Days 4 and 5!!!

What an adventure Tuesday was! As it turns out, our boat trip included two stops: The first was The Northwest Maritime Center, which is a lovely facility and docking area where the Wooden Boat festival will be held this coming September. The NMC houses a boat building and repair shop, which is filled with the beautiful smells of all kinds of wood, and the sights are just as beautiful. The whole place is a wash of rich brown, blonde, red and beige colors. The boats made in the shop and the boats docked at the center are fine works of art and craftsmanship, which I have never seen up close before. I touched them, ran my fingers over all of their different textures, observed them floating peacefully in the deep water and I pondered overcoming my fear of water, so I might one day truly enjoy their beauty. Also in the center is an observation tower, from which I could see boats far out in the water, birds perching on driftwood floating in the gentle ripples and snow capped mountains peaking from behind the clouds. We next ventured up to the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Making. Students from all over the world come to this humble shop space to learn the craft of traditional wooden boat making. I am amazed as I watch men and women of various ages bend planks and sew beautiful sails. Once the students there graduate from the program, they are not only masterful boat makers, but skilled woodworkers that are capable of building furniture, cabinetry, houses and more. I am so excited to build our little Goddard boat next residency!

Later in the evening, I participate in Considered Space. I show a part of my dance piece, Words Apart, and show a rough cut of the documentary that came out of that project, Art for the Living. I am glad to find that my work is received well, and that my fellow classmates offer some wonderful suggestions as to what I might include in the final cut of the doc.

On Wednesday, I am happy to know that my day will consist of a good quantity of movement, one thing I tend to miss at residency where we spend most of our time seated in theoretical discussion. However, I begin the day with a seminar about artist opportunities, i.e. grant seeking, residencies, finding work space, etc. I am reminded to "remember who your angels are." Angels are those people who wish to support your artistic endeavors in return for nothing other than gratitude, or a fair exchange. I realize I have some angels: Wanda, who owns the space I rehearse in has been wonderful. She allows me to use her space for nothing other than my desire to make work. She does this for many dancers in the area, and makes all of our art lives easier, because of it. Angie and Sue at the Enrichment Center have also been lovely to me. They helped me to get 87 Dance Productions, my dance company, off the ground by providing me space at a price I could afford and a community entity to collaborate with time and time again. I feel lucky, as I have more angels than this...but listing them all would be tedious for both me, the writer and you, the reader! Sometime, I must remember to find a way to collectively thank all of my angels...

After the seminar, I go a workshop entitled, "Mind/Body/Time: An Introductory Workshop in Contemplative presence and Movement. Michael Sakamoto leads the workshop, and he is Goddard's newest faculty member. We begin by walking slowly, with our breath across our space, and I am reminded what a feat walking actually is. The truth about walking around in everyday life is that walking is a series of controlled falls. And that walking slowly requires a kinetic understanding of balance that most people are not aware of. I watch my classmates work through the difficulty of walking and making kinetic discoveries and this keeps my deep attention as my mind moves into it's scientific-nerd-anatomy place. We then proceed to create movement based around various directives to embody large paint brushes and animals we love an fear. By the end of the workshop, I recognize that my mind has grown tired from all the intense concentration, but my body is happy to have moved so much.

After lunch, we have advising sessions and Petra leads us down to the beach, as it is a lovely day. We described our individual work spaces to the larger group. Many of the group members have work spaces in their homes, which I one day hope to have. However, having a proper movement space in a home is trickier than having an artist's workspace in a home. Petra talks about the importance of having your work space be a special place, infused with energies and artifacts most conducive to your art practice. In response to this conversation, Petra asks each of us to create a space on the beach that represents a sacred space to us. I make a little altar out of beach wood, with some beach grass in it, and an aisle leading up to the altar sprinkled with bright white shells, like little flower petals. At the top of the aisle, I place my open journal.

After advising, Laura, Ellen and I prepare to present our own workshop, "Performative Painting: Connecting Through Paint, Rhythm and Movement." In the workshop space, we set up six large boards covered in paper on which to paint in a circle, in various positions. Some are on the floor, some are propped up on the wall and some are draped over stands to create curved surfaces. Laura has a sound station with brooms, sticks, tarps, paper, and other noise making things in a space in a corner just outside of the circle. The middle of the circle is left bare for movement exploration. We have an intimate group of seven people. We begin with a movement warm up and pause to breathe together before we begin the evening's practice. The hope was that the movements would encourage the painting to come from the body, not just the mind. We encourage participants to weave in and out of each art form, movement, music making and painting at their will. It is lovely. There are wonderful rhythms being made, beautiful dance conversations happening and amazing paintings being created. Each art form is inspiring the others. At the end of the practice, we return to the center of the circle to breathe together one more time. The participants have thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and one exclaims, "I wanna paint like this all the time!" And one declares that she would like to try this format with her high school art classes back home. I am really tired by this time, but happy as a cat, as my body is now completely open in its joints and lungs.

Stephanie cooks us pasta later in the evening and we all drink beer and eat licorice over conversations about art, race, privilege and other things. That night, I fall asleep with my headphones on. The week is almost over. I am feeling full in my mind, heart and soul and am looking forward to starting my semester at home!

~Cara