Six days at the Panpapanpalya Fest in Adelaide brought a wealth of classes and performances; it lived up to its name, which is an Aboriginal word that encompasses the four main themes of the Congress: dance, gathering, generations and learning. I danced in the opening night performances in the duet, “Last Good Thing”, with Stevie Oakes and choreographed by Elizabeth Shea and received many appreciative commentary following. This festival was unique in its blend of scholarly presentations, participatory workshops, performances and community gatherings. I participated in a variety of movement classes and workshops which emphasized cultural forms and traditions such as:
Contemporary Māori and Pacific Dance
Inclusive Dance,
Indigenous Contemporary Dance/Cultural Dance
Homing Device
Whakatauki in Motion: ‘Kia mau koe ki ngā kupu o ou tupuna’
I also was able to attend two scholarly sessions which brought a wealth of ideas:
Teaching dance through the humanities and the humanities through dance: Two case studies
A new approach to teaching Korean dance traditions to diverse students
The Rebozo Dance: A tapestry of Mexican traditional knowledge
Te mana o te rākau kauri (the authority of the Kauri tree)
I connected in particular to the last speaker in particular, Dr. Tia Reihana-Morunga. We are continuing our working relationship, building a creative project that includes students from both of our institutions.
The Panpapanpalya Festival coincided with the opening of the Adelaide Dance Festival, and I had an incredibly intense experience witnessing the Australian Dance Theatre at the Dunstan Playhouse. After the festival, I traveled to New Zealand to establish a connection to the Dance Program at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Babel was a site-oriented devised performance developed by students from the University of Maryland. This piece was devised in an association with the experimental theatre company Almost Human – an international company operating between the United Kingdom and Canada. The piece was initially performed during Second Season in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library.
The tour of Babel was primarily meant to
provide the participating University of Maryland students with an experience of
the rigors involved in touring work internationally. Furthermore, it was also
intended to expose students to educational opportunities outside of the United
States, and to begin a dialogue with institutions interested in artistic
international collaboration.
With this is mind, students set out for a tour across three countries in Europe. The entire journey lasted from May 22nd to July 3rd over a total of 9,218 miles. The destinations were Prague, Berlin, Rochester, Shrewsbury, and Barnstaple. To provide a broad experience for those involved the tour was bookended by two curated fringe festivals, while three independent venues were selected for the other locations. The project was in an association with the libraries of Universität der Kunst Berlin and Technische Universität Berlin; The University for Creative Arts, Rochester and Rochester Library; University of Chester, Shrewsbury and Shrewsbury Library; as well as Barnstaple Public Library. Cost that were covered by IPCCR included travel, accommodation, and transportation.
As a short summary; approximately 470
people viewed the work. The students were able to have direct conversations
with over 20 professional working artists, along over 50 young artists in the
early stages of their careers, and visit four university settings.
I requested travel and accommodation funding for research that I conducted and for lectures that I gave in Europe during the summer of 2018. Specifically, I requested funding for a trip to Europe from June 15th to July 15th, 2018. The time frame for my request was largely the product of the scheduled dates for my lectures, which included an invited lecture at the Freie Universität, Berlin on June 19th followed by a presented paper at the IFTR Conference in Belgrade during the week of July 9th. But I also wanted to take advantage of the time between the two lectures to do archival research in the Dada collections held at the Berlinische Galerie. Those collections include the “Raoul Hausmann Archiv,” which is part of the Berlinische Galerie’s general holdings on the avant-gardist Hannah Höch. The Hausmann Archiv contains material directly pertinent to – and providing context for – the events that the Berlin Dadaists orchestrated on April 1, 1919 when much to the astonishment of the local authorities, Hausmann and his fellow Dadaist Johannes Baader declared a“Dada Republic” in a suburb of Berlin – a declaration taken seriously enough that authorities mobilized the local militia. I addressed this rather infamous April fool’s day hoax in both of my lectures, and the lectures themselves provided the basis for a chapter in the new book that I am now completing. That chapter examines the performative foundations of calculated hoaxes that masquerade as acts of sedition, and it is the fourth of five planned chapters of a book tentatively titled Performance Beyond the Pale: Radical Acts and Bodies in Extremis. Support from IPCCR thus enabled me to attend the IFTR conference, give the invited lecture in Berlin, and complete the forth chapter in my current book project.
