Installment 6 (9/11/10)

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Carl Farrow, Mara Sedlins, Mike Novak, Billy Davis, Kathryn Padberg, Joe Corrado, Stefanie Brendler and Robert Millis and sitting (l to r) are Jon Zucker, Corrie Befort, Etienne Cakpo, Cassie Wulff, Cyrus Khambatta, Rosa Vissers, Maya Soto and Joshua Kohl.

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 624]

I've been saying to all those who have asked me that, no, there have not actually been more garden spiders this year than in past years. I feel I am a fairly reasonable individual to report on this situation... being a professional landscaper and gardener I'd like to think this puts me outdoors just about as much as anyone in similar fields. (No pun intended. Believe me.) As of today, I'd officially like to change my opinion. Yeah, I'm pulling a flip-flop on everyone. What can I say, I'm in it for the lobbyists and corporate interests willing to pay me to do so. My official statement? There are without a doubt more garden spiders this year than in past years. Good lord! You know that nifty NASA animation where they show you what it would look like if two galaxies collided? There are spider webs literally intersecting other spider webs, with little territorial beef from either faction toward the other. It's beautiful, but almost unbelievable. So, yeah, more garden spiders this year. It's official.

Which brings me to the latest HERE/NOW. And to why I bothered with this intro in the first place. Spiders are creative little bastards with a voracious patience streak. They're a lot like old school fishermen, minus the creative little bastard part. And then, in the blink of an eye... they're entombing some poor navigationally-challenged fly or bee or knat and manically sucking the blood from its body. Which, to be almost inexcusably kind, makes them "dynamic".

The eight improvised duets all had some variety of dynamics not unlike that possessed by our friend, the garden spider. (Just to make sure we're all on the same proverbial page here, I am speaking of Araneus diadematus when I say "garden spider". You know, cause everything's better in Latin.) The duets were quirky yet gorgeous, light yet well-crafted, and each in its own way had both a generous helping of patience and listening and of "uhm, hey, you don't mind if I suck your blood for a few minutes, do you?" An entertaining combo, needless to say.

Installment 6 saw its first participant, dancer/movement artist Corrie Befort, leave the studio space altogether and, invisible to everyone, get her percussive on in the lobby. Very cool moment for sure. Installment 6 also saw its first musician/sound artist go the entire eight minutes without producing any sound whatsoever. Joshua Kohl decided to bring handwritten signs instructing those he pointed the signs at to do what the signs had written on them. Another very cool scene.

All things considered, it was yet another mighty and creatively courageous evening.

~Christopher


The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Corrie Befort (D) + Mara Sedlins (M)
2. Mike Novak (D) + Robert Millis (M)
3. Cyrus Khambatta (D) + Joshua Kohl (M)
4. Etienne Cakpo (D) + Carl Farrow (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Kathryn Padberg (D) + Joe Corrado (M)
6. Cassie Wulff (D) + Jon Zucker (M)
7. Rosa Vissers (D) + Billy Davis (M)
8. Maya Soto (D) + Stefanie Brendler (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 5 - 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 5 (6/19/10)

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Jessica Jobaris, Allie Hankins, Christian Swenson, Steve Barsotti, Karl Scheer, Trey Gunn, Beth Fleenor and Samantha Boshnack and sitting (l to r) are Shannon Kay Stewart, Elia R. Mrak Blumberg, Pablo Cornejo, Wade Madsen, Scott Davis, Briana Jones, Paul Kikuchi and Paurl Walsh.

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 694]

