Right Now

Yes, yes it has!

Right now I'm enjoying being home with Erik and my 2 furry friends. I've been travelling all summer, so it's nice to unpack for a while and spend time at home. I just made a very delicious meal of veggies (carrots, squash, spinach) and kidney beans, inspired by Kathryn's amazing cooking. I'm getting adventurous with my sauces and spices!

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the "life" things I have to do that I have been putting off for a while. But I'm looking forward to the Fall, cause after a very busy summer, I actually have time to take care of those things. Step 1: find a job(s).

Wrote a new song today on my keyboard, but I need lyrics.

It's been an adventurous, exciting summer. Yes K, many blocks along the way (Peter Pan...ggrrr!). Kim, we haven't told you the whole story yet?? It deserves a post/email all on it's own.

When I was staying with Kathryn last week in Seattle, we transferred footage from our own camera's onto our own laptops, but weren't able to transfer it to each other's laptop. So the next step is to make dvd's of the raw footage and send it to each other so we all have the footage from the 3 cameras. It's really fascinating watching the different prospectives from Kathryn's and I cameras.

Did you know that you are amazing? I feel very blessed to have you both in my life.

Love,

~ Y

Blocklyn

"Well, ladies, it's been quite a trip."

Yulia and I just parted for the second time this month, and the longest single chunk of time we've ever spent together.

We encountered many blocks along the way. We punched through all of them with the emerald fist of Hulk-like strength.

We met many people and saw many new faces. We learned about Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Kimberly, all complex and beautiful neighborhoods to get acquainted with.

We returned safely home(s).

Ladies, where are you both at right now?

Empty Livingroom

It's Tuesday morning and my livingroom is empty and quiet. Onyx is pacing back and forth, probably thinking "Where did everybody go?" I miss you guys already!

Thank you for this amazing week and an amazing performance!!! Thank you to Linda, Jeff, Cassidy and Erik!

Thank you to everyone that made the short or long journey to come to the performance!

This is just the beginning.....

THIS IS IT!

We are down to the final hours... lack of sleep, technical difficulties and Onyx keep us in a state of constant creativity. We are pulling it together and breaking it apart. Things are coming out of our asses that surprise even ourselves. However Yulia gave a wonderful inspirational speech yesterday, "it will all come together in the end."
Come and witness the first of our experimental dance series tomorrow at 3pm. We hope to see you there to share our collaboration with you.

we're here!

I am writing this from a futon facing a window looking out on two trees of Portland, Oregon. My swollen leg, surrounded by bright blue plastic pockets of "non-toxic" ice, perches restfully on three tufted pillows. I realize that this week is going to be all about adaptation. And Sweat.


And Yuli-Hulk:

poster design

check it out and tell your friends...

Kim and Cassidy are married!

Of all the things we share, love is the gift that helps us to face our selves, the every day and the eternal struggles.

Kim's video made from a series of stills

block 1

Yulia and I filmed this video last winter, during a rare encounter. It became my baby for a couple months. And then, because I had to save it in a public folder, it was erased. I have it only in quicktime format. I think it's time to be shared.

So here it is. I call it 'block 1,' sound and video editing by myself, Kathryn Hightower.

IMpress vs. EXpress

Butoh. That's all I'm sayin'...

Virtual Audience

I wonder....

Are we ready for a virtual audience? Are we ready to send out our press release to everyone on our email lists?

I'm not one to rush, but I think we are ready for an audience.

~ Y

F A L L I N G

The photo was taken at the end of the Cherry Blossom festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. The wind was blowing lightly, the air was misty with small droplets of rain. I felt the tickle of excitement in the air... the change into Springtime. My gaze softened while pink leaves dropped like snow to the grass. The week prior I attended the opening of the festival and I returned to say goodbye to the ephemeral blossoms. It is places such as the Botanical Garden, Prospect Park, Greenwood Cemetery, and Central Park where I feel happiest here in NYC. It is in these somewhat natural settings where I can remember the trees, the joy of a shady place to rest, the flitter of birds and butterflies... it can all exist here and it is amazing! 

