a series of streams

the following is a series of stream-of-consciousness writings i have written over the course of the past few days (both before and after my departure for the yard)

Paul Taylor in the park. Extraordinary. Farewell, New York City.  I depart in forty-eight hours . Excitement abound. I am on the train to Bronxville. Going to see Josh for the last time. The sun set on the dancers. Esplanade was special tonight.

I made friends with old ladies. They wished me luck on my journey.

you will find me

in the sycamore trees

that's where i'll be

all alone, dreaming of you

combing the fair breeze.

watching the bees suckle honey from little flower to flower, the beauty of their calculations. i want to live out in the country, though part of me despises it. they morning fog creeps away revealing the sun-and-cloud speckled sky. i think about my future, the weary world's future, then the homesickness sets in a bit.

thoreau once came to the beaches of Staten Island. This is what he said of those sandy plains by the water's edge:

The sea-beach is the best thing I have seen. It sits very solitary and remote, and you only remember New York occasionally. The distances, too, along the shore and inland sight of it, are unaccountable great and startling. The sea seems very near from the hills, but it proves a long way over the plain, and yet you may be wet with the spray before you can believe that you are there. The far seems near and the near far.

-Thoreau to Emerson, Staten Island, June 8 1843 (as written on the boardwalk)

the tree on the lawn.

dusk is a fair  time on the vineyard.

crickets play their pretty little things

seeing at the sound of it

that time is never

i hear the guitar music, folks in the distance

and not a car around.

the pale haze surrounds the trees

that nestle us inside a cocoon

of water starlight

i want my home

to be

forever

in

the startle open.

deers on the highway sound

far away

from here

i have this image of me slow and moving with the love of my life. he's looking at me and i at him and we are like two children-- smiling and laughing but continuing this slow waltz, our weight sinking into each other equally, we hold on with our eyes-- he's my dancing partner.

meet me by the river for a swim.

 -m

chilmark day three

it is a quiet evening here in Chilmark, Mass. I can hear the crickets outside as the darkness settles in around the commune. the last day or so has eased in, i arrived here very upset and in desperate need for a change. i am finally settling in, and suspect that a few more days and i will feel really relaxed here. i had a lot to say before but i don't feel it's necessary to write much tonight. there are spiders on the wall. daddy long legs are like dancers with their thin legs, but i do not like them. yet, i have not been able to kill them-- i just do not feel the need. 

today i awoke at six a.m., showered and crept down the stairs, careful not to wake my roommates. i went down the gravel rode to take a seven a.m. yoga class, followed by an eight a.m. meeting. later in the afternoon i went to the grocery store in edgartown, which is thirty minute ride which i drove down back roads and windy paths, careful of bikers and pedestrians. on the way back, i got a little lost and wound up at a beach but the beauty of the bay and the yachts and boathouses, the white pale sand was totally worth it.

cleaned a lot again today. the attic bedroom is now in good shape. i took a picture after the cleaning but not before ... if you only knew. made some zucchini and red onions from the farm share. some pasta and steak from the market. read some of simone forte's handbook in motion. she speaks motions. i am completely immersed and will quote her quite soon. 

i took a video of me dancing: 

it's just a little solo improvisation. nothing special but thought i would post it here. 

also took some pictures tonight, here are the one's i most love:

the compound next door.

view from the water. 

 

the house i am currently living in.

simone on the porch.

 our countryside sign.

and here is a picture of me in the midst of adjusting to a new and wondrous place:

yayy. :) peas and love, m

welcome to the vineyard
Well, I arrived safely to the Yard. It took me almost 12 hours to get here due the enormous amount of traffic we encounter. I arrived in the dead of night, fairly appropriate since everything I do is mildly complicated for no good reason. I did not see much on the car ride to my destination, just a lot of woods and back roads, Chilmark is very secluded from the rest of the island. The town of Oaks Bluff, right off the ferry was magical-- I want to revisit on a day off. Apparently, the oldest carousel lives there. 

I arrived to the Yard, a dance colony in Chilmark, at around 9.30pm. That is when I noticed my cellphone had no service (at&t does not provide service to the island-- go figure) and would not be able to talk to people regularly on my downtime. That is also when I notice how old this property is and that there are bugs everywhere. I do not know what I was expecting with that-- it's an old house in a woody area. However, I broke down in tears late last night because I was not expecting that. I envisioned beautifully pastoral cottages with modern utilities and wonderfulness. I suppose it may be like that, but definitely a lot of bugs. In a few minutes I am going to roam the estate, see what it looks like in the daytime and get acclimated. It might take a few days or a week. Last night, when I got out of the car I looked around in the darkness. Looking up, I noticed the stars. Oh my lord, there were hundreds. The sky was so clear. I have never seen so many stars in the sky. It was absolutely extraordinary.

-m
   

paul in the park
paul taylor performance free this evening!

I am super excited about tonight's free performances. In anticipation, I have watched an early filmed version of Esplanade on Youtube, probably 10 times already. Here is my favorite section from the dance, the very last section which is the most kinetic and also the most urgent. Much of my dance work owes a lot to this dance. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHkciz_yYYI&feature=related

Things I will be thinking about during tonight's performance: How the performance of Esplanade has evolved over the generations of dancers who have danced it... how has the virtuosity of the technique expanded and what has been lost/gained. Also, I will be thinking of its splendid beauty.

And just to refresh, tonight's performances begin at 7.30pm with Paul Taylor 2, the apprentice company. They will perform 3 Epitaphs followed by Esplanade. The senior company will then perform Airs, Syzygy, and Company B. Performances take place at Damrosch Park as part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival. For those of you who don't know where that is (I didn't until I looked it up,) it is located at 70 Lincoln Center Plaza & W 62nd St, New York, 10023. Telephone: (212) 875-5456

Take the 1 train to W 66th and walk down, the Bandshell is nestled between Amsterdam Ave and W 62nd. 

Paul Taylor 2 will continue to celebrate his 80th birthday dance season with another free performance, August 13th with Naganuma Dance Company at the East River Amphitheater. Performance starts at 7. The bill will include Airs and Company B.

***

I will see this performance tonight as a parting gift from nyc to me before I leave for Martha's Vineyard. My trip will include a long bus ride followed by a steamship ferry. I leave August 7th and will not be back again until September 30th. During my stay, I will update my blog frequently-- covering the dance classes, performances, lectures, and beauty of the island. I hope to take pictures and films, draw, and send postcards to my dearest friends and family.

Here's to safe travels, beautiful summer vacations, and free dance in the park :)

peace and love dear readers,

melissa