HERE/NOW

Post-performance Interviews: Installment 11

2012-01-25T22:08:00.000-08:00

To view a higher quality version of this video, please visit our HERE/NOWtv channel.

The Post-performance Interviews video journal series is based exclusively on asking participants and audience members to "say a few words about your experience at HERE/NOW". Honest, insightful, gracious and at times humorous, the thoughts captured on-camera never fail to engage.

HERE/NOW: Installment 11 review on SeattleDances blogsite

2011-12-16T18:05:00.001-08:00

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Photo: Ernie Sapiro Photography

Seattle-based choreographer, dancer, Pilates instructor, poet, painter, candlestick maker and Coriolis Dance Collective co-founder, Christin Call (pictured above), was in the audience on Saturday evening. Read her thoughts regarding Installment 11 on the SeattleDances blogsite.

Thanks!

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 11 (12/10/11)

2011-12-15T17:39:00.001-08:00

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Ryan "COHOSH" Converse, Brysen "Just B" Angeles, Karen Nelson, Dave Proscia, Tari Nelson-Zagar, Salo, Dennis Rea and Marissa Rae Niederhauser and sitting (l to r) are Vanessa Skantze, Sarah Lustbader, Lorraine Siu Lin Lau, Neil Welch, Natalie Mai Hall, Robert Tyree, Pearson Wallace-Hoyt and Naomi Russell.

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In no particularly particular order:

1. There was a large graffiti tag on the building that plainly read "OCCUPY THE NORTH POLE" and I think the bad-music-toting Santas meant it.

2. I had a bomb of a precise realization just about punch me in the face at some point during the second or third duet: HERE/NOW truly celebrates the gifts of "the individual" in the context of "the group".

3. That realization and its connotations feels very... American. And I think I'm somewhere between mystified and proud about that.

4. "Wow... did that just happen?!" X at least 16.

5. Someone was early. Someone was late. Everyone was on time.

6. Tears. As usual. Which can make "working the lights" very challenging.

7. Spacetimelessness. As usual. Which can make "working the lights" very challenging.

8. Happy that we have committed to full color printed programs.

9. Too much talent for such a diminutive number of square feet.

10. Tell me where all the other art-based events are that focus on Celebration as well as Art and Craft... name them, and I go. (please see one of my favorite animated short films, Creature Comforts, for line reference.)

11. How is it possible that we always sell more beverages in December than in June?

12. Another packed house. Thanks, Seattle.

13. To Olympia to pick up two Musicians. Back from Olympia. Back to Olympia to drop off two Musicians. Back from Olympia. I think I might've just doubled my total number of visits to Olympia. (Kidding.)

14. Excited about the sociocultural potential of the Post-performance Interviews video journal series that we now shoot at the end of each evening.

15. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will always hurt me.

16. I love creating the group portrait. Photographing all sixteen participants, eight standing and eight sitting, feels so innocent and simple... like a 3rd grade class photo for a pre-digital yearbook... questionable sweaters and all.

17. Did Marissa RAE Niederhauser (D) and Dennis REA (M) really get paired together? Only at HERE/NOW... only at HERE/NOW, folks.

18. PDX in tha house! (When I was much younger, I once explained to my mother what "in tha house" meant. She began using it whenever possible. And she pulled it off, bless her heart. Which is a phrase she once explained to me. I still have problems pulling it off.)

19. Christin Call was kind enough to review this installment on the SeattleDances blogsite. See the above post for the link.

~ Christopher

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The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Brysen "Just B" Angeles (D) + Dave Proscia (M)

2. Vanessa Skantze (D) + Salo (M)

3. Sarah Lustbader (D) + Ryan "COHOSH" Converse (M)

4. Robert Tyree (D) + Neil Welch (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Karen Nelson (D) + Natalie Mai Hall (M)

6. Marissa Rae Niederhauser (D) + Dennis Rea (M)

7. Naomi Russell (D) + Tari Nelson-Zagar (M)

8. Lorraine Siu Lin Lau (D) + Pearson Wallace-Hoyt (M)

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If you attended this installment, please 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!

