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!

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.