Last night, September 11, 2015, I performed the showcase version of The Actual Dance in Kansas City as part of the Arts Midwest Conference. These conferences are where we artists sell our goods. “Presenters” are what we self-producing artists call our customers or potential customers. They present theater or music or arts to audiences and thus buy our work to present. We are the content of their venue. The producing side of performing arts is a totally new field to me and it is a steep learning curve. One of the ways we sell at these conferences is to book a hotel room, set it up as a stage and then invite presenters to come get a “taste” of our work. (Usually we just rent time slots from room brokers who rent the hotel room and then sell twenty-minute slots to artists/producers).
The business side of The Actual Dance is perhaps a topic for a future blog, I am moved to write this blog by a familiar experience for me in the journey of The Actual Dance – an “aha” moment. As I was warming-up before going on stage my mind focused on the news of the date – the 14th Anniversary of the September 11th It felt odd taking my emotional story of the ritual of being with someone you love as they face their end of life without in some way also acknowledging those who actually did lose someone they loved 14 years ago.
I have written before about meeting the challenge of the metaphor of the story in The Actual Dance: What about those who do not have the chance to say good-by, whose Dance starts with a phone call. I also wrote a poem about it Hollow .
Last night as my turn to perform came up I was reminded of all of this and was pleased to be able to dedicate the performance to honor all of those who even 14 years later are engaged in the ritual of loss of a loved one. I am often asked – indeed even last night someone asked my after the show: Is The Actual Dance my therapy, is it cathartic for me? My answer is that the development of my show did not emerge from negative or anxious feelings but rather from the realization of the meaning of love and relational love. It enabled me to put into words and an artistic form what I believe love really means and the spiritual and divine nature of that love. It has taken time to understand and find that place and I am humbled and honored to be able to have that discovery every time I perform.
It is my hope that every year on September 11 that those who lost a loved one during those terrible events have been able to discover their own meaning of love associated with the person they lost. I honor each of them for the journey they have had to take and know that each anniversary is a mix of sadness and I hope increasingly honor and love.
It is my hope that I can perform The Actual Dance every September 11th to honor those on a necessary but not chosen life journey.
The business side of The Actual Dance is perhaps a topic for a future blog, I am moved to write this blog by a familiar experience for me in the journey of The Actual Dance – an “aha” moment. As I was warming-up before going on stage my mind focused on the news of the date – the 14th Anniversary of the September 11th It felt odd taking my emotional story of the ritual of being with someone you love as they face their end of life without in some way also acknowledging those who actually did lose someone they loved 14 years ago.
I have written before about meeting the challenge of the metaphor of the story in The Actual Dance: What about those who do not have the chance to say good-by, whose Dance starts with a phone call. I also wrote a poem about it Hollow .
Last night as my turn to perform came up I was reminded of all of this and was pleased to be able to dedicate the performance to honor all of those who even 14 years later are engaged in the ritual of loss of a loved one. I am often asked – indeed even last night someone asked my after the show: Is The Actual Dance my therapy, is it cathartic for me? My answer is that the development of my show did not emerge from negative or anxious feelings but rather from the realization of the meaning of love and relational love. It enabled me to put into words and an artistic form what I believe love really means and the spiritual and divine nature of that love. It has taken time to understand and find that place and I am humbled and honored to be able to have that discovery every time I perform.
It is my hope that every year on September 11 that those who lost a loved one during those terrible events have been able to discover their own meaning of love associated with the person they lost. I honor each of them for the journey they have had to take and know that each anniversary is a mix of sadness and I hope increasingly honor and love.
It is my hope that I can perform The Actual Dance every September 11th to honor those on a necessary but not chosen life journey.
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