Letters to Maud (from Shyamala and Babli)- Babli's edits

SHYAMALA'S LETTER

May 8, 1915/2019

Dear Maud,

You look stunning! I wish I could pull off an outfit like that! Wherever did you get it from? Part harlot, part orientalist imagination…you are a master of fulfilling people’s fantasies. And what a femme fatale. I mean I’m a femme and I feel kind of fatal when I think of you carrying the severed head of John the Baptist on a platter…did you really kiss it?  Well, I suppose I would kiss it too if it were the head of patriarchy that I could sever and kiss goodbye.

I keep thinking of all these men swooning after you and your spectacular performance of Salome - I suppose they prefer beheading to castration but I really don’t understand the hype around Salome. The craze around you on the other hand is another story, … though I’ve heard that you were not into men, but lavish your attentions on your female secretary? 

So why do you do it then – cater to their fantasies? Are you in it for the money, for the fame? Did you feel the raw seductive power of your bare skin? The power to behead men? Or do you feel liberated wearing nothing but pearls? I always thought pearls were for the conservative type, but no, you brought them back around, like the liberal woman that you are.  Always breaking stereotypes aren’t you? Breaking them and making them!  

Well, I know you’re busy suing against the “Cult of the Clitoris” defamation. But, I do hope you write back. Maybe we could get to know each other better. I’ve heard you’ve toured India and have an interest in Indian dance. I could help with that.  

See you in the theater,

Shyamala

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BABLI'S LETTER

Darling Maudie,

So, how was the garden party? I am sure you were the perfect hostess, just the quality Verna adores in you- and I am sure you looked stunning.

I wonder how it felt for you to host The Ladies Committee (...) for (the) Relief of Jewish Children from Germany.  I mean you lived in Germany – and you know German, right? Of course you were there much earlier, even before the Weimar Republic, when Berlin was just awakening into its anarchist and subversive glory of the early 20th century. When the horrible times to come could not be foreseen yet. Do you remember the amazing avant-garde movements and artists and subversive political cabarets? I wonder- did you ever meet Anita Berber?

And wasn’t it in Berlin that you became a ‘barefoot dancer’, and where you saw the production of Wilde’s Salomé by Max Reinhardt which inspired your Visions of Salomé? Berlin is all over your career! I guess MP Billing did his homework before he linked your anarchist sexuality to Germany.

I mean accusing you of being a German-sympathizer, a sadist AND a lesbian all in one breath?

True, you really were a femme fatale.  Bold. And lesbian. And it looks like you were really obsessed with pearls. To be frank – I kind of hate pearls. Well most pearls. Your style really isn’t my cup of tea.

But I digress. Where were we? Oh yes, the trial.

Tell me, what were you thinking denying your own identity and your lover by suing Billing for defamation? And what was that about Lord Douglas testifying against you for Billing’s case? I mean, wasn’t he Wilde’s lover?  So much for queer solidarity – between the ways you treated Verna and Douglas treated you – so disappointing. One could never take queer solidarity for granted I guess.

Well, goes to show that not every queer icon is to be admired automatically. So, why do I even write to you, a queer ancestor I cannot respect?

Sandra

SOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2yHoEY0VdQ

https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/women/willing-to-be-thrilling

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Alfred_Douglas#Libel_actions

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/oscar-wilde-maud-allan-cult-of-the-clitoris-black-book-first-world-war-a8369811.html

http://www.sxpolitics.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/article-douglas-sanders.pdf

Babli's Letter to Maud

Darling Maudie,

So, how was the garden party? I am sure you were the perfect hostess, just the quality Verna adores in you- and I am sure you looked stunning, even though your gown did not turn out to be from Molyneux.

I wonder how it felt for you to host The Ladies Committee of the Jewish Organization for Relief of Jewish Children from Germany.  I mean you lived in Germany – and you know German, right? Of course the time you spent there was a completely different – two regimes earlier, during the time of the German Empire, when Berlin was just awakening into it’s anarchist and subversive glory of the early 20th century. When the horrible times to come could not be foreseen yet.

Do you remember the amazing avant-garde movements and artists and subversive political cabarets? I wonder- did you ever meet Anita Berber?

