L A Y E R S . P E R F O R M A N C E . R E A D Y .

This past MIL was a meeting of a duet. The other MIL member and myself have been practicing together for some time and have worked together a couple of times in our own duet. This MIL we would try out the Sestina parts for the first time. After discussing the feedback we'd received for selecting the 6 parts we narrowed it down to 6 main ideas and crafted their wording so as to support a more "poetic" "phrase." I've listed the Sestina parts in the left margin of the blog, but for celebratory purposes, this is what we landed on:

A | THE VOICE OF THE BONES
B | VOICE OF HERE
C | LAY WITH THE LAND
D | AWARENESS OF THIS WORLD
E | SLOW MOTION OR NOT
F | EYE PRACTICES

We also came up with a more clearly timed structure for the MIL as we move through the next 6 lines of the Sestina Poetic Structure.

1. (10 minutes) Warm Up / Opening Ritual
2. (15-30 minutes) Open Improvisation
3. (60 minutes) Sestina: exploring each part for 10 min [6 parts at 10 min/each = 60 min]
4. (5 minutes) Closing Reflection / Sharing

We've also identified some foundational elements that we would like to be conscious part of every MIL Sestina Line.

• Witnessing. Take the time to step out as an audience member or Director. Observe the composition. Feel free to make vocal or physical directions. "Reverse that, move here, pause, replay, etc..."
• Leave your mark. Inherently the space will have changed after we've been in it. From subtle energetic and vibrational levels to more obvious physical ones. In the desire to make more contact with physical objects, be open to the possibility for leaving your mark by way of interacting with the environments and the things in it.
• Use Sound. Continue to link the body and the voice. Using the full range of the human capacity for expression.
• Be aware of your Audience. Love the watchers. I'm going to talk about this at the beginning of the next MIL, inspired by Mary Overlie's concept of "playing the piano." For now the audience space will be represented with chairs or seats. We can play with where they are from week to week.

Notes from the experience of last week....

LAYERS! unfolding, folding. Conscious, sub conscious. A rich format for performance. We need to do a show! we must. After the 7 Sestina lines have been MILLED. We perform the Sestina in it's entirety.

Ballet. Poor GOP states. Montana. Kentucky. Tennessee. Lower the middle wage to create more jobs. Yeah, Right. Feels good against the wall. Being in unison without attaching to being exacting. Performing the essence in unison. Voice. Animal. Troll. Primal. Ape. Japanese. Communicating without words but a lot of sound! A lot of voice. breath. body. what is it that your are creating? Contemplative Movement meets the swamps and zip lines of freedom. Look! Left eye. Right eye. Soft hard focus.

We had a nutty music mix. Everything from ordinary pop songs, to classic music, to ambient abstract.