In the meantime...

So i've been trying for a good four days now to write something concise about the piece i mentioned below. Having a really hard time with it becuase i want to convey how glad i am for this new discussion, while at the same time pointing out a few massive flaws in it. Also, i'm in Wyoming. Today i saw a grizzly bear. And a sulfurous spring with the same acidity as battery acid. It was cool.

In the meantime, here's this:

A gentle morning wake up call

So usually i like videos where things are exploding or expressing some sort of angst, but this was a lovely way to wake up this morning. I really like towards the end when the smoke starts looking more organ-like. Watch! And have a beautiful day!

let yourself feel. from Esteban Diácono on Vimeo.

New Video...

Apparently this is old, but it don't matter. Yall gotta see this:

thunderheist - jerk it from thatgo on Vimeo.

More soon, i promise!
We're revamping the blog, so it's been quiet, but we're gearing back up to bring you new posters, new media, constant videos, and some AWESOME AOMC news!

Too good to not share...

Forget from Michael Fragstein on Vimeo.

Dearest readers,

I was trying to write a post for you. A really good one, featuring hundreds of embeds of a list of amazingly visually stunning music videos. But while i was collecting the videos, well, one thing led to another, and pretty soon i was watching celebrity appearances on sesame street on youtube. Project averted. Then i had to post that as my twitter status, becuase it was funny, and then i saw someone's twitter status and was reminded of something i had to check on facebook. When i looked at my facebook, I saw a message from Pam, about her friend's blog. So i looked at the blog, and it's pretty darn neat.

It's always really nice to find innovative material from non-NY artists - we're so inundated with things to see here that it's easy to forget the multitude of stuff that's going on elsewhere, and since no one's pushing it at us it doesn't get found as often...

So, starting with a post, and via (count them) FOUR types of online social media, i give you the end point for the night, this video from Ethan's blog. Great ideas Ethan! And congratulations to me, for officially handing myself my digital-native status on a silver platter engraved with the word irony. Or maybe "what is this world coming to?"

Just thought i would share. And not to worry folks, the original post is still in the works.

pit stop-- exit 84 from Ethan Philbrick on Vimeo.

blast from the past/what's the word birds?

We now interrupt to announce that I'm bizz-ack! (i.e. back)

Hopefully I'm not interrupting the flow of things too much.

I've got a great excuse though for being away, though - GRAD SCHOOL. Yep, I've been slaving away in the delta (well, more like Northern Mississippi) at Ole Miss/the University of Mississippi (*whispers* go Rebs Cotton Bowl champs yeeeaaaaahhhh!). I'm working on my M.A. in Southern Studies. And what is that, you ask? Basically any and everything that has to so with the American South, falls under the umbrella of Southern Studies. If you need more clarification/want to know more, check these out, especially that last link. I think it gives one a pretty good ideas of the wide possibilites available in this field.

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing my thesis on, but more and more I have a feeling it's going to incorporate dance. Especially as I am finishing up a paper now that talks about Soulja Boy and the "crank that" dance phenomenon and how it can be viewed as an articulation of Southern identity, while also making the argument that the Black dancing body has been and continues to be a key marker of aforementioned Southern identity.

Hm, heavy right? Maybe. Maybe I'm just flattering myself. In any case, I want to return to this space - this space being this blog - because one, I miss it, and two I need a space to air out my ideas and to simply talk about dance. So in the future, I see myself maybe posting parts of my paper/refining my thesis, but for now (and in the future), I just wanna share and deconstruct some shiz, if only so I can get back in to the practice of writinf about physical movement.


Starting with:



The lovely Amel Larrieux (whose mother is the equally lovely dance critic/academic Brenda Dixon Gottschild, to whom I owe much in the way of my research over the past few years).

Now, what strikes me and what I adore about her movement is the gentle, almost vague quality of it (and I am looking primarily at her and not so much the other bodies, although they are moving just as much, if not more so in certain moments). I think part of it has to do with her focus - her eyes are often closed as her head moves from side to side, or when they are open, the look into the distance or up, down, and around . . . there is no particular point of focus.

