Spring 2023 Updates: It makes sense, dramaturgically
A stand of thin trees and small palms at their feet with blue and white sky behind them, on the coast near St. Mark's Lighthouse, Florida.
Spring 2023 Updates: It makes sense, dramaturgically
I'll stop referencing that briefly viral moment soon, promise
Hello from the season of lilac huffing, jacket stripping, skincare routine renewing, and maybe if we're lucky a touch of fear-and-FOMO skin-shedding against the ever-encroaching anxieties of unseasonable warmth/disappointable people/bills. (Or is it just me?)
I'm back from MANCC and want you to hire me as a director or dramaturg of your movement- and/or story-based work
I spent a week in April at one of the best gigs of my professional life so far: serving as dramaturg for my friend Jules Crothers' residency at MANCC (rhymes with fancy; stands for the Maggie Allessee National Center for Choreography) in Tallahassee, FL. The gig was great in part because it was well-resourced - good pay, comfortable housing, and even per diem - but also because it was personally and creatively rewarding, building and reflecting back to me some of the skills I bring and the work I already do and want to do more of.
Jules is smart and funny and part of the reward was just the joy of working with her. She's making a solo show called Holy Shit that premieres at ODC in San Francisco in June and will hopefully tour after that. It's a dance-based work replete with story, character, specificity, and lols that addresses the impacts left behind by a deeply evangelical upbringing. Jules also brought a music collaborator, Ben Juodvalkis, who's written some excellent original tracks for the piece. It's gonna be a fantastic show and I hope you'll see it if you're in the Bay Area or it comes to where you live, or follow Jules otherwise to keep up with her work.
However people define dramaturgy across disciplines, the work I did was essentially supporting Jules in bringing the work closer to what it was trying to be: clarifying core intent and themes; workshopping scenes to refine and deliver on their intent and connection to the whole; asking questions, mirroring, cheerleading, problem-solving; and a bit of stage management along the way (documenting our decisions and their impact on the flow of costumes and props). We worked a lot on language - the writing itself, the delivery of it, and how it wove together with movement and sound. And the work went so well. Jules and I were probably uniquely well-matched personality- and vibes-wise, and she was starting with such strong material in the first place, but I came out feeling confident and eager for more.
So, this is me putting out there that I want to serve in more roles like this: director, dramaturg, creative consultant, whatever we want to call the role of guiding or co-guiding a work toward realization of its fullest self on a conceptual and narrative level. I expect I'll always be generating source material / making my own work as well, but I am clearer after this week (and the work I was doing at my day job before and after our rehearsals, which somehow managed to be a similar creative process despite living in totally different content/universe) that this holding-and-shepherding-the-creative-process-on-behalf-of-someone-else's-baby bag is one I've got. Let it be out there now with the pollen and the petals! If you've got a gig, get in touch: this is work I do well.
There's a whole other set of thoughts on the existence of resourced opportunities/creative gigs and who offers what for what, but I'll save that for another piece soon. For now - my wish is for all artists and their collaborators to have what MANCC made possible for Jules and her team.
NYC solo-brewing & showing
For the past year I've been in process with a new solo project whose material has already transferred through a few different names - at times The Dumpster Out Back, occasionally in chapter form The F_____, the Fawn, and the Boss, and more recently retitled as Dykey Faggy Middle Aged Kiddo Teen Angst Origin Story, a mouthful I'm feeling quite content with but that you're welcome to call Origin Story for short. There's a fuller description of it here, but I'll say for now that it more and more feels like a project about legibility - about the yearning to become legible to your own (gender deviant) self even while chafing against the terms and alphabets that make you legible to others. After some deep work time at the Hambidge Center in March 2022, I showed a chapter-in-progress at Chicago Dancemakers Forum's Elevate festival last October and at Midwest RAD Fest in Kalamazoo in March.
And now I'm happy to share I'll be performing a 20-min chapter-excerpt of Origin Story at New Dance Alliance's Performance Mix Festival at Abrons Arts Center in NYC on Sunday, June ll, on a 4pm shared bill with K.J. Holmes. The Performance Mix Festival has a million artists on several different bills from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon that weekend, and I hope to attend as much of it as possible. NYC and east coast friends, come thru! Info and tickets here!
Even with past development under my belt, this means that I'm now in get-this-bud-to-blossom aka rehearsal mode, which is being blessedly supported by a handful of free hours at NDA's loft in Tribeca (genuine shoutout to being able to hear the at-home older art couple washing dishes and saying "Karen, there's no more cream cheese" on the other side of the studio doors while you settle into your X on the floor) and by a well-timed retreat for the Queer|Art|Mentorship program in upstate NY in late May.
One-off excerpt showings and the rehearsals we cram around them are a big part of how a work can grow. Still, I'm seeking longer-term free or affordable rehearsal space and dreaming of a presenting/producing partner for this work in 2024. Do you, your space, or your institution think that This Could Be Us? Learn more about the work here or by getting in touch for a conversation or video excerpt.
One more time for Brandi Jojo
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 was a very special day and I will remember the election night party and the feelings of profound relief, joy, and interconnectedness I felt there forever, even though I know Brandon Johnson's tenure as Mayor of Chicago will include its disappointments and despair just like any other era. For any politics/Chicago/organizing nerds on this list, I wanted to share a roundup of post-election writing that captured much crucial analysis of how this race was won and what it means:
Damon Williams in The Triibe: "In Brandon Johnson's administration, there's opportunity for bravery"
Barbara Ransby-Sporn in The Nation: "Chicago's Rich Organizing Tradition Paid Off, Delivering Victory for Brandon Johnson"
Mack Liederman in Block Club Chicago: "How Young Voters Helped Make Brandon Johnson Chicago’s Next Mayor"
Mina Bloom and Joe Ward in Block Club Chicago: "How Grassroots Organizing Fueled Brandon Johnson’s Victory: ‘It Was 100-Percent People Power’"
Monica Trinidad interviewed by Chris Mahin at the People's Tribune: "Chicago Artists Mobilize for Brandon Johnson"
Not an article, but the story of the unfolding of Bootlegs4Brandon that can be gathered from their posts and captions is a beautiful example of the creativity and everybody-all-in culture that sprung up around this campaign
Thank you to everybody who showed up for this race in so many ways and who is building inside and outside election cycles. Endless gratitude to all the organizers who made it happen. Let's see what's possible in the next 4 years.
Summer coming
The Real Dance: Season 2 in production if we're lucky (thanks to everyone who submitted to the casting call; it's taking longer than planned to process through and respond but we'll be in touch and are still accepting through Sunday)
Residency time for me and Grace
Lots of Miko's during the cicada hour
Lots of cicadas
Sky games
Boyz II Men and The Isley Brothers at Ravinia
Taj Mahal and Corinne Bailey Rae at Celebrate Brooklyn
Dreams of ambitionless periods of minimal plans
Dreams of my niblings
Thanks for being invested, and til next time,
Nora