Our project aimed to study period garments at the Victoria and Albert Museum Clothworker’s Institute and produce diagrams based on the research. We hoped to enhance the community’s understanding of the costumes they are seeing and how clothing was produced at the time of The Triumph of Isabella. We added a leg to our trip to attend and photograph the current reenactment of the Ommegang, thus our goal expanded to become a compare and contrast exercise of both the clothing and the event itself and that represented in the paintings on display in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library Gallery. We were able to successfully assist in dressing the cast of the “Triumph of Isabella Immersive Experience” based in part by our experiences on this research project. Understanding the loose presentation of history at the reenactment empowered us to focus on creating the best spectacle possible and let go of minor period details while also maintain an understanding of period aesthetics. We also have an extensive library of photographs and detailed diagrams of the studied garments to share with our peers. Besides the intended education in studying garments that we were able to accomplish, we have learned about the communication in engaging in this type of museum or archival research and can more easily approach it in the future.
I am enormously grateful for the IPCCR grant that funded my trip to Dublin and London. It was an incredible gift to be able to reach beyond our borders for inspiration, collaboration and community. At the conclusion of this grant period, I have gained: research and inspiration for my next play, international connections with a possibility for future collaborations, and relationships with Irish theatre professionals which I am able to immediately bring back to our TDPS students.
The goals from my project, and how I have met them:
1. To do first-person research for my new play about the Irish diaspora, as inspired by my fathers emigration from Dublin: while in Dublin, my primary goal was to soak up the city by walking and wandering, so that I will be able to use it more truthfully as a setting for my new play. I also ingested as much history from the locals as I could, by visiting The Little Museum of Dublin and going on a literary walking tour. I also was able to visit for the first time many significant sites from my family’s heritage. For example, I visited the building where my great-grandfather worked in a tailor shop and the building where my great-grandmother worked in a restaurant. I was able to see, first person, how the two buildings faced each other across O’Connell Street, right near where Nelson’s Pillar used to stand, and could better picture how my great-grandfather first met his future wife during his lunch breaks. During all of this, I jotted down fragmentary ideas for my new play’s characters, theme and structure. Thanks to this IPCCR-funded trip, I now have a strong research foundation for the play, and I will begin to write it this summer.
2. To learn more about the new play development process in Dublin and London, and to further relationships with collaborators in those cities: I saw 8 new plays during my 9-day trip (please see list below), and each of them has inspired my work—either through their strengths or weaknesses. I was reminded that it is glaringly obvious when a production is not truthful or committed, and that the strongest plays are messy, honest, and performed with full-throttle intensity. Additionally, the buzzing community that each of these theatres has cultivated in their bar/restaurants both before and after performances reminded me that the most rewarding theatre is that which builds community. I also had the opportunity to meet with four top theatre professionals in Dublin: Selina Cartmell (Artistic Director of The Gate Theatre), Annabelle Comyn (Artistic Director of Hatch Theatre Co), Jesse Weaver (Literary Director of The Abbey) and Jim Culleton (Artistic Director of Fishamble Theatre Co). From those meetings, I gained a more in-depth view of the Dublin theatre community, including the current controversy over the Abbey’s new artistic leadership and slant towards foreign artists.
I established contact and held discussions with researcher Dr. Eeva Anttila regarding current research in process in Finland to combat inequities in how segments of the Finnish population gain access to the arts. She provided details of methodology and published information regarding the current status of the nationally funded “ArtsEqual Project” research findings. Dr. Anttila also invited me to the Community and Art Symposium held while I was in town. This symposium included presentations by professional artists, international scholars, and current graduate students in the University of the Arts University Theater Academy who engage with community arts projects and research both within Finland and globally.
