September 23, 2007

Hello friends !

First of all, an apology to those of you I have not been able to reply to via email: I am working on a very old computer which connects via the phone (what?!) to the internet. It takes about 30 minutes to just pull up my email, and then it is so painfully slow that I have to walk away very slowly, breathing deeply, and counting backward from 100. My intention to blog has fallen listlessly by the wayside, right next to the man with his luggage on his donkey that I passed on the way to the store today.

Needless to say, time flows differently here, and I for one, am grateful. 98% of the time.

I am in a very small town, let’s call it a village, called Ferretto, about 7km from Castiglione del Lago, and Lake Trasimeno in Umbria. Lenka, her husband Simone, and daughter Giulia live in Tuoro sul Trasimeno, also about 7km away. It is very near Cortona, of Under the Tuscan Sky (?) fame. (I have promised I will watch the movie when I get back.) There is one bar, located in an old church, very close to the mental hospital. It is charming – no irony, no sarcasm.

The studio itself is huge and beautiful with large windows on one side, white dance floor over dark wood; sparse, open space. Amazing. There is a kitchen off of the studio where we cook every meal. (I don’t actually cook very much – I am quite gifted at doing dishes though) Two bedrooms downstairs, each with 3 sets of murphy-style bunk beds, and a community shower that reminds me of junior high gym class. There is a cord hanging next to one of the faucets that I (of course) pulled during my first shower – a buzzer – in case something dramatic/unfortunate happens while washing? I think I feel safer.

Upstairs is the office and another bed/bathroom; the whole building is a living/working space for the Deja Donne Company. I realize that this is simply the life these artists live – possibility, potential, and practicality. I didn’t even know that I could dream for this.

The work is fantastic - today is my second day off since Sept 7, if that says anything. We began working with an image of a web, which Lenka actually constructed so that we could develop the material, then her husband Simone came in and began manipulating the movement; it has been a beautiful, organic process – hard work, but fast. We basically had the structure for the work within a week, and have now been working to refine, tweak, and set it; it is such a luxury to have TIME to work and play and reflect on what we have.

There will also be a video section of the solo following the movement section. We are working with Barbara Schröer, a dancer/actor/videographer from Germany, who is constructing a visual piece out of shots of me at the Terontola train station. (We almost got arrested by the station police on my second day here. Apparently no one really knew who was in charge of giving us permission - and because it all turned out well, it was very exciting.)

I think it is all going to be beautiful.

I will also return to Italy next year to perform the solo with the company.

I am grateful for every moment I have here. I have met some amazing people: Lenka’s husband Simone, Barbara, her partner Pietro who is an actor/movement artist with Deja Donne (among other things), Masako Noguchi, from Japan, who I think is possibly the most amazing and inspiring dancer I have ever seen, Katarina Skiada, also a beautiful dancer from Athens, and Giulia, a wonderful woman from Ancona, Italy who was here for a week, helping with everything you could think of. At one point, we had 6 women from six different countries eating dinner together, sharing, talking, learning – unbelievable – thank you thank you thank you. I get a little shiver down my spine every time I think about it.

I wake up every morning, make tea, eat an egg, then lie down on the studio floor and begin warming up. This waking up of my body has become a prayer that I offer to myself; I am able to take as long as I need, which I have discovered is about an hour and a half. I never really truly knew.

I wash my clothes by hand, and hang them in the back to dry with the sun.

I sleep when I am tired. I eat when I am hungry. I drink when I am thirsty.

I am learning how to be generous with myself.

And I need a little bit of chocolate every day.

My love to all of you-

September 5, 2007

I just wanted to drop a quick line to let you all know that I am leaving for Italy (a town called Tuoro sul Trasimeno, in Umbria) today, on the next installment of the solo performance project I am working on. A little blurb to bring those of you I haven't talked to in a while up to date....

woman’s work: a solo commissioning project: I am inviting five female choreographers to each create a solo for me using the concept of identity as a choreographic point of departure. I will perform the solos in a 2-evening performance event in Austin, TX, in the spring 2008. Each solo will a have a short video prelude: a mini-documentary including interviews and rehearsal footage, as well as glimpses of the day-to-day living and working at each site. Dutch Rall, Emmy award-winning producer/director, will be creating the mini-documentaries. the choreographers:
Ann Carlson (NY/Boston)
Lenka Flory of Deja Donne (Italy/Czech Republic) www.dejadonne.com
Claudia Lavista of Delfos Danza Contemporanéa (Mexico) www.delfosdanza.com
Kyung-eun Lee of Lee. K. Dance (Korea)
Elizabeth Gillaspy (TX)

I was in Korea in July, working with Kyung-eun Lee, and teaching ballet classes to her dance company, will be in Italy working with Lenka Flory until Oct 5., and then Boston to work with Ann Carlson in November.

I was planning to keep a blog, but am now uncertain of the internet situation where I will be staying. I'll keep you posted.