if . . .

"They have given us war and we are going to give them war back." Who doubts a worse world may fall down. Together, not out of cowardice, nor provocation with tears carving the cheek as if a funeral, as if extinguished, whether at protests or among prisoners. The hooded, the convergence and those who lowered their visors, hoisted their shields dare. Isolated islands in the Han river dream leaders and visitors will not return to dream armament. Bear witness, for a moment, fear and force stopped. - See: Writings :: note :: ... attempting to see what cannot be seen ... how can one make any sense of Toronto & g20 ... too much was seen ...

Performance Originally uploaded by raYmon Performance disappears in the moment of its manifestation. It is an expression of the potentiality of the past and of the way the past can shape the creative impulses and imaginative landscape of the present. Performance is a restless visibility of imagination and embodies the invisible intensity for the sudden, epiphanic emergence of the genuinely unplanned unknown. Performance sculpts space creating temporary bursts of ‘now’-ness inside a form constantly vanishing. Performance negotiates action with breath, blood, bone & mind in fields structured by desire, power, gender, identity, narrative and memory in ways consciously deep & with nuanced understanding. Performance dreams wakefulness. - See: Writings Theater :: note :: ... what is performance? ...

Received e-mail this afternoon Dear colleagues: As many of you will have worked with him and many others will know much about him, this is just to let you know the sad news that Zygmunt Molik died last night at 6 pm in Wroclaw hospital. ... checked the The Grotowski Institute ... the words confirmed ... I had been told he had been bed ridden this past while and even last week had dreamt of a passing ... still for a moment time eternal stopped ... why must we suffer losses? "The secret lies in the voice, sound as whole and pure as it’s possible. Its essence is to release and awake the middle part of the body. Different parts of the body are very often separated: the head is separated, the legs… We are blocked. As a result of combining vocal and body excersises we reach the point, where the whole organism is active in speaking and singing." ( Zygmunt Molik ) ... Zygmunt Molik's Voice and Body Work the Leagacy of Jerzy Grotowski was published eight days ago ... thirty fiv...

Saskatoon West Intertribal Powwow “The Gathering of Communities” 9:15am Drum Roll Call Dignitary Line-up Opening Prayer and Drum Song 9:30am Grand Entry Flag Song Victory Song Student Welcome Speeches Introductions Dignitary Shuffle and Round Dance Intertribal Songs (Drum Contest to Begin) 10:30 Tiny Tot (ages up to 5) Exhibition Intertribal Songs 11:00 Elementary School Exhibition Intertribal Songs Noon Giveaway Honor Ceremony Métis Fiddling- Dallas and Phil Boyer Métis Jigging Contest (youth and adult) 1:00 High School Exhibition Intertribal Songs 2:00 Adult Dance Specials Drum Contest Announcements 3:00 Grand Exit Dance Out of Eagle Staff and Flags - Photo Jade Henderson - See: Personal :: note :: ... students danced the day away ... out of respect not a picture of the dancers but a moment during the day of the community ...

Ileana Montalbetti as Elettra in Canadian Opera Company performance of Mozart's Idomeneo . (Photo Michael Cooper) Last night, members of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio -- an apprenticeship program for promising young singers and accompanists -- took over the non-chorus cast of the current production of Mozart's Idomeneo. An announcement over the PA system said that last night was the result of 7 weeks of intensive work. It's labour that paid off, because everything on stage appeared to work as smoothly and seamlessly as with the professional cast on opening night two weeks ago. In reality, the Ensemble Studio singers were already heavily involved in the production. Last night, several of them merely exchanged their roles for something more significant. If there were more than one performance with the Ensemble cast, I would have recommended it as highly as the original. Although everyone's singing was fine, there were two particular stars on the stage...

