To be specific…

First, I am dancing in Halestone’s show called “Older than the Mountains” on Saturday and Sunday at the Lenfest Center for the Arts at Washington & Lee University.  I have two half-pieces prepared for the show.  They will either be combined into one or performed individually at different times during the show, up to the discretion of Director Nancy Saylor.  They function as a type of segue, and the mood is reflective, grateful, modestly sacred.  They aren’t earth shatteringly dramatic and aren’t supposed to be.  More like a cleansing of the palate.

Second, I am preparing work for the upcoming season of Frame Dance Productions.  The two main events on the schedule for now are…drum roll please…

1. An exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston on September 17.  This will be part of a Dance and Camera exhibition.  So think video, live dance, museum space…

2. Frame will be in residence at the Hope Center for the HopeWerks Residency from January through March closing with a evening-length work on a tbd date in March.  This will be a live show and will, of course, integrate technology in some fantastic and snappy manner.  Dreaming up some new collaborations as well… any collaborators out there, contact me (Lydia.Hance@framedance.org), I’d love to discuss working together.  By collaborator I mean, are you, or do you know a:  writer, painter, filmmaker, musician, poet, chef, sculptor, animator, carpenter, architect, costume designer, glass blower, gardener, basket weaver, jewelry maker, martial artist…I want you all at one point or another…

Third, I will be teaching, presenting, and workshopping material on the dancers in Lexington as a sort of feedback system for the creation of this work which, at this stage, is Lydia in the studio, or Lydia reading, or Lydia walking…you get the idea, it’s a solo process, and I promise I won’t get into the habit of referring to myself in the third person.  We’re not sure exactly how this will play out, but it will surely begin to take shape as I feel out the situation and dynamics and find myself in the process (no, I’m not using the “royal we” either, I’m referring to the magical Nancy Saylor, Director of the Community Dance Connection Theater and Halestone Dance Studio.

So there you have it!  Advice gladly accepted, encouragement kindly requested. Bon voyage to you as you take this journey with me.

I didn’t anticipate much anxiety before this residency.  But lately I’ve become more and more aware of how much sound is around me.  And not necessarily the good kind.  The cluttering kind.  But I think a whole lotta good sound can become bad in that cluttering-can’t find any awareness of my thoughts-kind of way.  I’d have to admit that I am anxious to be alone with my thoughts and sink into my process.  Sometimes it’s hard for me to live in that state of temporary isolation.  But like any artist does, I do crave that time to make a priority out of creating.  And it’s a luxury, right?  *the guilt sets in for taking this time…and I fight back*  Yesterday I spent most of the day as a warm-up.  I made coffee, journaled, read some Mary Oliver, found music that made my sensibilities dance…it feels like it’s been so long (or maybe I’ve just come really far) from being in that place.  I could feel my own resistance from myself.  But I need this…and I want this…right?

To come…upon arrival in Virginia (and dependent on internet)  I will announce and explain the next two major projects coming up for Frame.  I am so excited.  Can’t quite sit still.

copyright (c) 2010 lorie garcia studio 4d4, all rights reserved