Charlotte set a work on the students at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore which premiered this past weekend. /
3. Rituals of Abduction - Kate Mattingly /
Original Act 1 Set Design by Nicholas Roerich
The below post is the third in a series of 13 texts related to NOW-ID's inaugural Rite of Spring, loosely following the 13 episodes in Stravinsky's score. Rituals of Abduction is by Kate Mattingly, Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. Get your tickets to the performance here.
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The third section of Stravinsky’s score for The Rite of Spring, called the “Ritual of Abduction,” signals the violence that is the centerpiece of the production. In fact Stravinsky originally intended The Rite to be called The Great Sacrifice.
Abduction means forcibly taking someone away against their will, and in many versions of The Rite––by Vaslav Nijinsky, Maurice Bejart, Pina Bausch, and Anne Bogart & Bill T. Jones––the performance is characterized by violence and aggression.
Picking up on Liz’s insights into connections between violence and patriarchy, I want to question the ongoing need for a woman to die. It’s the crux of many versions (by Nijinsky and Bausch) as well as canonical ballets: La Sylphide, Giselle, Swan Lake, to name a few. If we go to these performances, and if they continue to be popular more than a century after their premieres, what does this say about the value of women in today’s society? And how might a re-envisioning of The Rite alter this trajectory?
Examining the history of Stravinsky’s Rite, it’s clear that the artist Nicholas Roerich played a crucial role in this interdisciplinary endeavor. John McCannon writes, “In describing to Diaghilev the libretto that he and Stravinsky were developing, Roerich spoke of ‘mystic terror’ and ‘celestial mystery’, declaring, ‘my object is to present a number of scenes of Earthly joy and Heavenly triumph as understood by the Slavs’.” Roerich’s designs for The Rite depict primeval landscapes that he believed to be a “birthplace for humanity.” According to their libretto, in order for spring to arrive and humanity to thrive, a Chosen Maiden must dance to death.
What happens to this philosophy of a-woman-must-die-for-a-community-to-survive, if we turn the “great sacrifice” into the earth itself? Using an ecofeminist framework (Thank you Liz!), we could draw on theories of Theresa May to better understand relationships between the oppression of women and the exploitations of natural resources. May ends her article entitled “Toward a Dangerous Ecocriticism in Theatre Studies,” with a list of 12 “Green Questions to ask a Play.”
What happens if we switched “play” for Now-ID’s Rite and ask, “How does this performance of The Rite engage or reflect the environmental issues of its time and place?”; “How does the performance represent and/or complicate the effects of technology on people, animals, plants, and the land?”; “How does the performance propagate or subvert the master narratives that sanction human exploitation of the land?” and “How does the spatiality of performance inform the reciprocity among spectator, performer, and environment? How does use of space inform notions of ecological ‘community’?”
Perhaps with an ecofeminist approach, this production could complicate and subvert the seemingly inextricable links between patriarchal domination and ecological survival.
2. The Augurs of Spring: It’s Not About the Pasta - liz ivkovich /
The below post is the second in a series of 13 texts related to NOW-ID's inaugural Rite of loosely following the 13 episodes in Stravinsky's score. The author, Liz Ivkovich, is also a dancer in the piece. Get your tickets to the performance here.
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“The groups [of dancing adolescent boys and young girls] mingle, but in their rhythms one feels the cataclysm of groups about to form. In fact they divide right and left. It is form that realizes itself, the synthesis of rhythms, and the thing formed produces a new rhythm.”
- Stravinsky describes the choreography and music for the “Augurs of Spring” in 1913, quoted by David Code
About 3:30 into the score, the Rite of Spring really begins. It’s a rolling, pounding, tympanic cataclysmic kind of beginning. Cataclysmic -- a large scale and violent upheaval in the natural world -- is the perfect word for this beginning. It’s all much more Big Bang than seven days of God-ordained earth/water separations, garden arrangements, and animal designs. It’s the Augurs of Spring.
Speaking of animals, I recently realized that everything I know about them I learned in elementary school or from Disney movies. Hyenas*, for example. Hyenas are extremely intelligent. They form female packs to protectively parent their cubs in communal dens and even come equipped with an elongated reproductive tract that allows them to flush out unwanted sperm. (!) Before learning this, I mostly knew about how they lived in the dark shadow of Pride Rock. If you know the story, you can already see that the Lion King gets almost everything wrong about hyenas, but it does make them scary. (Dumb, but scary.) What is scary enough about them to warrant becoming accomplices in the “coupe of the century” against Simba’s dad? I think it’s the sound -- that high pitched gurgle-giggle. It sets the teeth on edge.
I can hear a ghost of that sound about 31 seconds into the Augurs of Spring; the edge of a violin bow skipping across strings, a spring coming, a cataclysm in our human animal’s unnatural order. Stravinsky described it as “in their rhythms one feels the cataclysm of groups about to form. In fact, they [the boys and girls] divide right and left.”
