6 and 7...The Goddard Home Stretch!!!

Yesterday's workshops begin with Touching the Feminine Creative Source. Some common themes that come up in much of the work by women at Goddard are feminism, contemporary feminine identity, feminine objectivity and the sacred feminine. The workshop explores concepts found in the sacred sexuality movement and how these concepts connect to the art of contemporary burlesque. The workshop's presenter, Roslyn is a returning student at Goddard, and is a professional burlesque performer and choreographer. She explains how the art of burlesque has evolved over time, and the ways it is presented today. At the end of the workshop, we learn some glove and boa choreography, which is so much fun! I felt like a little girl playing dress up! In addition to that however, I left the workshop feeling empowered, and proud to be a woman!

Alrick Brown presented the evening's workshop entitled, Rhythms in Film Practice: Pre Production, Production and Post Production In Rwanda. Alrick is a faculty member and film director who has just completed a feature shoot in Rwanda. He takes us through his journey in making the movie and it is immediately clear that this was an arduous task. The film, called Kinyarwanda, depicts the true stories of Rwandans during the genocide of the 1990's, before the rest of the world knew what was happening. Before showing an excerpt, Alrick gives us a historical timeline of events from the 1800's to the present day that ultimately led to the violence between the Hutu and the Tutsi. He the goes on to explain how the film was made, in true indie film fashion. The film was crewed and cast with locals in Rwanda, many of whom had experienced the Genocide. The excerpt he presented from the rough cut was beautiful and I am certain it will be a beautiful, powerful film!

To begin this Friday morning, I attend the third installment of Seitu's boat building seminars, which is a discussion about boat design. A local boat designer, Carl Chamberlin, explains how boats are designed with regard to water displacement, weight, desired water lines and other factors. He brings drafts, scale models and pictures of finished boats. he also explains the design for the boat we will be building.

In the afternoon, I attend a very touching workshop called, Burning Mother. The workshop is set up as a ritual in which participants write haiku regarding their mothers. These haiku are written on thin strips of paper, which are woven into a paper chain. The haiku can be tributes, desires for reconciliation, apologies or words of forgiveness. Once the chain is complete, it, along with a representative "mother," made of sticks and paper are burned in the fireplace as an offering. The haiku, and the stories and circumstances shared with those poems were beautiful, contemplative and extremely emotional. There were few dry eyes in the room. As the representative mother is placed into the fire, I watch her slowly burn orange and her frame fall in on itself. Her paper skirt flakes away with each lick of the flames. Before long, she is completely gone...

Be strong as you can
let light shine upon your brow
momentum in stars.

Insecurity
for fear of abandonment
Emerge into joy!

These are two haiku I wrote in honor of my own mother.

At our last advising session with Petra for the residency, we focus on nourishment. She makes it clear how important nourishment is during the semester, when we get bogged down in our school work and our jobs and our lives. We create rituals for nourishment at the pier. My group decides to make an offering to the ocean, and it can be anything: a wish, a prayer, a fear, etc. I decide to offer a prayer to the sea. Then I think I have found my daily practice for my semester. Petra has encouraged each of us to have a small daily practice for the semester, and I think I want to offer a prayer each day that is not for myself.

After advising, I go to watch Mindy, a fellow classmate of mine perform a series of song cycles based upon her experiences with an eating disorder and relationships. The songs are beautiful, and Mindy performs with an unparalleled charm and twinkle in her eye. The lyrics are both smart and striking, referencing Disney princesses and pop culture. She casually tells stories in between songs and engages us on a personal level. It is just the kind of intimate, sweet performance I love.

Now, we are coming to the end of the line, preparing to be apart from one another in the Goddard community for six months. The last night at residency is filled with farewell merriment: the ping-pong tournament, cabaret and dancing into the evening. A joyous celebration of yet another rash of study plans completed, artwork shared and friendships strengthened. The next time we meet, I will be on my way back to NC...back to real life.

~Cara