DVD - Installment 8 - NOW AVAILABLE!

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Please select quantity:

1 $16.00 USD 2 $32.00 USD 3 $48.00 USD 4 $64.00 USD 5 $80.00 USD

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 244]

If you have a friend or family member who is a fan of Dance and/or Music you should definitely consider gifting them one or more of the HERE/NOW DVDs. They serve as living proof that very, very good things have the propensity to occur when one Dancer and one Musician are randomly paired and given eight minutes to improvise together, and also as a means by which to archive the Pacific Northwest's ever-vibrant Dance and Music communities.

They are respectfully packaged and authored and come with complete program concept information, contact/credit information, outtakes, a group portrait with the names of all sixteen participants and, of course, all eight improvised duets titled and chapterized making it easy to jump to specific performances or view the entire evening in chronological order. We've also decided to insert into each DVD case a neatly folded copy of the evening's 8.5" x 14" printed program detailing who was paired with whom in addition to engaging information about each participant in a part-bio, part-interview format.

We've worked very hard to make sure the DVDs have features that resonate with those that are fans of Dance and/or Music and we're always trying to think of ways to make them even better. We've also tried to make sure that our asking price ($16 + shipping costs if applicable) is reasonable, affordable and fair. (Note: all DVDs receive free shipping if being mailed to a destination within the continental US.)

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Gratefully,

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 8 (3/12/11)

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[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 1,714]

Pictured above standing (l to r) are Paul Matthew Moore, AJ Lindner, James DeJoie, Andrew McInnis, James Whetzel, Ericka Kendall, Kelli Frances Corrado and Michael Maricle and sitting (l to r) are Wylin Daigle, Alex Ruhe, Jessie Smith, Hendri Walujo, Lila Hurwitz, Mary Margaret Moore, Linda Austin and Nathan Dryden.

I.
There are very few if any art-related topics, issues, situations, angles of approach that haven't been addressed at some point by someone or a group of someones simultaneously on various levels to varying degrees shedding rainbows of prismatic light spewing in every possible direction, blinding countless innocent onlookers, audiences, subscribers, colleagues. But as a composer, musician and performer I feel there's one I personally need to address.

Now.

Here.

Hahaha... sorry, I couldn't resist.

Seriously, seriously... what needs addressing? This: at what point does sound itself become violent, the act of producing such sound an act of violence, and what are the very real and/or perceived ramifications given that that sound is occurring during a live performance where there is no button to push to make it stop? Well, not at the simple disposal of the non-performer anyway.

And why at this moment? Because: during two duets in Installment 8 (one far more than the other, truth be told) the Musicians made very conscious efforts to create sound that very purposely could be felt to be tapping on the volume ceiling. And anytime a Musician creates sound that taps on the volume ceiling there is one reaction, almost ubiquitous it's so universally present, that appears like a knee-jerk response... like blinking when something has found its way into our eyes that shouldn't be there. And that is, of course: PLEASE PLACE ONE OR BOTH HANDS FULLY OVER ONE OR BOTH EARS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

II.
The thing about sound that is consciously created to tap on the volume ceiling is that it falls into one of two categories. One: sound created by a very attuned Musician to produce a quick climax, meant only to linger for a few seconds, to cause all listeners to "wake up" and to experience a momentary shock to their nervous system. Two: sound created by a very attuned Musician to produce a lasting sensation, meant to linger for several minutes, to cause all listeners to "tune out" and to experience a "deep tissue charge" to their nervous system. Both are employed in hopes of using the sheer spatial power of volume as a protagonist in their performance, another layer into which is injected just as much art and craft as, say, tonality or rhythm. And with this element comes a profoundly new definition of "foreground". Well, not as much a new definition, I suppose... more a new placement, a new location in the transient sonic experience. And where is that new "foreground"? Exactly: inside you, the listener. Literally. And, I'm sorry, but how awesome in the purest sense is that?

III.
Volume, in and of itself, has little to do with any physical damage, per se. The culprit is more precisely the duration of exposure. In other words, yes, there is such a beast as a sonic version of the drip... drip... drip... drip of water torture, and it comes at you just as quietly and just as discreetly. Over time, a lot of time, sound of almost any volume harbors a very real ability to cause irreversible aural injury (please see ultra classic aural injury case study Pete Townshend, electric guitarist for The Who). But (and here's the beautiful catch, the one that those conscious Musicians will employ if and when appropriate) there is a volumatic range, a window so to speak, where sound can be heard and immediately perceived to be "dangerous" and "too loud" but in all reality it is neither. Uncomfortable? Perhaps. Jolting? Perhaps. Confusing? Perhaps. Disorienting? Perhaps. Inherently in bad taste or dangerous or violent or amateurish? Not at all.