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

DVD - Installment 10 - NOW AVAILABLE!

2011-11-20T11:52:00.001-08:00

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If you have a friend or family member who is a fan of Dance or Music you should 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 an ever-expanding historical archive documenting the region's Dance and Music communities.

They are respectably packaged and authored and come with complete program concept information, contact/credit information, outtakes, Post-performance Interviews (starting with Installment 10) 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. They also feature the evenings' printed programs (starting with Installment 3) highlighting who was paired with whom. One part bio, one part interview, the printed programs are uniquely insightful and a direct reflection of the working goals of HERE/NOW.

We've tried very hard to make sure the DVDs have features that resonate with fans of Dance and Music and we're always trying to invent ways to make them even more engaging. We've also tried very hard 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.

Thanks!

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Post-performance Interviews: Installment 10

2011-11-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

To view a higher quality version of this video, please visit our HERE/NOWtv channel.

Installment 10 (9/10/11)

2011-09-25T14:58:00.001-07:00

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Jill Marissa, Paris Hurley, Daniel Mullikin, Chris Segawa, Pol Rosenthal, Beth Graczyk, Christopher "Space" Howe and Brenna Monroe-Cook and sitting (l to r) are Molly Sides, Rainbow Fletcher, Annie Hewlett, Jody Kuehner, Ivan Arteaga, Serge Gubelman, Douglas Ridings and Jeffrey "Ffej" Mandel.

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This installment, for reasons I'm not totally secure in expressing as accurate, allowed me to more succinctly realize something that I had only been given hints of along the way these past 2.5 years. And that is this: when we choose to attend staged time-based performances (music, dance, theater, etc.) we acknowledge two things: 1. that someone has taken the time to create the staged experience with creator-specific artistic goals in mind as that experience was being developed and 2. as an audience member, we expect that our time witnessing this staged experience will be filled with a proportionate amount of energy as was put into its development... i.e., it will feel justifiable for the experience's creators to have spent that amount of time creating this specific experience.

And inside the seed carrying these two acknowledgements is, therefore, this: our proverbial expectation bar automatically rises when we know we are about to witness a performance that has been staged vs one that has not. It would seem that we are not simply more prone to earnestly qualitatively analyze the staged experience, but only prone to earnestly qualitatively analyze the staged experience consequently because it is staged.

(Expectations! You're on in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...)

By no means the only reason HERE/NOW is always such a fantastically engaging and dynamic event, but the idea that a spacetime of purposeful zero-judgment is formed due largely to the improvisation-based performance format does seriously expand the potential of such an event becoming consistently fantastically engaging and dynamic. And that's incredibly reassuring if nothing else.

~ Christopher

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It was hot and sweaty at Open Flight Studio the evening of September 10. Everyone was collectively coping with the heat. To willingly bear through it together and experience live performance created a bond. This was the first HERE/NOW that during the intermission the entire audience, as if fleeing a catastrophe, emptied the space. They returned. They were committed to being there.

HERE/NOW's format has many random elements. For example, random audience members are selected to choose a random pair of participants to improvise together. However, the outcome of these random elements seems to frequently create serendipitously idyllic scenarios.

Douglas Ridings opened the evening wearing an ornate black feather mask while dressed in a dark tailored suit. There was a sense of modern poise with reverence to animal form. Christopher "Space" Howe created ambient quietude and spaciousness with his electric bass and symphonic recorder. His sounds enabled Douglas to cultivate a dark, humble and primitive mood through rhythmic, defiant and contorted motions. I felt I was watching a shadow morph between animal and human form.

Rainbow Fletcher introduced layered imagery. Her physical form alludes to different physical archetypes: a classically trained ballet dancer, a professional gymnast and a burlesque drag queen. She entered boldly and quietly with glittery high heels and lips. Her lean and strong muscular form shouted loudly while her gaze is soft and generous. After removing the high heels, she created long, elegant and sustained lines through space. Serge Gubelman played a small family of cymbals inducing a meditative experience. Time and sound seemed to pause in this piece.

