Simone Forti : Huddle

Finding your place

leaning on ground on limb or shoulder

never fall down

rearrange each time

bottom top bottom is ABC

elbow sheilding neck head tucked in armpit

twirl around the world on top of your head

SPLIT up down

all sides every side all round all around

mind shifts blankets cloth friction against

falling. FLOAT ABOVE THE HUDDLE

no rush. Go for it. no fear. support every

where. Time to let go. Shy rush

away - there is time to beat. Maturity

Frantic puddles. Calm down. Live -

anything can happen in the quiet.

nothing - no one - no suger no diatribe

no make-up, always costume. Built

for comfort, for execution. for painting

for construction. to let go. Camera

always. documentation always. nothing.

anywhere. always. somewhere. simple.

tell the cirlce. like a hawk. Watching.

graceful circle. watching - you. Watching

them, watching their placement, aware

of those on the far line in the back

watching everything on one side.

Community. Tender. Trust.

Community is so simple.

so easy. Huddle.

Reggie Wilson First and Heel: Introduction - A virtual witnessing response

The following is a writing response on Introduction observed in my writing on dance workshop at NYLA's with eva yaa asentewaa

How can you introduce yourself and your work? Why not admit an introduction is also a performance and perhaps choreograph or layer the process of body-sound-art into a sycocpated text of desctipion. Perhaps the space we stand is all we need to perform. Reggie remained stationary, and the auidence was still - so we can fixate our focus on his one place. But, how much repetition can the mind endure - while processing text? The longer we notice the same movement the louder it becomes, as we anticipate its shift or ending. When does it become effective to pull focus from body to voice - and can we predict what tools will work for what audiences? Can a performance inside the center of center stage allow us to a see a body in all ways a dance viewing audience may expect?

What did I notice? My own resistance to this style of lecture presetnation. Why did - or how did this 4th wall not present at the beginning grow? or situate itself mid-pont? When the performer continued revealing facts about himself? Was it the stomp/marching beat?

Where does this work go? How does it affect people? Can there be a call and response if dancing/motion is still taking place? Can storytelling with a body in silence not overpower the/ still leave room for voices from an audience?

Reggie does not dance because of his injuries/knees according to his text in Introduction, but he danced here/there on that . Maybe his introduction provides context for dance w/o text to come.

Antigone Sr./Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at the Judson Church (L) Thursday April 26th 7:30pm

i rarely see art that allows me to fall in love with the performers. 20 looks was one of these enjoyable moments.

the two and half hour performance choreographed by trajal harrell and performed with an all male cast left me mesmerized. as a queer femme, secure in my sexual identity most would understand as lesbian, by the end i found myself confessing my love for the performers in the lobby over the complimentary wine. the elements at play were all extremely varied, humored, and inventive. trajal took me. i fell for the language he used to tell his story, and all of the characters the performers sucesfully embodied in the process. toward the end of the show, especially one of such length, its common to find your focus waning often similar to the energy at the end of a late night dance party. my energy began to fade to that  frequency often found in a dimly lit space, and trajal brought us to this place visually and physically on stage with his performers. on white rectangular platforms, the lights dimmed and reached equilibriums with the lit negatives spaces between, duplicating their presence. i began to wonder, how did they pull out new platforms front and center stage, without the audience catching a glimpse? dancers pulled their energy from deep within to dance through the air. i had known all along i was in love with the the first performer to move with the blue jacket. i was taken, to a dark cloudy night ballroom, i traveled through history to the voguing hall, i watched the runway. trajal created something of visual performance magik.