A Moving Target
January 10, 2008
(picking up my train of thought from this post )
The only way to “find balance” is to accept that it is transitory and free yourself from the desire to hold it. Buddhism as physical practice.
Going one step further: The only way to “create meaning” is to accept that it is transitory and free yourself from the desire to create it. Buddhism as artistic practice.
I do not intend to say that I am uninterested in content or in communicating specific ideas within my work. In fact, the opposite is true. It is a priority for me that my audience experiences my work as having a strong sense of intention and symbolism. What I recognize, however, is that this meaning is fluid. I wake up each morning with a different point of view. I walk onstage with a different body. My audience is a different collection of individuals each with a different point of view and a different body. So how can I expect “meaning” to have a static presence amidst all of this flow?
The creation of meaningful performance, then, is a lot like balancing. One must allow the situation to unfold in the moment, leaving space for re-adjustment in order to hit a moving target. Choreography itself, however, is a constant. I will perform the same actions each time I go onstage. Thus, “what I am doing” becomes the static container for the dynamic and potentially eloquent content of “how I am doing it.”
While it is important to have a sound and carefully considered container in which to pour myself, the fluid exploration of performance quality is my current interest.
People with interesting things to say, that are somewhat related to this topic:
more later…?
