Tuesday, May 11, 2004
missed butoh, wrote this
Thesis?
Oscar Wilde was a gay homosexual. He was the emblum of queer. What does Salome’s dance have to do with this man and his life? What does his play have to do with Maude Allen and her dance performance? The point is that there was a web of deceit built around gendered dance performance at this time. It functioned at once to entertain the people of the community, showcase the exotic and erotic, perpetrate desire, and harbor madness. By madness I mean the hysteric… The women, who is caught between her lived reality riddled with misogyny and suppression of desire as well as the imagined reality of action. The realm of the body, which manifested the internal, unspoken truths of desire, fear, anger, sex and violence. Salome perfectly crystallizes all of these themes, but more than that, the act of dance within the play is a mimetic gesture, perfectly suited to transpose these truths into the third reality of the stage. This dance functioned as the missing link for the female body to inhabit a third reality, which provided ample space to express and act according to deep provocations. As most women’s thoughts and feelings were being ignored and silenced an equal number of women’s bodies were being showcased and fetishized. The Dance of the Seven Veils becomes a forum or form in which the intersection of the impulses of women to manifest in action on the body. The vehicle of this manifestation was, of course, wrapped in spectacle. And it was the spectacle which masked the resistance seated at the core of the performance.
The third reality of the body in performance exists in a limnal space. It fills a separate time, which lies outside the quotidian world. Victor Turner describes the limnal space as that which lies betwixt and between, or a threshold. The body in performance is necessarily occupying this space, which is designated as separate from the everyday world in which women were not allowed to act and express themselves freely. Moreover, Turner believes that this performative realm lies within the subjunctive mood, so it provides us with the chance to see into the future and project possibility of change. In the story of Salome, a young “hysteric” woman forces a king to act on her behalf. She uses her body in performance to perpetrate and execution of a male prophet even the king can not kill. Salome presents the possibility of complete overthrow of patriarchal order, but only through the use of the female body in performance, through dance. Because of these circumstances surrounding performance, the performance of women throughout history has been met with mixed fear, loathing, and desire. It is all of these emotions and vibrations which create the spectacle of the hysteric. And it is the body of the hysteric, on stage, in performance, which structured the response of audiences of Wilde’s Salome and Maude Allen and allowed them to simultaneously fear and desire the female body and the feminine reality, which was generally ignored. The work of these performances was to enact and present physicic and corporeal truths of suffering denied by the quotidian world.
Thesis?
Oscar Wilde was a gay homosexual. He was the emblum of queer. What does Salome’s dance have to do with this man and his life? What does his play have to do with Maude Allen and her dance performance? The point is that there was a web of deceit built around gendered dance performance at this time. It functioned at once to entertain the people of the community, showcase the exotic and erotic, perpetrate desire, and harbor madness. By madness I mean the hysteric… The women, who is caught between her lived reality riddled with misogyny and suppression of desire as well as the imagined reality of action. The realm of the body, which manifested the internal, unspoken truths of desire, fear, anger, sex and violence. Salome perfectly crystallizes all of these themes, but more than that, the act of dance within the play is a mimetic gesture, perfectly suited to transpose these truths into the third reality of the stage. This dance functioned as the missing link for the female body to inhabit a third reality, which provided ample space to express and act according to deep provocations. As most women’s thoughts and feelings were being ignored and silenced an equal number of women’s bodies were being showcased and fetishized. The Dance of the Seven Veils becomes a forum or form in which the intersection of the impulses of women to manifest in action on the body. The vehicle of this manifestation was, of course, wrapped in spectacle. And it was the spectacle which masked the resistance seated at the core of the performance.
