7 tips when seeing Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

Hey folks,

So for the third year in a row, I caught The Neo-Futurists at Woolly Mammoth, with their production of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (here's the FB event).

It's just a fun show.

Not sure how else to describe it, other than they attempt to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes, and it depends on us (the audience) to help them do it.  And the plays range from comic to experimental, interactive to dance, and then some. Between each, the audience chooses their collective destiny and if the audience hesitates for even a moment, it could lead to entire plays being left out when the timer hits 60 minutes.

So here are 7 tips to making sure you get the most out of your menu, and see all 30 shows:

1. Don't clap loudly and extensively; you won't hear them call "curtain"
2. When yelling out a number, make it loud, keep it short, hit the consonants, and don't dwell on the vowels.
3. If an actor is near a number when "curtain" is called, yell out the closest number.
4. If you're waiting for something to happen (like, a legitimate amount of time, not just a little bit because you're impatient) it probably means you (or another audience member) needs to get up on stage
5. Don't call out numbers that have already been called (this means you have to watch the plays and not get lost in the menu)
6. Definitely WAIT until they say "curtain" to call the next number. As they explained in their introduction, a blackout doesn't mean they play they're doing is over
7. Have fun :-)

Anyway, that's it for now. Until next ti-

Oh WAIT!! My favorite quote from the night (here's the arts administrator in me) came from a piece called "About a buck-seven", and I'm paraphrasing:

"...I'm offended that I live in a country that values commerce over culture"

I think I need to mention that fact that after the final show of every evening, they roll a die and replace that many shows with others, so the performance you see any another day could be completely different from the one I saw.

Good times,

- J Street Jr

Related Links

• Neo-Futurists - Facebook | Twitter
• Woolly Mammoth - Facebook | Twitter

The Tenleytown Starbucks: An Artist Hub apparently

So I met up with a colleague from American University, DonMike (currently in 42nd Street w/ the Arlington Players), at the Tenleytown Starbucks. He also finished at AU last year, but for undergrad.

I was running a little late so I say hi to him outside (it's a beautiful day) and go in to order my drink.  As I'm waiting for it, who walks in, but Kelly, another dancer in the area.  And you know what's funny, not only do I not remember the last time I saw him, but I can't even remember how we met.

He dances with Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company, as well as teaches at GWU.

And if you're free next weekend, the company actually has a performance coming up.)

Anyway, so that was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

So DonMike and I are meeting to catch up, about everything we've been up to, which (being artists) means that it's a weird mix of work & play...the things we do for a career, and then the things we do for a living to subsidize the career.

Incidentally, DonMike is the theatre programmer at Bloombars, and part of the discussion includes possibly doing workshops for my summer show there.

Over the course of catching up he, being Filipino, asks about the show I'm producing with production company, which was successful with its Kickstarter Campaign.  And twice, some friends of his (theatre folk from AU) I believe, walk up and say hi to them. I say hi myself, and we're back to our conversation.

Then who walks out, by Lala and Chris.  Lala I met during my final year in the Arts Management program at AU.  Part of our requirements included 6 credits of undergrad level arts classes, so I jumped back into dance (at AU), taking 3 classes my final semester. And she was probably one of the most adept, graceful, technically proficient, and overall fun dancer I have had the pleasure of studying with.

If you ever get to see her perform...you should. But I digress.

And then there's Chris, who I kinda met while I taught classes at CityDance Center at Strathmore. Often times company members would be in the lobby before or after, and over time at some point we were finally introduced, or maybe I introduced myself. I can't remember (notice a pattern?). It's not that I don't want to, it just often is so circumstantial that it almost doesn't necessitate remembering. The important thing is that the connection was made.

I do remember attending a behind the scenes, donor cultivation event, where he presented a piece with spoken word, and a fish tank which he poured rice into.  Now you know the Pinoy in me perked up. Breakfast is pretty much the only meal I don't regularly eat with rice.  Obviously the piece was much deeper than just using the rice as a prop, but describing it wouldn't do it justice.  Let's just say that in addition to the auditory element of mixing rice in water, at some point he also took handfuls and patted the rice on his skin, adding a texture to his body, but also leaving this cloud in the water.

So Chris actually works at CityDance as Choreographer in Residence and Rehearsal Director AS WELL AS doing work in New York.  I always run into friends, colleagues, and acquaintance, like him, when I start fretting about how busy I think I am, and then I remember what they do.  I mean, I have time to reflect and write this blog, although considering I haven't really done that much over the past month, maybe I can be like that at times.

Anyway, another working artist I've had the privilege and pleasure of crossing paths with, and as little as we know each other, just a generally gracious and pleasant guy, from what I can tell.

I joked with DonMike after they left, that we should just start a blog about the two of us sitting there and the people we run into.  But I stopped when I realized I was thinking that it wouldn't be a bad idea.  All we would need is the time and money to do that.

- J Street Jr

Related Links

• AU Dance - Facebook
• Bloombars - Facebook | Feedburner | Flickr | Twitter | YouTube
• CityDance Ensemble - Facebook | Twitter
• DTSB&Co - Blogger | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

It's a small Sulu DC world (at Artisphere)

Frickin' small world, I'm telling you.

First, one of the musicians tech'ing, with the group The Fourth Stream, after almost an hour of being in the space, asks, "Hey, do you know Zehra Fazal?"  I say yes, adding a "I thought you looked familiar" afterward.

Turns out we met at a birthday dinner for one of the most self-actualized working artists I know, and I've had the pleasure of working with in various capacities (you should check out her website).

Later I see Megan, whom I had just grabbed lunch with a week or so ago, who has recently taken on the position of Communications with Sulu DC.

Then, halfway through the set of the closing performers, SNRG, my kuya Ricky greets me with a fistbump in one hand, while is filming with the other.

I've known this guy as long as I've been live, via my cousin Kat's side of the fam.

Anyway, that's the AAPI community for you.

And it's been fun, with two events down as Sulu DC's resident stage manager, with my trusty sidekick, Eamonn, ASM'ing for the evening again.

Performances were as diverse in disciplines as the audience was in heritage, as usual, which is the pretty neat thing.  I hear artists and art forms that I might not normally be exposed to, due to my own predispositions, as well as limited resources temporally and financially.

And they include active local artists.  The Fourth Stream, mentioned earlier, actually has another performance which the Pink Line Project has listed, coming up this Friday at Bloombars.

They also included out-of-the-area artists, like the amazing Jennifer Cendaña Armas, who bussed in from NYC.

Other artists included Poet José Padua (check out his blog) and one of Sulu DC's founders, Alex Cena, who not only is a coordinator at Asian American Lead, but also had a posse of youth he mentors and teaches, performing some pieces with him.

MC'ing the evening was another of Sulu DC's founders, Brian Wang, and bringing the whole evening together on the 1's & 2's was the Pinstriped Rebel. I'm sorry, but someone who can bridge the variety of artforms and heritage, mixing in everything from cultural classics to Filipino funk/rap...let's just say that she's pretty awesome.

Definitely check out the Event Calendar, and see if there's an evening you'd consider checking out.  Just come with open mind and heart, and whether you're of the AAPI community, or affiliated with it in some other way, I promise you will not be disappointed.

- J Street Jr

Related Links:

• Artisphere - Facebook | Twitter
• Brian Wang - YouTube
• The Fourth Stream - Facebook | MySpace
• Jennifer Armas - Facebook | Twitter
• Jose Padua - Shenandoah Breakdown (a blog with his wife, poet Heather Davis)
• SNRG - Twitter | YouTube