"The festival strives to bring together many divergent groups: artists, social movements, community groups, organized labour and non-unionized workers to work together to support each other’s struggles and issues. We believe in using the arts to do this." ( MayWorks ) - See: Politics :: note :: ... sadly a day full of apathy where i am ...

listen hear the rain see a thousand dead umbrellas frame drowsy past hero inspirations crave the heart of hearts fake ideology retrieve snapshots of blurry nervous love kill a squalling homage to my flawed adult self sing sarcastically the edge of haves and the have not regret the worst kind of emotional mediocre promise bite little everyday paranoia lurking just below turn to extreme dark dirgey lyric mixes negotiate a kind of tribal throbbing mute the sigh to somehow lusher embrace the latest buzz use your discretion resist fragments marginalize - See: Poetry :: note :: ... april is the cruelest month ... Everywhere I go, I find a poet has been there before me. (Sigmund Freud) ...

If I slip now If my tongue is brash If my thoughts betray If my feet numb If I fall If my tongue If the shell cracks If our knees touch If words fail If our eyes meet If my heart softens If the sun If tongue If word If numb If heart skin tongue word embrace Fall I will deny it all (from Slip . Poems by Sina Queyras ) - See: Writers Poetry :: note :: ... reading this while writing previous post ... they were (to me) connected ...

"When someone is following the stream of transformation energy, doing it - performing - with the ancient vibratory songs, the resonators in the body can begin a very complex dialogue with themselves. A dialogue which is not at all guided consciously by the doer but led more by the "inner action" itself." (Thomas Richards Interviewer: Lisa Wolford. The Edge-Point of Performance) Bent Out of Shape Productions' The Drowning Girls recent Saskatoon performances March 24 - April 5 at Backstage Stage Persephone Theater surfaced a thought frenzy that always lays close to the surface. What do I witness in a performance? Daniela Vlaskalic, co-writer, actor and co-producer has stated "... we all ended up writing and creating the play together. That was 1999. " The ten year journey has been mostly lauded throughout as hugely entertaining and visually mesmerizing with positively sparkling comments. "From conception to execution and performance, all the elem...

The beginning of March offered Saskatoon audiences a rare sighting of two productions of plays by Judith Thompson. Recognized by some , “as one of the major playwrights in the English-speaking world ...", her profoundly dark and disturbing visions present challenges to mainstream companies. It is not surprising then both plays were performed by what may be described as outlier ensembles. White Line Productions performed The Crackwalker at The Remai Arts Centre's BackStage Stage and Goat Songs Theatre performed Lion in the Streets at The Refinery Arts and Spirit Centre. Director Kristen Holfeuer assembled her Crackwalker cast from the creative firepower of recent University of Saskatchewan Drama Department graduates while Bethani Jade directed her young, fearless group of high-school and current university students in the fragmented and disruptive narrative Lion in the Streets . Does it really take gender to recognize the common condition of oppression with the will to powe...

Alterati – The Other Culture "This is a statement, not an appeal. Most great art movements, like surrealism, dada, or situationism all started with a manifesto, a statement of position. Here is our position: We are already here. The proscenium has been breached, disbanded and dismantled. Information networks span the globe, and cultures, ideas, and realities are converging and being redefined minute-by-minute. This revolution will not be broadcast, although it may be televised, on demand, portable and configurable — but it will be your choice. Possibly, it will be your creation. Remember the Future of “no future”? Well, this is it. That’s not a statement of doom. It’s an expression of freedom. Kill your clocks, burn your calendars, and hang out. Alterati has built the platform. All you need do is show up." Alterati - See: Manifesto :: note :: ... love a manifesto ...

Passing on to All New Year greetings from Monk Dae Yo Hwa Eom Sa The 19th Branch Temple of Korean Buddhist Chogye Order 눈이 많이 오고 강추위도 잦았던 겨울이 지금도 기성을 부리네요 화엄사 향기님들 모두 평안하시지요 기축년이 어느덧 가고 경인년 신년이 시작이면서 민족 고유의 명절인 설날이 오네요 올해는 연휴가 짧아 고향에 머무시는 시간도 많지 않고 혹여 길이 막히지 않을까 싶은데 느긋한 마음으로 안전운전 하셔서 무사무탈하게 잘 다녀오세요 복 많이 지으시고 평안하시길 바랍니다 ♬까치까치 설날은 ♬ ♬ ♬ Magpie Magpie New Year is ♬ ♬ - See: Temple :: note :: ... received this e-mail greeting ... the Temple Stay this summer was an emotional experience & Monk Dae Yo was an inspiring, generous, kind & benevolent director whose smile attracted compassion within all ...

