Responses to Prakash Laufer’s performance
“Prayer for our Time”
Beautiful fluid integration of voice, music and movement.
Especially moving from one who didn’t walk for so long.
Deeply felt!
- Art Larson
Reaching out with love and spirit
devotional gratitude.
In the spirit of grace, we give thanks
for our healing, for all that has come
before and all that will come to pass.
Let our ancestors be our witnesses
in grateful acknowledgment of our elders.
- Linda Frisone
Breath, Peace
Celebration
- Ellen Carter
Live in the light.
Culminating in her running
in the circle at the end,
her joy, the spinning Gaia
round the mother sun,
Her smile, the grandest canyon,
her hair flying, the rhythmn of her feet,
our days, each year begins in innocence,
each blade of grass the first.
-Christie Svane
Sewing suturing clouds a quilt
a giant Sufi conical white hat
spinning sewing suturing knitting it all back
together again
- Karen Randall
Suggested difficulty,
heaviness to me and
surprised at accelerating
lightness, happiness -
a good surprise. Maybe
it will be so for Our Time,
too.
- Norma Akamatsu
lA candle in the breeze
trees sway
I tumble down hill
rolling rolling
turning
Bubbles from your lips
tender
It is complete
gratitude.
- Ann McNeal
Prakash, I thought about how much the
nursing home guests must love seeing you dance.
Sweet and generous. Just right for The Solstice.
-James Lowenthal
Prayer – Movement
A thanksgiving a
fall gesture, knowing
what a gift to be alive
with the body – the
human torso in action
– in movement – in dance.
- Joseph Volpe
Energetic
- Pauline
Wide eyes and open ‘O’ mouth or skip skip
skip over water on piece of toast
to a trout to an old old old old
and a wee sprout – You are an elf and
an ancient boy with hands like a
trumpet flower.
- Mary Beth Brooket
Elvin delight dancing droll
peaceful alive. Light quickness
kisses (blown to everyone), yes yes yes
anyone everyone can dance is dancing.
- SuEllen Hamkins
Perform with Vusi live
Offering
offering from car crashes
and Soweto
opening
open to the next
car crash
and Soweto
Falsetto touches
on the forehead
hop down as
Vusi finds the
tonic.
- ?
Prakash means, welcome with out, welcome with,
welcome witt, welcome water will and wonder,
walking and willow – wheeled, welcome
Prakash means, I mean, we mean,
means, no means, unmeanly, unmenially,
irredeemably, irrisdescently, descent, radiant,
he means one.
he won. I won, we won. He means, welcome.
- Ellen Kaz
Responses to The Extruded Gilgamesh performance
Choreography by Ellen Kaz
Text by Karen Randall
Sound Collage/ Music by Karen Randall & Don Horton
Dancers Mary Beth Brooker, Sarah Wolf, and Maureen Shea
Intrepid pupae awakening
slowly to its purpose
cocoon opens, the light
creeps in – antennae reaching out
- Linda Frisone
Strange newness and something so old that it’s alien – human?
Some way of being we don’t know anymore.
Oddly insect like
Figures marked out with a stylus –
bird track language – dinosaur birds.
- Art Larson
Waves of muddy water
the Euphrates
war upon war
how many in 5000 years?
No beard for the modern
hero
She waves and receds
Gill – fish scale forehead river
Ga – first syllable of last alphabet
Mesh – she is not alone
they go with her this time
- Ann McNeal
This was very powerful –
Such strong movements.
Words – music – movement worked
so beautifully together.
I left wanting to see more.
Thank you.
- Ellen Carter
Sensuous slime of earth smudge
revealing meaning in
body heat and line longing
comaionship co created, then
separation trumpeting open palmed
individual idiosyncrasy
falling
into line elephantically moving
as we are moved.
- SuEllen Hamkins
Gilgamesh glamour, like a lion li po pocket
locket, lipstick luscious I have li po I believe her,
leave her lever revelrie, enter lever leveler
levellest velvet-helmeted melted mesh,
gilded mesh, giggle glottal uvula vulva love,
no man in this gilly filly mesh, full, bless.
- Ellen Kaz
Powerful images – striking gestures
ancient rites – mysterious –
clarity – gestures mystery
ephemeral solidity –
strength – grounded – playful
effective
- Prakash Laufer
Momentous movement
- Pauline
The voices as of papyrus crumbling,
scrolls flaked, unearthed, a boxful,
layers of cuneiform all speaking at
once, your hands on them, unknowing,
no Rosetta Stone, no knowing.