I also conducted participant-observer ethnographic research on Raisa Ekoluoma’s adult and middle school community theater classes at the Community College of Mikkeli. This experience led to forthcoming plans to develop a community arts dance-theater curriculum that focuses on equity and implementing critical pedagogy methods in its development as part of my continued research. Working with Mrs. Ekoluoma, a master practitioner and fellow Laban-Bartenieff movement analyst furthers my research inquiries on the intersections of race, movement analysis, and inclusivity in the creative processes and studio classes.
I learned of a new area of research that is developing in researching community art programing. This project helped me consider lines of inquiry along with other scholars around why community art has not been as thoroughly addressed in arts research. I also learned of the potential connection of my critical theory work with this conversation about researching community arts programs. I learned that community arts programming is a place in which a broader diversity of participants and challenges can be reached in examining issues of inequity in the arts.
I proposed this project to develop meaningful collaborative relationships with NIDA – The National Institute of Dramatic Art is Australia’s leading performing arts school and its graduates are highly regarded throughout the creative and entertainment industries. Recently, NIDA started a one of a kind MFA in Cultural Leadership.
Further, I hoped to create a new study abroad program that includes an inclusion and diversity component to the study of theatre, dance and performance. While there, I attended and presented at the 40th International LGBTQI Festival in Sydney, and attended workshops in Urdu, Bali.
My visit to Moscow was a continuation of my ongoing relationship with faculty and students at the Moscow Arts Theatre School (MATS), Russia’s leading conservatory-type training program in theatre. MATS’s Department of Scenography, located in the same building as the Moscow Arts Theatre itself, is a unique institution with its own tradition and vast artistic and material resources. My first visit to MATS took place in March of 2017 when I was in Moscow at the invitation of the Golden Mask Festival’s Academic Conversations program. While meeting with students and young theatre artists at MATS and at the Meyerhold Center I encountered a lot of interest in (coupled with an acute lack of detailed awareness of) American theatre, particularly in its design, production, and organizational aspects, and in graduate theatre education in the United States. I was invited to conduct several seminars for MATS students and faculty (to which graduate students from other leading programs, such as GITIS, were also invited). My other important goal was to continue building relationships with faculty at the MATS with the aim of eventually developing faculty and student exchanges, recruiting potential gifted graduate students in design.
Last, but not least, I was very interested in learning more about European (and Russian in particular) pedagogy in scenography and in how MATS teaching methods and practices can help me and my American colleagues develop new projects and incorporate them in our curriculum.
My biggest discovery was the extent to which the
institutional culture and organization of American professional theatre (both
regional/non-profit and commercial theatre) is different from European and
Russian repertory-based, festival-oriented and largely government-funded model
and how these differences help explain fundamental contrast between the
direction and the current state of my art form in the United States and abroad.
I now strongly believe that students on both sides can greatly benefit from
some form of exchange that will expose them young American designers to the
artistic rigor and tradition of Russian theatre and educate their Russian
counterparts about the state of the art as it exists in the United States.
This project proposes an augmented reality experience to enhance the “Triumph of Isabella” exhibition and immersive experience at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland beginning in June 2018. This project creates animated augmented reality “pop-outs” consisting of animation and theatrical monologues (See below) triggered by scanning select parts of the “Triumph of Isabella” panels with the HP Reveal app on a mobile device.
To build a strong foundation of knowledge for our digital project, we consulted a number of sources for information on the historical context of the 1615 Ommegang in Brussels, and to gain insight on the figures and events portrayed in the paintings. Among these sources were James Laver’s Isabella’s Triumph, which was immensely helpful to us as we honed in on each of the pageant wagons featured in Panel 5, their sponsors, themes, and featured performers. This was necessary to develop key characters and their monologues for the Augmented Reality application.
Once we identified five character profiles, we developed a list of research questions for each character. For instance, for the Body Double (or Actress Playing Isabella) the primary research questions were: who were the women on the court float featuring the actress playing Isabella? What were the prevailing attitudes towards play-acting, particularly for women, during this period in the Spanish Netherlands? What kind of preparations might a lady of the court have taken to prepare for such a role? Likewise, for the Parrot Boy the primary questions were: what were prevailing beliefs concerning the Jesuits during this period in the Spanish Netherlands? What was their relationship to the Spanish crown? Were the “parrots” indeed pigeons? What role did the Jesuits play in the ongoing religious conflict in the Spanish Netherlands?
