The question that every woman should ask

My first professional performance art production featuring women artists,  is less than one week away.   I have imagined it in my mind many times over.   I thought I would  never see the day when I would see the top floor of the old library that my parents brought my siblings and every other Wednesday night.  A former women’s dormitory, I often wondered what lore was locked in the attic. Bruce Catton’s photo over the mantle in the Michigan room, the smell of the old volumes, the creeky door, and the dim lights. All vivid memories, that still this day, are the same.  Yes, exactly the same,  except for the computers and the stark blue lit faces that stare blankly at their Facebook accounts and email.  On occassion, I’ll witness the librarian’s grandchildren flick the keys frantically as if the world is ending  in their favorite form of virtual reality.

Lore, a multimedia exhibition and performance is taking place Friday, June 18 , 2010 at the Millls Community House.  The exhibit opens at 7 with a seated performance at 8.  An artist reception will follow.  This collaboration includes seven Michigan women depicting their stories through the mediums of painting, film, poetry, song, textiles, and dance.

I am the dancer.  What will I tell you?   What lore do I behold?

A dancer?  Yes.  Since childhood, I’ve choreographed many dances in my mind while practicing hours of Bach Inventions, Chopin Preludes, Beethoven Sonatas, along with a bit of   Bartok, Brahams, and Schumann.   I know I wanted to dance, but I was sitting at the piano, and I was a pianist, dammit. Violin soon followed, but I knew I would never be great, so I just did it because it made my parents happy.    Singing opened up my soul in my mid- late adolescent years, and the more I sang, the more people asked me sing again, and classical study became a priority in my life.  My undergraduate experience as a music major left a lasting impression on me, and when I think of the greatest one, it was during a class I had in accompanying.  We observed the dance studio, and I fell in love again.  Movement, ease, grace, flow, freedom, truth.  All looked and felt so good to me, yet I held it in.  I was a vocalist.

Well.. after several more periods of denial, it welled up again, and this time I decided to let it out, let it all out.  I am a dancer.

Now… artistic statements for each  of my pieces, all debuting June 18 in Benzonia.

!The question that every woman should ask is this:

to the music of Carl Orff – Il trutina from Carmina Burana

Is this who I really am?

Pscyhoacoustics

to the music of J.S. Bach – Goldberg Aria BWV 988

It is a branch of science dealing with hearing the sensations produced by sounds and the problems of communications.

I cn’t help but ponder with communication so VISUAL now… are we depleting are way to really LISTEN to what people are trying to tell us.  Do people actually listen?

Gentleman Caller

to the music of Erik Satie  – Gnossienne Movement IV Modere

She waits.  She is not supposed to be there.  He never arrives.

Oil and Water

to the music of Leadbelly – Sylvie – performed by Sweet Honey on the Rock

Is water really the new oil?  Was water not as valuable as oil?  Have we ever survived as a species without oil?  yes.  Without water?  No.   Inspired by the Gulf of Mexico Tragedy.

Detroit

Music by Edgar Meyer, Sliding Down for mandocello, piano, and bass.

The apocalypse that is not Detroit sees new life in the form of the urban garden.  Can we make it happen?  Detroit transformed human spatial interaction.  What will the new Detroit promise the next chapter in world geography?