My daughter today saying how she
loves to listen to the Puerta Rican
girls chatting in gym, the music of
it, and the odd word now and then
that she knows, shining out.
And the elbow and fingers, the queen,
the stride, Inanna, the pride, the delight
in the world unfolding, a tableau of
desires. And how this is a complete
vision, lapis lazuli sound scape,
a birth.
- Christie Svane
Beautiful,
mysterious &
intriguing
as shapes
and relationships
evolve, reconfigure,
emerge, submerge,
etc.
- Norma Akamatsu
Limbs extruded
further than epics
after all this UR-time
we still tell stories
we still fight wars
we still dance
thinking there are reasons
There are no reasons,
Gilgamesh,
Hands speak in Sumerian
Cuneiform feet
Along the tablets
we dust up every day
on our way to work
- ?
Dance, word smyth, collage music
extruded fragments of sound
word playing – inventive
touch, connect touch
- Joseph Volpe
Such a feast, and a pleasure for the senses.
I love the harmonies, and how the rhythmns
tie the words together. Could the three
dancers have evoked better the rich web?
- James Lowenthal
Responses to Art Larson’s performance with the Brooker- Lowenthal family
Art Larson directed a model of sacred geometry,
enacted by Mary Beth Brooker (as Gaia/ Earth) orbiting her daughter Melle (as Sun), age 4, the line of life-giving connection enacted by a length of twine they both held.
Sun yellow sweater
on the girl
with the orbiting names
She reels her
mama in
with the twine
of Solstice
Knots and crosses
of planets games
the dance metaphor
onto a daddy’s hug.
- ?
A girl. Already.
A yellow sun sweater, sweet pea sun. Spiral,
simple string runs like a story book heroine,
round, heading into days including nights and
circling the point of contact, center. A girl.
Already.
- Ellen Kaz
Melle is The Sun! Radiant
center of the Universe! What
joy for Mary Beth to dance
around her, for James to
create every possible angle
for her to shine!
- SuEllen Hamkins
Enjoyed visualizing rays of light
making orbits visible
- Delightful orbiting dyad -
simple clean sweet.
- Prakash
Scientists still don’t know.
- James Lowentahl
Yeah Melle! Truly the sun and
light of this piece – all sparkly
and moving with energy!
- Ellen Carter
We celebrate the Sun
on this wondrous solstice day
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Goddess and universal child.
- Linda Frisone
As gravity is love
what ties us to Earth? to the sea?
Bare feet, scratchy twine
a little girl’s sweater yellow as sunlight.
arms, tape on the floor
fans whirring,
clouds outside
and sky-gaps
sunset soon.
- Ann McNeal
Interplay of
Sun & Earth,
Interplay of Daughter
& Mother – moving
apart, returning.
Glad for reminder
of the musical
The Sphere today.
- Norma Akamatsu
Summer solstice golden center
golden mean golden string
rays shine out of Melles’ eyes
as she holds the center.
- Karen Randall
Responses to the finale led by Prakash
Prakash invited all to participate in a dance with the structure being “entrances and exits.”
Yes! a perfect end to a crazy day.
Thank you.
- Karen Randall
Spontaneous connection
engaging with surfaces
of the body in motion &
the linking with others as
the spirit moves us.
- Joseph Volpe
Joy! Happiness! Everyone! Community! Art!
- SuEllen Hamkins
Dan’s gonna be mad at me. I danced. It was fun.
I’m sweaty. I’m not spose to. My back, you see.
Rage. rage against the dying of the gentle light
libra rising like my husband, Dan’s love, me, the
center of whom KerPLOP! and Hoe-ridden ground,
sowed with low-impact aerobics. Karen Randall,
you’re rubbing off on my pollen-colored mushroom.
- Ellen Kaz
Playful
- Pauline
exit is to
entrance
as shadow
is to
light
just ahead
just behind
the other side of the
solar coin
it’s winter
in Bahia
where they know
how to hop
pretty good.
- ?
In the room
the people come & go
dancing ensemble
or
solo.
(Apologies to
T.S.Eliot)
- Norma Akamatsu
Free expression of light
- Linda Frisone
That was no fun at all.
Totally infectious.
- James Lowenthal
Creep walk jump
crawl fly skip
alone together in pairs
gray sky now low clouds
Like pebbles scattered
in the sand, polished by waves
each human
perfectly imperfect
- Ann McNeal