Archive for March, 2011
Art As Comedy
How many of you love April Fool’s Day? What’s been your favorite prank ever?
I am the first to admit that some of the pranks I have seen online haven’t been that funny to me. Jonn and Leo Resig, the brothers behind TheChive.com‘s “Jenny Hoax“, was a clever marketing scheme to get people to feel compassion for a woman who quit her job using white board messages after enduring the sexist comments of her boss. In my opinion, it was also a big time and money waster, in that it used people’s compassion and sense of justice one sole reason: the pocketbooks of the brothers. That is so funny, isn’t it?
[not]
Just because I did not like the Jenny Hoax does not mean I do not have a sense of humor. I like laughing until my sides hurt, snots are running out of my nose, and I do not know (or care) when I’ll stop laughing.
Do you like to laugh?
One of the secret reasons I love to dance Bellydance and Bollywood is because there is so much artful comedy in these dances. Sure, there is technique, skill, practice, musicianship, and emotional expression that rivals any kind of formal dance practice from ballet to modern, but Bellydance and Bollywood also contain show[wo]manship that includes humor. It was another dancer who pointed out to me that drum solos in Bellydance are the embodiment of putting the drum on your body, emphasizing the dum and tek (bass beat and melody) on the hips, arms, chest, buttocks, shoulders, and even eye movements, and how could that not be both skillful and funny? Bollywood is also equally skillful and beautiful dancing, but who hasn’t seen some Bollywood dance that includes expression and movement meant to make you laugh? A girl running away from a boy, a woman expressing how crazy a man makes her feel, a man telling the story of how a woman drives him wild — these are all examples of how the dances tell humorous stories, and these come to live through the bodies of the dancers and transmits them to the audience in audible laughter and surprise.
A great example of it blew up big on Youtube this week: Twins Talking
One thing I’ve noticed over the years of performance is that I am automatically placing comedy in more and more of my dance that is not classically based. I am choosing unexpected music, dancing in settings that allow for more comedy in the performance, and reading my crowd for moments when comedy draws them in. Where did I learn that from, you might ask? From my childhood. It was lightness that got me through multiple moves cross state lines, leaving one home after another, and having to make friends all over again. Without Facebook, we had snail mail and the occasional phone call to old friends, but it was inevitable that those friendships would fade, and we would need to make new ones. Being funny was an easier way to make friends, even though I enjoyed the quiet world of classical music, books, and long walks. I saw the funny things tucked into life, and I wrote about them in my journal. I practiced telling jokes and stories right along with piano practice and listening to music.
This April Fool’s Day, I don’t expect to have that many pranks pulled on me. The best pranks take a lot of work, and we have The Onion to help us with that all year long, right? Honestly, I think the art of the prank has been sort of lost over the years. But just in case you haven’t gotten your fill of humor, check out Lifehacker’s geeky pranks to pull on your co-workers, and if you still have some more prankster energy in you, I highly suggest putting on some super tight clothes and dancing to a popular song (Brittney Spears? Rebecca Black’s Friday? Lady GaGa?) with a straight face and the camera running. Send me your best videos, and if you manage to make me laugh, you’ll have my gratitude and a platform for showing your latest video off.
Yoga and Life Drawing: Getting In Sync
I like it when things click.
Perhaps I like it when things click because I know how so many things in life just don’t. When Doug Wilcox told me about his monthly Life Drawing class, I thought, “How cool! I’ve always wanted to do that!” followed by the thought, “And I don’t draw.” But I do know how incredibly meditative drawing can be when you’re in the right head space. Recently, Doug asked me again if I’d come by class, but this time we thought about adding a yoga class just beforehand. We think movement and breath will help any artist get in sync with the meditative process of drawing.
Some of you know that I got my 200 hour Yoga teacher training at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in 2007. There aren’t many Kripalu-trained teachers in Washington (there are about 20 registered teachers in the state, but only a couple of us actually teach classes), so this is an opportunity for Seattle people to get a taste of the style. Known for its gentle style and meditative quality, Kripalu Yoga encourages you to tap into your own body’s wisdom, observing and listening by practicing BRFWA. Here’s the acronym and what it stands for (in brief form):
Breath - put breath into every posture, movement, stretch, and repose.
Relax – relax into every stretch, into the process, and in relationship.
Feel - note what you are feeling, and don’t overreact. Be with your feelings.
Watch – observe what is happening, and be mindful (present without criticism).
Allow – let the body lead you into what happens next. Don’t force, and don’t run away. Allow it to happen.
Doug Wilcox has a long history of life drawing, and his home is full of his work on the walls. He will have plenty of helpful tips for you if you’re new to life drawing. You don’t need to fear being judged for your drawing ability. You can come simply to enjoy the process of drawing, the quietness of observation, and sensual pleasure of dragging a pencil around a page.
I plan to run a short video interview of Doug talking about life drawing later this week, so stay tuned for that. If our hunch is correct, we will continue to offer Yoga and Life Drawing together once a month. We think this will be an excellent way to help you get in sync, not just with your artistic pursuits, but in other areas of your life as well.
What To Do If You Mess Up
Mistakes happen. I have one hard landing I will never forget.
If there is anything a pianist learns about performance, it is this one: “Land the last thing the audience hears, because that’s the only thing they’ll remember.” After practicing for months to play 85 percent of Rachmaninoff’s “Polichinelle” for an audience of about 1,000 people and a handful of judges, I failed to land the ending. More accurately, the piece came to an end, only on a different note than what was written! I heard my piano teacher give a whoop of anticipation for the expected ending, and then later I felt her arm on my shoulder as she wordlessly tried to consoled me.
So, what do you do if you mess up?
What do you do if you mess up?
There are a number of things you could do if you mess up in business, in relationships, or in performance:
Hide.
Lie.
Hide and lie.
Hide, lie, and blame someone else.
Spin the mistake so it looks intentional (a variation on lying).
Admit you made a mistake.
Admit the mistake but create an excuse for it.
Admit the mistake and take responsibility for it.
Admit the mistake, take responsibility for it, and learn from it.
Process the mistake, and move on.
There’s an app called “Last Night Never Happened”, making it possible to erase traces of your indiscretions on Facebook and Twitter. If only there was something like that for all the other things we’ve ever done:
While we see plenty of the first responses on the list, I’m a big fan of the last two. I’m more willing to re-engage someone who admits to a mistake, takes responsibility, and learns from it. But I’m also inclined to admire those who process their mistakes, offer restitution (if applicable), and then apply themselves in the situation instead of hiding.
Recently, a company informed me that my email address and contact info had been compromised by a third-party, and I could expect to receive some spam to my account. While the company letter contained an apology and some responsibility, it did not offer restitution. It is almost as if companies encounter this so often, they have forgotten what their customers experience when a company they trust fails to deliver what they promised (even if it wasn’t a direct breach of contract). I went to their website to see how they were handling their mistake publicly, only to see no mention of it whatsoever, and no way for their subscribers to interact with them in a public forum on the topic.
If I make a mistake in a performance, I take time to go over it later and learn from it. While I don’t need to apologize to anyone, I need to work it through with myself to ensure a better performance next time. But in relationship and business, we do need to acknowledge mistakes. Processing, improving, and validating our client’s experience and interaction with us draw our fanbase closer to us. Silence, hiding, and PR spinning only serve to expose our mistakes as things we are embarrassed to discuss, and this pushes people away in distrust. People are not stupid. They can see through the song and dance.
While we can’t wipe away our mistakes with an app, we can acknowledge them openly and honestly. How do you handle mistakes? Ever done something you wish you could take back or do over again?
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