And wasn’t it in Berlin that you became a ‘barefoot dancer’, and where you saw the production of Wilde’s Salome by Max Reinhardt which inspired your Visions of Salome?

I mean Germany and Berlin is all over your career. I guess MP Billing did do his homework before he linked your anarchist sexuality to the sexually anarchist parts of (anti-British) Germany. I mean accusing you of being German-sympathizer, sadist AND lesbian all in one breath?

True, you really were a femme fatale.  Bold. And lesbian. And it looks like you are really obsessed with pearls. To be frank – I kind of hate pearls. Well most pearls. Your style really isn’t my cup of tea. I mean when you think of femme fatale – just look at Helen! Yes, yes, she is after your time, but isn’t she fabulous? I bet you would have LOVED Bollywood. More to exotify! (But not Helen, she is too complicated)

But I digress. Where were we? Oh yes, the trial.

Tell me, what were you thinking denying your own identity and your lover’s existence and love by suing Billing for defamation? And what was that about Lord Douglas testifying against you for Billing’s case? I mean, wasn’t he Wilde’s lover?  So much for queer solidarity – between the ways you treated Verna and Douglas treated you – so disappointing. One could never take queer solidarity for granted I guess.

Well, goes to show that not every queer icon is to be admired automatically. So, why do I even write to you, a queer ancestor I cannot respect?

Sandra

SOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2yHoEY0VdQ

https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/women/willing-to-be-thrilling

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Alfred_Douglas#Libel_actions

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/oscar-wilde-maud-allan-cult-of-the-clitoris-black-book-first-world-war-a8369811.html

http://www.sxpolitics.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/article-douglas-sanders.pdf

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Performing Maud, Performing the Spectator (Zoom Meeting)

We had a fun Zoom meeting where we did some very raw improvisations using the reviews of Maud Allan's performance, rotating the roles of dancer/reader/spectator.  After each improvisation, the spectator did a movement playback of the dancer's improvisation.

Password for all: Maud
Cyn improv

Shy playback

Shy improv

Babli playback
Babli improv
Cyn playback



We also did three improvisations to the same texts in which we performed as a spectator, rather than as Maud Allan herself.  For mine, I ended up switching between the spectator and Maud a bit.

Cyn as spectator
Babli as spectator
Shy as spectator

Pre-show score

Pre-show installation Score:

1) Letters to Maud

Version 1) "Text" station

1 performer (in costume) sitting. Audience member (up to 3 or  4 at a time need to sit down opposite her. Performer reads Verna's letter(s) to Maud Allan to the small group of audience members. One or two letters at a time. We could play with reading to a small group vs changing audience members we address: one letter to one audience member


Version 2)

Three of us mingle among audience in the intermission - we walk up to them, address them a Maud, lead them a letter

Who was Salomé? – A Dialogue with Varsha Dewan (Part 1)

Maud Allan became famous with her Visions of Salomé. But who was Salomé? Because of the amount of material encountered, the research into Salomé is split into 2 parts:

1)    Salomé, theological and historical perspectives

2)    Salomé as a European artistic inspiration: Oscar Wilde’s Salomé and interpretations

This blogpost will focus on Salomé in theological and historical perspective. Attached to the Blogpost you will find an audio clip by Varsha giving more details of the theological and historical perspective.

But first here the Bible section with the story. Please note, Salome is not named here (see explanation below) - the Bible only refers to a girl, daughter of Herodias and stepdaughter of Herod), who dances at Herod’s birthday feast: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+6%3A14-29&version=NIV

Theological and historical perspectives:

1)    Varsha says, that in order to understand Salomé (and John the Baptist) one has to look at her from a theological and historical perspective.

Theology: In the Bible there is a reference to Herod (stepfather/uncle) and Herodias (mother), and an unnamed girl who dances. In that story, Herod is seen as a reluctant participant in the murder of John the Baptist, because he fears retribution from God (God of John the Baptist, who was Jewish, not Roman God – Herod and Herodias are Jewish; John the Baptist tells people to live by Jewish law – also Herod and Herodias – who were breaking Jewish Law according to John the Baptist, since Herodias married her husband’s brother)

Herod and Herodias are ruling over the Jordanian region of the Roman Empire (-> west of River Jordan all the way to Egypt;all the biblical stories are happening here) under the Roman Empire. Actually, the Roman Republic is transitioning from Republic to Empire. (Note: The Egyptian region of the Roman Empire was ruled by someone else).

