Yesterday's Performance

Change is in the air.
Yesterday's performance was the last of the Spring cycle and the twelfth of the year. Even though the performance practice remains the same we all feel the change that comes with the seasonal change, with the warmer temperatures, with the denser foliage. The sound of the park has changed as well. While still relatively quiet the silence was punctured by the
playful scampering and barking of dogsand their master's calls.

Yesterday was fairy day. The fairy performances in the series are distinguished from the other
performance structures in that the performers are spread out over a large area. Most of us can catch glimpses of only one or two other
performers, but no one can see
everyone else. In essence then,
the fairy dances are five solo dances performed simultaneously with Toshi's music and performance uniting all.

In the fairy dances the performer's isolation and distance from each other accentuates the dancer's subjective experience in performing the branch dances. As we reconnect after the performance each artist has a different story to tell, yet as always, certain themes run through all the stories. Yesterday we all spoke of the change in the air; and we all spoke of the dogs.

Toshi, Noemi, and I were by the pond:
Noemí was in the Southeast, right at the edge of the path by the pond, Eleggua's messenger greeting audiences and animals at the crossroads.












I chose to perform on the Northwest side of the pond balancing on a downed tree.





Toshi was midway between Noemí and me, as always making music with tree trunks, branches, and rocks. Later he moved down the path, a pied-piper with bells.








Juamatu chose to work along the South side on the side of the hill high among the trees.











Olive was on the other side of the path , also high, but balancing on a log that hangs along the edge of the path.










Shavon performed high on the bridge, connecting earth and sky.




Photos: Pepón Osorio

Yesterday's Performance

What a difference the sun makes! The cold was bearable even though the temperature was in the twenties. And the light — it was so bright as to be blinding, but mostly it filled the spirit! The sky, an infinite expanse of blue.


We worked along a single line of trees, each relating to one in particular. Several themes emerged.




The reaching up to the sky and the trees.






























The leaning into the trees.


































The snow was hard and crunchy giving way under our feet and interrupting the flow in weight shift.












No use fighting it. We incorporated interrupted flow into the movement and the crunching became part of the sound.


Staying present to the moment something new is revealed.


Connected. Satisfying.

Photos: Pepón Osorio

How to dance with branches-- Hanging

One of the first actions I investigated with the branches was "hanging" off the branch. Hanging is an illusion, one cannot really hang off the non-attached branch, at least not in the way one hangs off of a jungle gym, for example.* But you can sort of hang. You can set up an intention for action (I will hang off the branch), or pose a question or an investigation (Can I hang off the branch?, How can I hang off the branch?). These can open entry points into a particular somatic experience that is born from the idea or intention of hanging. In this play of of the imagination and action the work "branches" into the realm of meaning. (More on that at another time.)

For your first attempts you will want to use a fairly long and sturdy branch , one that you can hang most of your weight off of when vertical to the ground (although after a while you can do this with almost any branch you wish to handle). Its easiest to work outdoors on soil or grass or other surface that can anchor the end of the branch into the ground so that it doesn't slip, but you can also work in the studio and play with the delicate balance of the unsupported branch or with supporting the end of the branch with a body part, for example a hand or foot. You will want to work slowly so as to sense the angle(s) and position (s) of the branch and body, and amount of weight you can release and the force of the grip at any given moment in your journey.
Place the branch vertical to the ground. Hold branch gently with one or both hands sensing the shape/line/flow of the branch. Sense the vertical line of energy moving into the ground. Test dropping your weight into it as if using a walking stick to support your weight. Let your elbow (s) drop and s l o w l y start to hang off the the branch. Follow, experience, the pathways of movement the hanging initiates in the body, allowing other parts of the body to hang: the head, the legs. Don't rush. Notice the giving into gravity move sequentially (branching) through the body.

As you work, you will find multiple ways to hang. You can hang forward as if supporting yourself on a walking stick. You can hang back using the vertical branch to support the arch. You can hang from different stances, lunges, squats, even sitting. You can even "hang" off the branch while at the same time lifting it vertical or horizontal to the ground.


You can use two branches to hang. You can even hang from the branch while resting on the ground.






Each approach poses different opportunities for exploration, understanding, connections, and meaning.


Try not to get ahead of yourself. Stay in the moment. As you begin to hang off the branch find the sense of the weight dropping through the legs. Let the feet open to allow the energy of the legs to move back into the ground, into the earth. Receive, sense, the upward thrust of gravity through the legs. Shift the balance by moving between the action/sense of hanging off the branch and/or off your skeletal structure. Notice the potential dance/drama that lives within the shifts.

Go back to the hand, top the point of contact. Where does the grip end and the hang begin? Can you soften the grip? Can you balance the energy in the rest of the body to match the energy of the grip?

Stay with whatever you are feeling at the moment. Feel the emotional content or potential of the action. Magnify it. Let this inform your dance.

This work is a marvelous aid for releasing the joints and sensing the bones as support structures from which muscles can hang. There is a way you can release the joints of the hips and legs and drop into the bones that heightens the action, sensation, and experience of the bones holding you up while the muscles release. As we use upper body strength to lift off the the legs we can allow them to "hang", an experience that supports the exploration of dynamic alignment in weight shift, and which increases efficiency and fine articulation of movement and our ability to "fold" the legs.


* You may want to try hanging off different surfaces such as a jungle gym, or different body parts ( for example hips off the sofa) to experience the sense of clearly supported hanging before moving into the illusion.

