Interactions 2

On Saturday September 7, I had my second experience interacting with visitors at the Annenberg Beach House, asking them, again (the first interaction happened at the begging of the residency), to imagine a dance piece on the facilities. This time the interaction happened within the patio area with orange umbrellas. 

All the visitors I approached this time coincidentally suggested to centered my performance on dances from different parts of the world, while they identify foreign expressions with colorful costumes and happy vibes. They felt the aesthetics of those dances matches the space. They suggested Polynesian dances, Hula dances, among other styles. A person even suggested to bring a blend of styles from different parts of the world to make the event even more exciting. All participants imagined a group of dancers moving and none of them suggested a solo or a duet. 

One of the visitors suggested as costumes white dresses with smooth and flowing fabrics that would move with the wind. This person says that her ideas about dances focus on the visuals while she is a photographer. 

A group of visitors that were siting in a table discussed their opinions within the group and came up to the conclusion as a collective that the music for the performance should be percussive and should start before the dancers enter the space. They also suggested that the dancers should enter the space one by one from different directions and that the audience should be all around the dancers while any perspective of the performers would be interesting.  

I had another interaction with a group of visitors from Argentina. Some of them did not speak english, so we had most of our conversation in Spanish. One of them suggested some type of Jewish dance for my performance, but the rest of the people in the table did not received well the proposal. They consider it was not pertinent for the space. Another person suggested a folkloric dance from Argentina. Another person suggested that the producers of the Annenberg performances should incorporate food as part of the event, so they can get some earnings out of it. Also this person said that food can work as a hook for people to come and see the performances. She also mentioned that it would be very important to offer some information about the history of the place as part of the performance. She believes that the community does not know enough about the donors and contributors that have made the Annenberg beach house a public space for all.  

That day of the public interactions, my son came with me, and before I started connecting with visitors, him and I participated in one of the guided visits at the guest house.  A sweet woman from Argentina showed us the guest house and shared with us details about its history.  Our tour was in Spanish, so my son had the opportunity so practice and show of his Spanish speaking skills and the guide made the experience it kids friendly. We had a wonderful time.