Enjoy this preview of Camerin Allgood McKinnon's solo wake(v): to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state. The video for the preview was taken during rehearsal so it is in a studio without stage lighting or costume.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Performing!!!
Camerin Allgood McKinnon, the founding director of The Wake Project will be performing her solo: wake(v): to become roused from a tranquil and inactive state on Sept. 16th as part of the North Carolina Dance Festival. The show will be at 8pm at Robinson Hall at UNC Charlotte. Visit http://www.ncdancefestival.org/calendar.php for more information.
Camerin will also perform her solo and conduct a shortened version of the diversity training that goes with it at Salem College in Winston Salem North Carolina on Sept. 22nd.
I hope you can join us for the Sept. 16th show, but if not we'll be sure to post a full review of the festivities.
Camerin will also perform her solo and conduct a shortened version of the diversity training that goes with it at Salem College in Winston Salem North Carolina on Sept. 22nd.
I hope you can join us for the Sept. 16th show, but if not we'll be sure to post a full review of the festivities.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Sound
I have been remiss in not writing about this earlier. Apparently I go on writing binges and then I don't want to do it for a while. But I'm back with some stuff to say about a wonderful, talented, creative, patient man- to whom I lucky enough to be partnered for life.
My vision for the sound score of the this piece was far greater than my creative abilities in the area could have accomplished. I knew that there was only one person I could trust to understand my vision and make it come to life. And the amazing thing is, he did it.
The Process:
I started by sending out a frantic email and facebook event request for stories (many of you may have received this request). And I got some amazing ones. Every story submitted was beautiful and race and awareness are such important topics, I am honored to have been given your stories. Unfortunately I was only able to use the stories that I was able to record. I thought I could just have someone read the stories that were sent to me via email but my creative partner Sean and I determined that this would make the score too confusing. Plus no one could have read the story with the right inflection. I think these stories come from the heart often full of emotion that we don't realize they possess- and I didn't want to misrepresent any of my courageous storytellers. But please know that there will be opportunities in the future for you to record your story for use and these stories in their written form informed the work in many ways. I also have some ideas about how to include written stories in the project.
So I got these wonderful stories for a vast and diverse group of wonderful people. The next step was to cut down the stories to short sound bites. This took much longer than I had anticipated. The verbal stories submitted had so many wonderful moments that I was hard pressed to cut anything out. I needless to say did not finish this step when I had anticipated and therefore Sean was left with very little time to do the enormous job of editing.
I am so fortunate to be with a man who is so willing to translate me. Sean has spent countless hours listening to me, for I am a talker. And after seven years the man is nearly fluent in the language of Camerin. Not only do I jump topics and mumble, but I think a million miles a minute and in star form. What is star form you might ask. Well it is a term I developed myself. You see some people think in a line one thought leads to another then to another. These people are coherent and easy to understand. Me, however, one thought leads to five more in five completely different directions. The fact that I can communicate anything to anyone is quite a feat. And this man is willing to attempt on a regular basis to figure all of that out. I really am the luckiest woman on the planet. So in an attempt for me to impart my vision for this sound score to Sean we spent several hours talking about it specificially. This, I must note was preceded by more than a year of discussing this project. Sean probably knows more about The Wake Project than I do. My goal in our discussions was to give him enough information to create the project without me looking over his shoulder. I knew that once I gave it over to him, I had to truly do that and trust his artistic vision. This is hard for me, despite my belief in his abilities I have trouble giving over control.
Sean spent hours on the score and finally let me listen to it on my way to rehearsal with it in hand. This was half way through the intensive and I needed the score so that we could try it out with the movement. I put the huge headphones on for the best sound quality and listened for 6 min strait. My eyes were tearing up within 30 sec. I am so impressed with what he created. It was so much more than what I had envisioned, even better than what I had hoped.
Thank you Sean Watson for being part of my creative process, for your willingness to translate me, for this beautiful sound score you have created. I am in awe!
My vision for the sound score of the this piece was far greater than my creative abilities in the area could have accomplished. I knew that there was only one person I could trust to understand my vision and make it come to life. And the amazing thing is, he did it.
The Process:
I started by sending out a frantic email and facebook event request for stories (many of you may have received this request). And I got some amazing ones. Every story submitted was beautiful and race and awareness are such important topics, I am honored to have been given your stories. Unfortunately I was only able to use the stories that I was able to record. I thought I could just have someone read the stories that were sent to me via email but my creative partner Sean and I determined that this would make the score too confusing. Plus no one could have read the story with the right inflection. I think these stories come from the heart often full of emotion that we don't realize they possess- and I didn't want to misrepresent any of my courageous storytellers. But please know that there will be opportunities in the future for you to record your story for use and these stories in their written form informed the work in many ways. I also have some ideas about how to include written stories in the project.
