's next need. It's one of those Monday blues moments, but on a Thursday.

So instead of be insufferable, I thought I'd reminisce about my recent excitement. I decided to use my winter vacation to work on Foxy. Instead of motorcycling in Santa Barbara, I had three weeks of work time, unadulterated by other occupations. I filled Foxy's front room with amenities, appliances, creature comforts-- okay, the skeleton of comforts. It felt good to concentrate on one thing, building. Well, let me explain what I mean by "concentrating on one thing": learning biscuit joining for cabinet making, learning how to reinstall a fresh water system, learning how to install propane lines, learning how to (not learn) waterproofing windows, and then installing these components and all the mini details... that is what I mean by concentrating on one thing. Oh, I remember the days when I had a dance umbrella-- where I did lots of different things but the underlying topic was always the same, always in my area of expertise, always about dance.

Speaking of dance, the point of the last paragraph was to explain January's new feeling-- excitement! All the work achieved in a short time moved me closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, the completion of Foxy. I felt momentum, I felt confident, I felt enjoyment, and for the first time... I started imagining what I will do with Foxy when she is done.

So here I go, imagining.

First of all, I admit, I have been dreaming of this first event forever... I will drive the trailer up to the mountains, let's say to the state lands above Lake Wenatchee. There will be snow on the ground, a babbling brook nearby, and sun. I will spend three weeks making dance works, maybe editing video, eating yummy food, filling a tub for a bath outside in the snow, then journaling and making choreography notes. I will do this for three weeks. THEN, I will start to picture a business model for my work, I will start to make choices about how to use Foxy.

I imagine parking uptown at the local art walk every first Friday, and setting up a dance gallery. Let's say it is raining, no worries. Myself and dancers are dancing in the studio, no stage walls open. Spectators can view us from the windows that are framed by mirror-ish aluminum, enabling strange viewing angles. For more views, spectators can climb on ladders, or view from the inside door.

I imagine organizing a tiny home festival. All the locals can haul their mini homes out of the moss banks for all to see. Like the Feria in Sevilla, Spain, each home-owner can host their own events-- in Sevilla it is flamenco and amazing cuisine, but here the events can be at the mini home-owner's discretion. It'll be a roadhouse extravaganza of strange dreams, in a parking lot!

I imagine a debut performance on the lawn at O Space on Vashon, at Volunteer Park in Seattle. I remake my thesis performance for Foxy's stage. I invite some of the original dancers in the piece to dance with professionals from Seattle. It will be the performance I dreamt of in grad school.

I imagine driving to a city location, say Portland, with dancers I hire for a dance video. I shoot the film and download it to Foxy's computer lab, and the editor I hire starts editing while we rehearse. Then we eat, take a hike in the city, sleep.... and repeat.

I imagine visiting a mountain town, say Twisp, WA, invited for a residency by the local arts organization. They lead me up the local's favorite fire road, to a beautiful mountain top, where I park Foxy. They give me locals who want to learn improvisation and make an original work. After a couple weeks, the friends and neighbors hike to the trailer and see a mountaintop dance piece made and performed by their friends.

I imagine a professor position, teaching dance, choreography, improvisation, history, anatomy, somatic conditioning for dancers and building through an interdisciplinary department. I imagine residencies at other colleges doing the same, but teaching with my colleague and cofounder!

Over and out. -Hallie