We found relief and awe in our little performance for Polyventure. Polyventure is a course offered at EIT for those with developmental delays. This group had to be our best audience yet. When Glenn started playing a jig, a large Maori girl in the class jumped up and said, “Hey this is a jig, I know how to jig.” She then jigs into the middle of the circle with her hands on her hips and her feet tapping. Soon more students got up to dance. I then came out with my Red Bird mask. They were all enchanted yelling out, “What is it?” and moving around so they could get a better look. After this mask I went to change into another mask. While I was getting my new mask on I heard the whole group singing, “With a cluck, cluck here and a baa, baa there…” My next mask was a half mask and when I came into the classroom one of the guys hopped out of his chair, grabbed me in a waltz hold and we waltzed around the room. I then started doing a chicken dance and he mimicked my every move.
The last mask I put on was the one I call Turtle and again everyone yelled out, “What is it?” This time though there was another student that responded to this mask. He got up and started circling around me in the mask. The other students yelled out to him, “Be nice.” Gradually he moved to the center of the room and sat down. I moved next to him and knelt down. He then gave the Turtle a big hug.
There was something about this performance that made us almost feel like different people afterwards. It was quite an emotionally charged and moving experience for all. Glenn and I have felt very close to the Polyventure students, and the experience we shared just solidified our admiration for their caring and unique spirits.
Our next big performance, Imagine, we were planning for the 26th of November and we were feeling a bit nervous but this small performance for Polyventure gave us more confidence. Saturday the 26th, we started the day making sure we had everything we needed read for the night. Glenn practiced his tunes and I made sure all my Rattles and Puppets were priced and ready to be displayed. I also had a few last minute mask and costume adjustments to make.
We got to the Arena at 6pm to get set up for the show, which would start at 7:30pm. It was a raining buckets outside. Friends started arriving around 6:30pm to help out with things. Everything looked good. The art and cd sales table was set up as well as the beverage and snack table. I had to get changed and we would be off. We started the show right on time. Our first few pieces we were feeling a little nervous but things went smoothly--some minor alterations from what we had practiced but not a problem. As we were nearing the end of our first half the rain was getting louder. The theatre we were in was on the second floor of a building with a metal roof. So the rain sounded extremely loud. This was not put into our sound check and one of our last pieces in the first half involved video and sound. We were back stage and had no way of turning up the volume. So we just pushed on and hoped that people could hear ok. When we asked people during intermission they said it was a little quite but not bad.
We turned up the sound for the second half. Our nervousness was much less and we knew that we could knock people’s socks off and put on a great final half. Things went very smoothly. The night ended with smiles and good spirits. People were delighted and surprised because they had not known what to expect when they arrived that night. Glenn and I were very pleased and after cleaning up and packing up we headed home to celebrate with a bottle of champagne our friends brought us. Glenn and I finished the whole bottle, “Whoa Baby!”. That is a lot of champagne for us but we slept well and were happy that our show was so successful.
We are still getting compliments. Friend that were there tell us, “I still have images in my head from that night.” And just yesterday we were taking a walk and a woman passing us stopped and said, “Hey you are the couple that put on the show. I loved it. Have you thought of doing it in the schools? I think it should be a part of the curriculum….” This made us feel good about what we had down. It can be hard sometimes to know if your work has touched people. Comments like these just make you say to yourself, Yes!
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Sunday, December 04, 2005
A Fun Story from a Few Months Back
Last Wednesday we were invited to the Polyventure End of the Year Party. Polyventure is a course offered at EIT to people with disabilities. As a part of the party the polyventure students modeled the fleece vests that they had made that term. Each of the students walked down the imaginary catwalk in their own way—some swung their arms around in delight, others hid their faces in embarrassment and one grinned widely as he struck a John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever, disco pose. It is oh so sobering to see these folks and admire their energy and originality.