(Sidenote: it's interesting to consider: when was the last time really great Music played loudly was a bad thing? When was the last time really crappy Music played loudly was a good thing? Conclusion: it's not the volume, it's the Music itself that does or does not deserve to occupy that much space in the first place.)

Truthfully, no permanent aural damage will likely ever come from the potential volumes from a typical amplifier being used at any HERE/NOW installment. In fact, it would take stadium-like speakers to ever hope, on average, to even begin to harbor enough wattage to cause any serious aural injury via amplified sound. Also, each duet is only eight minutes in length... not nearly enough time for damage to occur even if such sound levels were being maintained during the entire duet.

IV.
So, what's my point? Sit back, remove your hand or hands from your ear or ears and allow the sound to penetrate your consciousness, let it resonate as it is designed to do, let it become an engaging aspect to a performance that you might otherwise be inclined to deem "too loud" and, most of all, trust that a Musician, regardless of appearance, age or instrumentation, knows exactly what they are doing and is trying to give you, the listener, a kind of gift via their art that is a very rare treat indeed: an actual aural experience in the most fearless way possible: the dynamic sculpting of sound waves. But be careful... it's beautifully addictive.

Ask past participants AJ Lindner (professional audio engineer), Kelli Frances Corrado, Timm Mason, Briana Jones, Beth Fleenor, noisepoetnobody (aka Casey Jones) or myself. All of whom would be happy to elaborate on the topic I'm sure. In fact, you just might get an earful. Wah wah wah.

V.
Exit. Stage wherever.

~ Christopher

For me, Installment 8 brought up questions about personal thresholds. What compels performers to push thresholds, their own as well as those of the audience? What can be gained from witnessing and experiencing the perception of a personal boundary being pushed? Installment 8 opened with a shock. Within the first minute of Wylin Daigle (Dance) and Michael Maricle's (Music) duet, Wylin completed a back handspring into the splits - while wearing socks! My eyes jumped out of my head, and I uttered to myself, "Wait a minute! Did that just happen?" I had no idea that she had formal training in gymnastics. Toward the end of the duet she launched into an aerial and her head was an inch off the ground. While it was obvious these movements were known, there was a slight unfamiliarity in their execution, like they were a past experience that unexpectedly came for a surprise visit. The charged setting of HERE/NOW summoned this risk. It invited her to push a personal threshold.

In the following duet between Jessie Smith (Dance) and James Whetzel (Music), Jessie slid onto stage with a chair in hand, unable to walk because she had an injured left foot. She arrived to the event on crutches, curious about how her limitation would create new possibility. I partially held my breathe while watching Jessie not only push the limitation of her injured ankle but also the healthy ankle by letting it constantly give way as if both legs were debilitated. There was a willingness to overcome a perceived fragility. While watching her move, I saw a struggle between the desire to explode into a virtuosic physical dance and the real limitation of her ankle injury. James performed on the sarod, an instrument primarily used in classical Indian music, and it poignantly highlighted this struggle. It was a cinematic sound weighted and introspective. Incidentally, it exposed and supported the honesty of the dance and the internal world of the dancer.

During the fourth duet of the evening, AJ Lindner (Music) created sound from modular and home-built analog synthesizers at a frequency and amplitude that was both exhilarating and physically challenging. The music was invigorating because it felt all consuming and immersive. I was not so much listening to but feeling it. My chest vibrated, my blood circulation increased, my ears pulsed rapidly. He improvised with Mary Margaret Moore (Dance), and as the HERE/NOW format seems to continuously produce, I found them to be a perfect pairing. While watching Mary Margaret, I could see her mind explore and work. There was an unusual sync between thinking and physical expression, so much so that I wanted to know what her mind was doing in the same way that I could see the movements of her body. The duet was an experience of loud, penetrating sound and dance imagination. AJ provided the dense electric current that was both a vital impulse and a cumbersome obstacle for Mary Margaret, who curiously navigated through and around this inspiring impediment.

Alex Ruhe (Dance) and Andrew McInnis (Music) also pushed boundaries. Influenced by Butoh, the dance was confined mostly to one space and explored inner emotional and energetic states. Andrew's percussive sounds excavated and brought to life Alex's internal landscape. Together they created a suspenseful and supportive environment, which reminded me of taught aluminum wire. Alex mentioned beforehand that he normally wears white makeup and decided not to for HERE/NOW, which felt vulnerable. Normally the makeup enhances Butoh's concepts. Conversely, in this performance, no makeup lifted a veil to expose dynamic and volatile human states.