Augurs of this spring come in all shapes and sizes. I had one last week. It was an encounter with a zealous TSA agent of the 7 a.m. cop complex variety who confiscated my 5 oz hair product** and got told something by me (mostly) under my breath in return that I shouldn’t repeat here in case my mom reads this blog, but will summarize by saying it was worse than anything a hyena ever said to Simba.
It’s not about the hair product. I’m mad a lot of the time right now. I’m mad as James from Vanderpump Rules in Season 6, Episode 7. “It’s not about the pasta!” he petulantly shouted at his friend Lala, after she brags about “stuffing her face” with all “his girl’s food without remorse.” (James’ words.) “It’s not about the hair product!” I’d like to yell. It’s about the endless #metoo stories. Our rhythm has been a pounding patriarchal beat for too long. Sometimes I think I’m tapping into a collective female outrage, a little hyena laugh that skips over top of the beat, searching for a new rhythm.
As we near the morning after the #metoo moment, groups have “divided right and left” like Stravinsky described, but I don’t think we’ve yet found how “the thing formed creates a new rhythm”. Most of us who identify as women are probably still working among, partnered with, or related to men. Where do we go from here?
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*More on hyenas here and here.
**I know. My fault completely for not following the 3.4 oz carry-on rule. Totally banal example. And I also know about the actual, really messed up things that people are facing with travel in this country. It’s not about the hair product, as you’ll see if you keep reading.
13 STATEMENTS ON RITE OF SPRING /
This is the first of 13 posts, writer/collaborator/sage's Kate Mattingly and Liz Ivkovich present writing inspired by NOW-ID’s Rite of Spring work-in-development, loosely paralleling the 13 episodes of the original by Stravinsky and Nijinski. See our current project page for Liz and Kate’s bios!
Together, Kate and Liz lay out below, the topics and considerations for their statements…
1. Thinking together about relationships among writing, creative processes, and performing, Kate and Liz will be contributing weekly posts on the Rite of Spring.
2. Connected by a shared love of critical thinking, dance theory, rigorous approaches, and dismantling the patriarchy, Liz and Kate will share thoughts, questions, perspectives, and contexts.
3. Loosely based on the 13-part structure of Stravinsky’s score for the Rite of Spring (created in 1913), each week will introduce a different facet of the project.
4. As we discussed this idea with Charlotte, we were both drawn to Charlotte’s idea that this writing offers a reflective platform, a sounding board, and a container for ideas that inform and respond to Charlotte’s creative process.
5. In Kate’s research, she analyzes how criticism is not a reflection of a performance but a form of writing that sets in motion the criteria and frameworks we use to engage with dance.
6. In Liz’s research, she analyzes how race, class, and gender influence the distribution of environmental goods and bads, and why these issues are among our most pressing concerns.
7. The Rite of Spring is a rich site to investigate questions about the patriarchy, reconstruction, critical sustainability, and environmental justice.
8. By situating this performance outdoors, Now-ID creates a distinct opportunity to highlight the fraught relationships between urban development and displacement.
9. Some of the ideas that propel our thinking include:
- Human imbrications in environments, rather than human domination or control of environs;
- Relationships between materials and humans, and ultimately humans and worldviews;
- Access to knowledge that is not linguistic but sensory, and how this knowledge reveals a worldview that is fundamentally interdependent.
10. We view dance criticism and theory as reciprocal and interdependent forms of writing. We hope to highlight why writing is important to dancing.
11. We take inspiration from Rebecca Solnit, who advocates for a “counter-criticism” that “seeks to expand the work of art, by connecting it, opening up its meanings, inviting in the possibilities. A great work of criticism can liberate a work of art, to be seen fully, to remain alive, to engage in a conversation that will not ever end but will instead keep feeding the imagination. Not against interpretation, but against confinement, against the killing of the spirit.”
12. Writing from outside of the process, Kate will focus on historical contexts, theoretical frameworks, and anecdotes from her 23-year friendship with Charlotte.
13. Writing from within the process, Liz will focus on sensorial and theoretical engagements with the material that is cultivated as the Rite of Spring comes into being.
Throwback Thursday: Sketch and Choreography. /
NE PLUS ULTRA: ARTIST COLBY BREWER /
Colby Brewer
Colby Brewer is known for his site-responsive artworks which challenge fixed ideas of interactional spaces by engaging institutions and their architecture. He produces ambitious sculptural installations that change the spatial dynamic of the site in which they are placed and at times, offer opportunities for audience interaction. Colby’s studio practice involves a constant mix of drawing, collage, sculpture, and video explorations. He has exhibited in galleries and museums in New York, Budapest, and Salt Lake City. In 2009, he was named Visual Arts Fellow for the Utah Division of Arts and Museums. He holds an MFA from Pratt Institute. Colby teaches drawing at Waterford School where he is Chair of the Visual Arts. He also organizes Waterford School’s Visiting Artist Program which has hosted nationally renowned artists like Sheila Pepe, Leighton Pierce, Burk Uzzle, and more.
