Malcolm's blog

3/4/13

7 a.m.—Departing Bogota airport. I like Bogota in May. The rain cools everything off, but not so much that I need to wear socks in my sandals. The city has a bouncy, enthusiastic energy, but not hurried or forced. I sensed little tension, or pretension, despite the fast pace of traffic and pedestrians. Everyone seemed busy, no one seemed desperate. I would like to wake up and be a native Colombian bouncing along the streets of Bodota, but able to follow the rapid Spanish that gushes along like rivers.

July 3, 2012—Busy weekend! I taught a contact improvisation workshop at Druna from Saturday to Sunday. What fun! I connected somatics concepts to contact and they kept up with me, despite a few language conflicts. There was always someone who spoke English well enough to translate, so I left pauses during lectures for translation. It was fun to hear the concepts put forth in a different language, and to marvel at those who speak two languages so readily—I wish I were one of them!

June 24, 2012--On my way to Prague to perform and teach. It’s the kind of sticky DC weather that soaks your armpits just crossing the street. We spent the day packing, baking cookies, and trying to keep Maya sufficiently entertained to avoid shouting matches. When we get tense, she gets tense. I’d like to say that we coolly lofted our things into the bags with the deep contentment that comes from a life well lived. Of course, there was, rather, a good deal more shoving things down, bumping into each other, and smacking foreheads with things remembered and left undone.

My mythology dances emphasize the personal, human sides of heroes. "Penelope and Odysseus," for instance, is about the wife, not the husband, and about a relationship that is strung over many estranged years.

We have been dabbling with speech in Penelope and Odysseus. Amanda and Alex are old moving partners now and have a lot of chemistry onstage. I find it fascinating to watch them talk like Penelope and Odysseus.

We have taken on the project of making a dance of Medusa. I spend a lot of time these days thinking about the myth and what it really means. Freud sees Medusa as a symbol of castration (head cut off), yet of potence as well: phallic snakes, stony hard ons. I don't quite subscribe to his views, yet I agree that there is a paradoxical nature to the Medusa myth, and clear gender clashing.

First of all: beautiful!

Nova Scotia continually reminded me of Penobscot Bay in Maine, where I spent many childhood vacations. So many features were identical: the rounded-stone beaches, the globular seaweed clinging to boulders, the salty air, the crabs and gulls, the mussels and shells, the temperate summer weather (a stark contrast to the blistering DC miasma)…best of all, the constant roll of water to soothe my ears and eyes. It tasted of heaven.

Below is the basic structure of the group improv score I plan to teach at the Blind Date Workshop with Susan Heather Cook on Saturday July 30 from 10am-1pm.

Made some progress on my duet for Susan Cook. It's called, aptly enough, "Blind Date." I think it will work because it contrasts Susan's capoeira skills and contact improvisation.

The Washington DC/Philadelphia Exchange, Saturday July 9, 2011, at 8pm and Sunday July 10 at 7pm at Dance Place, went well! Both nights were well attended.