A while ago someone alerted me to this really cool group. It is led by Willi Dorner (head of Cie. Willi Dorner) and Rashana Smith recently directed me to speak with someone who has worked with the group. Lisa del Rosario was kind enough to lend me a few words about her personal experience with the group:
"The choreographer, Willi Dorner, traveled from Austria and auditioned dancers for this project 2 months earlier before the project began. Then 2 months later, we worked for 8 days straight working 9-5pm building a 2 mile trail of body sculptures. It was freaking strenuous. I felt like I got beat up by a bat at the end of the day...[and] I had to sleep on my belly one night after trying to squeeze between an electric pole and an electric box upside down several times. Lots of trials and errors, and very, very precise positioning.
The show consisted of about 20 pieces. We ran from one to another and had to hold it for 5 min or longer as the audience walked by. It really changed me--I'm still inspired by it because it fucking toughened me up."
Definitely google BIUS and check out the plethora of photos of Dorner's work.
a few links in that vein:
Wall Street Journal photo blog
Nice little description, and showing of presentational format, fi;af's Crossing the Line
watch it in action, and get a feel for the process of building some of these formations (2:47 is nice).
Dorner's site
...till next post
Friday, January 21, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
a(nother) beginning to guerrilla talk
a while back I wrote about how I tend to look at guerrilla (dancing in this case.) For those who may have interest in anything I say, I definitely would redirect you to take a look at that to see some of where I am coming from when I talk about this (fairly expansive) thing. it's a good base to bounce off of
alright, so guerrilla dance
what exactly happens when one guerrilla dances? "about a zillion things" would be my answer - not exactly a zillion mind you, only approximately seeing as this is definitely not an exact science. at a very basic level, one who is 'guerrilla dancing' tends to enter a space where dancing is not often normal (i.e. a street corner, a cafe, a bookstore, a lecture hall, a library, etc.) and begins to dance. as is probably already obvious (though I will soon elaborate on it anyway) each person who does this act of guerrilla dancing, is doing so for his/her own reasons.
Some people do it to bring dance to people who rarely see it; I've known some who use it as a way to perform grand acts that impress others...in other words, to show off; some people have done it simply because, "Oh! that looks like fun. I think I'll do that;" others do it as a way to say "fuck you" to the man, "this is a free fuckin' country and I do what I want, where I want it!!!!!!!!!;" while even others do it just because it's fun to dance somewhere other than the studio - a place in which contemporary 'dancers' spend the majority of their time training/dancing. I've never met one person who dances for only one reason, but instead a mix of these (and other) ideas.
My own personal reasons for gdancing. it's fun to dance in varied landscapes with various textures; it's exhilarating to pay as little attention as possible to the social codes that tell me, "this is not a normal dance space! it's weird for you to dance here!" and lastly (and quite prominent a reason) to find a sense of meditation in such a loaded act.
There are several more (conscious) reasons I do this act of gdancing, but their complexity and vagueness are better suited for another time. These are the most straightforward, and prominent reasons I gdance.
p.s.
I really like the idea of "meditation in such a loaded act." I think that speaks pretty directly to the idea I brought up that gdancing is dancing in "a space where dancing is not normal." what normal has to do with all this, and why that creates a senses of a "loaded act"...hmmmm, I think I'll talk about those in my next post.
alright, so guerrilla dance
what exactly happens when one guerrilla dances? "about a zillion things" would be my answer - not exactly a zillion mind you, only approximately seeing as this is definitely not an exact science. at a very basic level, one who is 'guerrilla dancing' tends to enter a space where dancing is not often normal (i.e. a street corner, a cafe, a bookstore, a lecture hall, a library, etc.) and begins to dance. as is probably already obvious (though I will soon elaborate on it anyway) each person who does this act of guerrilla dancing, is doing so for his/her own reasons.