The first parts of the Bible were written down about 20 or 30 AD. Up until then it was oral stories. Salomé is not mentioned by name (Varsha thinks, either she was not significant enough to remember or, her name was maybe forgotten, see questions below)

a)    History: Book: The Antiquities of the Jews (first historical document of the Jewish people) written by Josephus around 97 AD. Here John the Baptist and Salomé are mentioned – in fact this is the book where the dancing girl from the story that lead to John the Baptist’s murder is named as Salomé.

Here Josephus is putting a story from 3 BC into written form- into history. He is writing about his own history – the history of the Jews, but he is writing it for the Romans. Josephus was Jewish and a slave in the Flavian dynasty.  He had pledged his allegiance to the Flavian Kings of the Roman Empire. He takes on the Roman name Flavius Josephus and gets a lot of benefits from the Flavian King (who believes in the Jewish stories). Josephus is writing this document for the 2^nd generation King of the Flavian dynasty (Rome is now no longer a Republic, but an Empire). He refers to Jesus only in passing. He mentions a man named Jesus also known as Christ. Therefore he refers to Jesus not as a Jew but founder of Christianity- biggest threat to Roman Empire (Note: politics: message- Jews are not the threat, Christians are).

More references and longer chapters on John the Baptizer, who he identifies as Jewish (he died before Jesus therefore cant be a Christian. He is seen as a Jewish hero from 100 years earlier.) John the Baptist was killed around 3 or4 BC, because in the Bible Jesus’ ministry or work is only for 3 years- between  age 30 and 33. Jesus starts his work around the time when John the Baptist is imprisoned (John the Baptist’s voice is crushed- Jesus raises his voice at that time).

Josephus, as mentioned above, brought an app. 100 year old oral story (theology) into historical text, in which Jewish (nomadic) history is interweaving with Egyptian history (Cleopatra) and Roman history (Marc Anthony).

In this text by Josephus, Salomé is mentioned by name as being the daughter of Herodias and Herod.

Varsha’s questions about Salomé are: if Josephus’ reference to this incidence of  app. 100 years prior is based on the written Bible, which does not have Salome’s name, how come he suddenly remembers her name? Where is that information/name coming from?

Varsha feels that maybe he (Josephus) chose the name of Salome, because there are already many shades of Mary in the Bible

1)    Mary the Virgin, Mother of God

2)    Mary the Harlot, who Jesus saved from getting stoned

3)    Mary Magdalene, the woman who found that Jesus had risen (today, Mary Magdalene is the woman who had sex with Jesus and children – famous Dan Brown stories and conspiracy theorists’ favorite topic)

In the Jewish and Catholic faith, women are seen as temptresses, the reason for Man’s plight, because it was Eve who bit the apple.

Eve is the creator of Man and the destructor of Man by biting the apple.

Mary is the Mother of God and the Harlot.

Varsha feels maybe Josephus called the girl Salomé, because the Bible has a Salomé who is the mother of 2 disciplines of Jesus - James and John (John wrestled with the Devil and wrote the Book of Revelations). James and John were also the nephews of Jesus, because Salomé was the daughter of Joseph from his first marriage , i.e. Jesus’ stepsister. So like the positive and negative characters of Eve/Mary in the Bible he might have called that girl Salome so that there is then a positive and negative character of Salomé.

Salomé is a Saint of the Greek Orthodox Church.

So now there is the same dichotomy of saint/slut in Salomé as well.

Also, there were some coins of Salomé found but they is no way to prove that she was the girl who danced for Herod (coin of Herodian queen Salome)

Herodian coin was minted in 56-57 AD.

Soundfile from Varsha
https://soundcloud.com/babli/who-was-salome-part-1/s-HkHXz

Sources: 
Varsha's own memory of history . Theological and Church history because of my own interest in ancient civilizations of the world especially Egyptian and Mesopotamian Civilization (Ottoman Empire) since age 12 and her  dad's talks and such. 