Before the Belltown neighborhood's 1st Ave micro-district finalized its plans to design and construct an underground tunnel forever easing the already frictionless passageway between it and the Eastside (open on Friday and Saturday evenings only, of course), before the Crocodile ceased its questionably epic campaign to accumulate enough dust to rival the Southern Plains of Oklahoma in the late 1930s, before the smoking ban saw the city's tobacco addicts inhaled and exhaled out of nighttime establishments perfectly mirroring the physical choreography of the habit itself, before the Seattle Art Museum felt it necessary to not only store a handful of sculptures outside but call it a "sculpture park" and in a what-the-hell's-the-point-then move insist they not be touched by anyone, before all this and more there was a gorgeously dilapidated faux gold wristwatch of a bar called the Rendezvous. With its sublimely tattered surfaces, classier than classy early bird clientele and historically active vintage screening room cum nano-theater hosting all variety of music, theater and other live performances it gave all those looking for a salty experience a wide-armed welcome mat of a home. The theater, known as the Jewelbox, had little to no efficient ventilation, and considering that a smoldering cigarette ash could always be counted on to be no more than two people away from you at every given moment, there was little you could do except realize that at some point in the past you had made a decision. And that decision, harboring more wisdom than you could have ever guessed possible, quietly revolved around spending a portion of your evening inside the belly of the Rendezvous: a tiny space unofficially yet distinctly dedicated to the art of making it through an event spiritually intact and consequently, not unlike those whose shoulders rub against one another during the abysmal stresses of gun-to-gun war, an admirable sense of camaraderie is forged between friends and strangers alike. Yeah, the Jewelbox was warm. ("Man, it's really warm in here." "Really? You don't say?") Yeah, there was likely more breathable oxygen inside a bright red helium balloon, but that was almost what made that place as incredibly engaging and alive as it was. It could be argued that with a certain degree of heightened physical discomfort came the cosmic balance reward of heightened spiritual syncopation. This is how it felt anyway. This is how I remember that place.

This latest installment pushed its way into the night in a similar fashion. It was warm. It was filled to the seams with so many engaging and talented people, participants and audience members alike. And it had that rarest of things in the Pacific Northwest: the urgent feeling that at any moment something sincerely bold was about to happen and to blink just might be the most foolish thing one could do. And I'm not going to lie, I could feel my heart swelling with an acute waterfall of pride. Had we somehow created what the old Jewelbox had so charmingly managed to create? If so, on a purely socio-cultural level, things are headed in a very righteous direction, I thought to myself in between fade-in's and fade-out's. A very righteous direction indeed.

~Christopher


The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Scott Davis (D) + Samantha Boshnack (M)
2. Elia R. Mrak Blumberg (D) + Briana Jones (M)
3. Jessica Jobaris (D) + Paul Kikuchi (M)
4. Shannon Kay Stewart (D) + Paurl Walsh (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Christian Swenson (D) + Trey Gunn (M)
6. Wade Madsen (D) + Karl Scheer (M)
7. Allie Hankins (D) + Steve Barsotti (M)
8. Pablo Cornejo (D) + Beth Fleenor (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 4 - 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 4 (3/6/10)

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Christopher Hydinger, Kelly Sullivan, Ricki Mason, Selfick Ng-Simancas, Catherine Cabeen, Izaak Mills, Greg Powers and Mark Collins and sitting (l to r) are Joan Laage, Ellie Sandstrom, Dave Knott, Aaron Swartzman, Jim Kent, Wilson Shook, Christopher DeLaurenti and Stuart Dempster.

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 1,209]

Is it possible for anyone to really taste food that has been prepared by someone else? Or is the process of preparing that food so inherent to the sum total experience that the only one who can actually taste it is the one who makes it... the "intimate creation" perspective a vital aspect to the perception of its taste? Or is it the exact opposite... the only one able to objectively taste food that has been prepared by someone else being anyone BUT the one preparing it... the "distal consumption" perspective the vital aspect?

'Effort' was present the evening of March 6th. Which isn't to say that it wasn't present the previous three installments... it certainly was. But for whatever reason it decided to make itself known in a more pronounced way this time around. It most evidently took the form of "conceptual integration" as it related to the manner and the degree to which each Dancer and Musician interacted. Where Installment 3 appeared to flow with the defined arc of a single evening length work, Installment 4 flowed like eight completed vignettes, each with their own distinctly defined arcs very satisfyingly patch-worked end-to-end.

