Workshop Taster: WITCHTITS
Here at pOnderosa, we’re madly excited for the upcoming WITCHTITS workshop MYSTERIOUS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE IMPROVISATIONAL UNIVERSE (5th - 7th August), happening as part of our 15th anniversary celebration weekend (more workshop info here). Alicia Grant & Zinzi Buchanan met at pOnderosa in 2011 and participated in P.O.R.C.H., where they began creating their performances as ‘dance life witching duo’ WITCHTITS.
Their work is closely connected to the spirit of art as improvisational life-practice at the core of pOnderosa. As they said in an interview for Contact Quarterly in 2013,
COCO: How did you use your experience of P.O.R.C.H./Ponderosa to create performances?
RORO: Oh man, this is a difficult one to answer. I want to say, “Well, it just happened!” because that's how it felt! There is a dynamic that makes possibilities hover all around us at Pondi. I felt that questions that I had been asking myself for some time, previous to P.O.R.C.H., became clearer—and not in a logical way. I also felt like I was ready to perform 97 percent of conscious (non-sleeping) hours, and this meant that a little trigger would tip me. This is not true in everyday city life. I knew one evening that some other people would be sharing, so I decided to join as a soloist. Then I opened myself up to the fullness of the place, taking in words and images by flicking frantically through books or intensely people-watching. I would overload myself with information but keep a simple grounded question in mind. Like seeing myself as a speck in a huge Pollock painting. All this happens so fast, there is no time or space to overthink it, to feel doubt, so it stays alive all the way up to and into performance. I have since used this technique, which I call “feeding,” as a lead up to improvised solo performances.
Click here to read the rest, or watch ‘Abstract Lapdances’ below
http://witchtitsmagic.tumblr.com