Six and Four Articulations

DETROIT OUR LAST STOP AND LAST BLOG ENTREE!

We arrived shortly after noon in Detroit. Detroit houses the stunning Sylvie Demers, George Vidas, Sam Newman, Adrienne Wisok, Jane Orr, and Zane ( who was unfortunately working at Pochuck- he was missed ). We also met a bunch of their friends who where also great only I can’t remember everyone’s name. Sorry!

Through the efforts of Sam Newman and their connection to a local hostel, we were able to stay at “Hostel Detroit” for two nights, free of charge!!  Hostel Detroit was clean, efficient, welcoming, and housed a bunch of striking photos of Detroit.

 Updates: For any interested Alfredian!

 George and Sylvie have moved to a new house, which is small, comfortable, and most importantly separated from their studio space. Sylvie is teaching Karate. Jane, Sam, and Zane are working vigilantly on the interior of their house. They just finished tiling the kitchen floor when we arrived, and it looks very fine indeed! We took some goofy pictures where all five of us piled in Zane bed. He’ll see them on the blog.

             On that first day we had a Mexican food picnic dinner at Belle Isle. Belle Isle had a relaxed vibe, different from the Detroit I had witnessed on a previous visit. There was a beautiful white fountain in the center of the Island. On closer inspection the monument commemorated a bronze figure, James Scott. We looked him up and discovered that he was a corrupt, miserly man who gambled, and told off colored jokes. He bribed the city into creating his monument. CRAZY!! James Scott’s story is ironic and oddly fitting for Detroit.

Thursday Morning Emily and I had a mini adventure hunting for a post office and a COFFEE SHOP! The troupe spent around four hours in the backyard and garden of Hostel Detroit refining and recording the group piece. We made friends with two little daughters who were very intrigued by our dancing. Emily gave the older one her feather earring  (the younger one was clinging to a well-worn bear) Avery later took a dip with them in their kitty pool.  We met some other interesting people in Hostel Detroit, including a writer of the “Onion”, a French woman who did judo and wind surfing, and an Australian who kept everyone up with his loud snoring.

At 6:30ish we went to perform at Art Effect Gallery which features upcoming artist in Detroit. Though we had our choice of rooms it was another tight fit with the poles for Emily’s Parched Approval. We were more comfortable with the changes in choreography at this point (and aside from a minor musical glitch) the performance ran smoother than the one in Grand Rapids.  We had a good turn out thanks to George, Sylvie, and Sam. We were asked good questions at the artist talk that took place after the performance. Someone jokingly asked if the music glitch was intentional. It was rewarding doing our last performance at Art Effect amongst our friends and other genuinely interested people who made up our audience.

We ended the day with dinner and celebratory drinks. We left Detroit at 6am the next morning. Thanks  “Lady Detroit”  (as Jane calls her) you treated us well.

 We blasted music the last hour of our trip, there was an overwhelming feeling of relief and accomplishment tingling the air. Then we dropped everyone off at his or her perspective destinations.

 We The SIX AND FOUR TOUR are done, stick a fork in us!

 Thank-you so much if you stuck with us and read our blog!

Thus far, Krystal got an internship with Dance Place in Washington DC. Avery is having a show called, A Gathered Place, in the Mooney Center Gallery on September 9^th .  It features her wall sculptural work (you all should go). Jenny is in Alfred with Jared being creative, productive, and working. Laura went to Anderson Ranch in Colorado to do a workshop called Envisioning Large Projects on a Grand Scale with Kim Dicky. Emily is working on choreographing a music video as well as a new video project series: “Day Dream”. Will is making clothing out of recycled material, photographing water towers, and doing chocolate and beer tasting. And Mike has recovered from mono, and is starting his sophomore year at Alfred University!!

Have a good life, we will try and do the same. 

Grand Rapids Michigan!

We arrived at Grand Rapides around 11:00pm. We were greeted by Marlee Cook-Parrott sitting with her orange cat on the couch, both waiting for us. I accidentally let this cat escape, and the first part of the stay was spent trying to extract it from the neighbor’s garden.

Marlee is a creative, inspired, lovely women of about 24. She had a whole slew of interesting books hanging around her house.  There was a particular one on Serial Killers that I saw each member of the tour reading (at separate intervals). We were feeling a tad rugged at this point from our “get there, sleep (more often than not on a hard surface) perform, then pack-up and go” life style. So, I appreciated the more solid chunk of time spent at Marlee’s . Marlee lives with her partner John. John was busy helping a friend move to Chicago, and was absent when we arrived. They are both lovers of records, and a wholesome, environmentally conscious lifestyle.

Marlee is actively working to develop the performance scene in Grand Rapids, MI. Besides being a creative choreographer/performer she is board member of DAAC. DAAC is a small theater space in the city that shows the work of local artists practicing a variety of mediums.

We performed at DAAC the day following our arrival. Marlee thought rightly that if we were to perform along local performers we would not only make worthwhile connections, but we would also have a better audience. First on the program was Art Geographic Part II choreographed by Marlee. National Geographic Part II was a mixed media piece performed by a trio that involved a video of lions playing on an old TV monitor. Watching it the motifs of nostalgia, life cycles, primal instincts, home, and the exotic all came to mind.

Then it was our turn! It was the first time that we performed the modified five person versions of the dances, so it was a decent but not perfect run for Six and Four Articulations. The most pressure was placed on Jenny and Avery who had to wield three eight-foot sticks between the two of them within the confines of a tight space. Good job AVERY AND JENNY, you guys are troopers!!

 In my own piece there was an embarrassing moment. I was lying on the ground and the music was fading out. I’m supposed to queue off Emily for the bow, however not having a good peripheral view of everyone, I just lay there while everyone else bowed and Avery had to kick me (gently) in order to get me up. Ah well, everyone got a good laugh anyway.

The final act was performed by Rachel Finan, a butoh / burlesque dancer. Rachel used a walker and an elaborate tissue paper headdress as props. Playing with themes of dependence, and recovery Rachel’s piece was an emotionally gripping, evocative performance that reminded me of all the reasons why I love performance.

             The second day of our stay we taught a dance class at the Annex which is run by Annie. We revamped the structure of the class so that it would flow better. This time each of our five members directed a section of the class. It was a fun class, and at the end, during the open jam, the students where involved in some awesome duet/trio action. One duet between Marlee and Emily stood out, being particularly moving. We got invited to a larger show by Annie taking place latter in the year. Hopefully, we’ll be able to attend! The day rounded up with ice cream and talk about sibling marriages.

 On the 12^th Marlee and John went on a vacation. We planned to do a gallery talk that day, which fell through, but thanks to Marlee and John’s generosity, we stayed and worked. So after a mini-shopping spree at some local thrift stores, we went to lake Michigan and spent the whole day at the beach choreographing our group piece.

Our trip at Grand Rapids ended the following day after breakfast at New Beginnings shared with Thomas (one of the performers in Art Geographic). Thomas plans to stay in Grand Rapids and develop its art scene with Marlee, which is awesome because both are talented performers. Marlee plans on starting a Micro- residency for performance artists. Maybe we’ll apply one day!

Thanks Marlee, Thomas, John, and Annie for making our stay at Grand Rapids a welcoming one.