Jody Kuehner and Jeffrey "Ffej" Mandel took me into a surreal dream. Jody wore dark makeup that emphasized facial creases and lines giving an old masculine impression. Contrastingly, she wore a long brown wig, short shorts with a halter-top giving a young effeminate impression. Her motions were small and contained, solely expressed through slight postural shifts and hand, feet and face gestures to Ffej's science fiction like electronic sounds. It was as if she had been possessed by an alien being and was beginning to understand how to move for the first time in a new environment... while being witnessed.

Jill Marissa athletically attacked the movement in response to Ivan Arteaga's saxophone. She began in a runner's starting position. Supported by her arms, she ran underneath herself while mimicking the saxophone’s flutter-like sounds. She induced a sense of awe in me, at how she expressed her physical strength and precision, similar to the awe experienced when watching horses race - raw power.

Brenna Monroe-Cook opened the second half of the evening with a sense of quiet grace. Her motions were precise, gentle, romantic and poetic.Paris Hurley's tape recordings and live violin initiated and echoed these qualities. There was poise to every movement choice, a delicate extension. Her movements and emotions were seemingly contained and then released at her choosing. Simultaneously, her movements and emotions were also overtaking her. This created a sense of internal tension, yet appeared to be a pleasurable experience.

Annie Hewlett listened to Chris Segawa's distorted, high frequency ambient guitar. The sounds made me think of the arctic; how I imagine icebergs breaking would sound. She mentioned after the evening that her improvisation was not visual and the experience existed inside of her ears. In hindsight, this made sense. Her pathways were direct, simple and repetitive which induced a trance-like state. This state was seemingly paralyzed at different moments and reset to start a new pattern. She was caught inside a sonic experience.

Molly Sides’ motions were held inwardly and released in an elastic suspension, simultaneously pausing and pulling, creating a dramatic physical story. Daniel Mullikin's sounds from his cello, including live sampling, supported and generated this quality. Molly's movements were low to the ground, haunting and organic and reminded me of a creature. This was highlighted by a moment when she pulled her hair and opened her mouth. She made me think of the book Let the Right One In, whose main character is a gentle vampire in love.

Beth Graczyk took on the moment with a courageous physicality. She followed an explosive physical impulse that was guttural, athletic and sensual. She engaged with Musician Pol Rosenthal physically and sonically asking, and at one point even demanding, to be covered by the sound. She tossed his seed-filled metal bowls around and Pol decided to dance. Together they wrestled on the ground together in an intimate entanglement - so much so that when they paused, Pol's shirt was almost completely unbuttoned - everyone laughed. It was a cathartic ending to the evening.

HERE/NOW provokes me to wonder: is there a subconscious connection that exists between people? The pairings between Musicians and Dancers are randomly selected but appear to be intrinsically connected. Are the participants unconsciously selecting their partners? Were they supposed to meet one another, or had they already but just did not know it?

~ Paige

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The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Douglas Ridings (D) + Christopher "Space" Howe (M)

2. Rainbow Fletcher (D) + Serge Gubelman (M)

3. Jill Marissa (D) + Ivan Arteaga (M)

4. Jody Kuehner (D) + Jeffrey "Ffej" Mandel (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Brenna Monroe-Cook (D) + Paris Hurley (M)

6. Annie Hewlett (D) + Chris Segawa (M)

7. Molly Sides (D) + Daniel Mullikin (M)

8. Beth Graczyk (D) + Pol Rosenthal (M)

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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 9 - NOW AVAILABLE!

2011-09-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

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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

HERE/NOW awarded smART ventures Program Grant!

