DANCE, DANCE, REVOLUTION

this is a song from Todd Shalom’s latest mix, Telenovela. enjoy.

i went dancing this morning in therapy.

dropping it like it’s hot with the brooklyn girls, hitting arrhythmic markings with the williamsburgers, jitterbugging back in north carolina, ugly-dancing with kim and kaje, booty shaking at the now defunct roxy…

everyone is invited to my party. no more judgments.

BREVITY

Tonight, I’m starting a new addition to my blog: one-sentence responses to film, art, performance, etc. I’m thinking of it as a way to track initial thoughts, interactions or tangential associations. If you want to chime in, leave a one-sentence comment.

ATONEMENT

A compelling melodrama that delves into the passions and fears which manipulate our point-of-view.

JUNO

Missing the mark a few times can often lead to hitting the mark eventually.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

A brilliant indictment of the corporate impulse and manifest destiny, embodied by individual motivation and fulfillment.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS AFTERNOON

• Furniture made from scrap materials.

• My double button collar.

• My tall vanilla latte.

• A downpour, followed by clear skies.

• Post-Structuralism: A Very Short Introduction by: Catherine Belsey.

ACTION/REACTION

Notes on a performance.

1. Prepare 415 personal secrets, desires or fears that I have shared with fewer than five people.

2. Call each of the 415 contacts in my cell phone.
3. With permission, record the conversation.
4. Using a statistics randomizer, reveal one of the personal secrets, desires or fears to the person on the other end of “the line.” (Even though we aren’t connected by telephone lines anymore.)
5. On my website, post a .pdf document of the 415 secrets, desires and fears, and post audio recordings of the conversations (erasing my voice from each conversation, leaving only the responses from the person called).

A GOOD FRIEND IS HARD TO FIND

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp textiles & todd – 2007

REFLECTION

Self Indulgent Post for the New Year

On 12/31/07 Todd and I performed in Buenos Aires.

We shared with one another names, events and places that filled us with hope and anxiety in the past year and that we hope to carry with us into the new year. We wrote many of these reflections down on sheets of paper and burned them together.

In this action, which I consider to be a public acknowledgment of fear and courage, I felt vulnerable and empowered. Like the reminders of Ash Wednesday and meatless Friday night dinners during Lent, this performance gives me a sense of purpose and clarity that I reflect on every day.

December 31

December 31, 2007 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Niegel Smith in collaboration with Todd Shalom as PERMISO

Outside Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires Todd Shalom and Niegel Smith scratched personal reflections and offerings from the previous year on sheets of paper, read those thoughts aloud, burned the papers and walked away.