Thoughts
PUBLISHED in FLAGSTAFF LIVE! on October 28, 2010
Posted February 2nd, 2011“In The Frame” by John ‘JT’ Tannous
I recently attended “Animal Etiquette,” a performance by Human Nature Dance Theatre that provides a glimpse into the nature and behavior of animals through the filter of human understanding. When Human Nature uses the word “animal” in their title, they mean to include humans, in the way that we understand animal nature and try to control it. And perhaps in the way that it controls us.
Cast member Francis Martineau opens the performance reading from a poem by W.H. Auden entitled, “Address to the Beasts,” that gives us an impression of the themes Human Nature will explore. Hinting at human behavior, the piece speaks to animals:
“Endowed from birth with good manners you wag no snobbish elbows, don’t leer,
don’t look down your nostrils nor poke them into another creature’s business.
Your own habitations are cosy and private, not pretentious temples.
Of course, you have to take lives to keep your own, but never kill for applause.”
From the first dance vignette, it’s clear to me that Human Nature is asking me to consider the larger picture of human and animal behavior, how it has brought us to this point as a species, and where it’s leading us. The five dancers in “Animal Etiquette” play and dance like animals, and at other times like their human masters. I find myself a little jealous watching this. They are playing wildly on stage, in ways that are beautiful, raw, and sometimes childlike. I want to play like that!
That desire for animal “play” touches upon the thrust of the performance, our perception of animal behavior. We look at animals and project onto them our own humanity without seeing them as they are. We keep pets and imagine them with human thoughts and feelings, and give voice to this to feel closer to them.This is portrayed in a particularly stark segment within “Animal Etiquette.” Dancers Brianna Rogers and Mizu Desierto enter the stage, moving with cat-like grace and looking up with perked ears at the audience. Suddenly, after I had become accustomed to this show wherein the dancers did not speak (only Martineau as narrator has spoken), these two cats, in unison, call out in high-pitched voices: “We like mousing! We like birds! You don’t like us? You don’t like my cooking? We don’t want space! We want the moooooon!” The moment shocks me awake with a jolt. It seemed so out of character for the performance up to that point, almost cartoonish.
These cartooned cats are a direct impression of how we view animals when we give them human voice. The portrayal of cats as “Hello Kitty” human-animal hybrids says more about us than animals. And there’s an implication in there about the sublimation of our animal urges into desires for modern comfort, iPhones and air conditioning.
The cats are scurried away by Paul Moore, playing an eager and rambunctious dog. His master, played by Delisa Myles, leads Moore by leash onto stage and attempts to control and train her beast. The battle of wills between the dog and master – with the dog trying to please his master while also satisfying his urge to be free, and the master trying to gain control of a barely controllable beast for self-serving reasons – becomes a microcosm of the relationships in our world. Masculine feminine miscommunication and angst. Worker supervisor dominance and struggle. Our primal urges crushed by a modern civilized world.
Commenting on where this will lead us, a chilling piece of music in the immersive soundtrack for the show asks us, “Will I miss the sky? Will I miss the ocean? Will I miss you?” I am spurned into thoughts of the endgame we, as a species, are playing. Our own behavior, and the nature of our industrial territorial drive for alpha dog status, seems to be leading us down a path that has a clear end. The beauty of this sadness washes over me as I watch the grace of these dancers.
Auden’s poem also says to the animals: “you cannot engender / a genius like Mozart, / neither can you / plague the earth.” Human Nature asks us to consider that real environmental consciousness is less about our recycling programs, endangered species or greenhouse gases, but more about our psyches and interactions with each other. How we, unaware, strive and clamor for control and dominance over our lives, our impulses, and the natural world around us. And how that has led us astray.
J.T. Tannous is the executive director of the Flagstaff Cultural Partners and our local czar on all things artistic. His column, “In the Frame,” runs once a month in Flag Live.
Animal Etiquette – Human Nature Dance Theatre Fall Season
Posted January 8th, 2011
Animal Instinct was performed five times in October and November 2010. First at Arcosanti, then in Flagstaff at the Coconino Center for the Arts and then in Portland at Headwaters Theatre, with the Water in the Desert Festival. Some of the themes that emerged and developed in our six month creation and performance process were: Insect/Woman, InnerWar/Outer Cartoon, Obedient/Wild, Human/Animal.