I am continuously reminded that the HERE/NOW format is itself uncomfortable and creates a heightened listening and responsive state, which leads to the creation of a charged and honest experience. The format itself pushes boundaries. In this process of boundary pushing, change occurs and new possibility emerges.

~ Paige


The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Wylin Daigle (D) + Michael Maricle (M)
2. Jessie Smith (D) + James Whetzel (M)
3. Lila Hurwitz (D) + Kelli Frances Corrado (M)
4. Mary Margaret Moore (D) + AJ Lindner (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Linda Austin (D) + James DeJoie (M)
6. Hendri Walujo (D) + Paul Matthew Moore (M)
7. Alex Ruhe (D) + Andrew McInnis (M)
8. Nathan Dryden (D) + Ericka Kendall (M)



If you attended this installment take a minute and share your thoughts. What did you feel was the most engaging moment of the evening? Whose duet resonated with you the most? How did you hear about HERE/NOW and why did you feel as if you wanted to attend? Were you familiar with any of the participants? Did the evening serve as a catalyst for discussion amongst friends?

Thanks!

DVD - Installment 7 - NOW AVAILABLE!

|select image for enlarged version|

Please select quantity:

1 $16.00 USD 2 $32.00 USD 3 $48.00 USD 4 $64.00 USD 5 $80.00 USD

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 244]

If you have a friend or family member who is a fan of Dance and/or Music you should definitely consider gifting them one or more of the HERE/NOW DVDs. They serve as living proof that very, very good things have the propensity to occur when one Dancer and one Musician are randomly paired and given eight minutes to improvise together, and also as a means by which to archive the Pacific Northwest's ever-vibrant Dance and Music communities.

They are respectfully packaged and authored and come with complete program concept information, contact/credit information, outtakes, a group portrait with the names of all sixteen participants and, of course, all eight improvised duets titled and chapterized making it easy to jump to specific performances or view the entire evening in chronological order. We've also decided to insert into each DVD case a neatly folded copy of the evening's 8.5" x 14" printed program detailing who was paired with whom in addition to engaging information about each participant in a part-bio, part-interview format.

We've worked very hard to make sure the DVDs have features that resonate with those that are fans of Dance and/or Music and we're always trying to think of ways to make them even better. We've also tried to make sure that our asking price ($16 + shipping costs if applicable) is reasonable, affordable and fair. (Note: all DVDs receive free shipping if being mailed to a destination within the continental US.)

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Gratefully,

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 7 (12/4/10)

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[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 1,881]

Pictured above standing (l to r) are Meredith Meiko Horiuchi, Jonathan Way, Jens Wazel, Erik Neumann, Adam Kozie, Levi Fuller, Jon Pontrello and Kevin Goldsmith and sitting (l to r) are Heather Stockton, Zoe Scofield, Alice Gosti, Jenna Bean Veatch, Stephanie Skura, Cara Siu, Heather Cullen and Jonathan Deschamps.


I would be lying and fibbing and warping the concept of truth and distorting reality and stoned and floating somewhere between south for the winter and out to lunch if I had expressed before Saturday, December 4th that it would very likely be a full house for Installment 7. I would have had to have had absolutely no knowledge of events at On The Boards and Velocity taking place the same weekend and absolutely no awareness of their potential effect. However, I was privy to the other fantastic events around town (Paige and I collectively attending both on various nights) and while I felt great about who would be participating in Installment 7 I also felt, well, not-so-great. Would there be a respectable mass of attendees? Would it translate to a less-than-electric performance experience for the talent-gorged participants? By design, HERE/NOW is about showcasing not only the depth of artistic ability of Pacific Northwesterners but their adaptability in a high pressure setting. Would a substantially smaller audience prove the perfect downfall of the evening? (Sidenote: if and when those doing research into consciousness-cloning (i.e., individuals experientially being in two discrete spacetime locations at once) publicly announce unequivocal success in their findings and we're all able to achieve the coolness that will be compartmentalized consciousness, the grip of my argument will be moot and academic and theoretical and insignificant and marginally worth the pixels its displayed on.)

