Still Point: Harmony, Justin, Hana and Cassia (2009)
Still Point consists of six intertwining solos, examinations of stillness through movement and portraits of the performers themselves. The work is inspired by and features excerpts from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. Through minimal movement passages across space, chaotic physical feats, and the portrayal of an unlikely and endearing character, Still Point offers a variety of takes on presence, stillness, paradox and impermanence. The work premiered at Five Thirty Three, a former factory in downtown Los Angeles, currently an artists’ studio and gallery. The industrial setting of Five Thirty Three placed the sparseness of Still Point against the backdrop of enormous windows, revealing the activity of the city. Lighting designer Carol McDowell created a minimal lighting plot that encased Still Point in the skeleton of a theater, enhancing the magic of performance, while simultaneously highlighting the industrial nature of the space and the activities that normally happen “behind the scenes”: people operating technical equipment, changing costumes, and stretching. Still Point is performed by Hana van der Kolk, Justin Streichman, Harmony Bench, and composer and violist Cassia Streb. Streb’s original score live accompaniment are incorporated into the overall choreography.

discolevel3.proj, the lecture (2009)
This presentation will outline and theorize discolevel3.proj: the collaboration, the process, and the performance that followed. In an attempt to clarify this discussion we will present our mathematical-style equation for understanding the making of dances that prioritize specified states of consciousness as integral to the choreography. In the case of discolevel3.proj this equation serves to deepen and clarify our examination of Carolina’s personal relationship to Disco (as the soundtrack of much of her childhood and Martial Law in the Philippines) in the creation and performance of the project. Through diagrams, video clips, and embodied examples, our lecture will parse out what we were attempting with discolevel3.proj and what we will attempt with future work, creating a second performance in the process. The performed lecture will premier at Dance Under Construction XI: The Politics of Choreography, University of California, Los Angeles.

Egoesdayglo (2008)

“Eleven layers of muffled sound heard in a car speeding down Sunset and I hear them singing egoesdayglo egoesdayglo egoesdayglo, though some might insist that I heard wrong. Super flat meets vector art meets 8-bit party kids. When your skirt blows up in the wind and shows the world your undies. A process. A linear collaboration. Fluxation. Metamorpharis. X-ray spex. A construction a deconstruction. A game. Tag team. A temporary mark made. Impermanence. Buddha. If we lived in LA in 1990. NuRave. Zinca clad shredder hits the mogul field circa 88. Fuck if I know, neo geo? Egos that are larger than life and that show themselves with fanfare-like billboards and SOS signals. Egoesdayglo describes the mindset of mania.” - Emily Mast

Egoesdayglo was a collaborative project initiated by Emily Mast. Over the course of one month, ten artists were invited to spend two or three days each in the gallery of Five Thirty Three responding to, adding to, destroying, and/or commenting on the activities of the previous artist. The closing event, which took place in the empty space at the end of the month, featured remnants of the month of diverse actions and musical guests Mannlicher Carcano (with Doug Harvey), Fireworks (with Christian Cummings & Lee Lynch), Dan Plaza & Friends, and DJ Inner Thighs.

Egoesdaygloers were Alison O’Daniel, Michael G. Bauer, Michael Parker, Christian Cummings and Michael Decker, Richard Hager, Zachary Leener, Emily Mast, Hana van der Kolk, Kiersten Puusemp, David Horvitz, and Robert Wechsler.

Eyeball Turn Dance, Proximity Dance, 2 Locations Dance, and Untitled #1 (2007)
These works were shown as part of the Between People exhibition curated by Robby Herbst at the David Patton Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

#1 Proximity Dance
“On this tape you will receive instructions for a dance that you can perform by yourself in this gallery while wearing the Walkman. If possible rig the Walkman so that your hands are free. Start by noticing how your body is positioned in space. Notice how you are holding your head and your limbs. Check out your proximity to the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the front door. Notice your relationship to other bodies in the space. Then, pick one person in the room without making any indication of your choice. Begin to notice your relationship in space to their body. Keep this person in your field of vision at all times and be aware of the many minute and gross changes taking place in your relationship every time you or the other person move any amount. Try moving yourself further away from this person, try getting very close. Notice that even the slightest shift in either of your bodies creates an entirely new relationship between you. Continue this experiment for as long as it interests you. You might continue this dance by picking another person and repeating. When you’re finished please rewind this tape and hang up the Walkman for the next person.”