(Do people talk about that enough? I mean, just how much what a dancer does with her eyes determines the overall quality of her dancing? And how that separates the okays from the greats/the boring from the interesting?)

Returning to the video, I also think the use of spilt screen and the subtle special effects adds, rather that detracts or distracts from, the movement. It somehow works together. I think the cinematography also has something to do with that.

I could go into this a little more but, I'm interested in hearing other people's thoughts.......and I'm sleepy. lol. And I've got a road trip in the morning, so I need to go to bed. So, thoughts?



..............p.s. i like being back :)...........................

i heart gondry

Declare Independence

Webvid 7c - Air Guitar Rehearsal 10/18 @ Chez Bushwick

RE POST!
(apparently the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a tight watch on YouTube, and aren't letting people post videos with their music in them. Good thing there's Blip.tv and a million other sites to post on. WORKING video now below!)

THE A.O. MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE WANTS TO BE YOUR GUITAR HERO!

Lillie and I returned to our "let's pretend we're rock gods" movement practice this past saturday, bringing new AOMC dancers Alex and Carlos along with us. It was great to have some new mind/bodies bringing in different movement and viewpoints to the improvisation, and it also felt surprisingly wonderful to get that movement back in my body, getting the chance to thrash and strut around.

But as much as I love how it feels, and despite the fact that I am interested in watching the improvisations, I'm still bugged by nagging feelings. Is it too silly? Not accurate enough? Self Indulgent? Lacking umph? It's obviously not postmodern, never-been-seen, or subtle. But since when am I so interested in any of those things?

I think the thing that "worries" me the most about it (the basic idea, by the way, is an air guitar solo that starts with the dancer in control of the movement and ends up with the movement in control of the dancer) is the audience's response. I know, I know, don't think about the audience, don't worry about what they'll say. But (as I've stated before) i think its both contradictory and dumb, as the same people that give that advise will also warn you not to be too self indulgent and urge you to present well edited work. There is no way to pacify, so (for now) i think that considering the audience is perfectly legitimate. So that's what i'm doing right now - putting these clips up to see what will fly. Please don't worry about censoring yourself - we know it's silly, we know it needs work, but yes, i'm putting it up anyway because i think it's entertaining, engaging in some context, and really fun to do. I think there's something there. However, even if your comment is "there's nothing there" i'd still love to hear it.

For instance, Brian, from my internship, mentioned that he really liked seeing the men dance it - that before it made him dubious that it was a statement "about" something (women's-lib inclined, he said) and that if it was "about" something that he didn't understand those type of dances. He said that seeing four people do it, it became more about how it started as guitar, and then the movement eventually became just movement for movement's sake. Gerrit mentioned that his preference was for the solos that got into the more abstract movements - he enjoyed seeing the literal guitar movement weaving in and out, but liked seeing what the eventual amplified abstractions of that movement was. Ulises thought it was really bad. Jeremy was worried it would be too self indulgent. All of these things are interesting to me.

If you're unsure of where to start, here are some questions you could respond to specifically:
- what is your first reaction upon seeing this movement?
- does it change your watching of the dance when it's a female versus a male dancer?
- is this "about" anything to you?
- what movement specifically are most easily identifiable as "guitar" or "rock god" movements?
- what's your reaction as the movement gets more abstract?
- Is this "worth your time" to watch? Is it engaging? entertaining? silly? boring? frustrating? why?
- does it make you want to move? does it make you want to tell us how to move?

We each took a turn (alex, carlos, lillie, and i) doing two rounds through the song ("Man" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). I made two videos out of it - the first is an edit together of all four, and the second is all four at the same time, so you can compare linearly. Would love to hear what you think!

New slow-mo for your po-mo pleasure...

Sorry i'm a little behind on rehearsal videos. When the market crashes, artists get let go, and thus it's job hunting rather than posting. But never fear! I have at least two for you that i'm hoping to post within a few days. In the meantime, here's some new slow-mo that i found via Geekologie. Hope you enjoy!