So I got these wonderful stories for a vast and diverse group of wonderful people. The next step was to cut down the stories to short sound bites. This took much longer than I had anticipated. The verbal stories submitted had so many wonderful moments that I was hard pressed to cut anything out. I needless to say did not finish this step when I had anticipated and therefore Sean was left with very little time to do the enormous job of editing.
I am so fortunate to be with a man who is so willing to translate me. Sean has spent countless hours listening to me, for I am a talker. And after seven years the man is nearly fluent in the language of Camerin. Not only do I jump topics and mumble, but I think a million miles a minute and in star form. What is star form you might ask. Well it is a term I developed myself. You see some people think in a line one thought leads to another then to another. These people are coherent and easy to understand. Me, however, one thought leads to five more in five completely different directions. The fact that I can communicate anything to anyone is quite a feat. And this man is willing to attempt on a regular basis to figure all of that out. I really am the luckiest woman on the planet. So in an attempt for me to impart my vision for this sound score to Sean we spent several hours talking about it specificially. This, I must note was preceded by more than a year of discussing this project. Sean probably knows more about The Wake Project than I do. My goal in our discussions was to give him enough information to create the project without me looking over his shoulder. I knew that once I gave it over to him, I had to truly do that and trust his artistic vision. This is hard for me, despite my belief in his abilities I have trouble giving over control.
Sean spent hours on the score and finally let me listen to it on my way to rehearsal with it in hand. This was half way through the intensive and I needed the score so that we could try it out with the movement. I put the huge headphones on for the best sound quality and listened for 6 min strait. My eyes were tearing up within 30 sec. I am so impressed with what he created. It was so much more than what I had envisioned, even better than what I had hoped.
Thank you Sean Watson for being part of my creative process, for your willingness to translate me, for this beautiful sound score you have created. I am in awe!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Intensive
This week I had an intensive with my dancers. Rehearsal three days in a row in preparation for an application submission. It was absolutely wonderful!
There is much fear in embarking on one's life work. I feel drawn to this project. There is a calling involved here. So as the idea for "Stir" began coming to me a year ago, I was excited and terrified. The idea is so extensive for the whole project and for each piece. I am worried that while I can dream up ideas, I can't make them into reality. But here's the cool part I've found that when you are truly doing the work you are meant to do, when you are playing vessel, you don't have to do it all. I've discovered that when I put in the work, the research, the time... so much comes out of my subconscious. I'll look back on something I've created, some small movement phrase or whatever and discover there is so much there then I was even aware of as I was creating it. But because I am immersed completely in this study right now it just comes out. And I can't pretend I am doing this on my own, there is most definitely a higher power at work here.
And don't get me started on my dancers. Where my creativity leaves off their artistry picks up. The three of them are an amazing group of movers and artists. I am in awe of what they are able to do with the direction I give them. They are certainly part of the creative process and I am truly thankful for Amber, Emily and Val.
I asked for stories and I got jewels. The honesty with which people shared their personal experience with me will forever enchant me. We are a people in need of sharing, in search of witnesses for the things great and small that we experience and I am honored to have witnessed these stories.
The work is not completed. But there are viable sections, it is becoming... something.
There is much fear in embarking on one's life work. I feel drawn to this project. There is a calling involved here. So as the idea for "Stir" began coming to me a year ago, I was excited and terrified. The idea is so extensive for the whole project and for each piece. I am worried that while I can dream up ideas, I can't make them into reality. But here's the cool part I've found that when you are truly doing the work you are meant to do, when you are playing vessel, you don't have to do it all. I've discovered that when I put in the work, the research, the time... so much comes out of my subconscious. I'll look back on something I've created, some small movement phrase or whatever and discover there is so much there then I was even aware of as I was creating it. But because I am immersed completely in this study right now it just comes out. And I can't pretend I am doing this on my own, there is most definitely a higher power at work here.
And don't get me started on my dancers. Where my creativity leaves off their artistry picks up. The three of them are an amazing group of movers and artists. I am in awe of what they are able to do with the direction I give them. They are certainly part of the creative process and I am truly thankful for Amber, Emily and Val.