As well as Online sources:
Salome coin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodian_coinage
Herod:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great
Flavius Josephus: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Flavius-Josephus (note: Varsha Dewan: Why I feel Josephus wrote the history for the Roman Empire Glory and not the history of the Jewish people. I feel many Jewish elders don't trust n respect him and see him as a traitor to the Jewish cause)

PS: Here is a 1953 film with Rita Hayworth as Salome. The storyline is slightly different:

 

Multiplying Score for 3 performers and 3 audience members

This is the score I created for our last assignment- addressing 2 guiding questions, and inspired by Cynthia's score.

1. how are we asking the audience to participate in desire? 
 -can we ask the audience to participate in desire?

2. what can we do with pearls?

Score

• 3 performers with trays with pearls, maybe refreshing spray with cold mist (or ice cubes) and essential oil, and cards with text
• texts : homophobic targeting or super exotifying promotion language, or (current?) critiques of exoticism/orientalism)
• -> go interact with and “decorate” one audience member each; interaction can include the pearls, cold scented mist, ice cubes,  essential oils
• Ask the “decorated” audience member to take one card and read the text on the chosen card
• Take Selfie with decorated audience member if they want?

• Give audience member the tray and ask them to repeat the score with another audience member
• Repeat with new tray (depending on how big the audience maybe up to 12 trays?)

This is the feedback from the Skype meeting on August 13, 2018.

I appreciate:

MM: that the audience member repeats the score with another audience member

CL:  I like the inclusion of the critical text

SM: I love the selfies. It makes it very contemporary. Makes it very past present. Old text with this contemporary thing that we all do.

I wonder:

I wonder what they do with ice cubes?

CL: I’m curious why the cold?

SM: I’m curious how the audience member will feel with the decorations and the different texts?

CL: how we want the audience members to feel?

CL:  if the audience member has the freedom to change the score in a way they might feel more comfortable with?

SM: I wonder what it will feel like done to me, I want to try it.

CL:  I wonder how it will it feel to be decorated in this way if they don’t identify as femme?

SM: I wonder how the permissiveness of performance and play allows people to play with how they normally present themselves in a safe way?

SM: I wonder what it would be like if the score was adjusted so that the audience member can decorate themselves?

CL:  how much does the audience member get to choose?

Saalach | San Lorenzo split screen video

Here's a split screen version of Sandra's and my videos that were created in response to my Mixing Waters poem.  I edited it on the train from Munich to Salzburg, so it's a border-crossing edit!

password: split

Saalach | San Lorenzo from Cynthia Ling Lee on Vimeo.

Questions:
a) Babli's video is a little grainier/noisier than mine -- would it be better to reshoot her video with my phone, or to leave it as is?  (I uploaded a compressed version of the split screen video to make the upload faster, so the overall picture quality is a little degraded, but the difference between our two videos is still comparable).
b) What do you think of the sound and text?  Originally I was going to intercut our voices as in the original poem, but I kind of liked the overlap that occurred when I just overlaid the two soundtracks, so I only adjusted things slightly.
c) Any other responses -- things you particularly liked, that you would suggest changing, etc.

Babli's Borders Resurfacing Creative Response #5b

Here is another short video which we shot very fast while driving by a place called Dudhia in Darjeeling district (Also West Bengal :) )
It is a small river that later joins the Mahananda River. The Mahananda River is the order between Nepal ind India in West Bengal, but the Mahananda also flows into Bangladesh.

 password: dudhia

camera: varsha

Babli's Border's Resurfacing Creative response #6

And here is my video accompanying Cynthia's poem's Saalach part.

the sound is not recorded too great, but I had t rush and compete with noise from a construction site. Sound can be rerecorded easily even outside the dance studio!

password: mixed

Babli Border 's Resurfacing Creative Response #5

While in India, we took some more footage of rivers (sadly could not carry water for several reasons, but maybe next time).