VOICEOVER MONOLOGUES
DEVIL
Muahahaha! Get back I say! Back away or face the hellfire! Wicked, wicked children! I hear you laugh! What gall you have to laugh in the face of the devils from hades! Back I say! They would do well to listen to me … with horses, camels, and these wagon wheels about children are like to be crushed. Cracking sparks and telling them of the hellmouth works for some, but the others find my devil costume quite funny. We’ll see how much they laugh when they get trampled under the Bayard Horse! Hmph. I bring this on myself – I volunteered to be a devil! No better way to be in the fray of it all, eh? Though it is spooky to think of what they say … about a man playing a devil too well becoming like a devil … You might think me a devil if I tell you I was raised Protestant during the War. But, I have come to the true Church. You might even say crowd control is my penance. (Laughs) Back! Back, I say! And your dog! Wicked children, stray from the hellfire (sparks) or you might burn!
BODY DOUBLE
Oh! I’m terribly sorry; you gave me a fright. I can’t be too careful up here. Playing the Archduchess in the Ommegang is the greatest honor one could imagine, of course. I thought it was exciting enough to join the Court in Brussels as one of her ladies in waiting … But (whispers) not everyone admires the Archduchess as I do. Recently a few Protestant rebels have even tried to assassinate her! Lord forbid I am mistaken for her … Well, not to worry: I’ve been in many a court masque and know how to play my role. I am sure to keep the carriage and dignity befitting Isabella. And it certainly helps that I have her auburn hair and pleasing oval shaped face, don’t you think? (whispers again) Not to mention I am surrounded by the other ladies of the court who must be horribly jealous. I musn’t give them another reason to gossip about me. I would be loathe to lose the Archduchess’s favor. I am her favorite in the masques and dances, you know. The Archduke’s Court at Brussels is the most artistic in all of Europe, they say, and I believe it. I will play well my part … still, one can never be too careful. Do, keep an eye out for suspicious would-be assassins, for me would you?
PARROT BOY
Oh, I do wish I hadn’t agreed to play this part! I feel ridiculous! Dressed as a parrot, sitting in this cage, pretending to teach these birds to speak … oh, well. They’re not really parrots either. They’re just doves we’ve painted to look like parrots. You see, we’re reenacting the myth of King Sapphos and the parrot who taught all the birds to say “Sapphos is God.” Of course, we are taking some artistic liberties. My line is “Squak! Isabella is Queen!” And the crowd cheers. Isabella isn’t really queen, of course. She’s just the Archduchess, but today she’s Queen of the Ommegang. This honor was bestowed on her by the crossbow guild because she shot a poppinjay from the spire on top of the cathedral. She did it in one shot! Ew! Oh, these doves, though, they’ve been defecating on me in this cage all day! I wish I could shoot them with a crossbow. But, the Jesuit school who sponsored this wagon wouldn’t be too happy about that. You see the picture of that man on the red flag? That’s St. Ignatius; he founded the Jesuits. He believed the best way to defeat the Protestants is to be more educated than they are. But, today it’s more about outshining than outsmarting. Squak! Isabella is Queen!
MOTHER & DAUGHTER (V.O. for two voices)
(Guns firing)
DAUGHTER: AH! Mother, I’m frightened.
MOTHER: Quiet, child. These aren’t the guns of war – these are guns of the Ommegang! The military guilds are passing by. Isn’t it exciting?
DAUGHTER: Gunshots make me think of Papa.
MOTHER: She’s been afraid of gunfire since one of her playmates told her men in the war were killed with guns. But, we can’t know that, can we? I only know my husband was killed before the truce six years ago.
DAUGHTER: And Isabella is Queen of the Ommegang. We know that, too.
MOTHER: Yes, that’s right! May the Archduchess and God ensure the truce holds. We are lucky to have such a clear view, aren’t we, my darling?