It's also interesting to note that a musician dropped out at the last minute. Not the day of, but close enough to it that a replacement participant was incapable of being unearthed. So, I, Christopher Hydinger, became the eighth musician. Keep in mind, I am of the mindset that if you present/curate you do not also participate. This is just my personal philosophy but I tend to stick to it religiously. So, to realize that I was being beckoned without alternatives was at first upsetting. Then I began to slowly realize, to accept, that I was in fact going to be a participant and that I'd better do my best to pull an angle together so that in the midst of some of the most respected artists in Seattle and beyond (Stuart Dempster...c'mon... he's credited with introducing the didjeridu to North America for goodness sakes. When's the last time someone you know introduced an instrument to an entire continent?) I would be able to give folks a taste of what I like to do when I'm not designing gardens, creating various kinds of artwork, practicing breaking every last graphic design rule and curating like mad to make the next HERE/NOW a reality.

This is where the 'effort' element seems to come from. And this is why I included the bits about food. This installment was a lot of effort for me personally. Both in the curation and production and then ultimately in my eight minutes with the Ellie Sandstrom art-train express. So, I am questioning my own observations, my tasting of the installment... were the dancers and musicians all really projecting as much effort toward creating an eight minutes filled with as much personal and connective energy as they all appeared to be, or was it just my "intimate creation" role? Did I become unwillingly initiated into a perspective exclusively capable or completely incapable of experiencing the evening?

Regardless, there was a lot of trust, conviction and vision in all eight duets. Not to mention audacity: where else would you get to see Stuart Dempster and Ricki Mason perform together?! As I remember saying on several occasions that evening, "Only at HERE/NOW, folks... only at HERE/NOW."

You know, I think it's about time I mail The Randomness family a heartfelt thank-you note.

~Christopher



The fourth installment marked the end of the first year of HERE/NOW. Wow! One of my favorite outcomes of the program’s format is the electric anticipation between the audience and the artists. After names are drawn from each of the two hats the audience cheers for the selected artists. And once the duet ends a louder applause follows, creating an air of support and celebration for the spontaneous act between music and dance. The fourth installment followed suit.

I would title the fourth installment, Dynamic Minimalism. I observed choices to 1) interact with instruments in a non-traditional sporadic way which contrasts my expectation of how one would usually play an instrument such as the alto saxophone, double bass, tuba and cymbals and 2) introduce objects from the everyday environment such as pine cones, radios, Dixie cups, a conch shell, whistles, squeaky toys, pennies, bubble wrap lined envelopes and cell phones. There was a sense of experimentation and curiosity with the natural, the familiar and the ordinary. These elements, along with the brass didjeridu, produced a rich environment that is minimal and playful, quiet and voluminous. I observed movement choices influenced by somatic impulses, burlesque, folklore, butoh, capoeira, Modern and ballet dance vocabularies interplay with extreme emotions such as overwhelming joy, anguished suffering, naïve playfulness, graceful calm and relentless passion. When the music and dance met: sparseness met nuanced flow, wise experience met feisty technique. Each duet charged by its unique mix.

In general, I have observed four approaches to spontaneous dueting consistent to all of the installments so far. Artists: 1) synchronize into a reciprocal dialog: a desire to actively communicate through relating either by physical proximity and/or shared impulses, 2) agree to be in side-by-side solos that inadvertently influence one another through a sonic and visual feedback loop 3) communicate differently: one seeks relationship while the other seeks to be in a solo and 4) combine all of the above; a surprising weave of invitations, disagreements and unions.

One of my other favorite outcomes to the program's format is how the duration of each duet leads the artist to go beyond what I perceive to be their comfort zone. Regardless of how the duet began, in the last two minutes individually known patterns begin to drop and I think they begin to attune to one another into an interconnected experimentation.

In June, the second year of HERE/NOW will begin which I’m sure will continue to open my perspective about music, dance, improvisation and collaboration. I can’t wait!

~Paige


The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Aaron Swartzman (D) + Wilson Shook (M)
2. Kelly Sullivan (D) + Dave Knott (M)
3. Selfick Ng-Simancas (D) + Mark Collins (M)
4. Ricki Mason (D) + Stuart Dempster (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Jim Kent (D) + Christopher DeLaurenti (M)
6. Ellie Sandstrom (D) + Christopher Hydinger (M)
7. Catherine Cabeen (D) + Greg Powers (M)
8. Joan Laage (D) + Izaak Mills (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!