Performance prep.

I am prepping for my first show in Portland tomorrow night as part of An Evening of Light & Shadows, a fundraiser for the New Oregon Interview Series. As with any show, there are alot of moveable parts. I also have 3 performer technician assistants for this show and this has presented me with the new challenge of how to give direction to others!

In come the Oblique Strategies:

Balance the consistency principle with the inconsistency principle

That is exactly what I need to tell them to do. Thanks once more, Brian Eno! You have the answers to everything.

I will post a reflection on the experience once it's over.

Monday thoughts.

Today's oblique strategy

Trust in the you of now.


I'm in my 'dance clothes' today, since it's Monday and tonight is improv class. I noticed this morning that I really love wearing my dance clothes. They're starting to feel like my 'work clothes.' I feel a sense of focus and motivation to do something productive and artistic when I put my dance clothes on. It's as if I'm going to do something more useful because I'm in clothes that are loose fitting enough for me to move in any way that I need to. It makes me believe that I need to do a physical warm up and movement series before I can get any other work done.
It reminds me of the Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. Of course, she actually *is* a dancer, so it would make sense that her rituals in the studio are part of her creative practice. I'm also reminded of the conversation with Katsura about learning being a full body experience.

I've always found release in my free form dancing moments:

- when I was a child, I'd shut the doors to the living room and dance around in my 'dance clothes' from that era (turtleneck, thick tights) for hours on end. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Salsoul Orchestra, Tijuana Brass, Saturday Night Fever, K-tel compilations...

- teen years the movement centered mostly on singing and laughing endlessly with my friends. Laughter is a real workout. 'dance clothes' were grubby men's suit jackets and torn jeans from the thrift store.

- college/20s saw me at the goth club 1-3 times per week in 'my spot' on the dancefloor for hours in my own swirly little world. 'dance clothes' were big big boots and lots of black but no corsets or other constricting garments that were popular with the goth scene.

Tuesday Oblique Strategy.

This is already starting to feel like a horoscope and today's strategy is just to fortune cookie like:

don't be frightened to display your talents

Have I shown you my tricky magic show? Watch: