Thursday, November 03, 2005

Another old blog post:


I was checking out Daily Kos today. There was a diary about Seymour Hersh. There's an incredible man. He's quite fearless in his writing and speaking. I admire people who just 'speak truth to power.' I'm practicing this, and I feel like I'm improving. But it's a daily process, like any kind of development.What I really admire is his ability to speak forcefully, and to admit when he's not 100% correct, but to not let that slow him down or silence him. He has integrity.
Art and...: the theater
Comments: 0

Date: 10/19/05 at 12:40AM (2w1d ago)

I love live performances. I love every aspect of them. I grew up loving being an audience member. When I was in law school, my other life was as a house manager at a dance studio that doubled as a (thriving) performance space. I remembered the satisfaction of setting up the house, of timing the box office and the backstage and the lights. Of creating a warm space in the middle of chilly DC winters, where the audience could surrender to stories told in dance and music.

A live performance is a living thing on its own. It breathes, it sighs, it changes. It's always changing. There are the anchor points that are comforting- the dimming lights, the music cue- but it's always fresh because the audience is always different. There are plenty of bad performances (many of which I saw at another dance space in DC- oh the horror), and many mechanical performances. But at least with live performers, I can appreciate that their effort- they are flesh and breath and sweat making an effort to communicate and tell a story.

What I love isn't limited to the time and space between the curtains. I love old community theaters. I love the warm enveloping darkness of the house; the worn wood beams overhead; the gentle lights that will dim and dim. But mostly it's the feeling that I'm well-cared for, that this space is meant for me, this worn red velvet chair that creaks, this smooth armrest. I'm meant to settle and nestle and release everything, so I can be fully present for a story.