DAUGHTER: Look, Mother! I can see St. George’s dragon!
MOTHER: Or is that St. Margaret’s dragon?
DAUGHTER: Wow!
MOTHER: We are grateful to be here. Only through the grace of my cousin, whose husband is a wealthy merchant. It is truly a treat to have such a view of the Ommegang.
DAUGHTER: And the hellmouth, Mother! I’m frightened again.
MOTHER: It’s simply another wagon, my darling. (Laughs)
(Their laughter trails off into the soundscape)
You can watch the pop-out animations and voice overs by pointing your camera at Triumph of Isabella Panel 5 where ever in the world. To do so, download HP-Reveal app. Create an Account. Follow qhaeri. And point your camera at the charactors shown above.
May 15, 1615, Isabella Clara Eugenia shoots the pop-in-jay before the members of the Crossbowmen’s Guild at the ceremony of the Grand Oath, in the Great Sablon market square of upper Brussels.
For this achievement she was made honorary Queen of the May 31 Ommegang.
Seventeenth- century copy of Van Alsloot’s original by Antoon Sallaert, The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.
Panel 1.
“Parade of the Crafts Guilds on the Grand Place,” Museo Nacionel del Prado in Madrid.
Parade is on the City Hall side of the Grand Place in Brussels, moving away from the viewer.
The snapshot of the festival showing the craft guilds marching past the Town Hall and exiting the Grand Place onto the Rue de la Tete d’orwhere the figures from panel 4 had originally entered. Some seem to be exiting at Rue des Chapellers to the far left of the Town Hall.
Panel 2a and 2b.
“Parade of the Armed Guilds” (sometimes “Parade of the Senior Guilds”) Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Original Van Alsloot painting, cut in two in the 19th century. The parade is now marching in front of the Kings House, (City Museum) on the opposite side of the Grand Place from the background shown in panel 1. Beginning of parade section is in left foreground.
This section of the parade seems to have entered from the upper right, at Rue de la Colline. This would be the opposite corner from where the previous group entered.
Panel 2c.
“Parade of the Armed Guilds” The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.
Van Alsloots original paintings were sent to Spain. Antoon Sallaert, who seems to have been one of the studio artists who worked for Van Alsloot on the eight original paintings, was commissioned to make copies to remain in Brussels. This 17th century copy is not an exact duplicate as some figures, like that of St. Christopher (large figure in yellow in upper left), have been more clearly defined. But it does show what is missing, like the hell mouth in the upper right, from the cut down original now in the V&A.
Panel 3.
[NO IMAGE]
No copy is known to exist; apparently depicted the Archduchess and Archduke Albert attending the event.
Panel 4.
Private Collection
This snapshot showing the folklore portion of the parade as it passes the north side of the Town Hall 0n the Rue de la Tete d’or moving onto the Grand Place shown on the far left.
Panel 5.
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Parade is moving towards the viewer.
This snapshot of the parade as it travels from the Great Sablon market, past the Manneken Pis fountain, onward towards the Grand Place. The tower in the upper left is the City Hall tower.
Image shows the Rue du Chene (right) which becomes the Rue des Grands Carmes (left) as it crosses the intersection with the Rue l’Etuve where the Mannenken Pis is located. To create this image nearly two city blocks of buildings on the south side of the street have been artistically removed. One block to the left the parade turns right onto the Rue de Midi, then takes a slight right onto Rue du Marche au Charbon which turns into the Rue de la Tete d’or.
Panel 6.
Museo Nacionel del Prado, Madrid.
The parade is in the Grand Sablon, moving away from the viewer.
The famous stature of the Virgin Mary was marched out of the church into the Great Sablon market square on its way to the Grand Place in central Brussels.
Route: down Rollbeek street, right on the Bd de l’ Emperor street through the Steenpoort gate of the inner fortification wall (Neer the Anneessens Tower ), left onto L’Escalier Trap then slight left onto Rue du Chene towards the Mannenken Pis.
Panel Z.
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
The Feast at the Vivier d’Oye lake (south of Brussels in the Soignies Forest), in the presence of the Archduchess and Archduke Albert.