The third reality of the body in performance exists in a limnal space. It fills a separate time, which lies outside the quotidian world. Victor Turner describes the limnal space as that which lies betwixt and between, or a threshold. The body in performance is necessarily occupying this space, which is designated as separate from the everyday world in which women were not allowed to act and express themselves freely. Moreover, Turner believes that this performative realm lies within the subjunctive mood, so it provides us with the chance to see into the future and project possibility of change. In the story of Salome, a young “hysteric” woman forces a king to act on her behalf. She uses her body in performance to perpetrate and execution of a male prophet even the king can not kill. Salome presents the possibility of complete overthrow of patriarchal order, but only through the use of the female body in performance, through dance. Because of these circumstances surrounding performance, the performance of women throughout history has been met with mixed fear, loathing, and desire. It is all of these emotions and vibrations which create the spectacle of the hysteric. And it is the body of the hysteric, on stage, in performance, which structured the response of audiences of Wilde’s Salome and Maude Allen and allowed them to simultaneously fear and desire the female body and the feminine reality, which was generally ignored. The work of these performances was to enact and present physicic and corporeal truths of suffering denied by the quotidian world.
Sunday, May 09, 2004
BIRTHDAY PARTY 2004
i had a crazy saturday!
i felt like it lasted forever and more people kept coming and coming to my house. All the time. I was a bit overwhelmed and i stil haven't slept, it is 9am....
I am not sure how to begin to understand the thought that i am 24. I am not sure what i should be doing, and i think that i should be famous or in school or something. but at least i am somewhat happy with all of my life things. I am not sure why i am here, and not sure where i am going. but friends are super cool.
last night we did cray space dance and a dance off, which was excellent. Then we looked at homestarrunner, which erin is on. And then we went in the hot tub. I think lets see, i saw almost all of my sc friends and some of my valley and oakland friends. It was the greatest.
oh yea, then there was the seance that sorta didn't work. And then there was one that did. The ghost said give jaky my cami, and i think it meant her camisol(ie dreass) because then she can appear with her, or maybe in her? I am not sure. All i know is that it was a fun party and i have not slept. oh yea.
we also had a pinata stuffed with taco bell sauce and candy. it was funny. and stupid.
i had a crazy saturday!
i felt like it lasted forever and more people kept coming and coming to my house. All the time. I was a bit overwhelmed and i stil haven't slept, it is 9am....
I am not sure how to begin to understand the thought that i am 24. I am not sure what i should be doing, and i think that i should be famous or in school or something. but at least i am somewhat happy with all of my life things. I am not sure why i am here, and not sure where i am going. but friends are super cool.
last night we did cray space dance and a dance off, which was excellent. Then we looked at homestarrunner, which erin is on. And then we went in the hot tub. I think lets see, i saw almost all of my sc friends and some of my valley and oakland friends. It was the greatest.
oh yea, then there was the seance that sorta didn't work. And then there was one that did. The ghost said give jaky my cami, and i think it meant her camisol(ie dreass) because then she can appear with her, or maybe in her? I am not sure. All i know is that it was a fun party and i have not slept. oh yea.
we also had a pinata stuffed with taco bell sauce and candy. it was funny. and stupid.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
ok night life night life.
my life is strife cause of night life night life
i stay up too late.
i am tired
please people come to my birthday
my life is strife cause of night life night life
i stay up too late.
i am tired
please people come to my birthday
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
THE BEST THINGS OCCUR BENEITH A FULL MOON
I had a rockus Butoh class last night with Hiroko Tamano, who is really insane and energetic. My 3 best butoh friends went with me and made it all the better. We decided to go for a post class drink, but i got kicked out of the bar for not having aan ID as it was stolen on Sat. So i walked dejected out of the bar and called my mom on my cell phone, and told her i was happy, even though everything seemed like crap.
I was upset because my friend was upset, and i felt responsible. I always do that. He had a bad day, and was in a bad mood, and wouldn't talk about it, so I felt bad, shut out. And concerned... As class started, I knew that the infantile voice and instructions of our last teacher were only a slightly traumatic dream. This teacher had guts and energy, she knew butoh and knew how to feel the transfomatioon and how to transmit the haha, the flower.
She shared bits of wisdom like "the universe only gives problems to us, if we are ready to solve them"
The class seemed to never end, and as the time went by, I wondered if it was past 10pm, when we should have left. A woman lept from her seated position and went to close the classroom doors which were open to a very sketchy street in downtown oakland... She yelled out "STOP!" at a man who ran down the street with a bag from one of the students.( I though, great... not again, I just got my bag stolen for a second time. I don't even have enything left for them to steal...)
We were all riled up, and i checked my phone for time, to discover that it was 10:58... one hour later than class should have ended. Our space case teacher had left the door open and wolfgang, the german student, lost his id and visa, and kept us all one hour late. So I did what anyone would do. I called 911. Filed a report, made a joke to everyone about how I was robbed on sat. I drove home feeling high on the moon, which was full...
I had a rockus Butoh class last night with Hiroko Tamano, who is really insane and energetic. My 3 best butoh friends went with me and made it all the better. We decided to go for a post class drink, but i got kicked out of the bar for not having aan ID as it was stolen on Sat. So i walked dejected out of the bar and called my mom on my cell phone, and told her i was happy, even though everything seemed like crap.
I was upset because my friend was upset, and i felt responsible. I always do that. He had a bad day, and was in a bad mood, and wouldn't talk about it, so I felt bad, shut out. And concerned... As class started, I knew that the infantile voice and instructions of our last teacher were only a slightly traumatic dream. This teacher had guts and energy, she knew butoh and knew how to feel the transfomatioon and how to transmit the haha, the flower.
She shared bits of wisdom like "the universe only gives problems to us, if we are ready to solve them"
The class seemed to never end, and as the time went by, I wondered if it was past 10pm, when we should have left. A woman lept from her seated position and went to close the classroom doors which were open to a very sketchy street in downtown oakland... She yelled out "STOP!" at a man who ran down the street with a bag from one of the students.( I though, great... not again, I just got my bag stolen for a second time. I don't even have enything left for them to steal...)
We were all riled up, and i checked my phone for time, to discover that it was 10:58... one hour later than class should have ended. Our space case teacher had left the door open and wolfgang, the german student, lost his id and visa, and kept us all one hour late. So I did what anyone would do. I called 911. Filed a report, made a joke to everyone about how I was robbed on sat. I drove home feeling high on the moon, which was full...
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
COACHELLA slash MY 24th BIRTHDAY
I went to coachella and sat through the 100+ heat and paid 2 dollars per bottle of water, and sweated to see some music. What makes this even better is that it was my birthday. I turned 24 in the presence of Beck, The Sounds, The Pixies, and seas of indie rockers. And best of all, with my friend Max.
We were hot and disgusted with the anorexic rock fashion, but enamored with the music. I think the biggest problem was that I had ADHD and couldn't stay at one show for long enough to be at the show. I hopped from one to the next watching 2 or 3 songs from some important musician to the next. and only for the Pixies was the whole park in agreement, and everyone seemed to sigh (yes) together as they played. I think we all agreed upon the real royalty of this rock, this era, and radiohead, isn't it.
After that show, I was rummaging through my bagg to spend even more money on water when I realized that my wallet was missing. Yep... I lost my wallet at the disco, on y birthday, and so i perish. Well actually I just drove back to Shakina's house and fell asleep.
The next Day I went to Knotts Berry Farm and had brunch with family, I missed my mom, and wore a matching shirt with Max and baretts. We were the best. Al things seemed ok.
I went to coachella and sat through the 100+ heat and paid 2 dollars per bottle of water, and sweated to see some music. What makes this even better is that it was my birthday. I turned 24 in the presence of Beck, The Sounds, The Pixies, and seas of indie rockers. And best of all, with my friend Max.
We were hot and disgusted with the anorexic rock fashion, but enamored with the music. I think the biggest problem was that I had ADHD and couldn't stay at one show for long enough to be at the show. I hopped from one to the next watching 2 or 3 songs from some important musician to the next. and only for the Pixies was the whole park in agreement, and everyone seemed to sigh (yes) together as they played. I think we all agreed upon the real royalty of this rock, this era, and radiohead, isn't it.
After that show, I was rummaging through my bagg to spend even more money on water when I realized that my wallet was missing. Yep... I lost my wallet at the disco, on y birthday, and so i perish. Well actually I just drove back to Shakina's house and fell asleep.
The next Day I went to Knotts Berry Farm and had brunch with family, I missed my mom, and wore a matching shirt with Max and baretts. We were the best. Al things seemed ok.
