The project is on the way ! - introducing team number one first :)

This is a sketch by one of our collaborator/Sound sculpter Ela Lamblin.He is a sculptural instrument inventor with a keen awareness of how the body can relates to the instrument in space- and  at the same time able to create beautiful sounds.It will be a device that is integrated with my body on which i can learn to play substantial musical compositions. Most part of our project has already moved into the Frye's Arts Commerce Center( In Seattle Washington ) and everyone is hard at work........

The second photo is of my collaborator and dancing/ music partner for the project Dohee Lee.She is a percussionist/vocalist and dancer that is deeply involved  in the style of Korean shamanistic peformances.She has been coming to our 3rd intensive rehearsals ( all the way from Bay area)and am about to come up for the 4th one!
She is extremely hard core...I was hoping she would push me for this project but ACCORDING TO DOHEE, we ended up pushing each other ,and once we have started going, we had to tear ourselves from the project, and slam the door from each other so we could get some rest at least in the evening, and not keep going insanely like a coked up feverish people, tortured by the project and the pressure we gave our selves.   For me-Coming from the Butoh tradition of drinking SAKE after some session, I have come to realize VERY QUICKLY that Dohee is not only a master of drumming, but A MASTER OF HARD CORE DRINKING as well. She have told me stories that she and her Korean master teachers would drum all night and drink and drink, and DRINK all night ( and Day? ) as well.Goodness! we have hard core fun and challenge each other!.. the rehearsals are often filled with lots of laughter and saying to each other-  towards the end -" Oh my Gahd.....!" and Dohee asking " wow... you guys eat a lot..! "

As Jherek Bischoff, our collaborating composer would say, " dAnG , gIRL! "

  

 In this Blk and white photo taken by Rex Hohlbein, here is Jherek singing the part of the composition with the chamber ensemble that has done some readings of the composition of his and Joshua Kohl's.Joshua and Jherek, Dohee has been composing for the 5 chapters of our contemporary take,  a re -imaginiing  of the Redshoes story that the Degenerate Art Ensemble will perform this spring in Seattle and New York.Along with their music/ sound team, Suzie Kozawa and Robb Kunz will be joining for the sound installation that will accompany our pieces. In the photos, there are (Dohee singing, Dylan playing the cello, Briana on the viola, Kendal on the violin, Joshua on Dohee's drum, and Paris also on the violin  )

Here is Trinidad Martinez, my  friend and the star from my last big DAE project at the Moore theatre in Seattle.She is a dancer and a director from her group Magpie Productions. She has been TIRELESSLY helping my rehearsals,the chapter's choreography, being an outside eye, and giving me an honest sharp tongue and extremely objective eye and opinions so I can keep myself on my toes. (! ) She is spanish, I am japanese, we joke about being in the U.S. and comparing everything to our own countries. ( !) I think maybe we did that with Dohee too.
A photo below is Leo Mayberry, Jason and I. Starting with Leo, He is the  bold and  brainiac video artist who creates wild and playful, great obssesive, complicated  ideas onto a screen, always working with a challenging concept of illusion of the eyes, and he has been an incredible creative partner on the video concept working with the story, the charactors, the vision, , along with me and the team. (Leo and I somehow always go late in the night NERDING INTENSELYon the project plan and it is always a strange and relentless lullaby to Joshua, who ends up snoring HEAVILY on the couch while we are still scribbling and experimenting  with paper cuts or mock-ups on our living room floor ) The Scene with the mysteriously beautiful artificial trees is the scene of the "Black riding hood". She
disguises her self as the mischievous girl in the forest but she is also the wolf. Who has made the trees?

 Above photo is Jason, he MADE THE TREES for the video realm as well for the sets. Jason Puccinelli, our new team collaborator and guest here, is biting on a SWAN's neck. Yes, there is a swan chapter that I will be dancing, inspired by the WILD SWANS, by Hans Christian Andersen. I will explain why so many fairy tales are intertwined with the actual story later, I would like to talk about Jason. He is a painter/ performance artist and and also an installation artist who has a very strong vision and a unique perception. He makes work that asks viewers to question the society we live in and immerses them in carefully constructed interactive performance installations.I enjoy very much working with him ! He is creating the sets and most of the props for the project. He and I have had intense brain-storming sessions in the beginning with the concept escpescially of the protagonist's journey through out the piece.We have been focusing greatly on the SWAN CHAPTER lately, and continuing our dialogue as it keeps evolving to an exciting place. Below is Joshua Kohl of DAE. ( Degenerate Art Ensemble) and above -mentioned people at work! Team number two will be positing next week!

       

adventures with cold mornings and Rex

This is the December of 17th, thursday and Rex clicked away all these photographs, its been my tenth session so far.Today we were under the incredible view of the aurora village that is over the lake Union, and it was one of the warmer winter mornings! This here, the picture of the toilet paper in my nose dancing, was one of the painfullest coldest mornings shot by the Fremont canal in bewteen the Adobe office buildings. Rex has used his architectural eye and also playfulness ( he is an architect! ) and continued clicking even when his hands were numb with cold, and my nose wouldnt stop running and running and so I danced with it for a while. I cannot seem to put the pictures elegantly ( Sorry Rex..! ) on this blog without the ugly white spaces...I think I will get the hang of it gradually... so the photo continues below!!
I have so far danced at the Downtown Olympic Sculptural park, in front of the beautiful St. Ignatius church in the Seattle University campus, the Lincoln Reservoir park next to the Velocity Dance Center,In front of the Asian Art Museum, and Occidental Park in Pioneer Square among other places... If anyone out there have more ideas, I would LOVE to get suggestions. For Rex, it would be great if the places have interesting light and design-space possibilities too.I am learning from him about all these things, the design and architechtural perspectives, the lights, shadows, shapes in the black and white photographs. I am very honored!!! The day he could not come was the Occidental park one, which day was it... yes, the 16th...! It was such pouring rain, I splashed from puddle to puddle, my eye makeup was running into my eye and could not see very well. But the sound of the drumming rain, and numbness of cold let me slipped into a state of very clear, pin-drop awareness and I wasin a place my tramatic self was silenced.It was a brief moment but how LOVELY it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had another joyful moment today when I was under the aurora bridge dancing, and my body memories from my movement brought feelings of pain/suffreing and a sense of release and somethinglike acceptance at the same time,again, a brief moments of this journey rushed by.
Thankyou Rex, for today, and thankyou friends, for some comments already! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.