I hope we will continue the development of CORN PLAY and that there will be more public presentations of the play as we continue to improve it.

Pics of the workshop presentation will be coming shortly. Stay tuned.
matt

Info available on our site by clicking here.

Hope to see you there. And... the festival starts at noon. Ticket to Corn Play gets you in for the complete 12 hour festival, so you may as well see as much as you can. Corn Play starts promptly at 10:50 pm. Reception to follow!

matt

There is something wonderful about having complete creative control over a new piece of theatre. There are no limitations with where the piece can go because you can simply change a sentence, a section, incorporate more elaborate movement to accommodate a new piece of text or vise versa. However... without a structure imposed by the work of another artist it is very easy to lose your focus or present work that makes sense to only 'you'. This is my primary struggle at the moment. The freedom has become dangerous.

As we approach our final week of rehearsals for CORN PLAY, the pressure of locking down ideas, blocking, dance and music is starting to build. With a work-in-progress, there is always a desire to explore further and further or even change the direction of a scene, but it can become destructive if you lose the original idea that got you into the scene or even the entire piece in the first place.

A sampling of SOSE's work in progress will be presented on Saturday, June 30 @ 10:50pm, as the final performance of the 12x12 Festival, a day-long festival of new work. Ticket info is available on our site and the Edge of The World site. Hope you can make it.

Navigating many hats...
Matt McCray

Here's a little summary of the work thus far:
After a hearty breakfast, starting in the mornings with the "Animal" work which is physical training and ensemble building through rigorous spatial relations and awareness listening exercises for three and a half hours. We've also been working on strengthening our "core" muscles around the spine and in the pelvis and each learning how to achieve one-minute handstands. The "Vegetable" work which includes vocal training has been enlightening. Getting into the minutia of where our voices resonate and learning to sing simple international songs a cappella in three-part harmony brings about more listening skills than most non-musical actors tend to experience.

Then after a delicious lunch (we all take turns cooking and cleaning all week), the afternoon is dedicated to the "Mineral" work which is all about creating. Yesterday we were given an assignment to create a three-minute solo composition comprising of only one sentence, 5 changes of speed, 3 moments of pause and a surprise. I felt like I was on a reality show challenge like "On The Lot" where one of their assignments was to shoot/edit whole films in maybe one hour. Embarking on this daunting task was an excellent challenge. The results for all of us was delightful and extremely interesting. After the first day, I already created the skeleton of a a brand new solo piece! (For those close to me, they know I've been hemmin' and hawin' for the last four years about expanding my "Don't Tell Your Father" solo work.)

This morning and throughout the day, due to all the physical training and running in bare feet (in their gorgeous theater converted from a church), I've been battling sore muscles drenched in lactic acid. My quaint room is on the third floor of this historic former resort next door to the theater and I look like a performance piece in itself just coming down the stairs for breakfast in the morning.

Been swimming in the lake for refreshment in between trainings. Great group of people ranging in age from 19 to early 50s, from all over the US, Canada and Greece.

More later on...

This was my first time seeing Katsura Kan perform and it was his first visit to Los Angeles, although I'd been hearing about him for years in the Butoh circles. His strength and focus were tremendous and his choreography combined with the subtle lighting were riveting throughout his strenuous 55-minute piece. In physical movement the two performers were equaled in their individual beauty and abilities, but there was a distinct difference in the minute and steady control of the performers' eyeballs. Gabrielle's eyes occasionally darted in a way that indicated that she was "dancing in a choreographed piece" and was possibly checking to see if she was in sync with her partner. Never once did Katsura Kan's eyes move from the "eyes looking within" typical Butoh position of rolling back into the head. It was chilling to see only the whites/pinks of his eyes especially in the moments when his head was facing directly forward towards the audience. In his powerful solo moments moving around the stage, I felt tears stir from deep within my core.

The two other companies who shared the bill and were essentially opening acts for Katsura Kan in this evening of Butoh, Blackstone Ensemble from San Francisco and Corpus Delicti from LA, severely paled in comparison. In my opinion and experience of what I saw last night, they seemed amateurish and contrived in their subject matter and execution. Lack of physical strength, balance and mental focus was apparent on the performers' faces and bodies as they went through the choreography that felt like Butoh in a stereotypical manner. Blackstone Ensemble tried to incorporate humor and social commentary in their piece but the manner in which they did it did not seem innovative nor clever to me. But I commend them for doing their art and exploring territory that they deemed necessary to explore.

In Highways' connected gallery space, prior to the show, Corpus Delicti's live human video/audio/art installation was interesting and multi-textured while encompassing themes of post-apocalyptic life, not unlike the post-war Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan, the time from which Butoh dance was born. Also displayed are beautiful performance photos of Katsura Kan and Gabrielle Daris photographed in front of classic paintings within museums by Karolina Bieszczad, and a photo collage by Simone Missirian and Ana Baer-Carrillo.

It was great to see LA-based Butoh artist Oguri in the audience along with some of his dancers. It would have been most excellent to have seen him perform on the same bill as Katsura Kan.

Kudos to Highways Performance Space for hosting great art and artists. The inspirational "Evening of Global Butoh" runs for just one night more, tonight, Saturday, May 26th @ 8:30pm.

Here are some pics from the event:

All photos by Michelle Ingkavet

This coming Thursday-Saturday, SOSE is hosting a guest production, produced by

Mad Scene Theatre Company will be presenting week 26 of the 365 Festival. For more information, go to the Festival Website.

FREE! Get their early for a seat!

Performances are at 7pm:
Thursday, May 10
Friday, May 11
Saturday, May 12

]]> http://www.sonofsemele.org/archives/blog/2007/05/365_returns_to_sose.html http://www.sonofsemele.org/archives/blog/2007/05/365_returns_to_sose.html 365 Tue, 08 May 2007 09:36:07 -0800 Son of Semele Ensemble

Last weekend we performed week 21 of the national 365 Days / 365 Plays festival. After the Saturday matinee performance, playwright Suzan-Lori Parks joined our cast/crew for the production in our livingroom-set for a quick photo.

]]> http://www.sonofsemele.org/archives/blog/2007/04/suzanlori_and_t_1.html http://www.sonofsemele.org/archives/blog/2007/04/suzanlori_and_t_1.html 365 Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:19:44 -0800 Son of Semele Ensemble

Photos by Dawn Hillman