Gettin' Ready

Climbing into bed to wind down later than anticipated, I at least feel accomplished, as I am all packed to leave for Port Townsend, WA on Friday morning for eight days of artistic over-stimulation. As I think I have mentioned before, I am enrolled in the MFA program for Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College, a low-residency program for working artists. This coming semester will be my second of five, and I can honestly say, given the prodigious amount of work I produced last semester, I have no idea where to begin my studies this semester. I almost have too many options...how often does one get to say that?!

One of my options includes my continued study of the art of storytelling. I have explored this medium physically, on film, in writing and in its traditional form; orally. I could work to expand my historical understanding of this art form, and how it applies to me culturally, as an African American. And I could continue to explore various ways to present storytelling in contemporary art practices.

Another option is to focus on my physical practice. I have talked before about my solitary dance studio practice, which has been evolving over the past few years. I only realize now, that perhaps I could work towards sharing some of these practices, and their subsequent discoveries with other movers and "non-movers." I have been working with the concept of micro-movement, which was at first, in response to a series of small injuries. I wanted to know why I was hurting, and what habits I had fallen into to create the pain. Through micro-movement, I successfully relieved the consistent pain in my left hip. And just today, I finally found out how to stack my bones in a way that makes the use of my abdominal muscles more efficient. I have also been working with breath...movement initiated and informed by breath, and stamina marked by efficient breathing. Athletes are of course taught how to do this, but for some reason, very few dance teachers talk about efficient use of breath. Lastly, I have been working with impulse and what I like to call, "Unadulterated Groove Time," as a legitimate part of an integrated technical dance practice.

Yet another option for study is further exploration into aspects of producing and directing films, both narrative and documentary. I have made one of each this past semester, and plan to start at least one more this semester. I feel like this past semester's work has been great practice for what is to come next. I made some awesome mistakes, technically, but also made some wonderful discoveries and some lovely aesthetic choices in my projects.

Lastly, I have my writing. I have been writing a lot of poetry over the past few months, but only now as I look back at the collection I have written, do I see a pattern emerging. My soul wants to write about childhood. I think I want to continue with this, and see what emerges from a whole collection of poetry based on the premise of childhood experiences, memories and wonderings. I want to see how the concept of childhood has worked its way into my performance work and film work. I have always considered myself to be a whimiscal person, as do many of my friends and family, and perhaps my tendency to look at the world and my art with a slightly child-like view is what makes my work unique.

Perhaps, if I can be clever, I can continue all of these explorations and be one step closer to having a truly interdisciplinary art practice which yields diverse repertoire, accessible to many.

It is late. I have to teach tomorrow morning. Lights out!

~Cara