I asked for stories and I got jewels. The honesty with which people shared their personal experience with me will forever enchant me. We are a people in need of sharing, in search of witnesses for the things great and small that we experience and I am honored to have witnessed these stories.
The work is not completed. But there are viable sections, it is becoming... something.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Project Description
The Wake Project is a multi-faceted endeavor that seeks to address racism and reconciliation. The current three aspects include: A solo dance and spoken word performance that addresses race specifically from the personal experience of Camerin Allgood McKinnon, project creator and artistic director, and her journey to awareness of white privilege and the action required by such understanding. A diversity training that uses movement as a catalyst for conversation on the subject of race and racial identity and awareness. And finally a full evening length dance work that tells the story of a family’s journey to racial awareness and healing over three generations.
Solo: The solo, entitled “wake (v): to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state” addresses white privilege specifically dealing with the journey to awareness of that privilege and the struggle to maintain that awareness on a daily bases while discovering how to use it as a catalyst for healing and justice. "Wake" finishes with a call to action, to use this awareness to address racism within the audience members as individuals, as well to address racism as it exists within institutions in which audience members are involved. The solo is designed to be coupled with a diversity training / talk back session so that the deep topics touched on in the dance work can be identified, and tackled in reflection. The design is such that participants can leave the performance/ discussion with clear objectives and enthusiastic commitments to rid their own personal lives of racism while impacting the institutions with which one regularly interacts in positive and uplifting change.
While the personal story of the solo addresses white privilege specifically, it encompasses a capacity to speak to all individuals that are involved in the power struggle of injustice. The training session following the solo can be designed specifically for the group being addressed. When working with educators of various racial and ethnic backgrounds it is relevant to relate the work to the experience of the educators when dealing with students outside of their own cultural and racial identity. When working to promote diversity in a mixed corporate workforce the dialogue can be modified to discuss how to successfully interact with co-workers that come from different cultural and racial backgrounds. The discussion encourages any group to be proactive in their approach to connecting with and accepting the “other” in meaningful and authentic ways.
Diversity Training: The diversity training aspect of the wake project is entitled “Are You Awake?” with the follow-up session entitled “When We Press Snooze”. In diversity trainings it is first necessary to create a safe environment where this volatile topic can be addressed in positive and successful manner. While the solo serves to lay some of this ground work, rules are laid out and movement based ice breakers initiated to further create such an atmosphere. Once a safe environment has been established the training uses movement as a medium to allow stories to be told and sharing to occur. Abstract topics are addressed through improvisation games that drive home specific ideas that lead to hearing and understanding the truth of all individuals involved. The follow-up session entitled “When We Press Snooze” particularly speaks to the constant vigilance required to maintain awareness as well as the daily work vital to making real change in the lives of participants and the institutions in which they are involved.
Full Evening Length Work: The evening length piece is a work in progress currently consisting of the solo “wake (v): to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state” and an ensemble work entitled “Stir” (working title) that looks at racial awareness and reconciliation from a broader and more abstract view that speaks not to one specific story of struggle toward awareness and healing, but a more general understanding of the journey we must all take to reach egalitarianism. The vision for the complete work is that it will tell the story of the racial consciousness of two families from two separate racial backgrounds over three generations. The story begins in Wadesboro, North Carolina where both families resided in close proximity in the 1930s and follows their separate journeys around North Carolina to Philadelphia and Atlanta then back to North Carolina and finally ending up in Charlotte under one loving roof. The work will use this broader journey to glimpse the individual accounts of family members across these three generations, using these specific stories to reflect a more general sense of racial consciousness and inequality over time.
The three projects together combine to create a plethora of information presented in a variety of forms that require personal reflection and will no doubt lead to conversation. Each section in itself is designed to inspire a need for and understanding of the change necessary to lead us in the next step toward social equality in our society and around the world. As in the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, the first step is admitting there is a problem and understanding that we have the power to be part of the solution. The Wake Project uses movement art to empower participants and audience members to recognize the problem, except responsibility in being part of the solution and create change.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Story Telling
I sent out this plea requesting stories and while I haven't gotten as many responses as I was hoping (keeping my fingers crossed that some are still on the way). I have been reminded that we are so close to a time when things were so much worse. I have received several stories of early memories that are pre civil rights. For my generation ( I forget what letter we are, "x" maybe) I think it is easy to forget that our parents and grandparents lived through an era that is so well studied in our history books that I wonder why we didn't study it in our homes. Is pre civil rights a time we are trying to forget? Perhaps there is some guilt on the side of whites whose world view has significantly changed since then. A feeling of pain for black and white people that lived through that time period. A pain they don't want to revisit. Or perhaps we have simply moved away from a story telling culture. I believe it is a combination of each of these things.