2011-08-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

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As Steve Jobs has said approximately 2.7 million times (incidentally: also the number of iPhones sold per hour) regarding the Apple product de jour, "it just works." The same could be said about HERE/NOW. And like most if not all Apple products it's also exciting, engaging, easy to navigate, community-oriented, dynamic and well-organized underneath the surface. And while we have felt very proud of what we have been able to build in the 2.5 years HERE/NOW's been an active quarterly event, a good idea tends to feel a whole lot better when it receives some variety of hefty external acquiescence. And, so, after many purpose-refining conversations and time spent crafting the program into clear and robust terms has come the full support of the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs in the form of a one-time special projects smART ventures Program Grant. The grant was used to produce Installment 9 and represented the first time HERE/NOW was not strictly an out-of-pocket production. This is a profoundly important step for us, one that we hope will lead to our being able to attract and retain diverse and sustainable funding sources as well as create good and lasting bonds with value-sharing community partners. Which, in turn, will enable us to expand the breadth of HERE/NOW in ways that will exponentially add to the tack of our mission statement: to increase and diffuse knowledge involving the intersection of Dance and Music.

Special thanks goes to Paul Rucker... artist, musician and friend... for helping us in our attempt to receive this grant. His steadfast advocacy of the HERE/NOW program and its working as well as future goals is a testament to his dedication to growing the reach and impact of performance-based art within Seattle's communities. He is a valuable asset to earnest artists everywhere in this city through his honest and transparent leadership within the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. If you see him around town and are so inclined, please take a minute and thank him personally for the vital role he has played in helping us ensure HERE/NOW's place in the arts calendar. We couldn't have done it without you, Paul. Thank you.

We also couldn't have done it without any of you either. If you are someone who has made a point to be a HERE/NOW patron, thank you for choosing to spend your evenings with us. In fact, this grant was able to be applied for with any amount of confidence because of your effort, your vote for HERE/NOW as a vital art-based event a direct reflection of your patronage. If you have participated in HERE/NOW as either a Dancer or Musician, it goes without saying that we have loved having each and every one of you there, representing your specific artistic interests, and we thank you deeply for being courageous enough to do so.

Finally, if you are someone who feels the HERE/NOW program plays an essential role in the contemporary sociocultural dialog, or you are an advocate of Dance or Music, or you are interested in potentially creating a professional working partnership with HERE/NOW, or you share the belief that willingly experiencing randomness enriches the fertile ground from which life itself develops and therefore you feel compelled to further our cause by making a personal contribution to HERE/NOW, please contact us and we will make time to speak with you.

Gratefully,

Christopher & Paige

Co-Creative Directors | Co-Curators

Installment 9 (6/18/11)

2011-06-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Scott Bell, John Dixon, Leyya Mona Tawil, Mark Johnson, Colin Pulkrabek, Dean Moore, Markeith Wiley and Mark Schlipper and sitting (l to r) are Rebekka Goldsmith, Devin McDermott, Peggy Piacenza, Mônica Mata Gilliam, Danielle R. Hammer, Alfredo "Free" Vergara, Eric Chappelle and Rosalynn De Roos.

Energy. Being the vessel responsible for containing this force is about as close to a thankless job as could ever exist. But it is an undeniably important one: energy always striving to break free of its vessel and the vessel always striving to keep energy within its shell, perhaps the ultimate struggle for balance, for a kind of neutrality, a peace. Recent events in Japan radically illustrate the fragility of this expand-contain relationship that energies have with their respective vessels.

Einstein captivated the world when he equated the energy of a body at rest with its mass times the speed of light in a vacuum squared. This mass-energy equivalence exhibits relativistic effects when the body is not at rest relative to the observer. Provocative then, infinitely leaned upon today.

I once watched a video online of a talk given by Bill Gross of Idealab. He presented his company's flower-shaped solar energy collector and Stirling engine redux. An inventor since his high school days, he concluded by talking about how we are very casual about our energy use in our day-to-day lives. And he allegorized this notion by pointing out that just the lights above the stage that he was on were equivalent to approximately 15 horses running at full speed. With this in mind, how much energy is required for each HERE/NOW installment?

Vessels in their eternal battle of containing/releasing the energy held within them. Bodies in motion relative to their observer. Management and allocation. Installment 9, more than any other installment so far, made me really think about the larger topic of energy... how it is employed and for what causes, how it is stored and why, what are the root factors causing it to be so fantastically present in some moments and so ominously void in others, how it is transferred, willing or otherwise, from one vessel to another.