Colby Brewer is not only a significant artist (in his own words he focuses on “Work that challenges fixed ideas of interactional spaces by engaging institutions and their architecture”) and a wonderful teacher, he also happens to be the Board chair of NOW-ID. What I find so inspiring about Colby is his commitment to and deep knowledge of contemporary art, his curiosity and his ability to make things happen.
As our Board chair he is forward looking, generous and widely connected, he is a calming influence at our meetings and as a person he is just plain lovely.
I am excited to feature his voice here.
Charlotte Boye-Christensen
Tell us a little bit about your background; when did you know that you wanted to be an artist?
I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember and have always loved the process. My parents must have picked up on that because my mom got me a cool little light box, some books on perspective drawing and things like that at a very young age. I remember being impressed with my dad’s ability to draw and the way he held a pencil, the way he pulled lines instead of pushing them. The sound of the pencil on paper and the look of lines were really impressive to me. He’s also got this great handwriting that is sort of his own unique version of architectural lettering. I studied the movements and short, intentional strokes he used to write. So, very early on I was certainly hooked on drawing and making marks. I also realized as a teenager growing up in a very conservative environment that I didn’t quite fit in. Artists were always the people I wanted to be around and to be like.
Can you talk a little bit about your creative process? Do you start with an idea, an emotion, energy, an image? Do you have specific rituals when you work?
There have been times when I did have daily rituals that would lead into my process, but they’ve been rare. As it stands now, I’m a full time teacher, parent of two teenagers, etc. and my life doesn’t really allow for ritual. My time gets too chopped up for it. If I’m making smaller sculptural works I usually set up a system of limits that governs the making of the work. In that way, I do have ritual in my work. I’ve found over the years that I’m a reactive sort of artist. I feel like I do my best work when I’m responding to a specific site. For example if I’m given a chance to exhibit somewhere, I’m almost always compelled to examine the site and propose something outside or on top of the building rather than inside on the walls. NOW-ID’s upcoming Rite of Spring project is perfect for an artist like me to be involved in - we did a site visit a few days ago and I’m obsessing over it
A sculpture by Colby Brewer called 'ante-tracery' - rubber and screws, 4' x 3' x 2"
Who are some of the people who have inspired you in your work and why?
It’s funny, and maybe even cliché, but some of my earliest and favorite influences were punk bands and punk zines. There was a great music scene when I was growing up and I spent a lot of time and effort trying to tag along and participate in that. What else was a kid in suburban Salt Lake City going to do, right? Something about that way of approaching art and community made sense to me and has remained with me. I’ve had a lot of great teachers and friends who are artists - too many to list. Sheila Pepe has been a big influence as just an incredibly smart person, maker of things, connector of people. I had the honor of getting to know Burk Uzzle and Janet Kagan who are a huge influence in terms of their kindness, work ethic, generosity, and all around excellence.
Tell us about projects that you have coming up that excite you?
I’m obviously very excited about what NOW-ID is doing and the upcoming Rite of Spring project! I’ve also got a small mural collaboration coming up with local artist and longtime friend Ruel Brown. And in September I’m set to work on a video collaboration with documentary film maker Jenny Mackenzie and a group of Waterford students. And I’m looking forward to meeting up with you in Budapest this summer to scout out some potential performance sites!
What characterizes art in the State of Utah - is there a unique Utah art movement and if so, what and who epitomizes that for you and why? And why is work that is developed here important to have included in the National and International discourse about art?
Maybe that it is so often made by people with deep connections to other places, and yet they choose this as home base. I love that idea anyway. I don’t really see anything that could be called a movement here. Once you go beyond the traditional, regional picturesque and look for something more, there’s quite a bit of variety. It’s important for great art made anywhere to be included in the National/International discourse. The world is a lot smaller than it used to be.
You are an established teacher of Art at Waterford School, has teaching in any way helped define your own creative voice? And what makes a good teacher of art?
Teaching helps me to not turn too far into my own way of thinking. Because it’s all built on communication and relationships with other people who you are offering up ideas to. You need to always be aware of other people’s perceptions of the work you’re presenting and you need to have a good idea of whether you are reaching them or not. Good teachers have an ability to meet students where they are and then, hopefully, add a little bit to that to raise their skill level and thinking. My work has definitely evolved into the more collaborative and participatory as a direct result of teaching.
Where do you look for inspiration?