Furthermore…

I keep hearing from all variety of folks that Dance has a diminutive-scaled community faction who make a point to attend events billed, at least in part, as such. And for the first time I let myself believe this hebetudinous sentiment. Hogwash. Personally, I believe Dance is BY DEFINITION the most accessible art form being practiced. They say football (i.e., soccer) is the world's most popular sport because all you need is something round-ish and soft-ish to kick around... everything else is easily adapted from that which surrounds you embedded in the elements of your immediate environment. Well, Dance should be just as popular given that reasoning. Dance, it seems to me, is about the body and its ability to communicate and express and speak and insinuate and convey and discover and declare and expose and articulate and challenge using solely that which defines an individual's particular physique in combination with their ideas and areas of artistic interest. So, uhm, let me get this straight 'cause I'd hate to misrepresent: body (check), mind (check). Huh. That seems fairly straight-forward from where I'm skittering.

However…

Thing is, it WAS a full house. And while a chunk of me was bracing for far less, I was gently reminded, as the steady flow of people climbed the spiral stairs of Open Flight Studio, that Seattle has a lot of soul and the capacity to ripple surprise as if it was as normal as sneezing and closing your eyes (accidental beat poetry anyone?). So, I would like to thank all those who attended Installment 7 from the dry tempered earthy bottom of my heart... it was an honor having you there/then. I humbly apologize for ever doubting your commitment. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

And finally…

Now, as far as the clarity and pumped-up brightness that was the eight duets' eight Dancers and eight Musicians I would like to say this: each and every one of you was poignant and beautiful and engaging and invested and stimulating and creative and inspiring and affecting and irreplaceable. You know, it goes without saying for the most part that Paige and I aren’t spending approximately eight months out of twelve curating and writing and organizing and producing HERE/NOW because it brings home the Field Roast®. And we don’t sweat every imaginable detail because we’re in search of an outlet for our combined obsessive compulsive tendencies (okay, in all fairness that one’s debatable). We do it because we know the Pacific Northwest is better off because HERE/NOW does exist and does so in a healthy, dynamic and community-engaging fashion. I could have never imagined, though, the extent to which I, the fader-in and fader-out of the “stage lights” (oh, man… what a stretch-fit pair of jeans that description is), could be so abysmally privileged to have a front row seat to every duet. To be able to sit there and take in every single arch and note and slide and nuance and breath and fumble and scream and stillness and sequence and run and dive and silence and chance and risk… it’s very often far, far too much to swallow and I find myself on the verge of small country creeks of tears at least twice during each installment. Installment 7 was no exception. My personal compensation, my most core raison d’être, if you will, revealed itself long ago as being able to witness all this sheer gorgeous nerve from my on-stage vantage point. It’s been inspiring as hell, truth be told.

I believe it was Gandhi who once said, “be the change you want to see in the world”. Well, I give what I give to HERE/NOW because it is an art-based event I want to see in the world. And, now, I do. And so can you. Hi ho.

P.S…

We had our first international participant! Dancer Cara Siu braved crossing into the Homeland from sunny Vancouver, BC to officially plunge the Canadian flag into the decades-worn wood floors of OFS. It was tow-tallee an honor having her, ya-no!!!

~ Christopher

Dance is an art that employs the human form as its tool of expression. Due to this we tend to view Dance through the lens of personal relationships, our knowledge of our own body and its movements and physicality-based belief systems and the images they convey. Consequently, body shape, age, gender and ethnicity all start to play a potential role in the act of making as well as viewing Dance. And while a Dance work's main purpose may be to study and present a commentary on contemporary cultural assumptions and belief systems regarding body shape, age, gender and ethnicity, to fully digest such Dance requires the viewer to confront their own preconceived ideas regarding these factors and to understand that what is being presented is exposing potentially oppressive, hypocritical, violent, ignorant and/or antiquated viewpoints. Powerfully resonant performers tend to be aware of these viewpoints and address them during their work. During Installment 7 two participants, Stephanie Skura and Heather Stockton, challenged viewers by confronting some of the preconceived notions regarding age and body shape respectively.

I find it unsettling that at 34 years old I sometimes think I am officially "old". In an email conversation with past HERE/NOW participant and Dance pillar, 55-year old choreographer/dancer Wade Madsen, I wrote: "I think a lot about the aging process and a dancer's relationship to this process. At the Gyrotonic studio where I work, I interact with people ranging from 16 to 70 years old. I am witness to their coping with pain and to the measures taken to heal, both physically and psychologically. Being an active participant in this aspect of people's intimate lives can be poignant, inspiring, sad, grounding and heroic. How we choose to accept ourselves requires discipline, openness, compassion and patience." It appears that as we age our bodies change... often these changes are qualified and experienced as a "negative". And understandingly so, fatigue and pain aren't normally accepted as "positive". I want to empower those experiencing these changes in their bodies and present their Dance work as potential doorways into unknown territories of expression.