Some people do it to bring dance to people who rarely see it; I've known some who use it as a way to perform grand acts that impress others...in other words, to show off; some people have done it simply because, "Oh! that looks like fun. I think I'll do that;" others do it as a way to say "fuck you" to the man, "this is a free fuckin' country and I do what I want, where I want it!!!!!!!!!;" while even others do it just because it's fun to dance somewhere other than the studio - a place in which contemporary 'dancers' spend the majority of their time training/dancing. I've never met one person who dances for only one reason, but instead a mix of these (and other) ideas.
My own personal reasons for gdancing. it's fun to dance in varied landscapes with various textures; it's exhilarating to pay as little attention as possible to the social codes that tell me, "this is not a normal dance space! it's weird for you to dance here!" and lastly (and quite prominent a reason) to find a sense of meditation in such a loaded act.
There are several more (conscious) reasons I do this act of gdancing, but their complexity and vagueness are better suited for another time. These are the most straightforward, and prominent reasons I gdance.
p.s.
I really like the idea of "meditation in such a loaded act." I think that speaks pretty directly to the idea I brought up that gdancing is dancing in "a space where dancing is not normal." what normal has to do with all this, and why that creates a senses of a "loaded act"...hmmmm, I think I'll talk about those in my next post.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Near Future
I have been fairly absent from the online presence of guerrilla, especially when it comes to this blog. Obviously I have still been dancing all over (including in Michigan. a first that happened over Christmas time, with my sister Kathryn) no worries about this. In my stead from blog writing, I have been working on something else.
I am starting work on creation of a sort of hub-like web presence for gdance. You may already know this in the skeleton-like form of our FB, Twitter, Blogger, and Dance in Columbus page. I am going to work to interconnect these parts to a greater extent, which will form to become a web-place that contains a wealth of information for all things guerrilla, and to facilitate information/guerrilla meeting-ups between individuals.
I have begun creating the meat for this skeleton, most recently in the form of short little videocast blurbs. Those which I have created so far showcase how I and others experience gdance, as well as the exploration of ideas that have come up in my mind/discussions with others in relation to dancin' around town. Feel free to peruse this vast library:
Roofin' it -
http://www.vimeo.com/17643599
Tide Collage-
http://www.vimeo.com/17854171
Messy-
http://www.vimeo.com/18607860
Mango Troubles-
http://www.vimeo.com/18721647
I will continue posting these little films on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. You can also find these videos, and keep up to date with weekly postings of "official" guerrilla times (an oxymoron?) on our FB group page. Also, don't forget our Twitter page as a great/quick way to keep up with all things guerrilla.
Keep an eye out for all future happenings, and if you miss a couple of such events don't worry, a continuous flow will be the name of the game.
I am starting work on creation of a sort of hub-like web presence for gdance. You may already know this in the skeleton-like form of our FB, Twitter, Blogger, and Dance in Columbus page. I am going to work to interconnect these parts to a greater extent, which will form to become a web-place that contains a wealth of information for all things guerrilla, and to facilitate information/guerrilla meeting-ups between individuals.
I have begun creating the meat for this skeleton, most recently in the form of short little videocast blurbs. Those which I have created so far showcase how I and others experience gdance, as well as the exploration of ideas that have come up in my mind/discussions with others in relation to dancin' around town. Feel free to peruse this vast library:
Roofin' it -
http://www.vimeo.com/17643599
Tide Collage-
http://www.vimeo.com/17854171
Messy-
http://www.vimeo.com/18607860
Mango Troubles-
http://www.vimeo.com/18721647
I will continue posting these little films on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. You can also find these videos, and keep up to date with weekly postings of "official" guerrilla times (an oxymoron?) on our FB group page. Also, don't forget our Twitter page as a great/quick way to keep up with all things guerrilla.
Keep an eye out for all future happenings, and if you miss a couple of such events don't worry, a continuous flow will be the name of the game.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
flow... ... . . . ... . . . . .
