I’m reading Bossypants by Tina Fey right now, which is such a great read, and I thought this passage was smart and appropriate and hilarious so I had to share it.
This is Tina’s “laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful”:
Caucasian blue eyes
full Spanish lips
a classic button nose
hairless Asian skin with a California tan
a Jamaican dance hall ass
long Swedish legs
small Japanese feet
the abs of a lesbian gym owner
the hips of a nine-year old boy
the arms of Michelle Obama
and doll tits
I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did =). <3 Claire
P.S. no plans on Sunday? Come and talk dance and eat cupcakes with me…doesn’t that sound dreamy? 2nd Sundays @ CounterPULSE
Does that mean that we’re legit? Like how you’re not really in or out of a relationship until it’s “Facebook official”?
Check us out and “like” us! Otherwise we won’t know if you really do or not…
New projects are brewing…so excited!
I love being in a dance studio. Just being there. Absorbing the energies of thinking bodies and moving minds that have left their marks on the floors and their scrawled notes and drawings strewn around. You can feel the dance in the air.
I’m in the studio with dancers now working again on “in a delicate way…”, trying to delve further into the subject matter and deepen the material. And all the work we are going to be doing with it has been driven by conversation. I’m un-endingly grateful for everyone who’s participated.
Engaging my dancers in the choreographic process is one of the driving principles of my work, and the idea of inclusivity is something that for change dance collective is all about for me. I also think that dance audiences have much to offer that is never mined by artists. Whenever it’s possible, I want to give viewers of my work a chance to participate in it’s evolution.
So, getting to my point (I know…FINALLY, right?), I’d like to invite you all to keep December 11th free on your calendar. I’ll be showing some work at 2nd Sundays at counterPULSE in SF, which is a free salon where artists informally show work and solicit feedback from audience members. If you’re curious you can check out the link here: http://counterpulse.org/programs/second-sundays/ or look under the “PERFORMANCES” tab on my website forchangedance.blogspot.com
I’m also in conversations with a composer friend of mine to possibly start working on a collaboration, which will be TOTALLY RAD because I’ve always wanted to do that. Wish there was more time in a weekend and more money in my bank account for all these projects!
Jess saw this on pinterest.com and sent it to me. It’s from an online boutique that caters to “Girly Girls” called Prissy in Pink. When I was a kid I probably would have given my left arm for a chance to model in their clothes! And I made Lauren model in these shoes for my last piece muahaha =) She was amazing!
Click the photo to see more discussion on the fcdc site <3
audience participation
It strikes me that one way art changes people is by breaking up the routines, activities, and thought patterns we become accustomed to in our daily lives. Which is often great, but can also really piss some people off.
I wanted to share a picture of my most recent collaboration at PARK(ing) Day. This picture was taken by Lauren’s amazing mom, Bette Linderman, and captures so well a moment of art imitating life while life offers it’s opinion right back.
I felt this girl pass by me through the “stage” space while I was dancing, and though I had no idea how expressive she was at the time, it still made me smile. I realize now that the piece is kind of all about mashup: modern dance and pop music, theatrical elements and abstract movement, and the idea of parental love and protection both supporting and clashing against societal expectations.
I just think that the composition of this photograph really speaks to those themes, and I wish I could hire this girl for the next performance! But I’m guessing I could never re-create the way this experience changed my perception of the piece and of myself dancing in the streets, nor could it re-create the emotions displayed so honestly by the mysterious character of woman-with-shopping-bags.
<3 Claire
PARK(ing) Day Performance Friday in Berkeley
There’s no such thing as a free lunch…but there is FREE DANCING AT LUNCHTIME!!!
This Friday around noon, at Allston and Shattuck in downtown Berkeley, across from BART. We’ll be performing “in a delicate way, without being beautiful.” (that’s a title…not a descriptor) with some awesome Bay Area artists!
I am so enamored by the concept of this event: leasing some urban real estate by paying the meter of a parking spot in order to create public space for art, play, and community activity rather than vehicle storage. Totally groovy and has already changed the way I look at parking spots as I drive by and wonder…Ooh the possibilities ;)
OMG my cat is famous! For those of you who know Penny…apparently she’s an urban outfitters model on the side???
thoughts from Jess
Some thoughts on the power of dance from fcdc dancer Jessica de Leon. Enjoy =)!
