Gingerbread Coffin

pic by Jen squared

An email I received:

"I have been reflecting on Em's dance (I'm calling it the Gingerbread Doll dance, or GDD) for two days, and I think I've finally pulled my thoughts together enough on it to articulate.

The costuming, the mask, the black light were all fantastic -- no doubt -- but what made that dance such an amazing example of "dark fusion" or, well, just of dance in general is that even if there were NO props -- no wind-up key, no scary mask -- it would have been clear from her MOVEMENTS what she was conveying. If she had come out in a black leotard and tights and done the exact same dance under hot stage lights, I would have known what she was trying to say with it.

It was her BODY that did most of the talking -- the emoting, the storytelling. And that's what we strive for as dancers. Sure, I saw other dances that told a story, but they relied too much on costuming and make-up and didn't let enough of the dancing come through to articulate everything.

Even though I know Em will say she didn't have a particular emotional message w/ this dance, I saw one, because she told her story and let the details do the work. This is what we learn to do in writing: set the scene, give copious detail, and the reader will discern the emotional intent.

I felt the way I did when I first saw B's Chair Fusion: that everything was just so intentional, so meant to be there. Even if y'all, as dancers, didn't feel that, it was there because you HAD such intent toward the piece.

OK, so you probably want to know what emotions I saw in GDD: confusion, a sense of being in flux or trapped between two worlds, a sense of being "pulled" reluctantly in a certain direction, but resisting, a sense of being a kind of automatron, or wind-up doll, of course, forced to move through life without benefit of doing so with one's OWN purpose and intense physical reaction to all of that, but again, without have your own control of that reaction. Someone else is pushing the buttons; you're following someone else's agenda.

That's what the dance showed me, and I think everyone has felt that way and needs to reflect on those kinds of things through art. We've all been automatrons; we've all been pulled somewhere without being cognizant of it."

Wow.

I mean...

WOW.

I'm not really sure how to comment. I should probably "retire" from BD now. I don't think I could top that, LOL.

Wow.


pic by Jman

pic by Jman

For your reference, Gingerbread Coffin by Rasputina

We found an old doll that was out in the grass,
She had special powers, we said a Black Mass.
We sat in a circle all holding hands. The
Doll-bed held together with old rubberbands.

She'll rise,
she'll rise,
she'll rise...

Oh, Lay her down in her gingerbread coffin.
She's so pretty all layed out in white.
Lay her down in her gingerbread coffin.
When we need her, she'll rise to the light...

We looked down at the ground and into her eyes.
Passed around an old teacup filled up with dead flies.
Surprise, surprise!
Were brought but not used, a collection of knives.
We'd remember this moment for all of our lives.

She'll rise,
she'll rise,
she'll rise....

Oh...

Oh...

Oh, Lay her down in her gingerbread coffin.
She's so pretty all layed out in white.
Lay her down in her gingerbread coffin.
When we need her, she'll rise to the light.

Lay her down in her gingerbread coffin.
It's a flickering, beautiful sight.
Lay her down in her gingerbread coffin.
When we need her, she'll rise to the light.

Now playing: Bram Stoker's DRACULA
read by Christopher Lee, Adapted by Russ Jones, Illustrated by Alden McWilliams,
Music by Dennis Rogers

Mood: tootsie rolls (my favorite Halloween treat!)