DANSE magnet 1.0 – Fountain St. Michel, 21 Juin 2008, Fête de la Musique

amber says: argh.. I don’t want to write my blog post.
Ya Mong. says: about your dance magnet video ?
amber says: oui. 
amber says: everyone is asking me how it went
amber says: from back home
amber says: and I just want to go into a hole.
Ya Mong. says: like a little mouse. :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although there were the inevitable scares before hand, everything came together and I top-sized from the Metro with my friend, ghettoblaster, and dansing shoes just before 15H (3pm). I was surprised to see three other performances going on at the same place!

I set up the ghettoblaster, and soon Anne arrived to record the event. Valerie and Lucien were there as well to cheer me on – they are the mother and boy of the family I work with.

As I planned, I played the first song to draw a crowd. Although there were tons of people around, no one “gathered”. After the song, I said a version of the speech I prepared and commenced dansing to Devendra Banhart – Carmencita. The response?

nothing.

It was difficult to get people to danse with me. There were a few brave souls, and plenty of people watching me – but there was a real large barrier between me and “the public”. To my surprise it didn’t stop me. I had prepared for this. I tried to bridge the gap by going up to people, but I was met by embarrassed or inpatient folks. Finally the song ended and that was it. I clapped with my friends and then we huddled to discuss.

The experience was wonderful. I learned that I’m VERY comfortable performing. There is an inner exhibitionist in me, which will not come as a surprise to those of you who know me. I also felt extremely fulfilled to finally danse in a public setting. It was beautiful and freeing. I want others to have this experience as well.

Going forward I see that DANSE magnet will change depending on each performance – and there needs to be MANY of them. I plan to keep this piece going and hope to inspire others to do this as well. For the future, I will need a louder music device, a more restful place to perform, and I think a longer danse track.

The video is coming soon, so you can all see for yourselves.

 

 to read about the inspiration check out the afterbirth.