Manor Field

Manor Field from SENS Production on Vimeo.

Manor Field is a study on topography, translating the curves and lines of the land into the motion of bodies through space. Based on a series of rules to determine choreographic choices, the dancers created in each of the performances a new path and sequence while maintaining an overall decrease of speed, from running, to skipping, to walking with interwoven stillness. Manor Field was developed in collaboration with the participant dancers of "Dance Across Borders" at the Fisher Center.

Choreography: Noémie Lafrance

Live Piano Music Composition and Performance: David Arner

Dancers: Michael Caban, Grace Converse, Maggie Gillis Cornell, Isabel Cottingham, Musetta Durkee, Abbey Hart, Charlotte Hendrickson, Gabrielle Herbst, Pedro Jimenez, Dages Keates, Laura Kvelstein, Rob Mihalko, Shannon Murphy, Rain Saukas, Emma Skove-Epes, Alexis Steeves, Tiffany Watson

Costumes: Mary Grusak

Site: Manor Field at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Sculpture: "Stargon" by Robert Perless

Dates: June 14, 15, 16, 2007

Presenter Partner: Dance Across Borders at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College

Always A Bridesmaid....

Okay there is this new movie coming out called Bridesmaids.

I would like to first get the negative shit off my chest and say... why the f-ing hell is every movie for women about a wedding. Seriously, I am now 27 and you movie making assholes are screwing up my subconscious and almost making me care about this shit. I like watching movies with females and though I do watch them I am so sick of all the wedding obsession - BrideWars, When In Rome, 27 Dresses, You Again and Sex and The City One and Two- I could go on and on. The 2nd wave cranky feminist in me would like to point out that this is psychological manipulation that proliferates the notion that the most important part of a woman's life is the day she gets to spend thousands on a dress and act like a psychopath. Its not about the day she first knocks boots with the love of her life, or the day she lands her first huge job, or when she gets her first apartment, or gets her masters degree. Well I guess there was always Legally Blond to look up to as the bastion of female empowerment. Honestly I would love to see more movies about the non important moments - like when said female character discovers that Tequila is really not her drink.

However, the Generation Y, nth wave feminist in me is like HELL YEA, Bridesmaids!!! I can not wait to grab my girls and some Butterfinger Bites and watch the shit out of this movie.

Okay so honestly, it looks a lot better than the rest.

This is supposedly Bridesmaids producer Judd Apatow's big move to get back in the good graces of the female population. However, I would also like to point out that Paul Feig is directing it and along with Apatow he made some serious magic happen on Freaks And Geeks. This is the first clue that this movie could be cool. Other proof lies more strongly in the fact that Kristen Wiig co-wrote it. Could I ask for more. Oh apparently I could. The movie stars Wiig along with Ellie Kemper of The Office, Maya Rudolph of SNL royalty, Wendi McLendon-Covey of Reno: 911!, and Melissa McCarthy of Gilmore Girls. This is what I have been asking for, a movie that stars more than one awesome comedic actress!

Anyhow, it comes out in May so lets all go see it in the theater so maybe they'll let Kristen Wiig write more movies.



If for some reason that doesn't work try going here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwgd9EbZo4g

she is introduced in her underwear, as a nod to french sensibilities.

Werner Herzog reads (and does his own version of) Madeline

Light Asylum

Light Asylum- Dark Allies

Dark Allies - Light Asylum from Grant Worth on Vimeo.

Do The Creep

Nicki Minaj and The Lonely Island do "The Creep" on SNL !

Just One of Those Strings

David Edelstein has a great article in NY Magazine on why the new rom com "No Strings Attatched" sucks so much. I found it a good example of how the cliche of women as irrational has unfortunately perservered even while we fortunately are letting go of other cliches such as the old madonna/whore breakdown.

Just One of Those Strings
by David Edelstein
In the high-concept romantic comedy No Strings Attached, the woman who wants lots of sex with zero emotional commitment isn’t portrayed as a slut, which is a nice change. She does, however, come off as a head case. Emma (Natalie Portman), a brainy medical resident, has a highly satisfying quickie with an old summer-camp acquaintance, Adam (Ashton Kutcher), and, flush with pleasure, proposes they “use each other” physically. After accepting her terms (no breakfast together, no flowers, etc.), Adam promptly tries to take their relationship to the next level, which drives Emma crazy for the good reason that … well … there is no good reason. Although the snappy script is by a woman, Elizabeth Meriwether, and the standard gender roles are reversed (the female is the brusque professional, the male the clingy sex object), the movie never makes the case for Emma’s point of view. You don’t see for an instant why a young woman in a high-pressure residency might be wise to approach a relationship warily. You don’t see—given that Adam is gorgeous, funny, kind, talented, and, to cap it off, rich—any impediment whatsoever to happily-ever-afterdom. It’s no wonder a guy behind me muttered, “What’s her problem?”

