So, the Jan 22 edition of The Point News (the St. Mary's College newspaper) printed a letter to the editor regarding a piece Contradiction Dance performed in December. I can't find an electronic version or I'd have posted it long ago... below is my response.
The weeks have flown by since first reading Nicole Chaplin's letter regarding my choreography; however, my gut reaction is the same, "You go, girl!" You see, Ms. Chaplin did exactly what I hope each of you will do often: she thought about her stance, she spoke her mind, she asked questions of her audience, and she did so in a public way. It takes courage to do so, it is freeing and wonderful; and, it is a right we have in this country. Some would say, a right AND a responsibility; I agree.
As a dancer/choreographer, I dance my mind, pose questions through visual imagery, movement and text, and (when I'm lucky) get to perform for the public. The dances I make are meant to create dialog, and ultimately to effect change. Even in one person. Thus far, the piece presented in "Dancing on the Earth" has been a forum for quite a bit of dialog, which leads to change. We first performed the dance outside the Washington DC Public Library at 9th and G streets downtown as part of the 9th Annual Improvisation Festival. That particular library is a pick-up location for the Homeless population in the District. In fact, many homeless and homeless veterans were a part of the audience that day, as well as the week of on-site rehearsing we did in preparation. Ms. Chaplin, you missed the point.
The piece, titled, "Objects of Hope: The America Project" began in the Spring of 2007 as I was asking family, friends, and strangers about their objects of hope. Through the process I discovered one of my own: this country. Defending my country while on travel abroad created a deep sense of ownership mixed with resentment, anger, pride, and confusion toward the United States. I was heartbroken by my own government. I made this dance out of the need to reclaim my personal patriotism. A paint splattered and water-soaked dancer seeking comfort by wrapping herself in an American Flag is hardly destroying a national symbol. Perhaps we need to take a closer look at our symbols and rediscover the moral fiber that binds them to our collective psyche. I wrote several entries in my blog about the performance week at St. Mary's, if anyone is interested in continuing the conversation, feel free to do so: http://reportreflectquestion.blogspot.com/2007/12/dancing-in-protest.html
As for Ms. Chaplin's friend, I hope that by the time she graduates from high school in 2011, she will have had many concert experiences that challenge and motivate her to seek art beyond her current understanding and comfort zone. When the time comes for her to choose her college home, perhaps St. Mary's will be a better fit.
"These people" have names. I am Kelly Mayfield. I teach modern and jazz dance at St. Mary's. I invite you to come take class.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
GRAND OPENING - Echo Park Contemporary Ballet Centre
GRAND OPENING
ECHO PARK CONTEMPORARY BALLET
PREVIEW PERFORMANCES, LIVE MUSIC,
LIGHT REFRESHMENTS
ECHO PARK CONTEMPORARY BALLET
PREVIEW PERFORMANCES, LIVE MUSIC,
LIGHT REFRESHMENTS
FEATURING DJ ERIC MOSS OF SOUL GLOW
and
THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF ENOCH CHAN
and
THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF ENOCH CHAN
Echo Park Contemporary Ballet Centre
opens it's doors Wednesday February 20th.
Don't miss this special night.
opens it's doors Wednesday February 20th.
Don't miss this special night.
Three incredible companies. One bold vision.
ECHO PARK CONTEMPORARY BALLET
CONTRADICTION DANCE
RASTA THOMAS' BAD BOYS OF DANCE
HEAR IT. SEE IT. LIVE IT.
www.echoparkdance.com
ECHO PARK CONTEMPORARY BALLET
CONTRADICTION DANCE
RASTA THOMAS' BAD BOYS OF DANCE
HEAR IT. SEE IT. LIVE IT.
www.echoparkdance.com
| Location: | Echo Park Contemporary Ballet Centre 7014 Westmoreland Avenue, Suite A, Takoma Park, MD 20912 US View Map |  |
| When: | Wednesday, February 20, 6:30PM |
| Phone: | 202.246.1099 |
Thursday, February 7, 2008
For All Youth Dance Teachers...
Shallom referenced the state of teaching dance to wee ones in her post - but left her comment on a friend's post HERE
The post is humorous, touching and true. If you've ever taught lil one's, you can relate. Just for reference, last Friday, one of my tiny ones did pee in class - yes, other kids stepped in it; and, I did gallop for at least 10 minutes of that day. I rarely teach the ankle-biters, but this session I decided to make a point about programming. And I got peed on for it.
I am fortunate, though. Life throws me many great opportunities - some more rewarding than others.
Now, click on that link and go read the post!
Obama Speech (2002)
Iraq Speech (2002)
by Barack Obama
Delivered on 26 October 2002 at an anti-war rally in Chicago by Barack Obama, Illinois Senator.
Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.
The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.
My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.
I don’t oppose all wars.
After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.
That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.
Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.
He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.
But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.
So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.
Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.
The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not – we will not – travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.
by Barack Obama
Delivered on 26 October 2002 at an anti-war rally in Chicago by Barack Obama, Illinois Senator.
Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.
The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.
My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.
I don’t oppose all wars.
After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.
That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.
Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.
He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.
But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.
So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.
Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.
