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Amber Lauletta
Paris, France
11 fev 2009
Adam
Pennsylvania, USA
OPEN LETTER Response: Hey, amber. Before I forget: what is your thesis about?
Adam,
The question of the subject of my thesis is something that I have, in fact, been trying to parse out myself. Although nestled safe and sound in the warm shelter of my brain and heart, it has yet to come out in the form of words. I have, however, been able to draw and to make many bakings and cookings. I will credit this creative physical surge to my writing block, which can not be ALL BAD in the sense that nothing is either ALL BAD or ALL GOOD.
Now, if you will permit me, Adam, I would like to use the form of an OPEN LETTER to accomplish two things (of which I will henceforth bullet point):
1. Answer your question
2. Trick my brain into letting my words come out to play
3. Begin the use of the OPEN LETTER, which I find very intriguing.
THESIS TOPIC: THE BODY IN PUBLIC PERFORMANCE
When the body becomes the medium. The moment a person decided to make an action in front of another person and for what purpose? The ego drive of that decision.
Confrontation with the public, expanding the standard theatrical audience/performer relationship, the shock of experiencing a performance in public.
The expression of an extremely raw emotional immersion of the performer in the performance. Analyzing the teachings of Antonin Artaud’s Théâtre de la Cruauté (theatre of cruelty)
Cultural implications. Understanding Joseph Beuys’ theory of culture as being varied and individual, as well the idea of culture that we carry with us in terms of identity.
Historical implications and the relevance of Post Modernism
The following will be used to discuss the aforementioned topics:
The transition of David Bowie into Ziggy Stardust, and the performance qualities of Iggy Pop.
The works of Russian artist Oleg Kulik.
The Spanish traditions of Flamenco and Bullfighting.
As you can see, it’s still a bit of a mess, and obviously still in a pre-research state. Any feedback you have is greatly appreciated. I respect your opinion.
All the best,
Amber
Research inspired by the exposition La Nuit espagnole at the Petit Palais
Antonia Mercé - La Argentina
Antonia Mercè was born in 1888 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She adapted the name of her country of birth into her stage name, La Argentina. She was also known as the Flamenco Pavlova and the Queen of the Castanets.
Her parents, Manuel Mercè and Josefina Luque, were Spanish and were both accomplished and professional dancers. Her father was from Andalusia where the people were known for their natural grace, extension, range of motion and musicality. Antonia’s mother, Josefina, was Castilian, known for their powerful presence and strong sense of style.
Her parents realized they had a prodigy on their hands in Antonia and set out to cultivate her talents. Antonia’s father had started her ballet and dance instruction at the age of four. She made her ballet debut with the Royal Opera Theatre in Madrid, Spain at the age of nine and was dancing lead roles by the age of eleven. At the age of fourteen, Antonia’s father passed away and she turned away from ballet in favour of the traditional dances of Spain that her mother loved and which had always fascinated Antonia.
In 1905 Antonia left the Madrid Opera to pursue her love of the traditional dances of Spain. She assumed her professional name of La Argentina and, from that point on, the only dances she performed were the dances of Spain. She was 17 years old and turning her back on the assured money and fame of ballet.
The roots of flamenco are with the poor and hard pressed Gypsy-Andalusian people. Flamenco itself is a combination of the song, el cante; the dance, el baile; and the guitar playing, el toque. The power of the flamenco is in its duende. This is a name given to describe the deep, primal, mysterious emotional charge that is the soul of the flamenco. It has been called the “final blood filled room of the soul” by Spanish poet Garcia Lorca. To perform true flamenco in its purest form the artists must be genuine, expressing the powers of pain and sincerity from deep within the soul while drawing it through the body, starting at the soles of the feet. The goal is to dance for yourself and not for the audience.
Carmencita
Carmencita was apparently an very interesting and colorful character, a highly spirited Spanish Gypsy Dancer who performed all over Europe and on the east coast of the United States.
Vicente Escudero
Vicente Escudero is one of the best Spanish dancers and he was also considered one of the best in the world for some time, the years of his success in the United States, France, Great Britain, Cuba…, between 1929 and 1936. They are also the years when Escudero came into contact with vanguardism in the world of arts (Cubism, Surrealism, Dadaism…), especially in literature and painting, and he managed to transpose it into his dancing. Throughout his artistic trajectory, he took his shows around the hallowed temples of international dancing. El Amor Brujo (1934) and his Bailes Flamencos de Vanguardia (1930) were very successful.
Vicente Escudero’s dancing was always characterised by a great austerity and sobriety, possibly a reflection of his Castillian character. He always struggled against barroque trends,which he believed had impregnated flamenco, and against the mechanical bailaores who simply limited themselves to repeating schemes, without leaving any space for improvisation. Cubism, which he was able to integrate very well with his art, strengthened his quest for simplicity. The crowning achievement of his theoric efforts was a decalogue of flamenco dancing, that was made public in 1951, in which he reveals the indispensable requirements for dancing flamenco in a pure manner, very significant with regards to his views dancing as a male, to put an end to the effeminateness that was prevalent in male dancing.
*this concept has been folded into a larger project that I am working on.
concept: Broadcast whale songs under one of the bridges over the Seine.
This is a response to DANSE magnetand it’s about my relationship with the public. I feel like DM was very intrusive and demanding. With WP I want to give something, to sit with “the public”. I feel like I’m in a new relationship with this city and I have to be delicate to the energy push and pull. Whale songs are very deep and moving. The whale, to me, is the icon of woman/mother/emotions. So I want to nurture with this piece. And there are so many bridges here that the echo will be amazing. I just need to invest in an amplifier.
online references:
http://www.whales.net/
http://www.whalesounds.com/home/index.html
Whale song is the sound made by whales to communicate. The word “song” is used in particular to describe the pattern of regular and predictable sounds made by some species of whales (notably the humpback) in a way that is reminiscent of human singing[citation needed]. The mechanisms used to produce sound vary from one family of cetaceans to another. Marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are much more dependent on sound for communication and sensation than are land mammals, as other senses are of limited effectiveness in water. Sight is limited for marine mammals because of the way water absorbs light. Smell is also limited, as molecules diffuse more slowly in water than in air, which makes smelling less effective. In addition, the speed of sound in water is roughly four times that in the atmosphere at sea level. Because sea mammals are so dependent on hearing to communicate and feed, environmentalists and cetologists are concerned that they are being harmed by the increased ambient noise in the world’s oceans caused by ships and marine seismic surveys.
amberlauletta