a loaded act

this is a follow up to this post.

so let me see here, the issue of the loaded act...an issue that stems from the societal/cultural creation of a norm - what is deemed by any given society as normal.

Here's why normality is related go gdance.
Someone is walking down the middle of downtown, they see a space that looks particularly inviting and this person has the urge to dance in that spot.  Like a child wanting to play with a new toy, this desire is innocent. The person moves towards the spot, and a pang finds her stomach. All these people walking to and from work will notice me (hesitation) that'll be weird; I'm not gonna do that.

That would not be normal, like the normal act of walking next to someone you know while you walk to Subway for lunch, or like the normal act of driving down the right side of the road in the States: an act that would be weird in somewhere like France. This is how what is normal relates to guerrilla. Normality is constantly in opposition to acting beyond the norm, and most importantly to me, can often be in opposition of someone doing what someone wants to do. Not an act that hurts anyone else, simply an innocent desire to dance in a cool place. Guerrilla dance is in the business of supporting what people want to do, and what makes them happy/feel fulfilled. Our norms can get in the way of that.

Now, before I end this post on that note, let me clarify that when I say "supporting what people want to do, and what makes them happy/feel fulfilled," I speak in relation to something that will not hurt another creature (human or otherwise.) Many people have the desire to shoot others, to take advantage of, to torture, to make fun of, to leave behind, etc. I won't even begin to reference such things. I simply don't understand the need for norms that continue to harm individuals by not allowing them to fulfill simple desires such as dancing all over.

p.s.
this is where the real meat is though. why do we think certain things, such as dancing in certain places, is weird, yet walking down a street while completely ignoring thousands of others in the course of any given week is normal? Why is going onto a stage, wearing one glove, and grabbing one's crotch seen as cool, but if I do the same thing on my street corner I get cockeyed looks? what makes a norm, who makes a norm, and why do some norms work to keep people from expressing themselves when they feel the need? lots of questions
...next time, I'll probably'll focus on the origin of norms/why norms are created in the first place.

Girl Talk/DaveyDance

Couple of friends pointed me in the direction of these projects (some that have been going on for a while.) Thanks to Lindsay Caddle-LaPointe and Kiki Williams respectively, for giving me a heads up about some pretty rad cats.

First is the Girl Walk//All Day project, which recently accrued more than enough funding on Kickstarter. Basically, the project follows a young girl as she traverses NYC, meets and battles various people around the city. The entire film will be soundtracked by the entire length of the most recent Girl Talk release "All Day." At the beginning of the trailer to the soon-to-be-made 71 minute film, Ann Marson (the lead character in the film,) eloquently states, "My dream would be...being able to dance wherever the hell I want, and making other people feel like it's okay to do that." Hmmm, I think I can get behind that train of thought.

Shooting for Girl Walk//All Day starts in March, and is currently slotted to be shown in NYC alone (unless they're able to garner even more funding.) Jacob Krupnick is the head of this film. Definitely a cool project.

Second little thing is the longstanding Davey Dance Blog, which is home to a whopping 100 videos of this guy Davey dancing all over the world: Stonehenge, Hollywood, Teotihuacan, etc. "A project started while traveling Europe during Spring 2007. Armed only with an ipod and a Canon PowerShot, Davey picks a location and a pop song. Then Davey records an improvised dance."dNot only is he a rockin' dancer, but he also has a great taste in music. You should definitely check out his blog, vimeo, and website featuring his "professional work."

Yarn Bomb/Storm

Now, when I think guerrilla anything, or something being "bombed," this is not what I think of right away. Many of the people who do this stuff talk about it as if Yarn Bombing is a nice version of the more subversive types of guerrilla art out there (ex. also known as the nicer sounding Storming in places such as London, versus the dangerous Bombing.)

Check out more pics and links to other forms of yarn bombing, below:


Albequerque knows what's up: a blog from the Fibe Squad.

International fiber artists, Magda Sayeg.

Born in Poland, Olek now resides in NYC and makes some crazy stuff.

I like these cats general sense of humor, KnittaPlease.

Work from Olek

Work from 'burque

Never seen anything quite so progressive and fluffy, all at the same time.

referencing Shen Wei post

The post immediately previous contained information about some "guerrilla" activity from the well known Shen Wei Dance Arts company. I had some thoughts that came after posting that relate pretty directly, so I thought I'd toss 'em up on the ol' blog.

It's always nice to see big time choreographers "bring it to the people." Not only does it offer a chance for individuals to experience certain types of art that often require an expensive ticket, but it also makes steps to address the lines between the artist and the viewer: the 'fourth wall,' performers outside of their usual shell as "performer on stage" raised above the audience, the definition of a performance space, etc. Many concepts that are often intentionally/unintentionally addressed in most guerrilla art (not only performance guerrilla art, but also that of stencil, graffiti, and the like.) This type of guerrilla art showcased by Shen Wei however, is interesting as it not only comes from an established creator of art - sort of a philosophical(/literal?) oxymoron to the very idea of Guerrilla - but also plays a part as promotion for a non-guerrilla showcase of art. Part of me wonders about this performance being deemed by Shen Wei himself as "guerrilla."

Especially considering the fact that guerilla is often as a type of subversion of the greater society/culture, rather than a perpetuation of it - which could be seen here (promotion for a very non-guerrilla proscenium stage performance, and created by an organization (Shen Wei Dance Arts) that finds great amounts of support from the greater institution of society/culture.)

P.S. 

this is a huge topic...one that I think it pretty vital to my own thoughts about Guerrilla-ness, but something that can't fully be covered in this single post. I'll definitely come back to this. and for the record, this blog in no way means to downplay how much I support any type of guerrilla or guerrilla-esque act. My questioning and analyzation is merely for the sake of attempting to understand this monster of a subject.

Shen Wei: "RE-(III) THRU OUT NYC"

Shen Wei Dance Arts, a prominent contemporary choreographer in the field of dance (involved in the Olympic opening ceremonies a few years back) held some "guerrilla" performances in NYC back in October of 2010. While working on his most recent major work, he held some unannounced performances around the city (sort of a promotional tool I'm assuming. Not sure how supplemental these performances are meant to be, or separate from his final stage work.)

Check out a lengthy video, to see this in action.

gdance video #5

just posted a new video on Vimeo. Check it out.

The Marlow Knows.

Bodies in Urban Spaces

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