I thought a lot about Uma's story living through 30 years with an abusive husband while I was listening over and over again to the music that Loren created from her recorded voice. I knew I wanted to explore the white fabric and was also thinking a lot about a Window Between World's workshop for domestic violence survivors called Journey Butterflies.
During the process I discovered a way to use the cloth that reminded me of Anj's Aprill 2009 study and of the sculptures of Simeen Ishaque Farhatfeel. I actually feel like I am one of her sculptures come to life: http://www.simeen.net/
After I made it, while watching it on video, I did feel the need to have one other kind of music at the end, so I added in an excerpt of a track by Deuter.
My first audience was the support group, I shared it with them yesterday and was really amazed by all their interpretations and the connections they made to their own experiences.
I look forward to hearing responses from those that have not shared her experience as well. So please comment!
PASSWORD: Uma
Silent Cry from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
Questions:
1. What do you see and experience?
2. Are there images or movements that you think could be explored more?
3. Is there anything that distracts you from being in the experience?
4. Do the breath and/or laughter sounds I make towards the end distract from or enhance the experience? Perhaps they could be developed a bit rhythmically?
5. Do you want to hear more of Uma's actual story or do you like it more abstract?
6. Any other comments, questions, thoughts?
During the process I discovered a way to use the cloth that reminded me of Anj's Aprill 2009 study and of the sculptures of Simeen Ishaque Farhatfeel. I actually feel like I am one of her sculptures come to life: http://www.simeen.net/
After I made it, while watching it on video, I did feel the need to have one other kind of music at the end, so I added in an excerpt of a track by Deuter.
My first audience was the support group, I shared it with them yesterday and was really amazed by all their interpretations and the connections they made to their own experiences.
I look forward to hearing responses from those that have not shared her experience as well. So please comment!
PASSWORD: Uma
Silent Cry from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
Questions:
1. What do you see and experience?
2. Are there images or movements that you think could be explored more?
3. Is there anything that distracts you from being in the experience?
4. Do the breath and/or laughter sounds I make towards the end distract from or enhance the experience? Perhaps they could be developed a bit rhythmically?
5. Do you want to hear more of Uma's actual story or do you like it more abstract?
6. Any other comments, questions, thoughts?
Bravo Shyamala!!!! An extremely moving experience overall AMAZING and INTENSE!
ReplyDelete1) I see a widow that is broken, mummified, tied and bound by convention and I feel scared and sad for her
2) I love the really slow movement that is sustained throughout the piece and find the exploration with the white material as a sari with a twist (the veil over the face makes me feel she is muffled, not seen, stifled and has no voice). The contrast to her final butterfly freedom in which she takes flight with the wings and running is extremely uplifting
3) No....nothing distracts me....I was completely absorbed. I do think the clothing underneath the white will be really important to the piece once she sheds the material before she takes flight
4) THe sounds of breath I heards were wonderful. It's like she can finally breathe! I don't feel the need for rhythm here as I feel it would distract from the intense emotion you've thus far created
5) I like it in the abstract and I have to say the soundtrack is pretty disturbing. THe story as it is now reads to me of a Muslim woman that has been burned by her husband (cases where they throw acid in the face or set fire to their wives) . So...it depends on weather you want more of her actual story to be told or leave it more to the viewers interpretation
6) Lovely work Shy!
I like it abstract; this way I have more inner space to relate/participate. Are you constructing something, or are you expressing yourself? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Very beautiful.
I experienced sadness and fear. This was very intense and emotional. It felt like a woman choking, restricted, but then emerging. The windows or squares on the wall and ceiling did distract me. I'm sure if this was performed on stage with the correct lighting it would be less distracting. I couldn't hear the laughing at all, the music was somewhat scarey and disturbing.
ReplyDeleteIt ended very freeing, I enjoyed this very much.
1. The two strongest images for me are (1) a soul who is not at peace, who is unwilling to pass onto the next realm and (2) a butterfly.
ReplyDeleteHere was my trajectory while watching it:
At first I see a woman in a white sari, who looks like a widow but moves like a dancer. When you turn around, with your complex series of bindings and the cloth over your face, I see a soul who is not at rest. When you stroke the pallu, it looks like hair for a moment, then like a baby when you fold it towards yourself. Maybe your baby died young, or was miscarried or aborted? Is this the reason for your restlessness? Later you look more like an abstraction of a mummy, then the image of a noose appears, then a butterfly. The transformation to butterfly is especially surprising in an effective way. There is a lot of referencing upwards – as towards god or the heavens.
2. If, as I am inclined to read it at the moment, the loss of the baby is the reason for your struggle, then I would explore that image more throughout the piece. I could see more play with the distortion of the cloth against the facial features and exploration of pulling the cloth in a noose-like way.
If you want to explore the butterfly movement more (see my notes in 6), you might look at some video of Chinese ribbon dance or the Chinese dance with the long sleeves for inspiration.
3. My attention drops out when Loren’s music fades out and you go pedestrian, tucking your hair behind your ears and unwinding yourself from the rest of the cloth, until you start walking forward and I see the “noose” around your neck. I think refining the music score would help this.
When the 2nd music comes in, your expression changes to ecstatic/joyful rather abruptly. However, the video quality is not very good, so perhaps I was missing the subtleties of your face before this though.
Though I like the movement, the arabesque/offering pose sticks out as being decidedly more dance-like than the rest of the piece.
4. The breathing worked fine for me – helped reengage me because the music was gone. I didn’t hear it as laughter and didn’t find myself wanting more rhythm.
5. I think this is a personal choice on your part. It does work in its present abstract form. I wasn’t able to understand any of the text on the computer speakers, so don’t know if I’d get more information live. Personally, I didn’t necessarily read this woman as suffering from abuse or violence – it was just clear to me that she was struggling and working through pain. If you want the specific cause of her struggle to be clear, it may be good to give more information.
6. I’d be careful about the last butterfly image – while lovely, it could easily be received as corny, especially when you start running in a circle. You could explore the choreographic possibilities of the movement more to counter this (see 2). Perhaps more importantly, on an emotional level I wonder about ending with the image of unfettered freedom...I am sure that a survivor carries some memory of the past pain and struggle forward with her, even as she moves beyond being stuck in it.
It may be helpful to clarify throughout the piece when you are out-of-control (ie, something is happening TO your limp body), vs. when you take deliberate action (which has a sense of agency).
The piece is very similar to “Tell Me, Sister” in some ways – with the bound/struggling woman taking off her sari to achieve freedom. Generally I enjoy it more when it looks more distinct from the earlier piece.
Thoughts about title?
Generally great work, very strong and has a lot of potential.
I LOVE it! So powerful! I love how you recreate the stages of the butterfly and finally fly free! Wonderful! I would like to have a bit of info about the survivor who inspired the dance.
ReplyDelete