Pi day Rehearsal Video

rehearsal_3_14_13 from Celeste Miller on Vimeo.

Charmion " A gift for only speaking the essential", by Yasmina

Yasmina sent this tonight:

"No matter how much Charmion seemed to have renounced her innocence, disrobing and revealing more of herself to the world than was appropriate at the time, she held on tightly to the candor of her earlier days, only performing this seductive version of herself inside the highest domes of the vaudeville theaters - a version of herself that rarely manifested itself closer to the ground. The trapeze was her own brand of vodka. Once up in the airs, she would let go of all inhibitions and fears and give way to her deepest desires. For a minute, or two, or ten, she would finally embody the woman she always imagined herself to grow up as: a coquette Betty Boop, the center of all attentions, the unattainable, flying over people's heads only to grace them with her presence for a split second before disappearing behind the scenes.

She tried really hard to maintain the illusion of a strong and independent, yet alluring woman, which did not always work to her advantage. While the mystery she shrouded herself in caught men's attention, her strength discouraged them from ever approaching her, and however progressive her dogmas were, she couldn't help envying the Betty Boops of day to day life who did not need an act to experience the most infinitesimal taste of romance. She decided she would rather purposely distance herself from what she would refer to as "petty suitors", under the pretense of higher standards acquired in France or other, where romanticism was valued, instead of shamefully admitting to herself or to anyone else that no petty suitor had ever dared to court her.

No one ever knew of Charmion's insecurities - and how could they have? She had a gift for only speaking the essential and omitting the superfluous, so that no one even knew where she came from nor where she was ever headed. Secrets would pour into her ears without ever slipping out of her lips, and rumors of her whereabouts always followed her without ever being neither refuted or confirmed. Instead, she kept on displaying a playful, almost childish, facet, which people thought of as an act thoroughly studied in order to dilute her raw and powerful "real" self. She always found that ironic, as she couldn't quite figure out herself which of the sinner or the saint she related the most to.

As people around her were attempting to decipher her personality, she decided she didn't need to define herself within the straight lines that the Victorian society drew for her, and kept breaking and blurring the boundaries between her various selves. She was as precise on a trapeze as she wasn't in her life, drafting stories all over the world only to get bored of them and move on to other places and other faces. Never once did she get to a final chapter, and instead kept traveling the pages of multiple books without ever feeling the need to devour what was left of what she had begun."

plans

For rehearsal tonight I want to see what happens if I layer the Supernova material with the very, very simple gestural material that opens the show (looking up at the empty trapeze).  I do want to go in and edit that material a little.  Perhaps not everyone's gesture needs to be included, a little less looking and more of other kinds of actions.

Also want to work on expanding the trio for Ivy, Cedric, Benji and layer the text.

SuperNova, Darwin and Charmion

This is the material we started as duets (remember?  where the chair is represents where the partner stands?), with material I taught a few weeks back.  I expanded it for Jill for a piece that will be performed this Saturday February 23 at 2PM in Sebring Lewis Hall for the "Flutes out of the Box" concert.  Jill will be dancing with flutist Nina Assimakopoulos.  Come out and see Jill perform!!

I generated the material thinking about the relationship between the dancer (in this case, Jill) and the figure (here the chair) that is commenting on SuperNova from a human perspective.  Nina's poem for her flute piece:
"Crossing time and space through vast empty darkness
Streaming photonic particles captured by my eyes
Exciting visual pigment pulsating through retinal gateways to neuronal circuitry
Delivering ancient fire to my brain
And I see the light."

I have been dwelling on "Why Charmion?"  Last Fall, just doodling and Charmion "appeared" as it were.  Demanding that her story be told.  In my meditation on her, came the made up story about her and her followers and the elephant stories and the Blue Moon gatherings. As with all my work - it arrives and says "work on me" and it is months, years later that I figure out why.

So this movement material was about trying to be in proximity to something that exists in a different time (dimension? zone?).  To be seen, but only as an afterglow long since having burned out.