In addition to performances, the film Dance Down River was shown in Portland with a feedback session afterwards. Jayne taught a Feldenkrais and Improvisation workshop and I taught a week long workshop on improvisational/compositional/site centered dance.
It was sheer delight to be in The Headwaters Theatre, a newly constructed center for international exchanges in the arts. Mizu Desierto and her husband John Marc have created a well-equipped black box theatre and studio where we were hosted with generosity and grace.
Duel aspects of wholeness
Posted August 23rd, 2010
“Terribilita” Summer
Posted August 20th, 2010The following is a reading from Rob Brezney’s Freewill Astrology for Libra for the week of July 15th 2010. “The Italian word terribilita was originally used by art critics to describe the sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo. According to various dictionaries, it refers to “a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur,” “the sublime mixed with amazement,” or “an astonishing creation that provokes reverent humility.” In my astrological opinion, terribilita is a prerequisite for the next chapter of your life story. You need to be flabbergasted by stunning beauty. Where can you go to get it? A natural wonder might do the trick, or some exalted architecture, or the biography of a superb human being, or works of art or music that make you sob with cathartic joy. For extra credit, put yourself in the path of all the above.”
This message hits home for me and it seems that I got a jump on being “flabbergasted by stunning beauty” starting in May when I took a month-long trip to Argentina, mostly spending time in Buenos Aires. Visiting this city gave me an unexplainable sense of happiness. People ask me what it was in particular that I liked so much about the city and I can’t put my finger on it. I think it was a combination of many things that seem to put me in an altered space. It was the visuals, the buildings, crumbling slightly, but with beautiful lines of an elegant luxurious time that is still very much present. It felt right being in a place where dance and music are embedded in the culture. Tango music is being played on the streets, in restaurants in taxis, color and texture called to me every where. It was the little differences that I noticed, like each cup of café con leche was served with a glass of sparkling mineral water and a small cake or cookie. It was the warmth of the faces on the streets, the misty nights and the dance embrace of many. I danced with partners that have danced tango for 30 or 40 years. I felt another layer of trust and relaxation in being able to follow, which has been a challenge for me from the get-go of my tango journey. Part of the time I was on a tango cultural immersion tour with Daniela Borgialli and Rommel Oramas for their yearly pilgrimage to tango mecca. So yes it was the dance that was part of the feeling but it was more than that. My senses were and invaded and surrounded by color, sound and language that was different and brighter than what I have grown accustomed to. Being in South America for the first time opened my eyes in new ways and I became a fanatic photographer. I wanted to capture the magic, savor it, take it home and share it.
My beauty flabbergasted-ness continued in late June when I met for ten days at The Nest with my Human Nature Dance Theatre cohorts: Jayne, Paul, Breanna and Mizu, to develop work for our upcoming fall performances. We arrived at the title “Animal Etiquette” and started revolving our work around questions of Wild/Tame, Animal/Human, Male/Female. It was a blissful flow of training, creating, making salad dressing, getting out into the rivers and landscapes around the area. I’m so grateful to have a group of partners for mutual support and witnessing for the last 16 years. This last working period was particularly satisfying since we didn’t have the stress of performing finished work at the end of our retreat. The process had more time to just be and not feel pushed. What a relief.
For extra credit I took a flabbergasting trip with my partner Earl though Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and had wonderful adventures with both of our families and then finished off with a few days in Yellowstone. This primordial landscape of ancient volcanoes, geysers and all sorts of hydrothermal features put me in tangible touch with the purity of water mixing with the fiery molten core of earth. Seeing the steam, the shooting water and intensity of color and pressure was completely compelling. It reminded me of the reality of where we are and what is going on at deeper levels…. the earth resonates with soul. In these places where earth’s crust is the thinnest I felt messages coming to me through dreams and mist. When reminded to go to the core, what is reflected back to me is the goodness of being and trust in this feminine incarnation. Onward to the next chapter.