Friday we had a full day I spent the day teaching some little first graders how to make pinch pots. That evening we went to a nice exhibition of wood fire ceramic by Bruce and Elsa Martin. He and his wife visited Japan on many occasions. Through these visits the befriended a Japanese potter with knowledge in building wood kilns. Eventually the Martin’s invited this potter over to help them build an anagama kiln on their property. The Martins fired the kiln together for many years. The kiln is no longer being fired because Elsa passed away so Bruce could not do the firings alone. I enjoyed seeing wood fired pieces again some were especially nice with the beautiful ranges of blues, greens, oranges, grays and reds that you can get from a successful firing.
After seeing the exhibition Glenn and I went down to Otani to a little old ladies house. Her name was Colleen and she was selling some ceramic beads that she had made in the 70’s. When we arrived at your house she was all a glow buzzing around and pulling out boxes of this and that. I think she was working on cleaning out her studio. As I looked through all the boxes she had pulled out to show me she told me, “I am working now on painting.” I inquired what type of painting. This question of course got her buzzing once again digging through boxes trying to find some of her recent paintings. All the while she keeps telling me that I while have to keep in touch with her because she may have another weak moment and get rid of some of her other art supplies. To make here paintings she melted colored wax (similar to color crayon wax) onto a small iron and moved the iron over the paper. She tells me she calls these paintings, Trick the Eye Paintings, because you can look at them in all different directions and they look different. She grins.
Glenn and I left her house with our hands full of boxes. As we walked to the car she asked, “Do you like to cook?” Before even answering Colleen was runing back in the house. She returned with a basket full of old cookbooks saying, “Here you go take these as well, they are all healthy cooking. We like organic foods here.” With a smile we were off we both figured our car would have been full if we stayed much longer.
We then stopped for dinner at the Paper Mulberry a funky little café in the middle of nowhere. The exterior is painted gumball blue with yellow trim. Inside there is an eclectic display of artwork hanging on the walls and filling the shelves. That night they were starting an open jam session. This turned out to be an interesting musical experience; a group of little kids pounded away on conga drums and keyboards and guests hooping and howlering as they celebrate a friend’s birthday all the while three guitarists strum away singing top ten songs. An evening to remember…
Friday we had a full day I spent the day teaching some little first graders how to make pinch pots. That evening we went to a nice exhibition of wood fire ceramic by Bruce and Elsa Martin. He and his wife visited Japan on many occasions. Through these visits the befriended a Japanese potter with knowledge in building wood kilns. Eventually the Martin’s invited this potter over to help them build an anagama kiln on their property. The Martins fired the kiln together for many years. The kiln is no longer being fired because Elsa passed away so Bruce could not do the firings alone. I enjoyed seeing wood fired pieces again some were especially nice with the beautiful ranges of blues, greens, oranges, grays and reds that you can get from a successful firing.
After seeing the exhibition Glenn and I went down to Otani to a little old ladies house. Her name was Colleen and she was selling some ceramic beads that she had made in the 70’s. When we arrived at your house she was all a glow buzzing around and pulling out boxes of this and that. I think she was working on cleaning out her studio. As I looked through all the boxes she had pulled out to show me she told me, “I am working now on painting.” I inquired what type of painting. This question of course got her buzzing once again digging through boxes trying to find some of her recent paintings. All the while she keeps telling me that I while have to keep in touch with her because she may have another weak moment and get rid of some of her other art supplies. To make here paintings she melted colored wax (similar to color crayon wax) onto a small iron and moved the iron over the paper. She tells me she calls these paintings, Trick the Eye Paintings, because you can look at them in all different directions and they look different. She grins.
Glenn and I left her house with our hands full of boxes. As we walked to the car she asked, “Do you like to cook?” Before even answering Colleen was runing back in the house. She returned with a basket full of old cookbooks saying, “Here you go take these as well, they are all healthy cooking. We like organic foods here.” With a smile we were off we both figured our car would have been full if we stayed much longer.
We then stopped for dinner at the Paper Mulberry a funky little café in the middle of nowhere. The exterior is painted gumball blue with yellow trim. Inside there is an eclectic display of artwork hanging on the walls and filling the shelves. That night they were starting an open jam session. This turned out to be an interesting musical experience; a group of little kids pounded away on conga drums and keyboards and guests hooping and howlering as they celebrate a friend’s birthday all the while three guitarists strum away singing top ten songs. An evening to remember…
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