Day 3 at the Barn!

Day 3! I'm reminded of things that surprisingly make me anxious. Like our morning meditation with movement and music, mostly eyes closed, led by Karen, one of the long time Barners, and widow of the creator of the Barn, Tony Montanaro. SHE is amazing. I should be becoming more relaxed and wonderful, yet once we're done, I feel anxious and aloof. It is all me, and I am so curious to find out what buttons are being pushed in me. I have a hunch it has something to do with the deep emotions around my body image.

One of the exercises I really enjoyed was doing dead rolls. It's kinda just like it sounds. You roll, like a sausage, with floppy arms up, like you're dead. We worked counterbalance work, lifts from the hip and lean-backs. We grouped into amoeba movement, finding shapes together, then naming the shapes expression, then used a word (Cathedral, Civil war) to help shape us.

We all showed our combo dances from yesterdays homework. Adam Michaela and I were the Doodalee Doos.

Then Brawnwin and her husband Joe showed up to do acro with us. They are awesome and both teach at Brattleburough at NECCA. We took what we learned and had to put at least 2 moves into a fairytail act. We picked Aladdan... I was the carpet, which I loved being.

We did Harangs, which Davis describes as an opening (im)provization.

He added that it must have these 4 things.

1. How do you tell the audience where you are?

2. Add a physical idea

3. Must have song

4. Shift the perspective (like a fly on the wall)

1. I chose to try my moustache song, but with adding spraying whipped cream on my face (which I couldn't find so I used Pam! Gross!) My intro from back stage was: "And now, the one who stole your heart with songs like...'I stole your heart with my song' and others, please welcome... Moustachella!"

2. I articulated/accented the song with subtle arm movements.

3. I sang the moustache song.

4. I had the whipped cream interrupt my song, asking me why I would waste such a valuable resource. I said it was for love, and the cream understood.

I got some great feedback, and then later from Davis, about Lilly Tomlin's act about Andy Warhol's famous soup can, and how she brought it all back to loving the audience.

He also suggested bringing in the classic "I can't pay the rent... You must pay the rent" move with my moustache. He said people want that. It's like the windmill for Don Quijote fans. So, there it was, another great day at the fabulous Celebration Barn!