afterbirth: DANSE magnet 2.0

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.

afterbirth: Un Cortège

Mother spirit of this project: Frida Kahlo

the project:

a procession of mourners along the banks of the Seine. To occure in Spring 2009.

mourning is a transition from dark into light – pain into acceptance. that dark to light naturally occurs in the transition form winter into spring. It is also the time of easter in the catholic calendar – where jesus is crucified. we hear this sentence so often, it is so engrained in our consciousness that it has lost it’s significance among the pastel colored jellybeans. easter is about candy now minus Lent. We no longer sacrifice or reflect on mourning at this time of year.

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. All churches that have a continuous history extending before AD 1500 observe Lent. The ancient church that wrote, collected, canonized, and propagated the New Testament also observed Lent, believing it to be a commandment from the apostles. (See The Apostolic Constitutions, Book V, Section III.) (http://www.kencollins.com/holy-04.htm)

I also look to El dia de los Muertos. Although it occurs November 1st it is a celebration of the Dead.

Carlos Miller
The Arizona Republic

(http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/history/)

More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death.

It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate.

A ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The ritual is celebrated in Mexico and certain parts of the United States, including the Valley.

Celebrations are held each year in Mesa, Chandler, Guadalupe and at Arizona State University. Although the ritual has since been merged with Catholic theology, it still maintains the basic principles of the Aztec ritual, such as the use of skulls.

Today, people don wooden skull masks called calacas and dance in honor of their deceased relatives. The wooden skulls are also placed on altars that are dedicated to the dead. Sugar skulls, made with the names of the dead person on the forehead, are eaten by a relative or friend, according to Mary J. Adrade, who has written three books on the ritual.

The Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to symbolize death and rebirth.

The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations believed came back to visit during the monthlong ritual.

Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake.

It is this concept that I want to focus on – the transition from death into life and vice versa. I think too often in american and european cultures death is so segregated from our lives, thus creating a fear of something natural. Death is here, it is essential. there is nothing to fear. Experiencing death in your life is transformative. It is painful, but once having gone through it you can not recognize it’s power and honour it. The power of nature is the only thing that humbles us humans.

Coming full circle I also look to the holiday Holi – celebrated in the hindu culture.

Holi (Hindi), or Phagwa (Bhojpuri), also called the Festival of Colours, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, Guyana, Trinidad, and Nepal. In West Bengal, it is known as Dolyatra (Doljatra) or Boshonto Utsav (“spring festival”).

On the first day, burning of the demoness Holika, Hiranyakashipu’s sister, in a huge bonfires at night. It is called as Kama dahanam in Andhra Pradesh.

On the second day, known as Dhulhendi, people spend the day throwing colored powder and water at each other. The spring season, during which the weather changes, is believed to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the colored powders has a medicinal significance: the colors are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Āyurvedic doctors. A special drink called thandai is prepared, sometimes containing bhang (Cannabis sativa).

Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colours.

afterbirth: DANSE magnet

If you have reached this post in error, please view the project DANSE magnet.

Below is a list of influences that informed and inspired the project, DANSE magnet. I share this with you in hope that it may give more of an understanding to what generated this idea, and you might find something here that inspires something for you. If you have any connecting threads, tangents, ideas or thoughts to add – leave them in a comment. I look forward to talking more about this topic.

sound artists
architecture in Helsinki – heart it races
When I first saw this video I was like – yes, this is what I’m talking about. Gathering people to just sing and enjoy music. I LOVE this blog, as well – http://www.blogotheque.net/ - more about them further down!

animal collective
for their organic nature – sound initiatives. A friend of mine gave me this cd last year some time and at first I didn’t get it, but I tried again and it resonated with me strongly. This bands approach to sound and experiment greatly inspires me to push myself out of the protective containers I like to fit myself into. This is also a reason DANSE magnet is so essential to activate – I need to push myself out.

fela kuti
This guy is amazing. He’s Nigerian and he’s very popular there and amongst African communities. A friend from Martinique turned me on to him and I ran into him soon after when I was doing research on Cream’s drummer – Ginger Baker (insane guy!). *If you’re a music person I’d love to talk to you about Cream – seriously.

cultures
Brazil, Nigeria, Senegal, Martinique, and Jamaica.
There isn’t much to expand upon by mentioning these cultures, but I wanted to just show where I am coming from geographically and socially when I talk and perform this piece. It’s from these cultures (but not limited to) that I derive the spirit of this piece. I find that in latin and african cultures persons are more inclined to external forms of expression and I feel very comfortable amongst these cultures, they balance my anglo-cool-calm-and-collected hibernation tendencies nicely. 

music
Calypso, Black Marching Bands & stomp troops, street performers, and drums, drums, drums!!!!
The feel of this piece is to be moved by music to dance and to really feel the music, and I believe drums and percussion hold this energy – but of course not all of it.

fantasy/reality
musicals
There is a sort of fantasy musical element to DANSE magnet. I’m actually not into musicals because I could never understand if they were to be taken literally or not. My common response being ”people don’t do that in real life” and secretly - ”but I wish they did.”

artistic references
Allan Kaprow & fluxus
Kaprow is the grandaddy of “happenings”. I’ll let your research give you more accurate information, but of course i could not go into this project without looking at this form of artistic expression. The same can be said for Fluxus.

Improv Everywhere
An anthropologist friend of mine turned me on to this group after I explained my thesis interests to her. I had no idea how similar and fitting it was for DANSE magnet. They are a really cool team of people and I would LOVE to start a dialogue with them. I’ve sent them information through their blog, so I hope to hear from them.
[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYZ6rbPU2M]

anne cremieux
A friend of mine who will record this performance.

La Blogotheque
This blog is awesome – they are really more than a blog. They are a sort of gathering spot for new and underground musicians. They record these musicians performing in the streets or in public and post them on the blog. They’ve got tons of stuff on youtube – I first came upon them through checking out the band Beirut. They’ve done some really read stuff with them. I think they are based in Paris.

TANGENTS
prom danse, organized danse, celebratory danse
Just trying to think about forms of dance that are juxtaposed to the organic and freestyle functions of DANSE magnet. I’m not sure what to do with this connection, but I thought it was important to note.

Okay, if you’re still reading – *high five. you deserve a cookie. Leave a comment and I’ll give you a cookie. come on, you know you want a cookie!