thoughts on why

Personally, I believe that organizational structure on the small scale (and we are definitely the small scale) needs to becreated in support of larger intentions. In other words, the way we set up our organization makes a statement about what we hope to contribute through our artmaking. I believe that the underlying social organization is part of the meaning of the work, and informs the creative process on every level.

Therefore, because of my own personal social intentions, I am not interested in creating or perpetuating a microcosmic social structure in which one person's ideas and intentions get imposed upon the bodies of others. There is enough of that going on in the world. I prefer to work in an organization in which all participants are viewed as equals, and in which everyone has a voice.

I don't like the way in which the competition for funding can push people to compromise themselves, both in terms of withholding support from colleagues/friends and in terms of bringing all of our best parts with us into the work that we do with others (as opposed to holding back our best so that it will only serve to further one's own interests). It is my hope that we are creating a community in which we are all able to focus on diversifying and sharing our strengths.

I believe that my setting as an intention that all particpants have something important to contribute, and that the structure and the proccess should actively invite all participants to bring forth their BEST, the work created is more meaningful. It is my hope that we are actively engaged in researching ways for humans to live which increase the degree to which we respect each other as individuals.

On a less obtuse note, I really enjoy the proccess of linking my work to the work of others. We definitely function as individual choreographers, but we also seek to find cohesive meaning and structure. Learning to hear one's one voice, and be true to it, while at the same time hearing and incorporating other voices, is an excellent practice in mindfulness and self awareness.

I have been so challenged by this work as a group, and those challenges have definitely helped me to grow. I have witnessed myself feeling threatened by the considerable talent of my colleagues, frustrated by the strength of all our voices, proud of the way my work looks and feels within the context of the group. I have also witnessed the implications of this range of feelings on the dynamic of the group and my own well bring. And at every step I have felt so encouraged by my colleagues to work through it all in the name of creating/contributing something larger than ourselves. That is good practice for living, and on some level it is present in the work we create.