#2 Two Locations Dance
“On this tape you will receive instructions for a dance that you can perform by yourself in the gallery while wearing this Walkman. If possible rig the Walkman so that your hands are free. Start by noticing how your body is positioned in space. Notice how you are holding your head and your limbs and how the weight is distributed on your feet. Feel the clothing on your skin and take note of places of tension or release in your musculature. Check out your proximity to the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the front door. See yourself in relationship to the other bodies in the room. Then, look around the room and pick a spot that you could potentially go to. Take some time to really see that spot. Imagine your body in that new location. Picture exactly how your body would be (it could be standing, sitting, crouched, lying down, anything). How you would hold your head and your limbs, where you would be in relationship to the walls, the ceiling and the floor, which direction would you be facing? When you have a clear picture get down on your hands and knees and close your eyes. Begin crawling slowly to this new location. Take your time and along the way notice as much as you can about the journey. Feel the texture of the floor, hear the sounds around you, notice the light on our eyelids. If you bump into something or someone try not to panic, keep your eyes closed and notice the interaction and how you negotiate moving through it to continue on your journey. When you think you have arrived in your new spot place yourself in the position you imagined. Even if there are other bodies in the way get as specific as you can about where you imagined being and how you envisioned the placement of your body. Take your time to get it right. With eyes still closed settle into this new spot and this new position of your body. Then, open your eyes and take a look around the room and see how accurate you were. When you feel ready, stand up if you aren’t already and slowly make your way back to your original spot with eyes open, walking. Along the way try to remember as much as you can about the crawling, eyes-closed journey you just made. When you get back to your original spot please rewind the tape and hang up the Walkman for the next person.”

#3 Slow Eyeball Turns Dance
“On this tape you will receive instructions for a dance that you can perform by yourself in this gallery while wearing the Walkman. If possible rig the Walkman so that your hands are free. Start by coming to a neutral standing position with your feet under your hips and your arms by your sides. Look straight out in front of you and notice what you see. Let your eyes take in light, texture, colors, see things that are further away and things that are close. Slowly begin to move your eyes to the right without moving the rest of your head. Keep noticing what you see. When your eyes can’t go any further to the right let your body begin to follow behind your eyes as you make a very slow turn to the right. Try not to skip over anything, seeing things that are further away and things that are close, noticing light, texture and color. Notice what it feels like for your body to be following behind your eyes. Keep letting your eyes see as much as possible, try not to skip over anything. When you have made your way all the way around close your eyes and give them a rest. When you feel ready open your eyes and again see what you see in front of you. Then, slowly begin to move your eyes to the left and again let your body follow your eyes as you make a slow turn, this time to the left. Keep letting your eyes see as much as possible, try not to skip over anything. When you have made your way all the way around close your eyes and give them a rest. The, please rewind this tape and hang up the Walkman for the next person”

Untitled (Tape #4)
On this tape is 30 minutes of my observations about bodies, objects, my surroundings and my body in relationship to them as a took a walk around the neighborhood in which I live on a weekday around 9am.