The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not – we will not – travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
5:29
5:29
heart on pause
––––––––––––
no sleep
can't eat
words echo
like
drum
beats
–––––––––––
thoughts
on
rewind
you
linger
in my
body
–––––––––––
record
skips
low-fi
scratch
play.rewind.
Touch
stings
heart
strings
played
out
––––––––––
song
fades
record
plays
rewind
again
heart
on
pause
heart on pause
––––––––––––
no sleep
can't eat
words echo
like
drum
beats
–––––––––––
thoughts
on
rewind
you
linger
in my
body
–––––––––––
record
skips
low-fi
scratch
play.rewind.
Touch
stings
heart
strings
played
out
––––––––––
song
fades
record
plays
rewind
again
heart
on
pause
Monday, February 4, 2008
Tues @ Marvin's: Echo Park Contemporary Ballet Fundraiser
Tuesday @ Marvin’s - ECHO PARK CONTEMPORARY BALLET FUNDRAISER
ECHO PARK CONTEMPORARY BALLET FUNDRAISER
WHEN: TUESDAY FEB 5TH
TIME: 5:30 – 7:30 PM
WHERE: MARVIN'S
2007 14TH ST NW
WHAT: FUNDRAISER TO BENEFIT
ECHO PARK CONTEMPORARY
BALLET
SUGGESTED DONATION: $20
PLEASE JOIN CEDRIC AND MYSELF AS WE
BRING THIS DANCE COMPANY INTO
THE NEW YEAR!!!
Echo Park Contemporary Ballet Returns
Press Release: For Immediate Release
History:
Echo Park Contemporary Ballet, Washington, D.C.'s newest professional dance company, took dance to new heights at its much anticipated debut performance, titled "On the Outside, Looking In," on November 17 at the Down Dog Yoga Studio which garnered acclaim reviews, 4 Dance Metro DC Award Nomination and facilitated the opening of Echo Park Contemporary Ballet Centre.
The show brought to the nation's capital world renowned dance artists under the direction of Cedric Tillman and producer Kenneth Rascher. Tillman has produced a vast body of work performed throughout the U.S. and abroad. Viewers describe his classically based work as seamless in design, yet interpretive, adventurous and passionate.
Echo Park combined the talents of Oscar Hawkins, Shallom Johnson, Kelly Mayfield, Shylo Martinez and Rasta Thomas, all of whom have enjoyed careers of fame and praise.
Performing to original music written by composers from around the world, Echo Park presented to the public a synthesis of classical training, innovative movements and breathtaking performance. Allowing viewers to experience the energy and acrobatic virtuosity of technique exhibited by the company.
Hype:
Executive Director Cedric Tillman and Director of Operations Kenneth Rascher invites all to attend an evening of dance artistry certain to draw attention and acclaim on February 22-23, 2008 at 8:00pm tickets $25 includes post show meet and greet reception at the Jack Morton Auditorium GW campus (across the street from Lisner). Echo Park Contemporary Ballet is pleased to announce the "Bad Boys of Dance" set, staged and choreographed by our newly named Resident Artistic Director Rasta Thomas. This will mark the first time the bad boys of dance have appeared and performed in Washington, DC. Featuring a new work entitled "Love Hang Over"; this performance will showcase the talents of America's most renowned male dancers from stage to screen. The Bad Boys are in rehearsal here in DC with anticipation of their DC Debut. If you would like to attend an open rehearsal or request and interview please contact us immediately. Check out our website www.echoparkdance.com for a glimpse of the Bad Boys of Dance (click resident companies)
For more information and to schedule interviews, please contact:
Kenneth Rascher, Director of Operations & Productions
(202)246-1099
Sunday, February 3, 2008
sick, sick, sick
So, I've been sick, sick, sick. Ew... serious vomit-fest from wake-up to sleep on Saturday. Feeling much better today - thanks in large part to some serious patience and TLC from a.k.
I literally spent 36 hours either in bed or puking. I don't recall being sick like that - ever. I think the only things that kept me from dissolving into tears or utter bitchiness were a.k.'s gentle presence and constantly reminding myself that giving birth was far worse; if I survived that, I can survive anything.
There is so much on the creative and business plate right now... so incredibly much; I am fortunate and blessed that way. Details soon - right now I need to pull myself together for a rehearsal w/ musicians, a much needed trip to the grocery store, and some quality mommy-time... not necessarily in that order!
And, Shloms, I will call you!!! It was great to hear your voice - even by voice-mail :)
Here's a video based on Obama's "Yes we can" speech.
k.k. :)
I literally spent 36 hours either in bed or puking. I don't recall being sick like that - ever. I think the only things that kept me from dissolving into tears or utter bitchiness were a.k.'s gentle presence and constantly reminding myself that giving birth was far worse; if I survived that, I can survive anything.
There is so much on the creative and business plate right now... so incredibly much; I am fortunate and blessed that way. Details soon - right now I need to pull myself together for a rehearsal w/ musicians, a much needed trip to the grocery store, and some quality mommy-time... not necessarily in that order!
And, Shloms, I will call you!!! It was great to hear your voice - even by voice-mail :)
Here's a video based on Obama's "Yes we can" speech.
k.k. :)
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