Two More Weeks

The clock is ticking....

I'd love to say that the details are falling into place, but they are managing to hang tantalizingly up in mid-air. Only certain details, that is, not the most important ones, those upon which we've been building and streamlining our creation.

I've thrown myself a challenge to let go of my usual orientation tools in this performance. I'm not going to hang onto my familiar landmarks and directional aids, instead turning front into back and side, diagonal and every shade in between. I hope I don't get lost, but that would just be part of the journey, I guess.

Creativity and Tight Spots

Last night my wife dreamed about leaving one room and entering another. In between the rooms was an extremely narrow passage. She would have to squeeze through, holding her breath and contorting her body in order to fit. Once she was in the new room, she could inhale again and relax, enjoy the comforts of having enough space and the novelty of being in a fresh environment.

But the passage was tight.

Maybe there is a way to create something worthwhile and emerge renewed without going through such tight spots...but I've never experienced it.

A Teaser

Incorporamento's "A Ghost In The Room With Us" Teaser from Salamander & Co on Vimeo.

The Eve

Here we are, on the fence between two years and two decades. I have this satisfying image in my head of sitting on top of a flight of stairs, looking down at the ten steps below me as if each one was one year, and the whole flight the first decade of the 21st century. Turning around to look above me, the flights go on for so long they disappear into the fog. But sitting here now, I can easily see all that's below me (us) now, water under the bridge.

You can make lists upon lists of events, people, sounds, tragedies, glories, miracles that happen in a year or decade gone by. Throughout it all, that ghost is with us, taking it all in, growing with each year to encompass all that we've been through and help us move forward.

At moments like this one, that ghost helps us look back and remember: hold those memories close.

Together, we move forward into 2011. We are three artists coming together to create, to push each other and therefore ourselves. I can't think of a more inspiring, hopeful and fitting way to step into the second decade of the 21st century.

today i survived and managed to create at least as much as i reacted and kept a small piece of sanity protected while fear threatened to undo all that i cared about. to create is to work with what is, no matter what it seems to mean, and trust where it will all lead. a tall order in-deed.

Fertile Ground

During today's rehearsal, I brought up the idea of having the composer and poet run out of the room in the middle of the performance. Gavin immediately didn't like it and said so.

This is when you know a young collaboration is working--when artists begin to trust each other enough to quickly disagree.

We are still getting to know each other and how we work--what we have in common and how we come from different universes.

We may all respect each others skills and talents, but we can't be afraid to push back a little when somebody's idea doesn't feel right.

Too much reverence kills the collaboration. Trust between collaborators allows for the group to take greater chances and dig deeper until they hit fertile ground.

Three artists approach each other, eye each other's work while keeping time with their own, intermingle, and disperse.

Today, we went in circles but ended up in a different place than where we began. Interesting how that can happen.