Monday, January 23, 2006

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

Yesterday, and to be fair, this entire weekend was jammed packed with events. Sunday started off with getting up at sometime soon after noon. It was a glorious day! I hadn't gotten up after noon in far too long.

I like to spell Sunday F-O-O-T-B-A-L-L. Steelers vs. Broncos. Blue collar vs. yuppy. Coal Slumps vs. Rockie Mountains. A battle for the ages. Howie Cossell would have been ecstatic.


The Steelers had an outstanding display of football acumen, both on defense and on offense. But watching it with two Steelers fans you'd get the feeling that it wasn't good enough. That maybe, just maybe, it might slip right out of their hands. Because its seem to all the time. With the thrashing nearly complete I had to go watch my Taiwanese Modern Dance. Needless to say my two football friends (one an architect and one a photographer) questioned my manhood. Here's a brief synoposis provided by Clerks: The Animated Series! You can purchase this on Amazon. (God I feel like such a DVD peddling whore).





Randall: Is this a gay thing?
Leonardo Leonardo: No.
Randall: Are you sure?
Leonardo Leonardo: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeessss.
Randall: *elbows Dante*





I, of course, was running on Indian Standard Time (for all those who don't know. I don't want to over-generalize or anything, but all Indians are late to everything all the time) and a belly full of beer and pizza.

Arriving late and sneaking into pre-performance lecture, I'm confronted with a little introduction in what I've gotten myself involved. To say the least, there was going to be baby oil involved. Yes. Baby oil. A group of people lathered in baby oil. The sentiments of my friends echoed through my head.





Randall: Is this a gay thing?
Leonardo Leonardo: No.
Randall: Are you sure?
Leonardo Leonardo: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeessss.
Randall: *elbows Dante*



In all honesty, this is a wonderful idea. The baby oil was to represent the fluidity of movement experienced in water. The show was called 70% Water, which happens to be the percentage of water that inhabits both the earth and humans. And I didn't even realize how wonderful this was until I watched the show.


There were four different performances, leaving the homoerotic baby oil affair for last. One of my favorites was a choreographer detailing different events in her life. She weaved us through her life before dance, friends who didn't accomplish anything, her life with dance and her intoxication with form and formlessness, flirtations with lesbianism and life after dance. Lovely performance all around.

70% Water was prefaced with a 15 minute break when they prep the stage with plastic and baby oil. The dancers skidded across stage fully drenching themselves in baby oil. FUN!!! And no, it's not a gay thing. God! Where would you get an idea like that.

One of the best things about the baby oil, was the smell. It was so strong and yet so delicate. It just open my mind up to listening to what they had to share.

The group of six, two men and four women slide across the stage with amazing grace and strength. Each decisive movement was accompanied by a monosyllabic sound. I love monosyllabic sounds because they so easily resonate inside my body. It's kind of fun to feel a sound like this. OOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM... It started off very playfully at first as if like children. There's what seemed to be a fight between the men. Then there was a coupling of threes: one group of all women, the other group of two men and one women. Very sexual if you ask me. But the highlight, in my opinion was the finish. All six are lying on their sides hands grabbing the legs of another in a circle rhythmically changing "La, La, La". You make of it as you wish. I found it amazing.



At the end of the show I had a beautiful smile painted on my face. To chant and dance in unison with others is my dearest dream. I hope we get to do this.

"Remember... We are Eternal all this pain is an Illusion."



1 Comments:

Wow! Thanks Audrey! You're my first commentator! It's really special to me that you were my first. You see, I stole my blog design from your site. At least the people who made the template. Thanks again.

By Blogger Mitesh, at 2:43 PM  

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