Wow, that was intense, here is the breakdown.
10:20-arrive, ask guard (older asian man) if I can plug in clock radio to outdoor outlet, he responds no music in park. I try to explain that I am doing a dance for someone, he says that is not allowed either, explains that
it is a private park. Cue sinking feeling, looks like I've gotten off to a rough start.
10:30-take toy kitchen to far end of park, ask homeless men who frequent the park, charging their cell
phones and running their lap tops off the power, if they have had any problems with the guard, none of them have, none have even talked to him. I see him watching me disapprovingly.
10:40-I have the feeling he won't let me dance full out in the park, perhaps if I set up the kitchenette in the perfect spot I won't need to get up from my chair. Guardman comes over to inform me that the kitchenette must go, "people want to take pictures of the waterfall, not that!"(direct quote).
10:45-remove kitchenette from park, pace nervously, meditate slightly on shifting nature of things. Gradually a few brave souls arrive to watch the solo. Time begins to fuzz.
Kaiti arrives, I explain to her the situation and look at pictures of her loved ones that I asked her to bring. Start solo on the sidewalk, guardman comes to pester me, says they upkeep the sidewalk. I am trying to give a big heart solo here, I move the kitchenette into the street between 2 parked cars. I set up the soldiers on the curb and get into my box with a hole in it (Kaiti has a recurring dream of being chased by men in uniform which becomes the central theme of this solo/duet). My hand is shaking, knock down soldiers, bring them into box, put them into pot to cook, open dictionary randomly to word Icebreaker, read definition, begin icebreaker solo. Soldiers finish cooking, make triple decker sandwich with mushroom and cheese, bring sandwich to Kaiti and read her three words, epee, humanize, pushy, can't resist adding pusillanimous, since it is such a great word and right after pushy. Time for the big open heart dance solo, figure it has to be next to the waterfall and if I get kicked out that will be part of the event. 1-2 minutes glorious dancing in my pajamas, spray and roar from waterfall, this environment is perfect powerful perfection. Guardman returns for final duet, herds me from park, me a one man procession, arm raised, hand shaking slightly and waving slowly, big open heart meets old sad life, I end in the adjacent alleyway, spent and strange, lying on the ground, understanding the challenge in dealing with uniformed men.
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A beautiful struggle.
ReplyDeleteThe solo opened with Aaron, the kitchenette, and a cardboard box outside of the park while Kaiti and the viewers, including myself, sat inside of the park. Right away the asian guard who clearly spoke little english hence the communication issue (lets call him Mr. Authority) intervened as the issue of public space arose. Not willing to listen, the guard who was holding a broom tried to brush Aaron away as if he were a mouse or unwanted house dust. Working with this, Aaron moved his get-up onto the street and continued the solo. Playing with tiny toy soldiers while inside a card board box, then knocking them all over in a careful manner, cooking them, and then making a sandwich, Aaron abruptly asked Kaiti if she preferred Carrots or Mushrooms. Responding with Mushrooms, Aaron completed the Sandwich and then opened a dictionary and read the word Icebreaker. Not only did this word work PERFECTLY in the context of this project, but also with the situation on hand with Mr. Authority. Laughing to my self, this moment of serendipity continued to play out throughout the rest of the solo. Shortly after, Aaron read 4 more words to Kaiti outside of the park. One of these was Humanize. In the context of everything previous to what had been happening, this word just punched me in the gut. Mr. Authority was DEhumanizing Aaron. At this point Aaron re-entered the park with a "fuck-it" state of mind, wanting to experience the space in which drew him in the first place. What a beautiful climactic moment it was when Aaron was moving under the falls, the sound of the water crashing against the rocks and then the voice of Mr. Authority forcing Aaron to leave. This force did not leave him alone until Aaron was in an alley to the West of the park as the words "Im a liability" rang from Aaron's voice. Slowly the solo came to an end as Aaron gave Kaiti a a big hug.
Words: Tension, Nerves, Pink, Flowers, White, Noise, Child, Maturity, Laws, Exploration, Crash, Naive, Scared, Anger, Sadness, Tears, Pain, Force, Struggle, Space, Concrete, Stones, Slippers, Skins, Grit, Joy, Satisfaction, Pleasure, Wall, Water
Thanks Aaron for a wonderful dance, to help me continue opening my heart to new and interesting experiences. I'd also never been to the water park in Pioneer Square and, despite our issues with the security guard, I will probably return for a visit in the hopes that it is viewed as less disruptive. I don't think we were terribly disruptive, just outside of the guard's comfort zone--way out there.
ReplyDeleteI didn't place why some pieces of your performance were significant components of my life, but I loved it. And your descriptions described the reasons behind using those symbols (mainly toy soldiers). Thank you for your work and the time and energy that you put into this project. It was amazing to see a new interpretation of my world and I appreciate your struggle to put on a performance in a public place despite the hassling from the guard and your frustrations from that.
Many, many thanks.
Oh Aaron. Reading this makes me feel a big, open heart for you. What a journey. KT
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