Ferment

"An empty mirror and your worst destructive habits, when they are held up to each other,

that's when the real making begins.

That's what art and crafting are."

from Childhood Friends by Rumi

This quote speaks to my finally being able to see the piece now that it is finished. There is still much work to be done, but having the complete structure and content forces me to confront, if you will, the dance as it is and as it should be. Those two are by no means the same thing. I can no longer avoid those places which have stymied me, those parts which I have been avoiding, or those questions which the dancers have been asking for far too long now. I must get down to truly crafting what we have in place. While much of that happens along the way, there is more to be had. Some things will go, more will be added.

I will also be making the costumes and addressing how those will be integrated into the performance. It would be easy, relatively speaking, if the dancers were simply to wear them; but that will not be the case. A costume that serves multiple purposes within any given dance is an additional challenge. Not that designing and building a successful costume is a simple task. It is an art in and of itself and best left to those much more capable and imaginative than myself. As it is that responsibility falls to me.

In the month before our next MOLTing, I will be going over our most recent rehearsals on video, and going back through my entire collection of notes, drawings, collected images and writings, and so forth...looking for things I may have forgotten and trying to find more clarity. Our first rehearsal back we will begin working with Greg D'Alessio's new score. I will have that a bit in advance of the dancers and endeavoring to learn it inside and out so that I can guide them through the meeting of music and movement. Finally, I will be making choices about subtitles from a large list that I have been compiling since the beginning of the process.

Even as I welcome this small respite, I look forward to MOLTing again.
Joan

MOLT photo by Larry Coleman: Jenita McGowan in lakeside nest by Brian Meggitt