Week 10 was our dress rehearsal at our usual Thursday meeting time. Some people arrived a little early and I had the group start an improvisation to warm up and get connected. I was playing Brian Eno’s Music for Airports, a lovely, soft, slow piece of music that set the tone for a sensitive improvisation. As the middle school students arrived to the space the dance was in motion and they added in one by one. I let them improvise for the whole song, 16 minutes of it, as I took pictures, seeing through the camera the comfort and ease they had in dancing with each other. I could have watched this for hours but we did have dress rehearsal to get to. We went over some of the changes to the blind leading section and talked over details and then had a very smooth rehearsal. On Friday and Saturday we had full audiences of parents, family and friends and were warmly received both nights. On Friday night we had special guests John and Ruth Waddell make an appearance joining us in the improvisational section. John and Ruth had been a part of the original Choreography in the Community project, Growth Rings, that happened ten years ago. They wanted to revisit this time in their lives and jump in with the current group of dance. The performance felt magical, everyone gave fully of themselves, the focus of the performers was strong, and they were relaxed enough to improvise with confidence. They did a great job with the choreographed pieces and I think blew the audience away with how far they had come. I heard many comments that people were moved to tears by seeing the different bodies, ages and genders all sharing the stage as equals. Two performances were over so quickly, leaving the sweet sadness of a job well done and the end of very special time together. Seeing the sense of pride everyone had about what we had created and how warmly it was received was one of those times that I just wanted to slow way down and soak up the feeling. I have big gratitude to my class for hosting this event and for each person who gave their unique beauty to the mix. Tomorrow we have our closure with the group, meeting at a park to have a little relaxed time together and say our goodbyes.
Posted May 5th, 2010
Week 9 a strange day, snowing on and off all day. The group came in their colors, we ran through from beginning to end again. We also met Tuesday of this week with just Skyview students. It’s been a week for details and refinements. No one seems to be in a huge hurry to have the performance come, because as people have said they will be sorry to have our time end. At the end of class we laid on the floor and let our bodies release and be held by the earth. Thank you Mother Earth for this beautiful Earth Day. This is the first week I didn’t take a single picture of our process. I was getting through and laying low with my tender neck. As we looked around the circle seeing one another I felt so appreciate of each face and all the new dances that have blossomed from everyone. Next Thursday is our dress rehearsal and then two nights of sharing with the community. What a sweet, heart opening time it’s been.
Posted April 22nd, 2010
Week 8 We ran the performance in order from beginning to end for the first time. Good for everyone to see how it all fits together. In our circle at the end there was an overwhelming expression of excitement about our upcoming show. There is a sense of pride about what we have created and it’s getting near time to share what we’ve been up to with our friends and families. I need to do some tweaking of the music and we have to play with the timing of some of the dances but it looked in fine shape for two weeks to go. I was in director mode and couldn’t switch to photographer mode until the end when I got a few group shots.
Posted April 16th, 2010
Week 7 was one of refinement of of the set pieces before we put it all together. We spent time between linking the hand dances, working on Bre’s dance and improvising. I emphasized the theme of simply doing what you are doing. If you are standing still then do nothing else. If you are walking, then purely walk. If you are touching someone then really feel the quality and sensation of that touch. I am now dancing in the group dance, as we have had some of the elders have to leave from the project due to health issues. It is sad for me and I think for the rest of the group, to let go of people that have been such an integral part of our process. They are missed.
Posted April 14th, 2010
Week 6 We had the whole group back again and shared parts of last week with the younger set. We did the down and up dances in the large group. There was a little more hesitancy to touch and to help from the middle schoolers. It seemed assisting and the touch involved with that was a boundary to break through, and they did. We spent a major portion of the class refining and expanding the hand dances, creating exits and entrances for the groups to move through the space. Breanna’s dance is developing well, the partnering sections are becoming more fluid. We ended the class again with duets or trios creating a collaborative poem, in renga style, then sharing it as one long connected group poem. This poem centered around the theme of seasons of the self or transitions into new parts of self. A day of returning and deepening into the dances and reintegrating after the break. Time is winding down, we only have four more meeting times before our community sharing.
Posted April 5th, 2010
Week 5… We met with just the elders this week because the middle school students were still on their spring break. There was a marked difference in the feeling of the space; quieter, deeper, more vulnerable. When the younger ones are there the energy level is higher and more vibratory. I noticed the level of calm and stillness that the group naturally gravitated to. We did dances of blind following, helping one another down to and up from the floor and dances of boundaries, conflict, borders and obstruction. We had a guest teacher in town for the week, Ronja Verkasalo from Finland, and she taught a segment of dancing names. We ended with Danielle, my teaching assistant, leading the group in creating a type of poem called a renga, first in partners then sharing with the whole group. There is a growing feeling of connection and closeness as we get to know each other better. Fears and gratitude all sitting side by side.
Posted March 30th, 2010
