December 19, 2006

Christopher's First Entry...better late than never

My name is Christopher. I am an Uncle to 21 nieces and nephews. I first became an Uncle when I was 5 years old. I can recall being in the second grade and all of my friends looking at me strangely as my 2 year old nephew Kevin ran across the playground shouting “Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris!” I guess that is the first way I might be a Funny Uncle.

But as this piece explores the idea that being a Funny Uncle is more than just familial relationships, there are so many other ways I might qualify. I am a mixed race Mutt: part Hawaiian, part Japanese, part Chinese, part German and part Irish. People usually don’t know what to make of the light brown color of my skin and my ethnically ambiguous features. I have been the object of racism. I am bisexual – another thing that sometimes confuses people. Looking a little androgynous has often raised eyebrows – I have been called queer (and that is putting it nicely). I am a professional dancer and have not held a job outside of the arts in 12 years – which has placed me in a social circle that I am sometimes reminded is rather unique. Are these the things that make me a Funny Uncle?

The first performances of “Funny Uncles” are now finished and I am finally finding the time to write about the work. It has been a challenging process, and as Ben said in his entry, the subject of families during the holidays can often lead to dark places of loneliness and isolation. Having known Peter for 8 years now (beginning when I was a core company member of the Dance Exchange back in 1998 and 1999) I felt comfortable to open myself up fully to this work and explore how family in my life has at times carried me, and at other times left me feeling alone and abandoned. Now that we are away from the work, I sense question marks left in its void. A part of me has been left a little raw and vulnerable by the ideas we explored to create the work. The term Funny Uncle implies a sense of humor, some levity. But in fact being the odd man out is mostly just sad. As the holidays ensue, and I finally have a little more time to simply be – I miss my funny family that is the cast of this piece. I hope that we all can celebrate the unique attributes that make each of us “Funny”…that we all can find the love and humor in who we are and our respective families – both found families and birthright families – and have a Happy Holiday.

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December 11, 2006

Previews of Funny Uncles Performances in Baltimore

Two previews for upcoming performances of Funny Uncles at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, December 15th and Saturday, December 16th.

- In "Everyone's Got A Funny Uncle" by Rahne Alexander in Baltimore Gay Life you can read an interview of Peter DiMuro, artistic director for Funny Uncles.

- In the Washington Blade Patrick Folliard writes about upcoming shows, dances and musical performances that are worth seeing over the holiday season. Here's part of the write-up about Funny Uncles:

WANT TO GIVE the gift of dance? Try tickets to see the progressive Liz Lerman Dance Exchange’s production of “Gumdrops and the Funny Uncle” playing at Baltimore’s Patterson Theatre...Staged and conceived by gay choreographer Peter DiMuro, “Gumdrops” explores the definition of family through the eyes of Siena, a little adopted girl; a pair of figure skaters who adopt a hockey team; and a Baltimore grandfather who creates a home under many roofs.

A work in progress, “Gumdrops” is partly inspired by DiMuro’s own real-life experience as an uncle to his young niece and his early career stint playing funny uncle roles, including Uncle Drosselmeyer in the Boston Ballet’s production of the “The Nutcracker.”

“After I came out as a gay actor and dancer in the late 1970s midwest, I immediately went from playing male ingénues to odd uncles like Uncle Oliver in ‘School for Scandal,’” says DiMuro. “Knowing I was gay, directors could no longer see me as a romantic lead.”

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December 5, 2006

Being a Funny Uncle

Hi, my name is Ben Wegman and I'm one of the dancers involved with the process of creating Peter DiMuro's new work, Gumdrops and Funny Uncles. Since this is my first entry, I thought I'd throw a little background info. out to you all. I went to Point Park University with a concentration in modern and jazz and have been very fortunate in my career thus far to work with some really amazing people. I was first introduced to the Dance Exchange through Peter and his work, when he did a choreographic project at Point Park, and have since had extreme interest in the Dance Exchange's work and process.

The opportunity to write about this work in progress has been available for awhile and for many reasons it has taken me over a month to begin to dialogue and articulate my experiences. What is a funny uncle? I'm not quite sure yet. We've verbalized a funny uncle as an outsider, but it's so much more than that. It's perhaps loving those who can't love you back; it's always being slightly removed from the spotlight, being second banana - never first. It's a role that
many have felt at certain points in our life, whether we like to admit it or not. I've had many in depth discussions with the other dancers and we have agreed time and again how incredibly painful and personal the topic of family and the funny uncle can be for some to discuss. Indeed many of us spend our whole lives running from our genetic ties. Perhaps for myself, one of my inabilities to blog this process thus far, has been the harsh reality that this work has made me realize how incredibly alone I often feel in the world. For many years I have had a strained relationship with my own family due to issues of sexual preference and defining myself as an adult. Because of this and perhaps because of the simple realities of how hard it can be at times to be an artist, I feel as if I have relied on myself and myself alone for many years now. As time passes, I have realized how often I have thrust this idea of family upon relationships I have had, only to pull back when my desire became a reality. The irony of "family" is that I long for this sense of security while fearing the vulnerability and pain that can often be associated with it. As the holidays quickly approach it once again becomes evident how much I want to create this idea of family for myself, how essential this is for my life. Perhaps what I have been struggling with, in many ways, is my own inability to admit that I, too, am a funny uncle.

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December 3, 2006

Watch Funny Uncles Video from Last Night at the Kennedy Center

The first performance of Funny Uncles took place last night at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.

Click to watch the entire performance

Enjoy!

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