if . . .

...  retention of ceremony, language, teachings, and knowledge systems, that occurred before I was around ... face the really oppressive tactics to try to take those things away ... use strategies to protect those things, including hiding some of them, which is the most desperate things when you take things underground to say, we're just not going to let the sunlight see it because if we do, it might get taken away ...   ... regain knowledges ...restore knowledge systems ... restore understandings ... restore networks of relations  to re-foster all of the energy of our stories which didn't die ... tell the story  to counter the story that is being told ...  have the voice to speak ... actually, start positioning other ways of thinking and of being ... :: Note :: ... it is always time ... thanking Jesse Wente (on podcast  Commotion Boycotting American and the meaning of cultural...

 ... moved into a new place ...  ... first night there in a deep sleep was visited by a short middle aged man ... well dressed in a black suit ... seemed to be Korean but not sure ... although silent the figure's presence was so strong i was pulled out of dream to fully awake ... as I lay in bed the after image of him remained standing silently in the hallway just outside the open bedroom door ... he wasn't really looking at me but i felt he sensed i was now aware of his presence and didn't wish to startle me ... finally assured he was a dream figure i fell back to sleep ... only later to be visited again ...  this time not in dream but upon waking saw him standing fully in the doorway ...  a serious, calm face he looked directly into my eyes ...  ...  i knew he was an apparition  & examined his demeanour ... he was likewise examining me with a gentle questioning look ... oh a previous owner of the apartment i thought ... he didn't move or speak ju...

 Abandoned: a thousand tongues / A Requiem for the Dead ... extremely challenging to write this post ... process began with July workshops (12 three hour sessions) ... continued with August focused training (14 three hour sessions) ... shifted towards structured production in Sept. (7 three hour sessions) ... performances in mid-late October (9 ensemble sessions including two performances) ... some how ... a generously provided space from 9am - 1pm  ... ... two co-founders of the project, 36 workshop participants resulting in 10 actors to which 4 more theatre workers were added to the creative team ...  ... directors notes:   Welcome.   I should say at the outset we invite you to think of the action you are to witness as a Requiem - an act of remembrance. This years end of October hovers specifically over the torrent of tears from the trauma of Itaewon.  We have approached this trauma first and foremost from the perspective of students. Many have experien...

 Well ... ... Ullaanbaatar, Mongolia was a wonderfully challenging experience ... reaffirmed, if you want to make a difference you have to do things normal people would think are too radical/incomprehensible ... maybe the biggest hurdle to get over ... you think "fungus" ... the word in use now as my partner, a completely fluent english speaker/writer though not her native tongue, uses f--- often in public saying it is a fun word pretty devoid of meaning for her ... makes me uncomfortable ... we agree to use "fungus" as a replacement ... now i too have fun ... it seems a good choice ... ... so fungus ... performance/poem "Untamed" is not going to work/be understood/be accepted or appreciated ... you think fungus ... so just do it  ... it might work ...  note "make a difference" not succeed because then what the fungus does success mean ... seventy years old now ... need to throw caution to the wind ...  photo during performance by Kakumoto Atsu...

:: Note::  ... our performance group Untamed has created a piece ... coming soon ... after 12 workshop sessions and 15 rehearsals we are about to be ready ... a few more sessions when we return from Mongolia where we perform our signature piece " Untamed " ...  then " Abandoned: a thousand tongues" will happen ...   

Acting School  begins again in May.       :: Note:: ... started in March ... had to return to Canada ... started up again in May ... classes vary but always with AeRan ...