Category: Art

Taking things off of Bourgeon

I’m updating Bourgeon (the online arts magazine I run) and am taking off some of the posts I made shortly after I moved the magazine online.

There was a certain rush in moving the magazine online. All of the potential of what one can do with that. When you do a print magazine you have to get everything together, lay out your pages, etc etc. When I went online I got a little drunk with the possibility of publishing whenever I wanted…

The mission of Bourgeon is to project the voices of artists, helping them document their work for current and future audience.

So I’m removing the posts I did after moving the thing online, which just don’t belong there. I wrote this in follow up to an article written by Kevin Platte – founder of the Cowboys – published in Bourgeon.

 

———– from Nov. 7, 2007 ————–

Here is some video of the D.C. Cowboys, a local dance company.

There are a couple of things that I find very interesting about their work. But first let me say that this video – which is from the closing ceremony of the Gay Games in Chicago – does not do them justice. They have excellent video on their website (www.dccowboys.com) which I couldn’t steal.

Many companies use sex appeal, but most seem to be kind of regretful of it. Or, if they’re not regretful of it, I feel like they should be. A lot of times it seems like if choreographers aren’t confident of their dance, and want people to like it, they just remove clothes from the dancers.

The DC Cowboys sexuality is part of the dance, unapologetically. There’s something relaxing about that to me. There’s none of the “look at me don’t look at me stuff” that happens in some work….

—–

Pinball Wizard


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I went to an interesting “Networking event” last night. It was hosted by CreativesDC. CreativesDC is a ning-group/social utility that is trying to crowd-source artistic activity. If you’re a local artist, or local interested in the arts, it’s worth it to join up. Free, too.

The purpose of the event was to mingle, and also to get ideas for the District’s Creative Economy work. Sakhina Khan from the Deputy Mayor’s office for Economic Development was there with the consultant who is doing the research. It was organized by Philipa Hughes (Pinkline) and Neil Takemoto (Cooltown beta – creators of the DC ning.)

It was a really interesting group of people. I had a good time seeing people I knew, and meeting lots who I didn’t know. I sort of stopped having a good time, and wish I had left earlier.

I heard this song – Pinball Wizard – a few days ago, and it made me think of how what we don’t have can influence what we do have. That deaf, dumb and blind kid: sure played a mean pinball.

I fixed the problem I was having with the header in my freelance site this morning, and installed a rotating image in the sidebar.

All Good Men thoughts

I’ve been working on the script for “All Good Men”. All Good Men is my name for the adaptation of Dylan Thomas’s fimscript The Doctor and the Devils into a dance/theater event.

The characters are very complex. Because the story deals with societal acceptance issues, I’m considering re-accenting parts of the story. There are some interesting parallels between the main storyline – people who are killed so that their bodies can be sold as cadavers to medical schools – and sex work. One of the main characters – who gets killed – is actually a tavern-girl/hooker. The killers are motivated in part by need, and in part by greed. I’m thinking about bodies, bodies for sale, and how that will work in as part of the production.

I’m thinking of highlighting that issue in one of the dances.

So I’ve been working on the text, figuring out where the dances might go, and what the dance might be performed to. I know that some of the dances are going to be performed to the read script. But at least at one point, music will overwhelm the read text, and dance will occur to music. I’m thinking about using this beatles song at a place where development occurs between three sets of characters, in subsequent scenes.

I heard the song on the radio the other day and thought it might work well for this. I don’t want to be too simplistic in creating my images for the audience. But it’s a nice song, and can be used both directly and ironically. I might use it.