I often look to film and books, to travel and to language. When we’re not teaching in Utah, we live in Budapest with Anikó’s family. So, a sort of international, bi-lingual, dual-identification has become a huge influence on my work. I find inspiration in the fuzzy overlapping of locations and sort of never being settled in one place.
Who do you consider to be three of the most significant artists in the world and why?
Béla Tarr. I love his films for their look and pacing and the long, long shots. I find his work to be visually mesmerizing and conceptually brave. I also love the work of Shirin Neshat for many of the same reasons. I was transfixed by her film Fervor when I first saw it. I’ve also become a big fan of Julian Rosefeldt. Last summer I saw Manifesto at the Hungarian National Gallery and was blown away by the incredible way it was conceived, the way it looked, and Cate Blanchett’s ability to perform it.
What is your favorite quote?
The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight. — John Berger
If you hadn't become an artist what profession do you think you would have excelled in/at?
I wanted to be an architect when I was younger, but never had the math skills.
Looking towards the future – where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 25 years?
I have a suspicion that I might be living in Europe. I hope by then (wherever I am) that I’ll have enough experience and the means to help younger artists realize their ambitions.
Some moments from Charlotte's recent residency in Singapore. /
GLOVES OFF! RITE OF SPRING!! /
For full effect, find/play one of the following as you read this email:
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Part 1 (Adoration of the Earth): The Augurs of Spring / Dances of the Young Girls, or
Ice Cube’s You Know How We Do It.
Presenting NOW-ID’s Salt Lake City Premiere...
We’ve been dormant but not at all idle.
We are ramping up a legion of lovers, adepts, characters and clowns; dancers, diners, dolls and dollars… a collective ferrygang/Charon-in-reverse to carry the brave from darkness to light.
We've been thoughtfully scattering seed - ideas for shows, collaborators and venues - and loving it. There is a vision for it all and yet we are simultaneously loving not-knowing how it will all shape up, while knowing so much of it will.
Today, on the equinox, with the super worm moon, we aim to bookend spring and announcing our Rite of Spring will premier in Salt Lake City, Utah, just on the spring side of summer, on the solstish. We are still confirming venue, vying for Liberty Park but, 7 weeks along, this is still not 100% confirmed… It’s as if some fear/know the disturbance caused by Stravinsky and Najinski with the Sacre du Printemps premiere-actuelle in 1913.
But seriously... have you listened to it? Plant a version of this score in your earholes and take a walk… or have your own own private riot.
For now, we introduce the main dancers for NOW-ID’s ROS-1, as pictured below, and with more info on our website - Jo Blake, Tara McArthur, Liz Ivkovich and Sydney Petitt – and we are so pleased to work with them all again! And, note that this will be a recurring event of sorts, to be built upon this year in Texas and in Virginia but also, significantly, as an annual event in Salt Lake City, with our characteristic variation.
This may indeed be apocalyptic.
So, stay tuned to www.now-id.com for future events-in-development and announcements (we will aim for the less than the number of titles in Stravinsky’s score).
And, see you June if not before!
Announcement coming soon... /
We are excited to announce the details this week about our upcoming show taking place in June!! Amongst other amazing artists we are bringing back one of our favorite dancers Tara McArthur seen here in our 2016 show “EXODUS”. More details to come...
Charlotte is in Singapore these days working with the students at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. /
Site-specific production in downtown Lubbock. Charlotte working with her students at Texas Tech University. /
Charlotte was in Nashville last week working with the Ballet. /
Richmond, Virginia in November 2019 /
We are really excited about a site specific project that we are working on at the moment which will take place in Richmond, Virginia in November 2019.
More information coming soon.
Morning in Lubbock, West Texas. /
Site visit. /
Potential site for our upcoming show. Nathan and NOW-ID Board member and collaborator Andrea Beecher.
T-shirt design. /
As we are looking at designing new t-shirts for our show coming up in June, here is a throwback image from one of our last t-shirt designs for “Its Not Cracker”.
Happy New Year! /
Thanks so much to all those we worked with in 2018, our fabulous board, all who supported and everyone out there bringing beauty, inspiration, kindness and whatever ya got into the world! We wish everyone a safe and happy new year and a positively profound and prolific 2019!!!
The neighborhood at sunset - proud of Nathan’s contributions. /
Throwback Thursday: As the holidays are approaching - "It's Not Cracker" from 2016. /
2019 IS COMING! /
NOW-ID is excited to be part of Giving Tuesday's Global Giving Movement, and hope you donate not only to NOW-ID but also to other Non-Profits that enrich your community.
An anonymous donor has offered to donate $1000 to NOW-ID if we can raise the matching amount by the end of Tuesday, November 27th, 2018. Donations over $100 will receive a signed print of one of the following photos from NOW-ID's production A Tonal Caress that premiered July 2018 at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
Thanks so much for your support, we look forward to sharing with you what we are developing for 2019!
