A New Page

What a great way to begin a New Year! Three days of artistic exploration in the Studio*. In the midst of snowstorms we were still able to have an artistic retreat with wonderful theatre colleagues in a workshop called, Playing in the Realm of Fairy Tale. 

The idea for the three day workshop came from a bit of brainstorming by company members of The Moving Dock Theatre Company who have enjoyed many creative projects in the past and were itching to do something. Somehow, the conversation turned to fairy tales. Everybody liked the potential. It seemed open ended, inviting.

Getting ready to lead this workshop, my starting off place was a brilliant adaptation of a fairy tale, a film called The Red Shoes. It's pure magic how the original tale is woven into not only a story, but a ballet within a story. At the beginning of the ballet there is a somewhat frightening character of the shoemaker enticing would be dancers to put on the red shoes. 

Was this the beginning for a life in the arts? 

I asked the actors this question, “Who held out the red shoes and bid you to dance?” What followed was a series of movement explorations that developed the memories. Working solo most of the time, we formed with the language of gesture tales from very personal experiences in the pursuit of art in our lives. We made new fairy tales complete with witches, puppets, flying books, dangerous encounters, and wise guides.  

It was, simply, beautiful. Three days could only be a beginning. But beginnings in fairy tales always lead to something profound. I am eager to turn the page.

*Chekhov Studio Chicago

Finding the words

I want to write, to write from within...
After spending so many years of my life with my solo show, it's natural that some of my deepest desires have already been expressed in that form. I've spoken these words many times and embraced them profoundly.

But now, it is time for me to move beyond the inner gestures I work so hard to elicit in myself and in my student actors. In short, I am, with this blog, moving from the language of felt gesture to the language of words.

I don't know where this will take me but I've known for some time that this is something I really must do. So, here goes. My challenge - to trust this language. To believe in words. My words.

When I first began my theatre explorations that finally became The Moving Dock Theatre Company, I professed to not trust words. I preferred movement and gesture because I felt that the playwright's words were code, blueprint, mere surface. I wanted to plunge beneath the surface. By instinct and habit, I reach deep. And yet, I love books. I fall in love with writers.

Perhaps my problem isn't words, but words that are not grasped. Maybe I can use words to find those rich inner gestures I seek. I will take all the experiences I have had and share them for what it is worth and I will take the important thoughts that are so clear to me in bursts of light, and attempt what so many writers have done for eons. I will write.