Improvising All the WaySpecial guest Martin Hughes leaps into the mix with the regular Little Con artists (Dianne, Shaun, Paul, Joey, Ann-maree) to play a little one hour improv game. Who knows what, where, when and who will attempt to make dance out of chaos and chaos out of dance, as the impulse to jump in and jump out is obeyed and ignored, imposed and composed, vetted and fated? Yes it could all go horribly wrong. Now you wouldn’t want to miss that would you??
See you there. We’ll risk it if you will!
so the little con is a monthly dance improv event held in melbourne. it started around the same time that conundrum ended (after 10 years of monthly improvised performances) and has had a few different incarnations.
i was interested to see this description in their latest email bulletin mention risk.
while i understand risk as being somehow involved in live performance (liveness, eh simon), i’m less convinced by the idea that it’s more present in improvised work. at least, i’ve never experienced it in that way. putting your work on stage can be risky in any form, but the risks tend to be thought of more as being about ‘getting it right’, or pleasing/offending/stunning the audience. i mean, the risk is that the work doesn’t communicate, right? or that it has no impact on the people who have come to watch/listen/experience it? and that risk is present in all forms (well… most forms, idol doesn’t count).
anyway, there also seems to be a generalised idea that in improvised performance the performers are taking more of a risk because they don’t know what material/content/structure will come out during the performance. and i’m not sure why, but can’t recall ever having even thought about this in my own practice. with a rigourous and ongoing practice that level of risk is insignificant - or maybe it’s significant but the perception of it decreases dramatically.
which reminds me of rock climbing. in rock climbing, the real risk varies according to the skill and physical attributes of the climber, the difficulty of the route, the prevailing conditions and the quality of the gear. the perceived risk varies according to the climbers physical and mental state, and in turn it affects the real risk (positively or negatively). a low perceived risk can lead to mistakes being made but can also allow a higher level of functioning. i think in performance it comes back to that idea of being in a state of confident expectation (being a poor equivalent for perceived risk) to allow the performer full access to their skills and creativity.
phew
in other news, i passed my mid year barrier exam, which was a fucker of an exam. started muscoloskeletal and neuro block, which is already fascinating and overwhelming.
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Contagion models the spread of this agent amongst present, past and future visitors, using rules and behaviors based on the epidemiology of SARS and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. This data is processed to form the basis of the projected imagery, creating a rich, complex and constantly evolving visual system.
i was fortunate to see an early development of Contagion in Melbourne (at the state library no less) a couple of years ago, before i started studying medicine. i had a great chat with gina about the decision to go into medicine and it’s fascinating to read the back story to the development of the work. makes me feel like there’s more potential in all of this information i now have to process and deal with. and reminds me of the fact that beyond the ‘hard science’ and data there’s the social and behavioural concerns and implications about where i’m heading.
Contagion will be premiered at the Brisbane Festival from 18 July – 3 August.
a quick gripe.
we’ve started back at university. straight into neuro and musculoskeletal block.
what’s missing though, is our results from our barrier exam at the end of last semester. this means that there may be people who have failed or require a supplementary examination but just don’t know it yet. in the meantime they have to study what is renowned as being one of the toughest blocks.
what is worse is that there has been absolutely no word about when we will get the results.
it’s really not good enough.
as you may imagine this is consuming a considerable amount of conversation time around the med school, which is a little bit tedious already (after only 2 days of it).
i thought i’d have time to blog everyday while on my placement.
hasn’t really worked out that way. just got too much on to leave much time or energy for it. but at least it’s a good balance of medicine/education and socialising.
i’ve spent time at a GP clinic and at the local Indigenous Health Centre (NACCHO), i’ve also been to the hospital briefly and will spend a bit more time there next week. i travelled out to a small town to hear some older men talk about a men’s shed they’ve got going - as part of a health and well-being initiative - and have done some simple skills development (mostly clinical). i’ve also had plenty of social events and time with other medicos and locals (i even went to a body pump class!).
the best thing has been spending lots of time with my mentor and discussing the patients we’ve seen together and nutting over diagnosis and approaches and the like.
this is a cover of the title track from footloose
thomas bartlett (who would have been 2 years old when footloose came out) has reworked the whole album on the request of his friend. it’s fantastic. beautiful and somehow much more potent than the original. although, i can remember as a young teenager how exciting the film was.
similar in some ways to the cover of mad world for donnie darko.
ahhhh, the 80s.
you can download the entire album
via skellis
well… who am i kidding.
i’ve got an all day exam tomorrow that can cover any material we’ve covered in the first 18 months of this course. any material. of course i’m banking on the fact that it will be heavily weighted towards the last two blocks we’ve done - Gastrointestinal and Haematology/Oncology (oh, and they slipped in a bit of Infectious Diseases at the end as well).
still… it feels like the end of semester already. just got to sit and write from 9.30 to 3.30 tomorrow and i’m done.
lovely.
I live in Canberra, so I hardly ever have to ride close to parked cars — still, I can’t count the number of times I’ve come close to being hit by people opening their doors or pulling out of their parking spaces without looking. Be careful out there, kids.“Clinton Miceli, a 22 year old graphic designer, was killed this month after being struck by a car door that someone opened in his path. The Chicago Tribune reported that Clinton “struck the SUV’s door, flew off his bike and was run over by a passing vehicle that eventually stopped. He suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead Monday night at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.” He was the second Chicago area cyclist killed in as many days, bringing the number of cyclists killed on the streets of Chicago this year to at least seven.
makenosound commenting on Hipster Nascar
I have been hit by car doors… twice. actually once i was hit by the door as it opened, the other time i hit the door after it opened. both were not much fun.
don’t just check your mirrors… a cyclist might be in your blind spot. take a little bit of initiative and turn your head around to look for anybody.
Hemingway claimed that his best work was simply six words long:
“For sale: baby shoes, never used.”
here’s a web app to let you add yours. although, i don’t think any of them up there so far have quite captured a story the way hemingway did with his…