Her problem, I think, is that she’s a Frankensteinian studio construct with mismatched parts. No Strings Attached began life as Fuck Buddies (or F*&$ Buddies, or some variation thereof), and I’m guessing that in the course of its evolution anything messy or dissonant—any real drama—was discarded, along with any credible accounting for what Emma calls her “allergy” to relationships. So the movie plays as a long and rather cruel proof that the “no strings attached” doctrine can’t work and that Emma is a freak for believing otherwise. (There are pre-Code movies from the early thirties with less old-fashioned ideas about casual sex.) A different actress might have filled in some gaps, but Portman—as intelligent as she is—doesn’t have much imagination. If George Lucas gives her wooden dialogue, she’ll be wooden to the core. If Darren Aronofsky makes her his masochistic marionette, she’ll twirl and hurl on cue. As Emma, she dutifully oscillates between brittle detachment and hysterical neediness, but the why-why-whys remain unanswered.

Director Ivan Reitman, with his anvil touch, is no help: He has zero affinity for his female characters and seems to have made the movie to get in on his son Jason’s Zeitgeist-comedy action. (Is it a coincidence that Adam’s celebrity dad, played by Kevin Kline, steals his son’s girlfriend?) Apart from a surreally dizzy turn by Lake Bell as a TV producer with a crush on Adam, the trendy cast is wasted. (Greta Gerwig as Emma’s roommate is confined to sympathetic smirks.) No Strings Attached is so palpably calculated that you know if the camera had pulled back a foot from the bed in which Portman and Kutcher were pretending to have sex, you’d have seen their agents standing by beaming: proud parents, proud pimps.

Isolation by Mel Paget

Isolation by Mel Paget

This Is A Photograph Of Me

This Is A Photograph Of Me
by Margaret Atwood

It was taken some time ago.
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

then, as you scan
it, you see in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.

In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion

but if you look long enough,
eventually
you will be able to see me.)

The Most Important of Videos

Snowy Day Mix

Back from L.A. - jetlagged and snowed in. Here's a mix for the mood.

Carly Simon - Why
This is probably my favorite Carly Simon song. The video is kind of hilarious. I love it when she tries to eat the ice cream in a sexy way and then spills it.


Judy Mowatt- Slave Queen
I love Judy Mowatt and I think this is a great winter song cause it makes it feel like summer.


The Ronettes - Be My Baby
You really can't deny how amazing they are. Like even when you think you're over them this song will come on and you'll be belting it out in the car or dancing around the house. Also, both the Ronettes and the backup dancers are wearing really cool outfits.


Kate Bush- Babooshka
Sometimes I have a hard time posting Kate Bush videos because there are just so many good ones, each one better than the last. I think this video really shows her range of skills - amazing singer, total weirdo, epic dancer, and queen of music videos.


Sade- No Ordinary Love
Two words - Sade and Mermaids , Video by Sophie Muller who clearly is a genius.


Linda Ronstadt - You're No Good
I'm getting a kick out of the fact that she's dressed like me in college in this video. I feel like Linda Ronstadt would be fun to be friends with - I feel like that vibe may be why she managed to go multi-platinum so many times.


Nana Mouskouri - Adieu Angeline
Nana is one of the best selling artists of all time. She pioneered the Lisa Loeb look and has one of the most beautiful voices of all time. Also, though from Greece, she managed to record songs not only in Greek but also French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Welsh, and Maori. This video has almost a whole minute of intro but its worth it. Check out youtube for videos of her singing with everyone from Joan Baez to Nina Hagen.


Yaz- Only You
So beautiful. Singer Alison Moyet has a wonderful voice and this song never gets old.


Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance Somebody
I'm putting this on cause I heard it in the supermarket today and remembered how amazing it is. Go ahead dance around. This video is so hilarious - so many outfits, so many colors, so many hair extensions, probably so much cocaine. If you want to know what happened to my generation you can blame it on watching videos like this when our brains were still developing.