Here we are crossing the Damodar River, from Bankura disctrict to Barddhaman district both in west Bengal. My ancestral village is in Bankura, a poor, agricultural district in Bengal. My grandfath (as far as I know) migrated from the village Onda in Bankura district to the city Asansol in Barddhaman district, which has been a center for coal mining and steel production, as well as a railway junction since colonial times. The history of being a center of collieries and steel factories still dominate the character of Asansol and surroundings, where my family still lives.

The Damodar used to be called "river of sorrow" because of many destructive floods. The river is heavily polluted. See this newspaper articles (http://www.hindustantimes.com/ranchi/garbage-industrial-waste-turns-damodar-to-stagnant-mass-of-slush/story-mWHs3ZgDvhPf8ahuhtLktO.html

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/in-flood-hit-bengal-elderly-woman-rescued-after-keeping-self-afloat-entire-night/story-QD9ewHaNzaB2krmaNL31PN.html).

A few years ago, Cynthia, my family and I went on a boat ride at Maithon dam- which is the Damodar.

password: damodar
Camera: varsha

Babli's Creative Response #4: Borders Resurfacing, Audience Water Score

Here a trial of a water ritual score (rough - transitions/logistics/flow not worked out yet:) for a local Salzburg audience, assuming that we are in the same room with Tomaz (which is unclear).
Imagine the audience is divided in two groups from the beginning. We are in a big hall (Blackbox without seats of risers.

The audience would first have been invited to dance along following patterns of dots in the floor, so everyone or hopefully many people would be in the middle of the dance floor, moving together.
At the end of this they would be seeing a home-video or live-feed style projection of us/some people including us gathering buckets full of water at the river Saalach.

There will be lots of big buckets of water on either side of the big hall (where the groups of audience would have been respectively and requested to go back to the side they were last on).


Steps of the ritual (parallel on bot sides, with different instructions in one step):

Step 1 - Handwash: There is a large bucket/Tub of river water with a scoop set up, as well as an empty bucket/tub. Audience instructions:
Handwash
Take the scoop and scoop out water out from the one bucket/tub
Go over to the second bucket/Tub and let the water run over your hands into the emptier tub (NOTE: Mid-November- water cold!)

Step 2 - bottling: There is a row of buckets with water and empty little bottles that can be closed.
Audience instructions:

Fill one of the little bottles with water.

Step 3: Memory. Stand in the center of the room and hold the bottle. Remember 3 situations: MAYBE HERE GROUP "RAVE" Has one or two different questions.

1) people trying to cross a national border (for different reasons) are prevented from crossing
2) a moment when you were not allowed to cross an external border (political/social)
3) a particularly beautiful moment of spending time at a river (preferably Saalach or Salzach)

For each of the above memories find one word that captures the memory.

Go to one of the tables in the room, write your three words on a piece of paper and attach it to the bottle.

Step 4 - Exchange: find another audience member and give them the bottle.
For the person receiving the bottle: go to one of the two standing mikes in the room, and read the other person's three words into the microphone.

Babli and Cyn in Munich- Feet-Fairytale Padam

This is a response to an assignment given by Meena and Shyamala yesterday to tell a non-animal border story in a European context using our feet.

We worked on writing a fairytale inspired by a very visible border story from the local news here (we used a German article, which was more current and extensive, but here is a short English language context, which is from January: http://www.dw.com/en/deported-afghans-dream-of-returning-to-germany/a-37352655)

We then improvised to a recording of it, framing only our feet. These are two versions of the improvisation:

Fairytale 1:
Feet-Fairytale from Sandra Chatterjee on Vimeo.

Password: Fairytale


Fairytale 2:

Fairytale 2 from Sandra Chatterjee on Vimeo.

Password: Fairytale 2

 Here is the text of the fairytale, with some small revisions from the version used in the voiceover:

"It has been many moons since words poured from my poet’s pen, dried out from the painful absence of my love. But now I glimpse the face of my love’s dear friend, bringing me news of my beloved, and my heart quickens in anticipation.

But you’ve never met my love. How could you? -- as he is trapped in a distant land.

He was a handsome young musician with dark hair from a faraway land who sang and played the oud. During the day he brought song and sweetness to the ears of those wounded by war, working with others who believed in peace across borders to heal broken bodies and the hurts of the world. At night family and friends would flock to his cozy home to play music, dance joyously, chat raucously, and share food together.