When I first started thinking about choreographing I knew that I needed to tell stories. With tv, computers, video games and movies our modern selves have devised multi-media possibilities for story telling. We know the big stories, the epic ones, the ones that someone chose to bring to the silver or small screen. But what about the stories so close to us, the ones of our parents, grandparents, and friends, these stories are so much more real. Some of these stories may seem insignificant but I know they open a window for the listener into the soul of story teller. Every one teaches us something about our past, ourselves, our families or loved ones. There is so much to learn in these stories.
I can't wait to listen and I know that your story is full of value.
Please tell me a story.
When I first started thinking about choreographing I knew that I needed to tell stories. With tv, computers, video games and movies our modern selves have devised multi-media possibilities for story telling. We know the big stories, the epic ones, the ones that someone chose to bring to the silver or small screen. But what about the stories so close to us, the ones of our parents, grandparents, and friends, these stories are so much more real. Some of these stories may seem insignificant but I know they open a window for the listener into the soul of story teller. Every one teaches us something about our past, ourselves, our families or loved ones. There is so much to learn in these stories.
I can't wait to listen and I know that your story is full of value.
Please tell me a story.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Help Wanted
It wasn't a moment for everyone. For some of us it was a gradual understanding that seeped into us before we were aware of it's power, before the beginning of our memories. For some of us it seems that we always knew. For others of us we were hit by a bolt of painful lightening at some early stage in our life. But we were all born in perfect ignorance without any knowledge of race. Race is not often something someone sat us down to explain guiding us toward a healthy understanding, but something that becomes part of our consciousness over time or through one major event that opens our eyes to the simple fact that in America people are treated differently based on the color of their skin.
I am currently developing an ensemble dance piece entitled "Stir". The work looks at early understanding of race, single moments or memories of awareness that changed the course of our lives and social understanding and beyond that consciousness to our actions upon awareness. The work begs the question, What do we do with racial awareness?, How do we choose to respond to those who are different from ourselves? If you are familiar with my solo work entitled: wake(v): to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state this new work builds on some of those themes in a more abstract and all inclusive way. Both "wake" and "Stir" are part of a larger project entitled The Wake Project. You interested? Want to be involved? Because you're needed :-)
In addition to creating the dance work, with the help of my amazing boyfriend Sean I am creating a sound score as well. It's possible that I have bitten off more than I can chew, but Artistic vision sometimes leads us in unexpected directions, and this is where you come in: I need stories that will probably become sound bites in a verbal mosaic. What I am asking is for written accounts or if possible audio files of you telling your story using the following prompt: Tell me a story about an event in your early consciousness when you were vividly aware of your skin color or ethnicity. I know that we all probably have a ton of stories but just pick one, the best might be the first one that comes to mind. It can be positive, negative, happy, sad, short, long, a big booming event that brought your world crumbling around on top of you, or a small moment among many that led to your understanding of race and it's role in our society. I'm looking for it all and whatever you come up with is perfect.
Unfortunately the deadline to audition the work for the Charlotte Dance Festival was announced last week and the application (with a video of at least a near completed work) is due June 15th. So my goal is to have a working draft of the sound score by June 1st. I plan to go back and re-visit the score again after I submit the application and hope to be able to connect with you directly and record you telling your own story. If you're in the Charlotte area I'd love to get together with you between now and May 28th to record you telling your story. I might even be able to make a quick trip to Greensboro. If you're technically savvy and can send me an audio file that would be great but if not just email me your story I may get someone else's voice for now and then try to meet with you after the June deadline to get you to re-record it.
I know you all have amazing stories to tell and I'm so looking forward to hearing/ reading them. If you're nervous about someone knowing a specific story is yours I will be happy to have someone else record it for you. Also please remember it's not going to be long sections of a story but just a few words at a time collaged with many other stories. If you're interested please contact me via email, facebook or here and I'll connect. Or if you're not interested in sharing a story but want to continue to be involved and possibly contribute please let me know. There will be more opportunities.
Please feel free to pass this on to people in your life that you think might be interested.
Thanks so much for reading all of my ideas and for being a loving supportive part of my life. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Peace,
Camerin Allgood McKinnon
The Wake Project
Creator and Artistic Director
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