I was in one of my favorite parts of Columbus, leaving a coffee shop walking to my car when it started to rain. I quickly threw my bags into my car, dropped off some valuables, threw off my shirt and lept out into the storm (and I mean storm...raindrops the size of tennis rackets, people.) I ran around the little cobblestone village for a fair amount of time until the rain died down. I continued my walk, away from the car, until it started to pour even harder. This was getting pretty ridiculous, it was getting late, and I was getting to a not as nice part of town. I speedily turned to head back, badgered by the intense amount of water hitting my face. About half way to my car I fell upon a spot. I was drenched, the cobblestone lay unevenly below my feet, and little surrounded me other than the brick houses that sheltered all others from the rain. I stopped. I looked around. and I danced...I danced for quite some time. I did just that, doing little more than simply letting all my senses activate...
Raindrops fell like gravity was turned up times two, the lampposts burned as glowing spheres ignorant to the downward flow of water, the houses that lined the alleyway sat as unique as anything that is born in its natural environment, and the cobblestone...the cobblestone was the best part! The cobblestone jutted in every direction, refusing to be stagnant and predictable. I constantly had to reevaluate my footing while taking in my surroundings (both internal and external) and whipping through it all while I flew between over thinking my movement and finding moments of flow. The kind of flow that negotiated all that was being experienced without much consciously directed thought. I was surrounded by energy of all kinds, and was having a damn good time.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
change of titles
I recently changed the title of this blog to "Guerrilla ________" instead of "The Scarecrow" as it was previously. The Scarecrow was originally my personal "artist" blog name, and I just used it to start writing about gdance. But now I'd like to have a separate blog for non-guerrilla musings/whatever, and so the url for this blog (notice above) is different to reflect this change.
please change your rss or links to this site accordingly. Thanks!!
please change your rss or links to this site accordingly. Thanks!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
gdance, set to A Few words
The other day someone was asking me about how I personally approach gdance (seeing as there are surely infinite ways of doing it.) A couple things came to mind that I thought I'd share.
When I think of guerrilla dance, what comes to mind as the most important factor is the individual. The individual dancing. Right there is all you need to gdance - a human body. You have one of those, and you're golden.
Although I don't think these are always necessary, having set times or places can be helpful. Creating a schedule of when a group can get together is extremely beneficial when people are busy (as we all know.) But hey, you can just have a set time and no set place, or a set place and no set time...or sometimes it's even more fun to just call some friends up and go boogy in a nearby mall *shrug* up to you and your posse.
Don't get hung up on what gdance "should" be. It should be whatever the hell you want it to be: large choreographed routine, the same act over and over, walking slow, dancing your heart out, salsa, ballet, Caribbean, club dancing, and the list goes on and on. The manifestation of guerrilla dance is very dependent on who is doing it.
If anyone has questions about gdancing, I hope my thoughts are helpful. But hey, these are just my thoughts, in no way does this define how anything should be done. This post is more for those who have the heeby jeebies about going out and being a social outcast. ;)
and remember there are others who gdance as well. Find 'em.
Enjoy your guerrilla ways of life. :P
When I think of guerrilla dance, what comes to mind as the most important factor is the individual. The individual dancing. Right there is all you need to gdance - a human body. You have one of those, and you're golden.
Although I don't think these are always necessary, having set times or places can be helpful. Creating a schedule of when a group can get together is extremely beneficial when people are busy (as we all know.) But hey, you can just have a set time and no set place, or a set place and no set time...or sometimes it's even more fun to just call some friends up and go boogy in a nearby mall *shrug* up to you and your posse.
Don't get hung up on what gdance "should" be. It should be whatever the hell you want it to be: large choreographed routine, the same act over and over, walking slow, dancing your heart out, salsa, ballet, Caribbean, club dancing, and the list goes on and on. The manifestation of guerrilla dance is very dependent on who is doing it.
If anyone has questions about gdancing, I hope my thoughts are helpful. But hey, these are just my thoughts, in no way does this define how anything should be done. This post is more for those who have the heeby jeebies about going out and being a social outcast. ;)
and remember there are others who gdance as well. Find 'em.
Enjoy your guerrilla ways of life. :P
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