Trusting the flow...

Ahh! Today was such a pleasure - I've been in a vacuum - of my own mind, body and this vast space - grappling with these big questions:

What does it mean to make work about race? Who am I in this conversation? Where do I come from and why does it matter so much to me? What experience, privilege, oppression, opinions do I bring to the table? How is another murder of a young black man killing a piece of all of us? When does it become enough? What will it take to really 'break'?  Who are we as individuals in this ‘play’ and how do we use our character/our role to move this conversation to a new space? To a different space? Or is it about existing and being in this space - and no longer denying that this space begins?

I have been working with sabela - our sound designer - being in conversation with other folks about the work -but today I finally had the opportunity to put some of the ideas on bodies. Isis, Sarah and Jeremiah showed up at 10am and we worked straight until 3pm - moving, talking, sharing, feeling embodying struggle and fluidity - collapse and recovery - in this amazing space together. The time flew by - I could have kept working for hours! sabela sent me a track the night before that I took and connected to the movement idea I had - and it worked well - still feels very open and sparse but is moving in the right direction. I keep needing to remind myself that this is the beginning of a process and to be open. My personality is that I love to set/plan and solidify -but I am doing my best to enjoy this unknown -the exploration of it all... knowing that if I am open and accept this process - great things will continue to come. 

In thinking through how the participants on Saturday (3pm-5pm) and Sunday (5pm-7pm) will be working with us on this - I've decided it will be like a journey: we will start by the beach house and talk a bit about the piece and where we are in the process - then move them around the fountain/falling water wall where we will do a section of movement we've been working on, then into the splash pad and back to the chair installation. Then after the  'performing' element  - I will guide the participants through a participatory part - the audience will move with us - we will 'practice' then 'perform'  all as a group - then we will all move into the sand and sea room and hold a council - this council will be a space where participants can share around some of the themes/ideas we are grappling with- we will pose questions and people will share their own unique perspectives, stories and experiences. After the council if it feels appropriate (depending on the crowd we have - I know for our regular CONTRA-TIEMPO community this would be fine) we will all run to the ocean (possibly repeating some of the movement work we were doing) at the ocean for a final cleansing - completing and punctuating the experience. 

If you are planning and able to come:

- make sure you show up with comfortable clothes on 

- bring sun block/hat/sun glasses etc

- be prepared to be wet (you don't have to but you can be more free in your movement and participation if you are willing

- be ready to share yourselves, to learn something from someone else, to be fully involved in the work!  

- remember it is two hours - committing to the entire two hours will make a difference for us all. Think of it more as a workshop than a performance - there will be no passive audience members involved here! 

I will be working with Isis and Jeremiah on a duet this Wed 10-3pm so feel free if you want to stop by to check out the process - and then Friday I will continue working in the space.

Saturday we will also all be in the space at 12 noon.