But then a new regime came to power in his land. They were stern-faced and narrow-hearted and used holy books as weapons, forbidding all singing and dancing and outlawing interactions with people of other faiths and cultures. All those who had sung openly and mingled with outsiders before the regime took power became targets of their policing gaze.

My love tried to hide his passion for song and healing, to make himself quiet and small and unobtrusive. But one day a great bomb fell from the sky and shattered his home and the bones of his brothers. In mourning, he left his land.

After many moons, many border crossings, and many mountains of paperwork, he landed in our Kingdom. He had learned many languages during his journeys, and now he had one more to learn. He wandered through his new town, learning where to buy bread and vegetables, meeting warm-hearted, welcoming people, with the occasional dark glance. After some time, he found himself in a multicolored community of artists and musicians who painted and sang visions of harmony and peaceful coexistence.

We met in one of these gatherings, where I was reciting my poetry. He looked at me with laughing eyes and spontaneously started playing a tune underneath my words.

Our love grew and flourished like a seedling nourished by sun and rain. Outside the circle of our daily sweet existence, however, rumblings of discontent started to emerge in the realm. The borders of my land started to contract from fear, tightening and squeezing the hearts of those who lived within.

One day, a letter arrived at our home stamped with the official seal of the noble lion. Curiously, we opened it. The letter commanded my love to leave our new life and to return to his war-torn homeland. In tears, we held each other tightly.

Knowing that the stone-faced soldiers would come if he stayed, my love started to pack his belongings, to say his farewells sadly to his friends and family.

The people cried out and shook their fists and filled the streets in search of ways for my love to stay. Signatures upon signatures filled scrolls of letters appealing to the officials. After all, the letters said, my love had put his life in danger by fighting for our Kingdom in his homeland. Furthermore, the streets and stages would be poorer and less music-filled in his absence. All our efforts, however, were to no avail. In outrage, my love’s friend, who came from a long line of Alphorn musicians, insisted that he would accompany my love on his journey.


My love returned to find his homeland in the grip of the stern-faced men, stripped of song, ravaged by violence and intolerance. Silently, he and his friend hid in the homes of brave friends, trying to become invisible, unrecognized by the sweeping gaze of the regime. In the meantime, I joined with our friends and family and fellow dancers and singers and poets, working together to try to bring him back. Together, we braved mountains of official paperwork and bureaucratic barriers. Now, with my love’s future in the hands of the officials in power, I take comfort in the news of my love brought to me by his friend."

Babli's Creative Response 3- Borders Resurfacing

Here is my creative response.....

I also did not feel like choreographing or creating movements.

Borders assignment 3 from Sandra Chatterjee on Vimeo.

Password: Immigrationrecords


As you give feedback, I would like you to consider that there are a few things I experimented with but could not do right this moment, because I would have needed a different video set-up. If it makes sense to re-do this or expand this/change this in the future, I might like to play with that (or not, or something different....)

1)  work with more hastas
2) mark the hands - maybe mehendi?

Babli's Creative Response #2

Dear all,
sadly I am unable to tape and upload video as we are still setting up here, but here is my writing remix.

Forgetting the border

We are settlers

On land that is not ours

I sit, ass on concrete, wind chilling skin through clothes, the steady zoom and surge of cars at my back.

Forgetting the border

We are settlers

On land that is not ours

"It's not a pretty beach" I usually warn visitors, so their expectations are not too high. This is no place for bougie hipsters to drink overpriced coffee in the sun. 

Forgetting the border

We are settlers

On land that is not ours

I can't imagine the possibility that I might see boats, rafts, people coming in out of the horizon.

Forgetting the border

We are settlers

On land that is not ours

I exhale

As I stand here. As we do this. People are risking their lives to save their lives. Right now. Always. Pelican. Flies. Across. Sky.

Yet this government says no to refugees

No to the boats in the far north

No to the children

No to the parents

No to all who are not white

Many of us came in thinking we could live here

Just like them

We realised soon we cannot

But we pretend

Forgetting the border

We are settlers

On land that is not ours