Installment 9's vessels did not seem satiated idly containing their innards. It was very much an atomic free-for-all like that, a bulky birthday cake in celebration of honesty and creation.

~ Christopher

ENTRY

John Dixon responded to the lights fading in.

Markeith Wiley walked in wearing three jackets.

Peggy Piacenza felt compelled to directly address the audience regarding her artistic intentions.

Devin McDermott and Rebekka Goldsmith stared intimately at one another while standing toe to toe.

Danielle R. Hammer began on the other side of Dean Moore’s gong.

Alfredo "Free" Vergara began with a kneeling posture on the ground.

Leyya Mona Tawil verbally expressed excitement at having been paired with Mark Johnson.

Mônica Mata Gilliam stepped close to Colin Pulkrabek.

EVOLUTION

John Dixon emotionally engaged with circumstance. Memorably, the coos of his baby watching from the front row while in the comfort of its mother's lap made him laugh and he affectionately bonded with one of audience member Lila Hurwitz's boots.

Markeith Wiley took off his jackets in the style of stop motion animation to Mark Schlipper's deep electronic rhythms. After they were removed, he precariously moved low to the ground. His power seemed to take him by surprise.

Peggy Piacenza, dressed in all black with red lipstick, sang that she was leaving on a jet plane while holding an onion. She paused a few times in a pose reminiscent of the dying swan from Swan Lake. At one moment, she took off a layer of clothes and began to move in chaotic spirals. In this moment, she no longer spoke and Scott Bell's violoncello raged. I witnessed a dark comedy that was vulnerable and highly personal.

Devin McDermott and Rebekka Goldsmith slowly walked away from one another as the lights fully faded in. I observed a physical exploration about following internal impulse. She paired spacious and undulating spinal motions with precise, strong and balanced foot gestures. Rebekka's voice both led and supported her exploration.

Danielle R. Hammer's hand began to quiver to Dean Moore's quivering sounds. I watched her physically manifest his sounds. She trembled, inwardly collapsed and explosively jumped. There was quiet build to her explosive movement. The experience was cathartic.

Alfredo "Free" Vergara and Eric Chappelle engaged in a palpable dialog. The violin evoked lyrical, playful and folkloric dance styles. Alfredo's expression of contemporary b-boy power moves and low to the ground Capoeira-like motions inspired Eric to play the violin rhythmically. Together, they expressed a duet filled with curiosity, joy, grace and expertise. Memorably, some of Eric's twangy sections inspired Alfredo to pretend to be riding a horse!

Leyya Mona Tawil started her duet with an iconic rockstar-worship pose toward Mark Johnson. Her motions pulsed and vigorously shook while in that kneeling posture. She tried to move away and change this idea but persistently returned as if consumed by adoration.

Mônica Mata Gilliam and Colin Pulkrabek engaged in a flirtatious dialog. At one point, while Colin was standing, Mônica was in between his legs, moving them, as if trying to transport him across the room and simultaneously knock him off balance. Colin's trombone inspired Mônica to move in a social swing dance style mixed with abrupt leg gestures that were long and elegant. I laughed when she mimicked the trombone's sounds with wild facial expressions while wrapped in the studio's curtains, like she was trying to scare someone on Halloween.

END

Regardless of what was occurring when the lights faded out in each duet, it always felt like the ideal moment. I thought that there were three decidedly striking endings: Peggy (with puzzling eyes, searching the room while eating an onion), Alfredo (chose to freeze, referencing a classic b-boy move) and Mônica (trying to play Colin’s instrument while verbally expressing that she was there for him, like they had been through a challenging experience - and they had!)

After Installment 9, I walked away with many questions. How does the artist prepare to perform for an event that by definition does not seek preparation? How does this preparation impact their improvisation? How does an artist trust that they are already prepared? Observing the Entry, Evolution and End of each duet provided me with some interesting insights yet few if any conclusions. However, I was able to conclude that how an artist interacts with the unknown moment is a sincerely intriguing predicament.