How to dance with branches-- Centering, Point of Contact

This entry is for anyone who is curious about working with the branches and wants to try it for themselves. I will follow up with various entries on different practices we have developed in working with the branches.

Dancing with the branches can be a centering and aligning experience. Its really a duet between you (your awareness and experience of body/mind/spirit), and the branch, an inanimate object that was once part of a living tree and whose form is a solid manifestation of the tree's movement and flow connecting earth and light.

As with any partnership, you must be responsible for yourself. Before you start take a moment to ground yourself. Notice your breath. Gently shift your weight on your feet and sense the shift in balance through the body. Open your joints to allow energy to move through your body. Open the soles of the feet; sense the weight dropping through the legs and the feet into the earth; at the same time sense the upward thrust of gravity. Feel yourself gently poised in gentle balance.

The dance begins at point of contact.
Pick up a branch. Hold the branch. Connect with/to it. Sense it. Feel its weight. Receive its weight. Feel/see/sense--- the shape/line/flow of the branch. Allow the touch, the feeling in the hands, the shaping in the hands, the reception of the branch's weight and your awareness of line and alignment to resonate through the rest of the body. Notice how each action or response triggers a whole new set of actions and responses. Slow down. Soften the touch. How softly can you hold it? Cultivate awareness.

A dance emerges. Let your body shift as you balance your body to match the touch. Ride the shifting energy(ies). Ride the edge of balance.


Take your time. Stay with/savor/enjoy the experience. Allow the dance to take you where it will.

Inconspicuous: Noemí Segarra reflects on the performance Jan 27

Noemí Segarra posted this reflection on Sunday's perfomance:
http://meriansoto.blogspot.com/2008/01/todays-performance-is-on-1030am-livezy.html#comments

inconspicuous

today's performance

my placement

the gatekeeper

by the road

all about

containing

aligning

centering

observing & taking into account

the whole

the pathways

possibilities

the juncture

elegua



align

architecture in motion

minimal

sublime

less



hold the space

hold

wait

felt warm

cold permeates as soon as we stop

don't want to stop

don't want to end

the heat

internal

of the moment

of performing

of concentration



the flight of time

when all in de moment

bells & sounds intercepting

and containg / framing

giving us markers

immersed


inconspicuous



Thank you Noemí!
Photos are by Pepón Osorio

The Winter Cycle Begins Jan 27 @ Livezy Waterfall

The next performance will be Sunday Jan 27 at 10:30 AM at Livezy Waterfall. The easiest way to get to the site is entering the park at Valley Green and walking south on Forbidden Drive. The site will be down to your left.

OR--- From Henry Ave enter and park at Pachella Field just across Livezy Ave. Follow the path into the park. Go north-left on Forbidden Drive. The site will be to your right.

I am looking forward to the performing challenges the winter dances pose. An important issue for us is always, what to wear? Audiences too should make sure you check the weather and or the blog first and dress appropriately as the cold can be very intense when you are outdoors for a long time. Waterproof and skid-free shoes are a must in inclement weather especially as you will have to walk a ways to get to this site.

First Performance! Oct 7 @ the water wall

The first performance in the One Year Wissahickon Park Project cycle will take place Sunday Oct. 7, at 10:30 AM.

The site will be the waterwall (my name for it). Its a wall across the river. I believe it was part of one of the mills that used to line the Wissahickon. Its broken and it breaks the gravitational flow of the river into myriad flows and songs.

Directions: The waterwall is off of Forbidden Drive, just north of the Pachella Field entrance (off Henry Ave), or the Mt. Airy Ave entrance (off Wissahickon Ave); and south of the Valley Green entrances. It should take 10 to 15 minutes to walk to the site. Don't worry about being late. We will be there at least 45 minutes.

Suggestions:
Layer your clothing as the park is considerably colder than the city. You may also want to wear sunglasses. You will probably want to wear comfortable walking shoes.

Travel light! Bring only the essentials. Bottled water might be a good idea if its a warm day.

Take advantage of your trip to enjoy the park, take a leisurely walk, or make this a stop on your walking, biking, or jogging program.

Its up to you how you want to engage with the event: stay a long time or leave quickly; go away and come back; see it in passing. Its up to you.

These photos of a performance on June 30, were taken by Pepón Osorio.

Welcome

Merián Soto/Performance Practice
One-Year Wissahickon Park Project

Hello! Welcome to Merián Soto/Performance Practice’s One Year Wissahickon Park Project blog.

The One Year Wissahickon Park Project is a creative research project of 16 performances in Wissahickon Park spanning the four seasons. My intent is to shape a number of performance experiences in nature in order to experience their evolution over time, the seasons, temperature, and weather.

The project is part of my Branch Dance Series which has also included dances for the stage. The Branch Dances investigate correspondences between movement, the elements, physical experience, alignment, balance, consciousness, and performance. The work involves the practice of moving into stillness, the investigation of gravity as an essential force; the detailed sequencing of movement through inner pathways; and dynamic shifting into balance and alignment. Working with attention to connecting somatic, energetic, and mental processes, the dances with branches are centered on consciousness in action, in performance, and in practice.

Since 2005 I have conducted dozens of solo branch dance performances in the park as part of my investigation of somatic performance. These have been for the most part "spontaneous" in that they have been unannounced. The One Year Wissahickon Park Project allows for a more formal exposition of the work.

The first performance of the project is scheduled for this coming Sunday, October 7 at 10:30AM. Please check back for site information and directions!