The sea creature lurked silently at the bottom of the ocean. Mermaids played skipping games making bubbles outside their magic shell. Suddenly a splash sounds above them. Two Haenyo, skilled women divers who are known to be able to hold their breath for more than two minutes and dive to depths of 20 meters start their day foraging the ocean floor for octopus, abalone, sea urchins, sea slugs, cucumber and seaweed. The sea creature curiously approaches the divers. They panic fearing an attack & call for help. A passing fisherman hauls the divers onto his boat and spears the sea creature. Mortally wounded the creature falls to the bottom of the ocean. The mermaids mourn the loss of their companion & protector. They dance over him calling on spirits to bring the creature back to life. Joyously they succeed. Swimming to the boat they summon the divers coaxing them to climb on the creatures back. Together they are carried to the shell kingdom where the mermaids gift the divers with t...

The eternities went for his reveries and deeper The blaze of intention The dream lifeline design Trekking introspection Excavating the gap At the abyss the underly totem runes buried again buried again shock :: note :: ... a response to the night ...

Live the Question Becoming the answer The journey I trace The impulse I follow The loneliness I assume Reveals the way I am In the silence I listen to the forgotten question Remembering to learn my way. - ae ran (Transliteration of Parcours by raymon) :: note :: ... written for an acting course ...

... listening to Ted Harrison interview on The Next Chapter he explains ... simplify the shapes & add more colour ... gradually the colour takes over ... the colour was a discovery ... ... strikes me Gabriel Josipovici follows this aesthetic in his novels I've recently read: conversations in another Room & Everything Passes ... ... in the theatre render the action & deepen concentration ... wonder on the pedagogical application ... - See: ArtistsSpeak :: note :: ... ? ...

66 Events #six_events in 2008 was performed by hundreds in 29 countries across the globe over 6 days #sixty_six_events is over a full 24 hour period and can be performed by anyone, anywhere. #freely interpret and perform any number of the 66 events within the given time #document your actions and send to info@sixtysixevents.com ( Crg Hill's poetry scorecard ) - See: events :: note :: ... missed it ... next year? ...

what theatre really is or princesses of the new moon they form a gentle circle on a darkened stage listening faces so seriously still desiring this ones gift & that ones voice they await the tone which releases them into the wild lights fade, seats empty, doors open as the future slides in. you'd think I'd tire of this endless seasonal come & go experience is brutal, generous & expansive a worthy loss. simply be faithful to the eternal visionary tradition of unovertakeable,tender loss. :: note :: ... end of term ...

I am wary of performance and attend when obligated yet often am aroused to write. I prefer description supported by action. I go looking, searching, asking, questioning, reacting to data, leaping in, constructing notes to [re]act on my responses instead of contemplating on them. I dislike a cursory summary of the narrative action and shy from offering judgemental impressions. I prefer to present details, referencing examples to illustrate an assembling attention. I try to situate the work within the context of the oeuvre of the playwright/director/ensemble or whatever seems appropriate: a close reading of content, form and working procedures, historical and biographical tidbits, the canonical vocabulary of theory, innovation or stated intention. I require an intelligence of feeling and academic rigour parallel with associative linking to create a complexity that blurs serious and playful thinking. My wish is to stimulate questions that encourage a working manifesto for all types of pra...

What are the artistic processes of performance & how to articulate how I witness the uncapturable in performance practice are questions that guide my exploration. I meditate on them from the vantage point of my own self-narrative, as a performance practitioner whose artistry, in many ways, relies on the willingness of others to disclose, to open themselves. I left my home and theatre practices turning twenty to immerse myself in another tradition. After an extensive stay within the Grotowski and Grotowski diaspora I returned home to dwell in the perceived place of my creative center. The work inexplicably led to the vocation of education & specifically playing in the territory education of the imagination. One of the frames through which I construct my research is a focus on the formal in practice: attention to the shapes of narratives, the physical intimacy that changes the time and space of an encounter, the fullness of the movements of touch and density (dancingness & si...