~ Paige

The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. John Dixon (D) + Rosalynn De Roos (M)
2. Markeith Wiley (D) + Mark Schlipper (M)
3. Peggy Piacenza (D) + Scott Bell (M)
4. Devin McDermott (D) + Rebekka Goldsmith (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Danielle R. Hammer (D) + Dean Moore (M)
6. Alfredo "Free" Vergara (D) + Eric Chappelle (M)
7. Leyya Mona Tawil (D) + Mark Johnson (M)
8. Mônica Mata Gilliam (D) + Colin Pulkrabek (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 8 - NOW AVAILABLE!

2011-06-19T22:02:00.000-07:00

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 8 (3/12/11)

2011-03-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

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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!

2011-03-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 7 (12/4/10)

2010-12-13T11:07:00.000-08:00

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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!

2010-12-08T18:33:00.001-08:00

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 6 (9/11/10)

2010-09-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

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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!

2010-09-08T22:34:00.001-07:00

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 5 (6/19/10)

2010-06-27T10:33:00.001-07:00

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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!

2010-05-26T17:56:00.001-07:00

Gratefully,

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 4 (3/6/10)

2010-03-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

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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!

DVD - Installment 3 - NOW AVAILABLE!

2010-01-22T21:25:00.000-08:00

Christopher & Paige

Creative Directors | Curators

Installment 3 (12/5/09)

2009-12-16T20:00:00.001-08:00

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Timm Mason, Haruko Nishimura, Monica Schley, Dustin Haug, Alia Swersky, Tiny Light, Scott Colburn and Wally Shoup and sitting (l to r) are Vanessa DeWolf, Angelina Baldoz, KT Niehoff, Tahni Holt, Tamin Totzke, Ezra Dickinson, Jesse Canterbury and Tiffany Lin.

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 328]

Installment 3, like Installment 2 before it, saw the proverbial bar raised once again in certain regards. The one aspect to this evening's dynamics that felt entirely new was the way that each successive duet played an almost generative role in the scope of all eight performances. For the first time the evening played out almost as if it was a fully designed experience replete with beginning, middle and ending works... an actual arc revealed.

Something else really, really seemed to stick out this time as well: the inherent nonlinear dynamics bred into the program's format seemed to be having a blast pairing the participants. Each duet's performers displayed blindingly obvious visual and/or artistic connections, some almost to the extent to which there was a tangible humor in the pairing itself.

This installment also featured HERE/NOW's first costumed participants. Surely it won't be its last. And, finally, the evening saw not one, not two, but three out-of-town participants. Tahni Holt from Portland, OR and partners and ex-Seattleites Dustin Haug and Tamin Totzke from Minneapolis, MN.

The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. KT Niehoff (D) + Jesse Canterbury (M)
2. Tahni Holt (D) + Wally Shoup (M)
3. Vanessa DeWolf (D) + Monica Schley (M)
4. Haruko Nishimura (D) + Angelina Baldoz (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Ezra Dickinson (D) + Tiny Light (M)
6. Alia Swersky (D) + Scott Colburn (M)
7. Dustin Haug (D) + Tiffany Lin (M)
8. Tamin Totzke (D) + Timm Mason (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 2 - NOW AVAILABLE!

2009-12-16T12:58:00.001-08:00

|select image for enlarged version|

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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 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 2 (8/29/09)

2009-12-16T12:40:00.001-08:00

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Jeff Aaron Bryant, Jody Kuehner, Bianca Cabrera, Amy O'Neal, Ilvs Strauss, Sky Lynn, Tom Baker, Brian Cobb and Susie Kozawa and sitting (l to r) are Jürg Koch, Mark Haim, Juliet Waller Pruzan, Serge Gubelman, noisepoetnobody, Kristin Hapke and Greg Campbell.

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Installment 2 proved to be another fantastically energetic evening, even going so far as raising the bar in some regards. With a full house filled with friends, family and plenty of HERE/NOW newcomers, each duet was able to find its distinct voice and yet also appear to engage all those in attendance.