My parents put me in a ballet class when I was 4 years old. I remember seeing my older cousin perform in The Nutcracker and I wanted to be part of that world of sparkles and rhinestones and glitter. I’ve since out grown that. I’ve been dancing pretty consistently since then, taking only a short hiatus during my squirrely pre-teen years.
I didn’t develop any strong feelings about dance until college. During my junior year as a dance major at Santa Clara University a professor challenged us with an interested extra credit project: write a dance manifesto. I’m pretty sure I was the only person in the class who actually did the assignment. And most of what I came up with was total crap. But regardless, the process of writing my manifesto changed me as an artist. It forced me to sit down and actually put into words why I love dance.
Here are some parts that I don’t think are crap: “Dance has the power to change things, on both the micro and macro levels. I see dance everywhere. Not just in the bodies of trained dancers, but in the people walking down the street and the smell of coffee wafting in the air. I see dance in the words people speak and in the silences where words need not be spoken. Dance is a passion and the medium which I choose to express my thoughts, opinions, and feelings. “Dance is a spiritual act that brings a person’s body into communion with things that cannot be seen, only felt. Photo by Joey Brennan “Dance is a conversation. Whether it is between the dancer and the audience or the mover and the unknown there is dialogue that exists. Perhaps it calls our beliefs into question or enrages us to act or it simply fills us with joy. Despite the quality of the reaction, dance makes us feel something. “Dance is community. In dancing with others we share a part of ourselves that goes beyond all that could ever be said. The Hopi Indians say that ‘To see us dance is to hear our hearts speak.’ And dancing alone allows us to reveal ourselves in an intimate and uncensored way. Dance can bring people together when the world and its human insufficiencies have torn them apart.
“Dance is movement. Movement is dance. They cannot be separated. And there is beauty in that relationship, that tension. The world is not still or stagnant. Movement is constant and ever present. An English teacher once told me, ‘Without the push and pull of life, there is no movement.’ “Creativity and imagination propel the art of dance in to a realm beyond definitions or explanations. And that is why it is beautiful. And that is why everyone should dance.”
Since I’ve started law school, my perspective on the world has definitely changed. This includes my thoughts on dance and art. But that might be fodder for another blog post :)
I cannot believe it is the middle of August already. Holy canole where does time go? I haven’t posted in a while, but I’ve been keeping the motor running…contemplating the beginning of new works, the possibilities of re-visiting choreographic ideas that have already seen performance, and thinking a lot lately about the teaching of dance and how we instruct children to use their bodies as a medium for artistic pursuits. Oh boy…what is art…what is the value of “self-expression”…how do we make “good dancers”…can they be “made”…ahh! So much to talk about. But as a dance teacher, I am acutely aware that I introduce my own ideas about the dancing body, aesthetics, and self-discipline to students as young as 2 years old to young adults.
I’m highly interested in how people meet dance for the first time, and how that encounter shapes their perceptions and the ongoing evolution of their relationship to dance culture. I’ve asked the members of for change dance collective to share a little bit of their personal histories and philosophies, and I find it speaks to the kind of dancers and dance-makers they have become. I hope you enjoy their revelations as much as I do =). <3 Claire
You guys! =) I felt so blessed and honored to have the kind support of my friends and family who came out to Fog Fest or who expressed their desire to see my work if they couldn’t make it.
To that end, I put together a little video of excerpts from our dress rehearsal so that interested parties could get a sample. Just a taste! Gotta keep you wanting more, right?
Whether you saw the piece live or not, if anyone has any feedback for me PLEASE do share!! I love hearing about what people saw, thought, felt…if they liked it or hated it (especially the “why” part!) or if they had questions. Anything is helpful and you can comment on the blog or email or FB me, send up smoke signals, use a carrier pigeon…I’m open! Seriously, things you liked AND things that could be improved/explored further/revisited.
I was extremely lucky to share a stage with Lauren and Jessica, who helped me craft the piece from beginning to end. They generated movement with me, shared bits of themselves, and became invested in the conversation, which is what true collaboration is all about in my opinion. Look out for more to come on these lovely ladies in a future post ;)