This week I went on a tour of Greenwood Cemetery at sunset. There were parrots and bats flying overhead. We were led by two men playing accordions. We entered the catacombs- it was chilly and spooky. The sun set over Manhattan and we had a great view of it from a natural hilltop in Brooklyn. The moon was nearly full that night and barely peeked out from behind the thick clouds. It was magical to walk slowly with a hundred folks on the tour among so many trees and so many buried. 

Lately, I have been riding my three-speed bike, Hercules all over Brooklyn. It is the kind of bike that forces me to work extra hard and my thighs appreciate it. 

I am falling in love with Brooklyn!

Green

I experienced a beautiful spot in Ravenna Park today that I had never seen before. It was exploding with ferns and firs and little streams, and a huge aged-copper-colored bridge. It reminded me of my childhood. Here at home, I spend my time in my usual places, however beautiful, but never changing (in a constantly changing kind of way.) I feel so green in this business. I hope we remember our excitement for this project for the rest of our lives.

How will we warm up our bodies and our hearts in order to create?

I want to discover places we never been, destinations in Portland that even Yulia has never visited. Destinations in our dancing where we have never been.

Favorite Places

This is one of my favorite sculptures in Portland. It is in a small square in front of Lloyd Center Mall.

What are some of your favorite places in Seattle and New York?

Kim-I want to see where you live-your neighborhood, your favorite places, where you go daily.

Kathryn-Even though I have lived in Seattle for 14 years and know the city fairly well, I want to see it through your eyes-what's important and meanigful to you?

Yes!

Yes! It really is happening. A title, press release, plane tickets....it is all coming together and it is exciting!!!

I didn't hear back from Portland Monthly, so not sure if we made the deadline. We'll see in July.


What do you think of the new blog look? I think any one of us can change the lay out and colors and add photos. We should add some of our videos as well.

Finality

"BLOCK 41325." It is strange and exhilirating to have a title for this project. It means we're actually doing it, not just conceptualizing it.

Yulia and I have met once during this entire process, otherwise the three of us have hardly even spoken a non-typed word to each other in the past year. But last week, I was blessed with Kimberly's voice, heard through my cell phone, and Kimberly's energy and ideas, transmitted through that technology. It felt great to exchange ideas LIVE. It really helped me take the piece beyond a conceptual level, into live reality.

And now we have a title...and a press release...and plane tickets. I am overwhelmed and excited.

Sharing

I'm not sure how much about our project I really want to post here, to share with the public. Why, exactly, are we blogging? How can we use it to bring attention to our project? How can we attract different people?

I'm tired of pointless chain mail. I hereby endorse positive chain mail.

Obama's winning. This affects us all.

spatial trajectory

one is walking along a line coursing towards the door. another is walking bee-line out that door. the third is crossing both of their pathways from the other direction. they don't collide but rather come close while remaining in their own worlds. 

how close do we dare to come?

what do we see in these brief passings?

do we block ourselves from contact with our own center or the center of another?

what do intimate relationships look like for you? how close do you allow people to get to your center? 

how do our blocks/defences manifest in our lives?

my mind is running... racing around a trajectory that me be far off or right on target. clarity i have not.

Yulia, tell us all about your film class.

Do either of you know how to post videos to this blog?

an evening of swirling imaginings

Hi -

Thought of the project tonight while in awe of Joanna Newsom's performance tonight at BAM. I wanted to immerse myself in her songs and dance among the trees in the park. I imagined slow movements, self- referential, with lots of slow development of sensual but playful hand to body contact. I wanted to burst out of the slowness with jumps and rolls. Yes perhaps through whizzing cars, sounds of the breeze, jumble of voices. How do we make our own voice heard? 

Block # 2,348- the narcissistic inventory of all things wrong or difficult. 

# 2, 349 Isolation. How is it possible to isolate myself among the 9 million that I live with? 

A state of mind.

How does dancing among the cars make me feel... I will ruminate on it Kathryn?

Love.

Kim

Contact

Hi Ladies,

Went to contact improv jam tonight. It was great, really chill. I'm seeing a projection on a screen of a scene - cars whizzing by on a busy street. We're each in the middle of the traffic, and the cars look almost life-size. They're driving over and through us. How would that make you feel or dance?

Working hard on lots of things, including this project.

Love
K