It continuation of my Darwin work, I quote Elizabeth Grosz from Time Travels: Feminism, Nature, Power:
"Darwin's model of evolutionary unfolding provides a striking response to various theories of oppression.  Oppression is the result of operations of systems of harm and injustice that privilege the bodies and activities of some at the expense of others.  What Darwin's work makes clear is that what has occurred to an individual in the operations of a milieu or environment (it matters little here if it is natural or cultural) is the force or impetus that propels that individual to processes, not of remediation (remediation literally involves undoing that what cannot be undone) but of self-transformation."

How did it happen that a whole movement of women began to claim their bodies and present them in public spaces (performance) not as sexual objects but as humans/personalities/actors to be paid attention to for what the body could do? And the notion of "what the body could do" was explored by the imagination to take on the impossible i.e. flying through the air.

who are you not to be...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
This quote is often mistakenly attributed to Nelson Mandela. (makes sense) But is actually Marianne Williamson. Personally, I have a problem with the "God" word, so I simply replace it with one of my Universe words.  But. To say. Who are you not to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous.... and to through your doing, give to others to do the same?  Shine on. 
The Civil Rights Movement song comes in here :)
"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine....."

So we created tonight.  Each Ensemble/Activat-or created a solo phrase for their "act".  Their "acts" are their character's dreams.  It is their dream of how they will be their fantastic selves in the world. 

To create movement we used the following score: 
Phrase One: Imagine your costume and describe it through gesture. 
Phrase Two: Imagine your character. (Circa 1900) You have left home for some reason.  What was that reason?  There is some sorrow in there.  A reason you had to leave.  Now imagine you are asked, "If that problem were to be solved... you would wake up one morning and know because....?" Put that into movement. 
Below is everyone's phrase one followed by phrase two.  Video-d first in small groups, then everyone all together.  

Rehearsal footage from Wednesday and Thursday

This is the partnering leading up to the arrival of the Fortune Teller.  Teddy is William.  To note: Geo was absent so that is why Gigi doesn't have a partner.

Below is the opening for scene "Charmion Steps Away from Vaudeville".  We were missing Yasmina, Geo, Lauren and Devon.  And text hasn't been layered in yet.

Obama, state of the union, our fundamental democratic right "A right to hope"

Great rehearsal.  Great life moment to be in the presence of such amazing people
Rehearsal Structure:
I read an excerpt from "Night Circus" where a young woman, Illusionist, auditions - and her act is an amazing mix of what is possible and what is not/ but she makes the impossible possible. While keeping the magic of that conundrum.

We then took time for a 7 Minute Free Write (continuous writing for specified amount of time: rules - don't edit, just write, even if you write "I don't know what to write", don't worry about grammar, spelling, making sense.  It is a brainstorm that will not be shared unless you chose) Free Write Topic: Imagine your circus/vaudeville act.  Who are you? What do you do? Why is it special, unlike all others?

After the Free Write, partnered up.  One person to be interviewed about their act, the other to interview with a "yes" and encouraging, generous attitude.  The idea being that with that kind of positive support, you will find even more delightful imaginings.  Interviews lasted for 3 minutes, then time to write down new ideas, then switch roles.

After that (which is posted here) each Ensemble/Activate member shared their "act".

Super highlight for me: one Ensemble member commented (and I am paraphrasing) "We got to laugh, to imagine. To remember we can imagine.  We don't have to move into 'grown up' so quickly."

I have been so prone to crying lately.  I almost lost it again when that was stated.  This is the second time this week a student has referred to this "grown up" prison.

I am startled, shocked, outraged that these beautiful young people are being robbed of the opportunity to imagine what they could be in this so important juncture in their lives when they should absolutely being totally imagining only the absolute wildest possibilities. How can you make a difference in the world if you don't imagine yourself making a difference?  How can you stoke the fire of youth that will carry you through your (meaningful) life if you don't have these four years to dream Big, Bold, Beautiful and Controversial?

Thank you my brilliant Ensemblers/Activators - Go Forth With Courage.  Dance through fire and create walls of water - and challenge those who doubt that what you imagine can absolutely be.