DETROIT OUR LAST STOP AND LAST BLOG ENTREE!
We arrived shortly after noon in Detroit. Detroit houses the stunning Sylvie Demers, George Vidas, Sam Newman, Adrienne Wisok, Jane Orr, and Zane ( who was unfortunately working at Pochuck- he was missed ). We also met a bunch of their friends who where also great only I can’t remember everyone’s name. Sorry!
Through the efforts of Sam Newman and their connection to a local hostel, we were able to stay at “Hostel Detroit” for two nights, free of charge!! Hostel Detroit was clean, efficient, welcoming, and housed a bunch of striking photos of Detroit.
Updates: For any interested Alfredian!
George and Sylvie have moved to a new house, which is small, comfortable, and most importantly separated from their studio space. Sylvie is teaching Karate. Jane, Sam, and Zane are working vigilantly on the interior of their house. They just finished tiling the kitchen floor when we arrived, and it looks very fine indeed! We took some goofy pictures where all five of us piled in Zane bed. He’ll see them on the blog.
On that first day we had a Mexican food picnic dinner at Belle Isle. Belle Isle had a relaxed vibe, different from the Detroit I had witnessed on a previous visit. There was a beautiful white fountain in the center of the Island. On closer inspection the monument commemorated a bronze figure, James Scott. We looked him up and discovered that he was a corrupt, miserly man who gambled, and told off colored jokes. He bribed the city into creating his monument. CRAZY!! James Scott’s story is ironic and oddly fitting for Detroit.
Thursday Morning Emily and I had a mini adventure hunting for a post office and a COFFEE SHOP! The troupe spent around four hours in the backyard and garden of Hostel Detroit refining and recording the group piece. We made friends with two little daughters who were very intrigued by our dancing. Emily gave the older one her feather earring (the younger one was clinging to a well-worn bear) Avery later took a dip with them in their kitty pool. We met some other interesting people in Hostel Detroit, including a writer of the “Onion”, a French woman who did judo and wind surfing, and an Australian who kept everyone up with his loud snoring.
At 6:30ish we went to perform at Art Effect Gallery which features upcoming artist in Detroit. Though we had our choice of rooms it was another tight fit with the poles for Emily’s Parched Approval. We were more comfortable with the changes in choreography at this point (and aside from a minor musical glitch) the performance ran smoother than the one in Grand Rapids. We had a good turn out thanks to George, Sylvie, and Sam. We were asked good questions at the artist talk that took place after the performance. Someone jokingly asked if the music glitch was intentional. It was rewarding doing our last performance at Art Effect amongst our friends and other genuinely interested people who made up our audience.
We ended the day with dinner and celebratory drinks. We left Detroit at 6am the next morning. Thanks “Lady Detroit” (as Jane calls her) you treated us well.
We blasted music the last hour of our trip, there was an overwhelming feeling of relief and accomplishment tingling the air. Then we dropped everyone off at his or her perspective destinations.
We The SIX AND FOUR TOUR are done, stick a fork in us!
Thank-you so much if you stuck with us and read our blog!
Thus far, Krystal got an internship with Dance Place in Washington DC. Avery is having a show called, A Gathered Place, in the Mooney Center Gallery on September 9th . It features her wall sculptural work (you all should go). Jenny is in Alfred with Jared being creative, productive, and working. Laura went to Anderson Ranch in Colorado to do a workshop called Envisioning Large Projects on a Grand Scale with Kim Dicky. Emily is working on choreographing a music video as well as a new video project series: "Day Dream". Will is making clothing out of recycled material, photographing water towers, and doing chocolate and beer tasting. And Mike has recovered from mono, and is starting his sophomore year at Alfred University!!
Have a good life, we will try and do the same.