Interim Uses (2007)

Interim Uses was a 2-hour site-specific performance / participatory event involving 4 performers, 2 facilitators, and approximately 30 guests. Guided by Sarah Cole and Adam Overton (The Canaries), the piece was performed by Justin Streichman, Jeremy Hahn, Ally Voye and Rae Shaolan Blum. Over the course of two hours everyone moved from one end to the other of a 32-acre site in downtown Los Angeles known as “the Cornfields,” a former rail yard currently split between a designed park and an urban brownfield. During the afternoon and evening, dancers performed in specified areas of the site such as a dusty basin dotted with young trees, a 20-foot boardwalk with an arsenal of school buses behind it, and an area of tall wild grasses enclosed in a circle of hay bail mounds. Audience members were sometimes free to move around and view the performances as they wished. At other times they were silently guided to watch while sitting on the ring of hay bails, walking in a circle around the dancers, or walking as a group towards and through the performance. Interspersed with the performed sections of the event were activities that offered guests ways to keep their senses open, and be aware of their environment. The evening culminated in a gathering at High Energy Constructs, a gallery in nearby Chinatown where the group shared food, drink, and conversation.

discolevel3.proj (2007)
Discolevel3.proj is a 15-minute duet for the stage created in collaboration with Carolina San Juan. The piece is a series of intersections: between Disco and minimalist, modernist aesthetic, between rehearsal and performance, between form and narrative, and between Carolina and me. The piece includes supporting performances by d. Sabela grimes, Rosemary Candelario, and Waewdao Sirisook and premiered as part of Archipelago at Glorya Kaufman Theater, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Boom, Boom, Boom (2006)
I learned Boom, Boom, Boom from Deborah Hay in 2000 and performed it at Mobius in Boston as a collaboration with performer/choreographer Marjorie Morgan. I readapted the piece for the stage in 2006, performing it at the Adaptations festival at Dance New Amsterdam in New York. Later that year, in collaboration with filmmaker Jesse Johnson, I adapted the piece to16mm film. The film version includes excerpts from performances in nine outdoor locations throughout New York City, including on a train platform, outside the New York Stock Exchange, and on the Staten Island Ferry, placing the dance amidst the city’s day-to-day inhabitants and events. Composer Rafael Cohen provided the intricate sound score. Boom, Boom, Boom presents an abstract exploration of the tension of the urban individual’s relationship to the outdoors and the land, while simultaneously grappling with definitions of patriotism in a time of political unrest. The film portrays the dancer, armed with a purple, plastic water gun, a rattle, and dressed in a kitsch Native American costume, confronting her identity as a modern, urban American by way of poaching busy New York City locations with her playful and peaceful performances. Johnson’s cinematography highlights the tension between the dance and its surroundings/moment in history, at times bringing the body to the fore ground, at other times the city and its activity. The piece premiered at Highways Performance Space and Gallery in Los Angeles in 2006 with subsequent screenings throughout Southern California, New York City, as part of the Indie Grits Film Festival in Columbia, SC.

The Ridge (2006)

In the summer 2006 Layard Thompson and I collaborated on a duet adaptation of Hay’s choreography. While we each had an extensive relationship to the dance as a solo, we aimed to enter new territory in creating the duet, letting go of our respective adaptations and exploring the unique version that developed. The duet mirrored our personal relationship and examined dynamics of power, sexuality, femininity, masculinity and loss of physical and mental control. It premiered at UC Riverside in Riverside, CA with subsequent performances at UCLA and Highways Performance Space and Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.

The Ridge in the Park (2005)
After learning Deborah Hay’s solo The Ridge in August 2004, I went on to practice the work almost daily for about 8 months. Because of financial and space constraints many of these practices took place, alone or with colleagues who were also adapting the piece, in public parks throughout New York City. The many exciting interactions with people, events, and structures in these environments inspired me to create my solo adaptation specifically for these sites and I toured my solo throughout city parks in the spring of 2005, performing a version for the stage at The Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA later that year.

After performing my solo version of The Ridge I went on to write an article documenting the process of adapting and performing the work for public parks. The writing was originally published in Contact Quarterly in 2007. I then adapted the writing into a performed lecture, moving between a third person description of the choreography and my specific adaptation, a first person discussion of the adaptation process, and danced sections of the piece. All at Once: Dancing “The Ridge” in New York City Parks has been presented at conferences and in universities throughout Southern California. Read the text at here.