Happy Birthday II + "I Vant to Be Alone"

Happy Birthday II

The Watermelon Dance that I had been dreading turned out to be great. It turned out that Nancy Stark Smith, a pivotal figure in Contact Improvisation, and my friend Natasha from Ekaterinburg, did an unannounced performance outside the dining hall just before Varya and I did the Watermelon Dance. Out side the dining hall there are two sets of tubs, marked, one on each side marked "Wash" and two on each side marked "Rinse." There are also towels marked "Dry." Nancy and Natasha both have very long hair. They replaced the water in the tubs (which is usually disgusting), and then chatter while they washed their hair. It was very relaxed and then very funny. Then the audience was told to go into the room next to the dining hall where they found me, Varya, six watermelons, and lots of kids who couldn't resist the chance to roll watermelons around on the floor. Varya and I tried valiantly for art, but the kids won, and we had a great time rolling around the floor with the watermelons. Then we all went back to the dining hall and ate lunch and watermelon. Varya, I and others all chipped in so we had a lot of watermelon, but it all disappeared rapidly. Russians love watermelon although so far I haven't had a Russian watermelon nearly as good as an American one.

Then I took a birthday nap. At supper I was warned that there would be more attention paid at the evening jam, so I braced myself. The jam was structured by a structure Nancy devised called the "Undersoore" so there was no talking. It happened that I ended up looking into a Russian woman's eyes for about an hour. Then suddenly a bunch of people appeared and they picked me up and floated me threw the air. Because I was spaced out from the looking, and well-oxygenated because we had been breathing together, I began releasing energy immediately through laughter. They laid me down and sprinkled me with water. After the Underscore, I was given a cake which I had to cut. I cut it brilliantly so there were lots and lots of pieces. It disappeared instantaneously. Then, I really couldn't take anymore, so I went to bed.

"I Vant to Be Alone"

One of the things I have discovered on this trip is that I have less resiliency than I used to and I need to be alone a lot more. I think I need one day alone in bed and one day alone out in the street, for everyday I spend traveling with somebody. This seems excessive to me but I think it is the fact. I am going to try to organize my future travels accordingly. I used to feel guilty about spending a day alone in a hotel room by myself when I was traveling, but I now see it is essential. I get over-stimulated so easily.

That's why I loved stopping in Brighton on my way from Coventry to Russia. I have been there twice before. Both times I arrived sick and took to bed in Caroline's parents' house. This time I wasn't sick but I was tired. I only had a day so I couldn't spend the whole day in bed, but I slept in. Then Caroline and I took a walk through Brighton. I love Brighton. First, it has so many literary allusions from Jane Austen through Charles Dickens and Graham Greene and beyond. It is such an elegant, tacky seaside town. Now that the West Pier has burned down it is less tacky than before, but it is resisting efforts to rehabilitate it completely. We went to my favorite thrift store, run by Banardo's, and we had a great South England breakfast at a local cafe, and walked by the merry-go-round and the Regency Sea Front and I felt restored.

Then we overnighted in Moscow for one night. I had no time alone, but I love Moscow because I have had a lot of time alone here and because it is a very Russian version of Los Angeles.

That's it for now.

Happy Birthday to Me

I am having a very happy Birthday in the woods outside of Moscow. I am about to do a birthday performance involving watermelons with a Russian woman whose birthday is also today. And then we are providing watermelon for everyone here. It is hot and a little sticky and I am looking forward more to eating the watermelon than performing with it. The exigencies of art.

I am having a very good time. There was a long period when Internet access was difficult, but here we have Wi-Fi if I huddle with my computer close to the administrator's office so I am blogging again. I will try to remember the highlights but not in chronological order.

I am now at the 5th Moscow Contact Improvisation and Performance Festival. The festival seems to develop mood swings, but a teacher gave the image of being on a surfboard and when you are at a low space between the waves, you need to "turn elegantly." So I am practicing turning elegantly. I am wearing my birthday suit, not naked but red pants Jose made for me in Argentina and a blue shirt I bought in New Delhi. I think I will look elegant against the green of the watermelon.

My birthday started last night at midnight when I continued the tradition I started last year of being in the sauna at midnight. Russians in the sauna are at their best, more relaxed and playful than usual and more willing to experiment with English. Also, everyone is naked, and the ages last night ranged from about 12 to 71 (after midnight) and it was beautiful as well as fun.

After the watermelon performance, I am conducting my second "Unannounced Performance Lab" of the festival, where I encourage people to do performance in unexpected places at unexpected times. Tomorrow we will gather material from these experiences and then do a short performance in front of an audience and then talk about how (and if) the experiences are different.

I also have done two workshops which could be loosely called teaching English through movement games. These were difficult. I hadn't anticipated how hard it is to work with children through a translator. I need to work on my Russian. Nevertheless, we got it together both with the 4-8 year olds and with the 8-14 year olds. I also now have a small group of English-speaking children I talk to from time to time.

As for the rest of the time, I have been taking it easy. I have danced a little at a couple of jams, participated in one performance lab, watched some performances, done some unannounced performances, slept a lot, wrote a little, and spent time with friends old and new. In the next blog, my intention is to write about my need to be along and how I manage it when I travel.

My unannounced performances have been observational. I spend time (from 10 to 25 minutes so far) picking something to observe, so far bushes and trees, and then I set the timer and observe it from a standing position for the same amount of time. As a performance, I am not sure though I have had good feedback from people who have happened to see a part of one. As a practice, it is great. It is audio-visual meditation and I hope to continue the practice when I am back in Los Angeles.

Happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday to me.
Happy birthday, dear Lukie,
Happy birthday to me.