The Water Cycle
the water cycle has no starting pointI can get from my home in Brooklyn to JFK, thru Miami International Airport, into Piarco in Trinidad, and finally to my apartment in Port of Spain with my eyes closed. I've done that trip so many times....
I set off this round with the re-launch of
Caribbean Beat Magazine at Queen's Hall. Followed it up the next day by shooting a 2-minute t.v clip for Gayelle's
New Voices. The host, Attillah Springer, did a show entitled "
Carnival as Resistance" and I was glad to put in my two cents
about wining. The television program also included Calypsonian Hollis
"Chalkdust" Liverpool (also an Assistant Professor at University of Trinidad & Tobago),
3 Canal (one of the island's most highly regarded rapso groups), Anne Lee (Professor at the University of the West Indies), and the iconic
Blue Devils of Paramin (who were featured in
last week's entry on J'ouvert). Great company to be in.
the earth's water is always in movementGoing forward - I am developing the
FreshWork Series, a 5-part programme of workshops around the making of 'Fresh Water'. The series will engage 15 artists in a cross-disciplinary collaborative process in Port of Spain. This workshop series will provide the space to explore group versions of the work - something I wrote about in
Continuity & Callaloo. (For information on how to participate in the FreshWork Series, please email
info@makedathomas.org).I've continued to develop '
Fresh Water' as an intuitive, non-linear flow, and have made many changes to the work:
The most recent version of 'Fresh Water' is a solo for five. This reflects the influence of Oxum
- Orisha goddess of sweet, fresh waters - whose number is 5. 2008 is
the 5th Anniversary Season of Makeda Thomas/Roots & Wings
Movement! "Solo Para Cinco" is also the title of a well-known work by
Mozambican choreographer and friend, Augusto Cuvilas, who recently passed on. In this way, the "Solo for Five" is also in remembrance of him and marks the time(s) in which this work was made. Next week's post will feature 'Sydenham Solos", a video of some of the choreography I've been working with.
The oceanic waves of the GALVANIZE version of 'Fresh Water' has since been re-edited. The music now more accurately reflects the major themes of the work. For example, Gyptian's "My Faddah Seh" reflects the impact my father's death had on the experience of returning home. And The Mighty Dougla's "Split Me in Two" represents my dyadic freshwater reality. Listen to an excerpt from an earlier post.
The video from the GALVANIZE performance has also changed significantly and, in many parts, been replaced by more costume and set design elements. I've removed the personal stories I'd included in the work, instead
choosing material written by others. (o.k. So, maybe I might use 1 personal story.) In this way, I feel I can
actually get more personal with the work; that by removing my self I
can see the work more clearly. Click here to read some of the written material, featured on the Roots & Wings Movement! blog.
The experience of having to write down these thoughts (which are always flying through my head at break-neck speed and completely out of order) has been instrumental in moving through this work. Not only has the weekly series helped me maintain a pace, but having to articulate the process has made it unfold more clearly. Both writing and dance are so fulfilling in this way - the constant editing, pruning, becoming, cleaning, until you have expressed what it is you must express. Like life....
Posted by
Makeda Thomas on January 25, 2008 10:30 AM
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