The duet between dancer Stephanie Skura and musician Adam Kozie inspired perseverance. Stephanie has been professionally choreographing, teaching and performing for the past 45 years. She jumped high as well as quietly and finitely expressed her limbs. She yelled, "change location!" after bursting and passing through many forms. I laughed. I wasn't alone to say the least. She became a regal showgirl and then an absurdist commenting on avant-garde performance; she attentively sculpted each moment. Adam moved between explosively complex and precise minimal rhythms on drums and calmly reflective sustained tones on glockenspiel created by the slow pulls of a cello bow. They listened to one another and supported each other's craft while perfectly demonstrating power, quietude and skill.

I found particularly serendipitous the duets between: dancer Jens Wazel and musician Jonathan Deschamps, both had a sense of playfulness, theatrics and elegant and crafty clowning with a sentimental undertone; dancer Meredith Meiko Horiuchi and musician Jon Pontrello, both had a grassroots, innocent and humble yet bold sensibility; and dancer Zoe Scofield and musician Kevin Goldsmith, both haunting in their efforts, feeding a dark, unknown, emotional, physical/sonic space.

In order to generate content for the printed programs, Christopher and I ask the participants to answer questions that are one part biography, one part interview. These questions and their answers induce diverse responses from participants and audience alike. And while they are intentionally broad in scope they simultaneously tend to resonate on a hyper-personal level. They were created in order to provide knowledge, insight and inspiration regarding each participant as opposed to highlighting solely career achievements as seems to be the norm for program content. One of the questions is to recount your "Most Cherished Artistic Experience" and Heather Stockton wrote: "Being cast in Amy O'Neal's Full Tilt, my body singing, heart pumping... it was pure joy. I realized I had let a rejection letter to an arts school due to "excessive weight" dictate my decision to take a break from dance. I am free again." This pristinely illustrates the contemporary opinion on Dance and the beautiful power of an individual to challenge and change this opinion. Heather's honesty is courageous and her actions are self-, life- and art-empowering.

I believe while viewing work that curiosity is essential. HERE/NOW urges this of the viewer and participant alike. The simple and firm format of HERE/NOW creates a realm of new possibilities by acting as a mirror for cultural and artistic assumptions while simultaneously breaking them. All things considered, Installment 7 was yet another evening featuring risk and inspiration. Thank you.

~ Paige



The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Heather Stockton (D) + Heather Cullen (M)
2. Jens Wazel (D) + Jonathan Deschamps (M)
3. Jenna Bean Veatch (D) + Levi Fuller (M)
4. Cara Siu (D) + Erik Neumann (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Zoe Scofield (D) + Kevin Goldsmith (M)
6. Alice Gosti (D) + Jonathan Way (M)
7. Meredith Meiko Horiuchi (D) + Jon Pontrello (M)
8. Stephanie Skura (D) + Adam Kozie (M)



If you attended this installment take a minute and share your thoughts. What did you feel was the most engaging moment of the evening? Whose duet resonated with you the most? How did you hear about HERE/NOW and why did you feel as if you wanted to attend? Were you familiar with any of the participants? Did the evening serve as a catalyst for discussion amongst friends?

Thanks!

DVD - Installment 6 - NOW AVAILABLE!

|select image for enlarged version|

Please select quantity:

1 $16.00 USD 2 $32.00 USD 3 $48.00 USD 4 $64.00 USD 5 $80.00 USD

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 244]

If you have a friend or family member who is a fan of Dance and/or Music you should definitely consider gifting them one or more of the HERE/NOW DVDs. They serve as living proof that very, very good things have the propensity to occur when one Dancer and one Musician are randomly paired and given eight minutes to improvise together, and also as a means by which to archive the Pacific Northwest's ever-vibrant Dance and Music communities.

They are respectfully packaged and authored and come with complete program concept information, contact/credit information, outtakes, a group portrait with the names of all sixteen participants and, of course, all eight improvised duets titled and chapterized making it easy to jump to specific performances or view the entire evening in chronological order. We've also decided to insert into each DVD case a neatly folded copy of the evening's 8.5" x 14" printed program detailing who was paired with whom in addition to engaging information about each participant in a part-bio, part-interview format.

We've worked very hard to make sure the DVDs have features that resonate with those that are fans of Dance and/or Music and we're always trying to think of ways to make them even better. We've also tried to make sure that our asking price ($16 + shipping costs if applicable) is reasonable, affordable and fair. (Note: all DVDs receive free shipping if being mailed to a destination within the continental US.)

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Gratefully,

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators