Lustfelt 4 My Rustbelt

Weebles Wobble, but they Don't Fall Down

2012-01-15T00:26:00.001-05:00

A nearly tipped stemless wine glass just reminded me that I used to love Weeble Wobbles when I was a kid. We had a parrot named Ricky Ticky Tacky (yes, he could say it). We would put one in our parrot's cage and he would peck at the Weeble Wobble, but being a Weeble Wobble, it never fell down.

Cleveland from Columbus perspective

2012-01-07T16:12:00.001-05:00

I am in Columbus for my great aunt's memorial service. Headed home soon, but stopping for lunch. This guy next to me at the Northstar is talking to his buddy about the reasons rich young people have to leave Cleveland to "get started". I'd love to know how he came to this conclusion and how often he espouses this.

I've come to look for America

2011-12-23T15:59:00.001-05:00

Iv'e got that Paul Simon song running through my mind. The Greyhound Bus is calm and full of sleeping people.

Circa 1989

2011-11-28T21:54:00.001-05:00

The 80s
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

I wish getting dressed was still this easy.

Old Friend and New Ideas

2011-11-19T10:11:00.001-05:00

I had dinner with my old friend Chung-Fu Chang on Tuesday. I performed in a piece of his in 2003 when he was teaching at Kent State University and I was in between dance companies.

My solo in "Golden Heat", Choreography by Chung-Fu Chang

He was in Cleveland setting a piece on Verb Ballets. We talked a lot about what it means to perform when your body changes as you get older, how virtuosity becomes impossible, and how constraints can lead to greater creativity.

Chung-Fu told me a story about having surgery and making a piece with a bathtub that he used for support because he was still weak. The piece won an award and was eventually performed at the Kennedy Center. (The video is below)

We got a little silly and reminisced about how fun jumping used to be--how fun it still is-- it is just the landing that stings. Of course, it spawned an idea to do a piece all about jumping, but using some kind of bungee contraption to soften the landing.

We hadn't seen each other in eight years, but we still share a common philosophy about dance, authentic performance and honoring individual dancers in choreography. I also realized that he has had a deep influence on my own choreography, particularly in the use of fabrics and props. I hope we see each other again soon.

Weeknight Cheater Pumpkin Pie

2011-11-08T20:56:00.001-05:00

Yes, you too can bake after work and have pie by 8:30pm. Filling made by scratch although pumpkins cooked before. Crust: courtesy of graham crackers.

Ingenuity Fest Performance

2011-11-05T14:29:00.000-04:00

We performed this 3 times in September at Ingenuity Fest on the streetcar level of the Detroit Superior Bridge. We had a great time performing and hope to do something for Ingenuity again next year.

your life to live

2011-11-04T19:27:00.000-04:00

Our names are unimportant
Where we live, we're looking for it
What we know, we do believe in
That's the love of a friend.
On your right side, that's your brother
On your left side, that's your sister
Right behind you, that's your family
Right in front of you, that's your life to live

-We are many, Hackensaw Boys

Tuscany you are beautiful.

2011-10-28T16:11:00.001-04:00

Tuscany you are beautiful.
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Tuscany you are beautiful.

Cafe window with ash trays, San Gimignano

2011-10-28T16:03:00.001-04:00

Cafe window with ash trays, San Gimignano
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Cafe window with ash trays, San Gimignano

Firenze

2011-10-26T12:35:00.001-04:00

Firenze
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Firenze

Riomaggiore, Italy

2011-10-24T12:25:00.001-04:00

Riomaggiore, Italy
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Riomaggiore, Italy

Manarola, Italy

2011-10-24T12:23:00.001-04:00

Manarola, Italy
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Manarola, Italy

La Cristaleria Murano

2011-10-21T15:34:00.001-04:00

La Cristaleria Murano
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

La Cristaleria Murano

Gondola Parking, Venice

2011-10-21T05:53:00.001-04:00

Gondola Parking, Venice
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Gondola Parking, Venice

View from Ponte Rialto

2011-10-21T05:52:00.001-04:00

View from Ponte Rialto
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

View from Ponte Rialto

Venice

2011-10-21T05:47:00.001-04:00

Venice
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Venice

Kimchi is in Season

2011-10-09T13:09:00.002-04:00

Spent this morning prepping vegetables for kimchi and mostly followed Sandor Kat'z recipe (see below). Now it is doing its thing in the fermentation crock. October is a great time in Northeast Ohio to make kimchi because nearly everything you need is in season and available locally. Here is what I used:

From the backyard: cabbage, red onion, kohlrabi
From City Fresh: carrots, radish, pepper, onion, garlic
From Local Roots: dried hot pepper
From the grocery store: salt and ginger

I should have salty, spicy, tangy kimchi in about a week.

Oh September

2011-10-02T12:33:00.000-04:00

I always like the edges of things. I believe that is why September is my favorite month of the year. Having trouble letting it go. Here is a little musical tribute to my dear September. Until next year.

**note the awesome hand clapping in the music
***hand clapping in music is one of my favorite things ever. I think because it is so participatory

Preservation Fall

2011-09-27T08:21:00.001-04:00

A 1/2 bushel of City Fresh Peaches turned into peach jam, peach salsa and canned peaches in honey. Sunshine in January!

The City Fresh romas were de-skinned, food milled, and turned into sauce for use in Cleveland's post-tomato months.

Community garden plot onion and shallots: a key ingredient to the freezer stored pesto I made.

Backyard herb spiral basil bound for freezer pesto

Great Ohio grown cucumbers from the Basketeria at the West Side Market. Pickling these now in my fermentation crock with fresh garlic, dried dill, a couple grape leaves for crispness, brine and peppercorns. The crock is bubbling as I type.

Ingenuity Fest

2011-09-12T21:52:00.002-04:00

I've been busy at work and at art and feeling pretty good about both.

Ingenuity Fest is one of my favorite Cleveland events and I'm excited to be presenting two dance works there. Both pieces are about nature, terrain and landscapes and I imagine that performing them under the bridge, outside, and over the river will feel just right.

I've re-set and re-worked Borne Away on Crooked River (2007) for Ingenuity Fest and I'm feeling satisfied with the changes made to the choreography. The piece is about water and our relationship with it. When I looked with fresh eyes at the video of the original choreography, parts of it didn't seem organic enough for a subject such as water.

It has been a real treat to work with great dancers and to find more connections to the movement and to each other than existed before. Also, Jeff Schuler is playing live guitar and violin and everything just breathes nicely.

I made a little video for Ingenuity that they'll use with a QR code:

Also, will re-set Heart's Terrain (2009) at Ingenuity. This piece is a solo about internal and external landscapes and I can imagine the large swath of wine red fabric billowing in the wind that blows off of Lake Erie.

Heart's Terrain

Showtimes:

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Friday, Sept 16th
8:15-8:35 pm Borne Away on a Crooked River
8:45-8:55 pm Heart's Terrain

Saturday, Sept 17th2-2:20 pm Borne Away on a Crooked River
4:45-5:55 Heart's Terrain
6:30-6:50 pm Borne Away on a Crooked River

The venue is the "The Span Dance Space". Here is a map of under the bridge:http://ingenuitycleveland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011ingenuityfestmap.pdf

Flip the Script on Flash Mobs

2011-07-15T21:48:00.005-04:00

Stop, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down.

"It's frightening to see these flash mobs . . . they come in swarms like bees," Warrensville Heights Councilwoman Ruby Wilson was quoted in a Plain Dealer article as saying.

I've read the articles chronicling the flash mob phenomenon in Cleveland's inner-ring, and raised my eyebrows at some of the quotations. My initial conclusion: We as a community are afraid to see large groups of black teens assembled in public places when we don't expect it AND we want them to leave when we say so. We feel so strongly about this that we are willing to detain individual teens for being out in public after 6pm.

I took a brief glance at the American Community Survey and I believe it should be perfectly normal to see large groups of black teens assembled here in Cleveland. Almost 30% of the population is under 18 years of age and 52% of the population is African American.

What if, instead of thinking of flash mobs as a problem; we envision their potential. What if we were pleased that groups of black teenagers have the organizational skills and connectedness to assemble in large groups at a moment's notice. This is a demographic that is historically technologically disadvantaged, disempowered and disenfranchised.

Perhaps they don't know what to do with themselves when assembled, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. The right to assemble is in the Bill of Rights. The ability to assemble equates to power. The teens know it and so does everyone else. We should be encouraging these teens to exercise their power, to feel part of something larger than themselves, to connect with others in the community.

Maybe the flash mobs are appealing to teens because they know they are inspiring fear and they know that is not fair. Instead of squashing the flash mobs, maybe we should be putting energy toward guiding teens to use this skill for good. For example, teens in Chicago protested the closing of a hospital's trauma center, and teens in Barington, Illinois assembed to draw attention to their schools' budget cuts. I see civic potential in the flash mob.

Bounty

2011-06-28T22:42:00.005-04:00

Somehow I managed to get my garden planted on time this year. I started seeds indoors in March and was pretty much determined to get early spring vegetables planted in April. I planted some from seed outdoors in June. I will admit that I likely risked the whole endeavor by planting some seeds and seedlings when there was potential for frost. I also wallowed in the rain and mud and planted some seeds in a garden that resembled a swamp. I will confess to planting pea seeds in early April and poking them back down into the dirt repeatedly after they floated out of the ground.

After that long disclaimer about all of the things I did wrong, what I did right was get stuff planted before June so I can have a 3-season garden. Here's the update:

Cucumbers are fruiting. I started these inside in April and planted them outside in early June.

Kohlrabi is getting there. I started inside from seed in March and transplanted outside mid April

Butterhead Lettuce-- started inside in early March. Transplanted outside in mid April

Other Kind of Lettuce-- I've been saving these seeds myself and can't remember the variety. Same timing as the other lettuce.

Herb Spiral-- I started most of the herbs inside, but some wintered in the house/outside: sage, oregano, marjoram, lemon balm, basil, cilantro, chives, dill, stevia, tarragon, rosemary.

Tomatos are starting to blossom. I'm experimenting with pruning this year to yield more fruit and reduce risk of damp-loving diseases. I've planted brandywine, paste, cherry and numerous volunteer hybrid tomatoes.

Strawberry patch is doing ok and radishes were puny, but delicious

Not pictured: Cabbage, beans, asparagus, squash, kale, beets, radish, garlic and chard. The community garden plot has burdock, parsnip, carrots and shallots.

Nothing can be Something

2011-06-28T21:44:00.001-04:00

Zero from Zealous Creative on Vimeo.

"Further In"

2011-06-18T12:50:00.002-04:00

further in, grandmother; grandfather, hold my hand
as I go on through this life and try to understand
the beauty of your faces I will never see again
but I know you're with me now leading me further in

further in, you friends of mine, they led me further in
I know I've hurt you many times and I've helped you and I will again
you to me and me to you, and us to all of them
the circle that will ever grow as we go further in

further in, O my love, take me further in
past the place where love hides its face and down to where we begin
so deep in this mystery, my tears on yours depend
and they like some wild river flow as we go further in

-Greg Brown

Rest in Peace Pop Pop

Don't be a "fake ass green yuppie"

2011-06-12T09:16:00.006-04:00

Tango Till You're Sore's Sustainable Living post calls some folks out for being lazy and living a green-washed lifestyle. Avoid being a "fake ass green yuppie" and recycle the packaging and products you have invited into your life by choosing to buy them. Here are all of the recycling drop off locations in Cleveland. (click the image to see the full picture or to zoom in)

More information about recycling services.

I take my recyclables with me in my shopping bags on the way to the grocery store. When the bags are empty, then I can fill them with groceries. My friend calls it "reverse shopping".

A blog I like

2011-06-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

100 Days in Cleveland

Global Cleveland

2011-06-03T22:03:00.004-04:00

Today in a downtown drugstore an elderly Indian man with jet black hair--white at the roots-- was buying a box of hair dye and other sundries. The check-out clerk rings him up and then leans over to the clerk who was ringing me out and asks, "you have his coupons?". My clerk glances at his purchases and then ruffles through a stack of coupons and hands over two.

His clerk announces in a loud voice apparently reserved for those who don't speak English well, "you saved ten dollars". The Indian man raises his eyebrows, smiles, and starts fumbling with the gum at the counter. He hurriedly grabs 3 packs of orange Trident and adds it to his purchases.

He pays and gives a pack of gum to each clerk in gratitude. "For you, for you, for me," he says.

My clerk looks at me and explains, "I always keep his coupons for him. He never remembers to bring them. He's been coming here for years. He doesn't understand much English, but he understands ten dollars."

Crooked River Dancing

2011-05-22T19:35:00.003-04:00

I made a Weebly today. After a conversation about artistic collaboration last night with Kate Sopko, I decided it was time I had a choreography website-- an online portfolio of sorts. I know that someday I'll have a real website, but I think it will do for now. Next step? Make a dance so I have something to put on the homepage. www.crookedriverdancing.weebly.com

raindark, countercat, athwart

2011-05-11T23:33:00.000-04:00

I've turned 26 pages of Suttree by Cormac McCarthy-- a favorite author of mine. I've read most of his novels with the exception of 2 of his earliest, The Orchard Keeper and Outer Dark.

His books are compelling, spare, intelligent and poorly/brilliantly (un)punctuated. He makes up words, but I don't read it as gratuitous. I usually end up sacrificing a night's sleep with a McCarthy novel. My intention is to take my time with this one.

The book begins with an italicized intro. Here is just one crazy good sentence from it:

Down there in grots of fallen light a cat transpires from stone to stone across the cobbles liquid black and sewn in rapid antipodes over the raindark street to vanish cat and countercat in the rifted works beyond.

The first chapter starts like this:

Peering down into the water where the morning sun fashioned wheels of light, coronets fanwise in which lay trapped each twig, each grain of sediment, long flakes and blades of light in the dusty watersliding away like optic strobes where motes sifted and spun. A hand trails over the gunwale and he lies athwart the skiff, the toe of one sneaker plucking periodic dimples in the river with the boat's slight cradling, drifting down beneath the bridge and slowly past the mud-stained stanchions. Under the high cool arches and dark keeps of the span's undercarriage where pigeons babble and the hollow flap of their wings echoes in stark applause. Glancing up at these cathedraled vaultings with their fossil woodknots and pseudomorphic nailheads in gray concrete, drifting, the bridge's slant shadow leaning the width of the river with that headlong illusion postulate in old cupracers frozen on photoplates, their wheels elliptic with speed. These shadows form over the skiff, accommodate his prone figure and pass on.

Keep in mind that the dialogue that follows is Hemingway-spare.

Bikespresso

2011-05-02T23:32:00.007-04:00

I may attend Bikespresso. Could be a good kick-off to Cleveland Bicycle Week.

Re-thinking Borders

2011-04-03T09:19:00.002-04:00

Ron Rael says the wall on the US/Mexico border is expensive, detrimental to the environment, ineffective, and even deadly, since hundreds die of dehydration each year as they try to cross the border.

“I have to accept the wall because it exists, but as a designer I see that something better is possible. Why not do something intelligent, something incredible? I envision not just a ‘dumb wall,’ but a social infrastructure that connects and improves lives on both sides.”

His designs for a better, more useful, more environmentally friendly, innovatiave wall.

Aren't they Cute?

2011-03-27T18:34:00.001-04:00

Only a week later, and at least half my seeds have sprouted.

Every Piece of Plastic Ever Made Still Exists Today

2011-03-26T13:37:00.002-04:00

No matter where you live, what you do affects our oceans:

Here's what some Clevelanders are doing to get people to "Drink Local, Drink Tap". Visit the Sustainable Water 2019 group Tower City this week to get involved.

Starting off Spring with Logic, Creativity & Chaos

2011-03-20T20:11:00.004-04:00

It's time to plan and plant the garden again. My process is an equal mix logic, creativity and chaos. First I get out all of my seeds and spread them all over the ground. I draw a picture (not to scale) of the backyard and how I want the flow (colors, heights, shapes, etc.). Notice the coffee is an important part of the process.

.
Then, I get practical and use graph paper to plan out how much of what will fit in the space I'm working with. Based on that number, I know how many of which seeds to start. I also plan which seeds I'll sow directly outside and when. Also, I figure out which ones will get planted in the community garden plot instead of the backyard.

Finally, I put it all together and spend 6-8 weeks babying my seedlings until I harden them off with tough love and transplant them to the great outdoors.

Fickle March

2011-03-18T19:46:00.003-04:00

You're like a Cleveland Gray when there's daffodils blooming in the alleys and the sylvan cyclists glide by in the afternoon and when you dream the Guardians of the bridge stretch out their arms and drop their vehicles from a great height and the splash into the river sends ripples to the lake and back again to shore when a mysterious gull flies out of the valley his call bounces off the top of our towering city and then vanishes when you wave your wand and change the melody.

Pop Up Pearl

2011-03-13T14:41:00.003-04:00

On May 21st, from noon until dusk, Old Brooklyn along Pearl Road will transform into Pop Up Pearl. For one day, vacant storefronts will showcase Pop UP gift shops, art galleries, restaurants and a more. If you've got an idea to fill a vacant storefront you can participate.

1996-97 was a good year

2011-03-12T19:00:00.005-05:00

I had forgotten about the Primitive Radio Gods until Last.fm reminded me to like them. Remembering to like their song, Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in my Hand, reminded me to like Pepper by the Butthole Surfers and Brimful of Asha by Cornershop. It's good to remember to like what you like.

We Are Not Vacant

2011-03-04T18:46:00.004-05:00

"Just because we have vacant lots and abandoned houses in our neighborhood doesn't mean we live in a vacant and abandoned neighborhood."

-Barbara Anderson speaking at a Neighborhood Connections holiday party

Need proof? Check out the Re-imagining Cleveland's Ideas to Action Resource Book.

Local Food in Early March

2011-03-03T19:44:00.002-05:00

Eating locally in early March means eating from the pantry and the "cellar". We don't have a cellar, but we do have a poorly heated front hallway that works pretty well. Tonight's dinner is soup made from:

Canned vegetable stock (carrot, onion, garlic and celery from late summer)
Canned Green Beans (From July)
Frozen Kale (From Sept)
Frozen Kohlrabi (From August)
Frozen Zucchini (from July)
City Fresh Garlic (stored from Dec)
City Fresh Cabbage (stored from Dec)
Dried Adzuki Beans (pantry)

Giddy with the Prospect of Spring

2011-03-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

Cleveland Crocus Emerges!

Reducing the Noise

2011-02-19T14:40:00.003-05:00

I just spent about an hour unsubscribing to 20 -newsletters and retail email lists that clutter up my email inbox. I also un-joined 3 underused ning sites.

I retained a subscription with the 4 e-newsletters I actually read; feeling light and free about this.

Context is Everything & the Near Future

2011-02-12T16:02:00.004-05:00

If you hold your leg in a room full of twenty people, it's not the same as holding it when you are alone by the sea.

The body enjoys participating in the possible which becomes narrowed down to the probable, which fast becomes the actual or what we call the present. . . Perceiving the "probable future" transform into the present invites us to be there right then. There is no point in being only in the present because the body lives and breathes the future. We may live in the present, but we breathe the future.

-Julyen Hamilton
(from an interview in Contact Quarterly by Nancy Stark Smith

The video below (with Hamilton, Stark Smith and someone else) is better with the sound off.

R&R

2011-02-11T18:18:00.002-05:00

R&R
Originally uploaded by Jenita McGowan.

Every day on Public Square.

How we remember

2011-02-06T11:23:00.002-05:00

At my grandmother, Jeane Morrison's, funeral this past weekend I met a first cousin twice removed who keeps and updates a family tree on my grandfather’s side of the family. I learned some new information about my great-great-grandparents (my cousin’s great- grandparents) that I didn’t know before. I also learned that my 93-year old grandfather has 4 living first cousins who are all about his age.

My newly discovered cousin lives next door to the “Old Morrison Farm” where my great-great-grandparents lived and my great-grandfather grew up. He also said he has a civil-war era diary written by my great-great-uncle. My cousin is going to send me the genealogy charts and maybe some scanned family photos including one of my great-grandparents wedding.

At the Woodland Cemetery in Ironton, most of my grandmother’s family is buried, the Murdocks, Johnstons, Fishers and now Morrisons . I believe my grandparents will be the last of our family to be buried in the family plot in Ironton. No one lives there anymore and we are all so scattered. Things are just different now. Instead of visiting the cemetery to remember relatives, we’ll use software to download our family trees.

Grit

2011-01-24T22:55:00.001-05:00

Red Line Rapid. Steel toed and plasticized.

Red Line Sunrise

2011-01-23T18:46:00.001-05:00

Practical commuter shoes belie the heels in your receptionist's tote. You turn pages of daily devotions. I glimpse your tender scalp through feathered hair and a cloud of perfume.

Roller Skating and Energy Efficiency

2011-01-19T17:37:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow the City of Cleveland is hosting a kick-off event to the Year of Energy Efficiency. The Cleveland Conserves Energy Efficiency Fair will be 11am-2pm in Cleveland City Hall Rotunda. The event will feature businesses, nonprofits and City-based departments related to energy efficiency and conservation.

Of course, since I'm involved in the planning we had to make it just a little wacky and fun. The Little Hollywood Dazzlers will also be performing. They are a group of 5-9yr-olds who dance on roller skates. They are led by 71-year-old professional skater Maurice Cooke who is passing on everything he knows to the youth.I am an avid believer that rollerskating brings people together.

Below is a preview of the Little Hollywood Dazzlers. Stop on by the event is free. You can learn about how to give yourself the gift that keeps on giving: energy efficiency.

Geek Brunch

2011-01-16T13:26:00.002-05:00

New Year Intentions

2011-01-08T18:04:00.001-05:00

I intend to be more forthright when it matters and less forthright when it doesn’t.

I intend to jump from Adho Mukha Svanasana into Dandasana with grace.

I intend to make a new dance and teach it to some dancers and to organize a performance of the new dance.

I intend to take Ballet class again.

I intend to bicycle throughout winter.

I intend to be a better friend by calling, writing and visiting.

I intend to dress a little snazzier.

I intend to talk less about my cats, but to love them more.

I intend to knit my sister a hat.

Ok, that’s it for now.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-23T21:56:00.003-05:00

Two gifts from Shel Silverstein (and me) to you:

Weird Bird
Birds are flyin' south for winter.
Here's the Weird-Bird headin' north,
Wings a-flappin', beak a-chatterin',
Cold head bobbin' back 'n' forth.
He says, "It's not that I like ice
Or freezin' winds and snowy ground.
It's just sometimes it's kind of nice
To be the only bird in town."

The Giving Tree

Seeing Differently

2010-12-12T16:28:00.012-05:00

SeeShell Snorkel Mask on Longboat Key

I attended Foundations and Frontiers in Appreciative Inquiry in Longboat Key, Florida last week.

David Cooperrider said that "All change begins in the imagination of the mind" and that inquiry and change occur simultaneously. A change in the questions will result in a change of the answering results. Therefore, our collective image of the future will be what creates the future.

How do you cultivate wonder and a renewed vision? Cooperrider cited Fred Polak's 3 parts to a re-birth of vision:

1. Influence optimisim-the belief that humans can indeed effect the future

2. Artists, poets and spiritual leaders to demonstrate how to vision and appreciate

3. Societies that work in the public space--real civic dialogue.

I need to reflect more upon the workshop, but have some initial ideas on how to implement some of what I have learned in my work.

Its the "Crooked River" stupid

2010-12-01T15:00:00.004-05:00

I am dumbfounded that people are seriously considering straightening the Cuyahoga River to accommodate a parking lot. The word Cuyahoga literally means CROOKED in the Iroquois language. We should be investing in infrastructure that supports a walkable, bike-able urban core that relegates cars to the periphery. Not a plan that esteems a parking facility more than the beautiful, iconic oxbow of the Cuyahoga River.

In other awful news, Senator Voinovich's solution to Governor Elect John Kasich's plan to nix the 3C rail is to reallocate the funding to roads and bridges. Really? I'd rather see the money go to a rail project in another state if our leaders refuse to use it here for non automotive infrastructure.

So, Ohio will move a river and refuse millions in federal funding because we can't see beyond our steering wheels. Great. Guess it's time to write some letters.

Car-free: Day 1

2010-11-28T15:34:00.005-05:00

Greyhound trip from Columbus to Cleveland was great and I got some good reading done. I am officially car-free in Cleveland. Walked to brunch with friends today. I get to cancel my car insurance and get a rebate just in time for some holiday shopping. Good deal.

This weekend should be good

2010-11-16T22:37:00.002-05:00

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Friday--Pop Up Gift Shop opening

Saturday--Burning River Roller Girls fundraiser for the Animal Protective League

Sunday--Near West Theatre’s production of Willy Wonka

I'll likely sprinkle in some Ashtanga practice, coffee from Loop, light reading and some friends.

Sound in my Faith

2010-11-09T20:39:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure I believe in Jesus, but I do believe in the Staple Singers. Their musical journey from gospel to R&B is worth repeated listening and it parallels their physical journey from Down in Mississippi to Chicago.

I listen to the Staple Singers whenever I need a boost and also to check myself. I've always liked the sound of hand clapping in music and no one does it like the Staple family. And, Pop Staples sounds a lot like my grandpa Jesse who is also from Down in Mississippi.

The Drifter

2010-10-18T15:29:00.004-04:00

I had a vanity license plate on my first car: D R I F T E R. My dad used to call me that when I was a teenager because I was so independent and would just take off for awhile and do my own thing. “Well look who decided to come home. It’s the drifter,” was a familiar refrain. When I bought my first car, a 1988 Toyota Camry, he made a present of the nickname and had it emblazoned on my license plate.

Heading off to college at Kent State with a vanity plate for an already very used car was a bit embarrassing, but I did feel like my car was my freedom. Besides, I couldn’t hurt my dad’s feeling by changing the plate. Inside my car I could gather my thoughts, blare music, sing at the top of my lungs, take a road trip, spread my wings, burn some rubber, see the country, get a one-armed sunburn, get off campus, get to my job. I kept the car for 5 years and 220,000 miles.

A combustible engine was always the route to freedom in my family. When I was a tot, my parents were members of the Buckeye Vanners. As members of the van club, we went on road trips, used CB radios and slept in our van. My dad’s handle was Captain Midnight and my mom was Midnight Angel.

My dad always named his cars: The Green Hornet, The Blue Maverick, . . . He had pick up trucks and motorcyles: a Triumph Bonneville, a Kawasaki, a Yamaha and a Harley. The open road meant something to us. The only vacations we took were by car, van or motorcycle. I never traveled by airplane until I was an adult. I went cross country with my dad on his Harley and arrived back home, weathered, windblown and just a little tougher than when I left.

Fast forward and freedom means something very different to me now. I’ve about had it with my current vehicle. I don’t really enjoy driving anymore. I’ve since discovered Cleveland’s Regional Transit System, Greyhound, Amtrak, a bicycle and my feet. Vehicular freedom comes with a big a price: car payments, insurance, accidents, stress, carbon emissions, traffic jams, a sedentary lifestyle, isolation.

I am giving my car to my brother. I'll drop it off when I’m home for Thanksgiving and will take Greyhound back to Cleveland. I’ll try being car-free.

2010-10-18T14:33:00.002-04:00

I went to Sonoma for a wedding last weekend. These are the first redwoods I've seen.

God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.
--John Muir

Van Morrison, Summertime in England

2010-10-12T08:44:00.004-04:00

I know it is Autumn, but listening to this song this morning made me feel rooted in this season, in the now.

It aint why . . .
It just is . . .
Thats all
Thats all there is about it.
It just is.
Can you feel the light?

What sustains me?

2010-10-11T21:59:00.004-04:00

Helping to facilitate Sustainable Cleveland 2019 is a part of my job I really enjoy.

Local Food Week at my House

2010-10-10T16:40:00.002-04:00

I harvested sunflower seeds, carrots and green tomatoes.

My carrots taste flowery, kind of like jasmine tea.

I made and jarred green tomato relish.

Muni Lot, 7pm on a Monday

2010-10-03T17:35:00.003-04:00

I saw him toss something high into the air before I heard seeds scatter in the middle of the near-empty Muni Lot. I walked to my car through a swirling swarm of September gulls. He raised his arms and smiled through a 3-month beard.

A Haiku

2010-09-18T23:39:00.005-04:00

Twirling Umbrella

Dusk dripping rain and midges

El Buen Pastor Drums
--September South-of-Lorain

It's ok to be single

2010-08-19T06:56:00.004-04:00

"I've given up hope."

He said, "Don't give up hope".

I look at the pile of loss and failure and shake my head.

I can't have this in my life anymore. My accumulation of single earrings--unmatched and missing their partners--weighs on me.

After an initial earring loss, I actively look for the lost mate in the bottom of my purse and in couch cushions. For half a year, I reach for the earring to wear it, but then remember I only have one. For a year, I nurture belief that I might encounter its twin behind the toilet or in the foam of my bike helmet. But after a year the lone earring taunts me with waste, irresponsibility and uselessness.

I've found new life for my solitary jewels (none of them are actual jewels!) I am sending all of my single earrings to my friend Nicole whose art business is Plenty Underfoot. She will transform them from annoying to wearable once again. Her philosophy: The waste stream of consumer culture is full of creative potential.

Civics

2010-07-31T16:24:00.004-04:00

I've been doing something new. Every morning that I take RTA to work, I stop in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue on Mall A and read the Gettysburg Address. Now that is good oratory. I had to memorize it in 8th grade, but I don't think I really read it until a couple of weeks ago.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863

Canning is a Snap

2010-07-25T21:21:00.006-04:00

One of the perks of volunteering for City Fresh is that I can order bulk produce sometimes. All City Fresh farmers are within 40 miles of Cleveland and the produce is usually picked the same day it is distributed.

I ordered a bushel of green snap beans and spent the day processing about half of them. I'll do the rest tomorrow after work.

Last year, I only canned tomatoes. This summer, I'll put by green beans, corn, tomatoes and maybe some soups. Thirty-six quarts of tomatoes lasted from September-May. So, this year I'll try to can about 45 to get us to July.

Canning is pretty easy. You just have to follow directions, have patience and be willing to devote a day to preserving summer produce so that you can enjoy it in the fall, winter and early spring.

Take me home . . .

2010-07-11T21:03:00.003-04:00

Who needs fireworks when you've got this kind of excitement on July 4th?

Take me Home . . . from Jenita McGowan on Vimeo.