There is a shape, so to speak, that seems to be forming itself, molding itself, constructing itself into what could be described as a socio-culturally charged omni-appreciated, respected and supported four-dimensional* bubble inside which the entire evening takes place. And somehow each duet discovers a unique path into that bubble and comes out on the other side wearing the charmed aura of an artistically transparent work of well-executed improvisation. Installment 1 had many similar moments but because it had no precedent it possessed a certain casual innocence. But as Installment 2 began to wind down it became obvious that indeed the inaugural installment with its countless inspired and inspiring moments also featured this bubble.

*see 'Minkowski space'

(The digital camera was not allowed to sleep through this installment!)

The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Amy O'Neal (D) + Greg Campbell (M)
2. Bianca Cabrera (D) + Sky Lynn (M)
3. Serge Gubelman (D) + Jeff Aaron Bryant (M)
4. Mark Haim (D) + Tom Baker (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Juliet Waller Pruzan (D) + Brian Cobb (M)
6. Kristin Hapke (D) + noisepoetnobody (M)
7. Jody Kuehner (D) + Susie Kozawa (M)
8. Jürg Koch (D) + Ilvs Strauss (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 1 - NOW AVAILABLE!

2009-12-16T12:34:00.001-08:00

|select image for enlarged version|

[TOTAL WORDS IN POST: 205]

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 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 1 (5/16/09)

2009-12-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

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Pictured above standing (l to r) are Geist, Samuel Yoder, Jeffrey Huston, Ivory Smith, Paige Barnes and Aiko Kinoshita and sitting (l to r) are Bobby Wane, Marissa Rae Niederhauser, Mônica Mata Gilliam and Chris Stover. With all reason to be, you're probably wondering how this photo was taken without there being a camera that evening... and where are the other six participants hiding? This photograph was organized to happen at a later date and given the algorithm-like complexity of the collective schedule of sixteen working artists there were unfortunately a few that weren't able to be there. They are Amelia Reeber, Space, Paris Hurley, Misha Kaschock, Violette Tucker and Michael Rioux.

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The inaugural installment of HERE/NOW, from the first duet to the last, served as wonderfully immediate proof that the program's format and goals were as constructively related as we had hoped they were. We also learned that in order for future installments to truly breathe without any misappropriated energies or temporary losses of spacetime (Intermission Control this is Installment 1, we seem to have lost you... come in Intermission Control) we, the organizers, needed to place even more focus on the details of the details of the details.

Of the details.

At the top of the Did We Really Forget To Bring That list was a digital camera. Having discussed why it might be extremely complimentary to the HERE/NOW concept to photograph each installment's participants in group portrait style, the only piece of technology that could have achieved this was sleeping peacefully on the armrest of our sofa as we were setting up chairs, making sure beverages were chilled and welcoming the steady trickle of Dancers and Musicians into Open Flight Studio.

The evening's duets in chronological order:

1. Aiko Kinoshita (D) + Chris Stover (M)
2. Mônica Mata Gilliam (D) + Bobby Wane (M)
3. Paige Barnes (D) + Space (M)
4. Misha Kaschock (D) + Ivory Smith (M)

INTERMISSION

5. Marissa Rae Niederhauser (D) + Geist (M)
6. Amelia Reeber (D) + Jeffrey Huston (M)
7. Michael Rioux (D) + Samuel Yoder (M)
8. Violette Tucker (D) + Paris Hurley (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!

HERE/NOW blogsite is born!

2009-12-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

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Welcome!

This blog exists so that everyone may have an easy-to-use online forum in order to further connect HERE/NOW participants, audience members and the program's presenters with one another.

It also serves as a platform by which the HERE/NOW experience is able to more fully expand out into the public realm via general announcements, post-performance participant interviews, participant and audience feedback and our general thoughts on all things related to HERE/NOW and its role artistically, socially and culturally.

Please check back frequently. We'll be publishing new posts often.

Thanks!

Gratefully,
Christopher and Paige