It's a phrase that made me feel good when I had those scissoring techniques down, when all the other kids in my new class were already five and I was still a four-year-old bumpkin. It's a phrase I dreaded when my orthodontia kicked in early (even earlier than my older friends) and I found myself pioneering the retainer and braces front. But then again, it was a phrase I basked in when it seemed the entire school had metal mouths, and I now had a perfectly straight, perfectly white smile!
I'm sure there must be a driving force that comes with being the youngest in your grade. Maybe it's partially why I've pushed myself as hard as a I always have. Then again, it always gave me a safety net (that I luckily have never had to use): allowing me an out if ever I found myself behind.
Why am I stuck on age? Well, frankly, Luminarium has been experiencing a lot of the same obstacles and successes while also receiving the phrase "Wow, but you're so young!"
But this week, I (we) feel both young and legitimate.
Let's take a look at the past seven days, just seven, and see what a typical week is now like for Luminarium and its two co-directors. On Wednesday, we performed outdoors in a garden, as visitors gathered for a lecture on healing at The Children's Room in Arlington, Mass. A wonderful experience! Thursday brought a three-hour rehearsal for Luminarium's first commissioned work, to be performed through a brief residency at Ithaca College in October. Friday brought various paperwork, emails, and preparation for upcoming events. Saturday brought a day of dancing, with Lumi Parent #1 bringing one dancer out to Western Mass for an early tech, and Lumi Parent #2 playing taxi for our second dancer after a rehearsal later in the day. Once reunited, we found ourselves sitting in the ever-familiar Bowker auditorium in Amherst, as one of eight companies chosen for this year's Mass Dance Festival: Professional Company Gala Performance. Sunday brought a day of separation, then an evening of busy planning for our impending lecture. On Monday, Kim and I spoke as professional artists at the Arsenal Center for the Arts (more on this below), and Tuesday was spent fielding emails, forging connections, thanking presenters, cataloging files, and--what's this??--preparing for GRANT season!
Wow...but we're so young...
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| A Sampling of My Work: 6 Milestone Pieces in 5 Years Presented at text & conText on September 24, 2012 |
Here we were--each choosing to speak about six of our milestone works, and the progression of thought and artistry between them--presenting a body of work. This wasn't a post-show talkback, speaking only about the choreography immediately on the tip of our tongues. This presentation took careful thought in its preparation. In my own process leading up to Monday, I found myself giving particular attention not only to the work I chose to speak about, but what the work spoke about me. Choosing six works out of a collection of projects felt easy. It was simple to look back and think Of all my work, which ones jump out in my mind as the most memorable, for myself? The hard part came in connecting the dots of progression, yet beautiful to realize that there was a progression! Still, the most shocking moment for me came when I heard myself begin with "In 2008, I created my first film."
...2008??? Could that be right? But it must have been right, because my next piece was made in 2009. Which led to 2010. Then a new approach in 2011. Ending with my most recent work in 2012. Five years worth of work? Somehow, that alone is what made me leave the Arsenal Center for the Arts on Monday night thinking Young, yes, but legitimate.
Slides from the lecture (my half):
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| Synchronic Film Still 2008 |
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| Synchronic Film Still 2008 |
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| Synchronic Film Still 2008 |
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| What seems so is transition Film Still 2009 |
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| What seems so is transition Film Still 2009 |
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| What seems so is transition (live) Photo by Christina Pong 2010 Re-adaptation |
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| Casting Shadows, Tearing Holes 2010 |
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| Untitled Breathing Installation 2011 |
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| Emergence (Phase 2 of Untitled Breathing Installation) Photo by Liza Voll 2011 |
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| Seirēn Photo by Ryan Carollo 2012 |
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| Seirēn Photo by Ryan Carollo 2012 |
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| Seirēn Photo by Jim Coleman 2012 |
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| Andromeda "Before" Sketch by Julia Wagner 2012 |
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| Andromeda"After" Photo by Julia Wagner 2012 |
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| Andromeda Lightbulb Placement and Movement Testing 2012 |
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| Andromeda The Final Product Photo by Kimberleigh A. Holman 2012 |
One final thought to end... Monday night was a beautiful, positive, encouraging, and reaffirming experience not only for myself as an artist, but for Kim, too. And as she experienced her own moment of legitimacy at the podium (I'm sure she has her own take on what this feeling was!), I found myself listening to and watching (for the first time since starting Luminarium) a completely independent artist. An artist whose mind is nearly always playing a game of creativity tag with my own, yet in this one moment, I felt pleasantly separated from my partner in crime. We feel so comfortable around one another that Monday finally offered me the chance to view her from the outside perspective. Here was this beautiful young woman speaking eloquently and humorously about her artistic decisions, insights, and intrigues, all leading up to this incredible dance company she'd started, and all I could think was how impressed I was.
And if that isn't an example of our legitimacy as artists, then I eagerly await the moment of discovering it.
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| Luminarium Photo by Shane Godfrey Photography |
a smile and a tear as I read this...for those who dare to dream there is no limit
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