My mom, her boyfriend, Jose and her condominium neighbors invited me and my siblings to their potluck and sing-along.

Steve is beet; time for a nap

2010-06-27T22:04:00.002-04:00

Storing Produce w/out Plastic

2010-06-13T22:20:00.003-04:00

The Berkley Farmers' Market offers some tips for storing fruits and vegetables without plastic.

Why avoid plastic? Here's one good reason.

Slughs

2010-06-13T20:58:00.004-04:00

At night, by the light of a headlamp, you can see them in great crowds pulsating all over the compost bin. We've got slugs and they are eating and rotting out my radishes. I'm all for a healthy backyard ecosystem, but I think we're overrun.

Some Magic Hat #9 in a couple cat food tins did in about 8 of them. Perhaps it had too many hops for those slugs that prefer a domestic, macro-brewed pilsner. We'll try something a little more conventional and economical in the future.

2010-05-21T21:11:00.006-04:00

I learned a new word today: iatrogenic.

Conventionally used to describe inadvertent, negative effects of medical treatment, author John McKnight uses the word to describe the consequences of professionalizing care--turning citizens into "clients" and care into "service".

It is now clear the economic pressure to professionalize requires an expanding universe of need and the magnification of deficiency.
The Careless Society: Community and its Counterfeits

I recently witnessed a well-intentioned person try to co-opt, professionalize, define and control a movement long-percolating among grassroots groups and volunteers citizens. This person believes "success" requires a leader who will focus efforts and "take it to the next level". Beholding work that has potential is inspiring, but the desire to co-opt a movement dis-empowers enthusiastic people, destroys creativity and stifles agility.

I'm grateful to my friend who gave me the book just before I started my new job. It is helping me to be aware that co-opting, professionalizing and serving can be harmful. I'll do my best to support positive efforts and leave power where it belongs--with citizens.

Bikes in the Motor City

2010-05-17T22:02:00.008-04:00

Wishing Cleveland a happy Bicycle Week from here in the Motor City.

I'm attending the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Detroit this week. The photos are from the Henry Ford Museum.

Herban Spiral

2010-05-09T17:03:00.004-04:00

We'll be refining the herb spiral this week. The herb seedlings and seeds are just about ready to join the great outdoors. The idea is to plant the herbs that thrive in arid climes at the top, getting progressively water-loving as they descend.

Here's the plan from top to bottom:
Rosemary, oregano, marjoram, sage, tarragon, thyme, dill, cilantro, parsley, chives, fenugreek, lemon balm, a pile of cheery marigolds spilling from the bottom.

Near West Community Gardens

2010-04-19T22:05:00.002-04:00

I entered in the addresses of all of the community gardens I could find on the Near-West Side of Cleveland into a Google map. I thought I'd share. Let me know if I'm missing any.

You can click through to see them all or use your mouse to pan across the map.

View Near-West Community Gardens in a larger map

Being Scrappy

2010-04-19T20:45:00.003-04:00

"I operate within the constraints of my life. Opportunities abound. " My friend Doug Lodge's statement in the recent Antaeus Dance program uses graceful prose to refer to what I call "being scrappy".

My job history is comically diverse, but the through line is that I am open to opportunities as they arise. So far it's been a real trip.

I've been a babysitter, lawn-mower, athletic club janitor, baton twirling teacher, journalist, drive thru cashier, waitress (from 3rd shift at Country Kitchen to fine dining), bartender, pizza maker, telemarketer, knitting store employee, modern dancer, choreographer, audio book quality assurance tester, dance educator, assistant to a city councilman, archival property researcher, passenger train advocate, after-school program designer, community researcher, Volunteer Coordinator, Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator and a Census Campaign Coordinator.

I'll be starting a new job soon. My first full-time, grown-up, benefits and retirement job. I know the constraints and opportunities will continue to keep life interesting. I am never bored.

Down Home

2010-04-13T17:46:00.007-04:00

I went on a pilgrimage to Southern Ohio last weekend. My grandparent's house on S. 10th street in Ironton has been torn down since I was last there. In place of the mint green and chocolate brown post-war bungalow is a parking lot. The unchanged view of the hills from their former backyard did console me.

View from my grandparents' former home.

I visited my grandparents in their retirement community in Portsmouth. My93-year-old grandfather complained about the lack of decent chess and checkers. He also told me stories about the rooster his family had when he was growing up and about how my grandparents got married when he was on leave in the Navy. My grandmother followed him up and down the west coast via train when they were newlyweds so they could be together while he finished his enlistment.

Charles E. Morrison, Navy photo

I also went hiking at Lake Vesuvius in the Wayne National Forest. I stayed a a great little bed and breakfast right on the Ohio River: , Riverview Inn in Franklin Furnace.

Lake Vesuvius, Wayne National Forest, Ironton Reservation

10 Things I Like about Cleveland: Part X

2010-03-14T20:19:00.003-04:00

It's difficult to choose only ten things I like about Cleveland, but I guess I'll finish my list with something salient. I like the Cleveland International Film Festival--coming soon!

A Bridge for All

2010-03-03T13:43:00.000-05:00

Those who don't have a car still do
Pay public infrastructure taxes too
So why can't those who don't have a car
Use the bridge in their own backyard?…

All kinds of traffic should be delivered
Up over the Cuyahoga River
If they drive a bike or just walk around
Give everyone a way to get downtown.

Let's keep Cleveland on the right track.
Take a step forward not a step back
Now is the chance if we answer the call
To build a bridge that connects us all.

unbound

2010-03-02T17:30:00.008-05:00

I say jump! But I do not jump. I indicate energy
and yet I still look for my own bloom—
through fine lines, past flat belly to cold toes.

Everything is careful and documented these days. Lightly treaded.
I am not bound and I feel the burden of what holds me?
Not pursuit of purse and suit.

I work and I walk and I sew and I plant and I cook and I clean and I speak and I sleep

I’m not a real dazzler
but I only borrow the salty soft whys from the unfulfilled.
Incanting patience with a cycle of believe, bereave, be, believe, bereave, be.
I’d rake in all those hesitant moldering leaves and celebrate the end of this season, but they’re not mine to burn.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part IX

2010-02-26T15:12:00.003-05:00

I like the snow. Winter is my least favorite season, but the snow makes it bearable. I like its variations--from snow-globe flakes to harsh blustery blizzards. I like being tough and trudging through drifts when walking to work. I like being a baby and using it as an excuse to stay home, drink tea and cuddle my cat. I like how it brightens gray days. I like yards dotted with Snowmen.

We Clevelanders are blessed with four seasons made even more seasonal by our great lake. That basin of fresh water ensures springtime slogs will be spongy with a sucking, loamy, flower-sprouting ground. Our summer will be humid, yet made more sufferable because of cool lake breezes. Autumn will be misty with a foghorn soundscape. We'll have mayflies in June and seagulls all year round. And in winter, we'll have Lake-Effect Snow.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part VIII

2010-02-22T18:58:00.005-05:00

I like Pop Up City. A part of the Kent State University Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Pop Up City activates vacant/underused urban spaces in creative ways. All of their events are at the root, based on collaboration, sharing assets, a wacky sense of fun and having their finger on the pulse of what makes Clevelanders get off of their sofas.

My first Pop Up was Cleveland's initial Bizarre Bazaar. Then I went to Leap Night down in the Flats. I was fortunate to be able partner with P.U.C. when I was a Fellow on the Electric Roller DiscoTech and then again when I was volunteer coordinator for The Bridge Project.

If you've never experienced a Pop Up City event, or if you know you love them, check out Brite Winter Festival this weekend.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part VII

2010-02-19T09:15:00.005-05:00

I like the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from the Great Lakes Brewing Company. It is heavy enough to suit my winter palette, but fizzy enough for me to enjoy during the heat of summer. The taste is rich, complex, smooth and somehow bitter. I like it in a bottle, in a growler or from the tap at the brewery.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part VI

2010-02-17T14:06:00.002-05:00

I like the abundance of urban agriculture in Cleveland. We have:

plots of vacant land you can buy for about $1,
a diverse group of willing, committed people,
hungry citizens in need of fresh, nutritional produce,
free technical assistance,
innovative urban gardening and urban livestock zoning policies,
bottom-up DIY-ness and
top-down support.

I can't wait for the upcoming growing season. The plan is to turn the entire yard into a garden this summer. We've made layers of comforter compost and are letting it prepare the soil this winter

Last spring, garden prep

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part V

2010-02-15T12:13:00.003-05:00

I like the Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority--specifically the trains. I know that the RTA has raised fees and cut service. And I'm disappointed in that. However, I do like the convenience of taking the Red Line to University Circle, Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood, the Ohio City Neighborhood and the Airport. I like taking the Green or Blue line to Shaker Square.

Opening Night!

2010-02-05T11:06:00.004-05:00

Antaeus Dance presents Home Front, tonight and tomorrow at 8pm and this Sunday at 3pm. Dress rehearsal last night went well and its shaping up to be a vibrant, and diverse collection of dances.

Antaeus is performing in the Pilgrim Congregational Church Theater, a little-known intimate performance venue in one of Cleveland's most beautiful and historic churches.

Here is a sneak preview of two of the pieces I have choreographed for Home Front:

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part IV

2010-02-04T09:22:00.003-05:00

I like the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op. OCBC is involved in so many community events include the Urban Harvest Garden Tour, Cleveland Bicycle Week, social rides and safety and repair classes. My bike got stolen this fall and I am riding an OCBC loaner bike until I can get another one.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part III

2010-02-03T16:06:00.003-05:00

I like the People's University. I rarely purchase books, cds or dvds because the Cleveland Public Library has everything. CPL is part of the CleveNet Library Cooperation and the online catalogue makes reserving a book just as easy as ordering from Amazon.com. I get my books sent to the branch nearest my house.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part II

2010-02-01T18:31:00.005-05:00

I like the Stone Cold Bikini Show. It's where I get my Indie Rock and Pop. Listen live on 91.1 FM-WRUW on Saturdays at ~~9am~~ 10am, but if you're not up early enough you can listen online to the latest show anytime. The host Christine, is just as rad as the music she plays.

10 Things I like about Cleveland: Part I

2010-01-31T14:54:00.002-05:00

I like the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge--the Guardians, the view, the river below

A poem to celebrate the chill

2010-01-18T12:08:00.002-05:00

It's winter on Turtle Island.

Landscape with Mud Turtle

I'd have thought my life at halfway would look

half-grown, half-gone, or half-born,

But try as I might I can't get far enough off to see it.

Among the reeds, the rocking cattails,

the hollow seed pods of last summer's lilies,

I can't for the life of me get a long view. And why should I?

A doe drifts along the rise, fur fading with the season,

stiff and lithe by turns—the same one,

I know her by the scar, I see often browsing at the edge

where woods and marsh and graveyard lands converge.

What, I wonder, does she see? By what mark

would she know me from others of my species?

When I was a girl I used to lie down

in the pressed-grass hollows where the deer had slept.

I tried to dream myself a deer,

that wordless, that meant-to-be-there.

I pressed the rough, live ends of their antlers

against my forehead and wished.

Under the pond mud, half-frozen, dormant among

the dormant,

turtles breathe through their skins,

barely, not quite dead in their shells. Geodes.

Come spring, come stronger light, they thaw,

gasping at ice cracks, clawing at the slush and scum,

self-resurrected. It happens every year. Until it doesn't.

A pond turns marsh, turns meadow in no time flat:

silting in, not drowning all the windblown seed that falls,

letting the alder and pussy willow take root,

parching the pondweeds, deporting the turtles,

the snails that cling to the lily pads' undersides,

and the waterbirds that ate them.

A transformation before your eyes.

Where I skated in spirals one winter, beech trees grow:

Silver for silver, not everything lost.

Where red-winged blackbirds flew up singing

victorie, victorie, cardinals search the brambles for berries

and dogs off their leashes snuffle up rabbits.

After an ice storm, I found a wren stiff in the cold,

its russet specks and stripes magnified,

its eyes shut, its beak like something carved

and drawn on. I closed it in my hands

and, fool that I still am, blew through the gaps

between my thumbs.

JENNIFER ATKINSON

Witness

Volume XXII / 2009

Looting or Scavenging for Survival?

2010-01-18T08:59:00.004-05:00

I am bothered by recent news coverage of the Earthquake aftermath in Haiti. A headline reads Looting Flares when Authority Breaks Down. If you go to the article, you can see people unearthing food from the rubble of a once-supermarket.

If I were a hungry, thirsty, homeless and desperate earthquake survivor, I'd dig in the rubble of a supermarket and try to find some food for myself and my loved ones. Is this really looting or is this smart scavenging for survival? Why is the media making victims into villains?

Now, this might qualify as looting. I'd appreciate more distinction, subtlety and understanding in the news coverage of how Haitians are attempting to feed themselves while they wait for comprehensive disaster relief.

Rails to Trails in NYC

2009-12-29T10:22:00.002-05:00

High Line Park is an unused elevated railroad trestle that has been converted to a park with a trail, plenty of benches, and vistas of the cityscape, and the waterfront.

Walking on the trestle yesterday, I was wishing Cleveland would move forward with its Rails to Trails plans. I received instant gratification!

An early Christmas Present

2009-12-19T15:26:00.002-05:00

Here is a little gift from me to you to brighten up your holidays. I can't think of anything that eases stress and family dysfunction like Sammy Davis Jr. and Mama Cass singing an "I dig Rock-n-Roll Music" Medley. Enjoy!

Harriet's First Snow

2009-12-19T09:39:00.003-05:00

Harriet found us about two months ago while I was raking leaves into compost piles. She was so playful, energetic and friendly that we just had to invite her into our household.

She is about 5 months old now and today she saw her first snow. She tried for a while to bite it and then moved on to playing with a string on the spigot.

Unsolicited Catalogues=Free Ornaments

2009-12-13T18:40:00.002-05:00

I purchased a small spruce tree today that I plan to plant outside if it makes it until springtime. I don't really have any ornaments, but I found some inspiration online at Instructables and turned some junk mail and some scrap paper into ornaments.

Ravelry Re-birth

2009-12-12T11:35:00.003-05:00

I updated my Ravelry page this morning. I've been severely neglecting it even though I was really jazzed when I was able to join last year. There was a waiting list to become a member and it was in its Beta form.

My latest work-in-progress Slanting Gretel Tee

It is a convenient way to track yarn, needles, projects, prices and scrap yarn. Looking at other peoples' finished projects is also inspiring although often a reality check. Hand knit sweaters always look slightly different on real people than models. Ravelry members share changes and re-sizing of patterns which reduces the learning curve for other people. You can also keep track of patterns and yarn you like, but don't have yet.

Ravelry also interfaces really nicely with Flickr.

Save the Date! Home Front

2009-12-11T15:06:00.004-05:00

I'm excited to announce the rescheduled dates for the Antaeus Dance Home Front Concert: Friday, February 5, 2010 (8pm), Saturday, February 6, 2010 (8pm), and Sunday, February 7, 2010 (3pm). All performances will be at Pilgrim Congregational Church in the 2nd floor theater.

The concert will include choreography by Antaues Dance founder and artistic director, Joan Meggit; company member Marissa Glorioso and . . . me!

This is my second stint as a choreographer since my official retirement from performance and I'm feeling good about being behind the scenes instead of on-stage. This past summer, I had a lot of fun creating Boltz for IngenuityFest.

In February, I'll premiere two new pieces and re-set Rustbelt, from 2004.

Rust Belt was inspired by the industrial past and its remains here in Cleveland. The piece is influenced by the shape of the city, as well as the human side of industry. Trains, smoke stacks, rivers and assembly lines are abstracted within the dance. One of the things I was thinking about when I created the piece is that underneath almost every street in Cleveland is a layer of brick that was laid by hand. Original music by composer Bryan Jacobs follows the same lines of inspiration. (see video below for a sneak peak!)

The newly created Romani, was inspired by and set to music from the local experimental music group, Trepanning Trio. Trepanning Trio is a much-followed ensemble whose membership has expanded well beyond its original "trio" namesake. Just as Roma culture combines aspects from many traditions, the dancers embark on a choreographical journey as they roam between exuberant classical lines and post-modern subtelty set to sweeping melodies and intimate sounds of strings, percussion and human voices.

With my Antaeus colleague, Sherri Mills, I have created a new solo which joins internal and external landscapes. I crafted the choreography based on Sherri' improvisations in nature and in the studio. The textures of sand, leaves, wood and water are palpable as Sherri moves through a piece that is ascetic, very human and visually stunning. Performed with a set made of dramatic hanging fabric, Sherri interacts with the ever-changing terrain on the set and inside herself. The piece is still untitled, but I have faith that inspiration will come to us!

Here is a video of excerpts: Boltz, 2009; Borne Away on a Crooked River, 2007; Rustbelt, 2004.

Untitled from Jenita McGowan on Vimeo.

Home Front Concert: RE-SCHEDULED!

2009-11-12T21:52:00.002-05:00

The Antaeus Dance concert, Home Front has been rescheduled for February 2010. More details to follow. We are still plugging away at some great work and now have even more time to perfect the choreography and the production of the concert.

3 Weeks til Showtime

2009-11-01T21:17:00.002-05:00

Countdown to Home Front: 3 weeks. I've got 4 bolero jackets to sew and 90 seconds of quartet to finish.

Quartet Part 3 from Jenita McGowan on Vimeo.

2009-10-26T20:40:00.004-04:00

The Antaeus Dance fall concert at Pilgrim Church is less than a month away (Nov. 20th and 21st). I’m feeling the pressure of a deadline, but am making good time on choreography, music, costuming and other details. There are some poorly organized work-in-progress videos of a quartet and a solo on my Vimeo page.

I am learning how to sew and made a gauzy dress for Sherri to wear during her solo. Her solo features a very long piece of wine-colored fabric that will hang from the ceiling/balcony and run along the floor to provide a landscape/horizon/river as a set.

I’ve been wordsmithing variations on the title and have three categories of words I’m drawn to.

Earthy words- like terrain, landscape, ground

Visceral words- heart, tendon, skin

Verbs- hold, release, flex, flee, embrace

Maybe Heartscape, Skin Terrain, Ground Hold. I just don’t know yet. They all sound terribly serious or tragically romantic. The piece is more ascetic than anything. I'm grateful for suggestions.

Next week I’ll meet with someone who will create a soundscape for the piece. It doesn’t need rhythmic or melodic music, but I’d like sounds that provide place.