This week’s Dance First Member Insight is from Lorca Simons / Live Wire!
Art is a ripening, an evolution, an uplifting which enables us to emerge from darkness into a blaze of light.” Jerzy Grotowski
There has never been a more poignant time in our lives to make theatre. “Break down the fourth wall and all the walls that divide us,” as Gabrielle once said to me. Coming together in community, in the spirit of ensemble as a self-expressive tool for healing. Weaving our stories; those threads of our lives that reflect and mirror the landscapes we navigate. Illuminating language, uncovering gestures, and freeing the mind through a theatrical lens. Digging deep into the core of our bodies, reigniting our hearts, and turning our discoveries into shared theatrical expressions.
The magic of theatre starts here.
When creating theatre, whether it be a weekend lab, a residential, 1:1 sessions, or a live theatre production, it has always been my intention to welcome and invoke a current of electric shapeshifting unpredictability that is spontaneous and mysterious. To create an experience fueled by those souls hungry for an intimate sliver of the poetic landscape that is at the root and heart of our 5Rhythm practice. A collaborative base where anything is possible and an ever-changing ensemble of like-minded artists and dancers can explore.
The theatre that interests me is a mystery that starts inside you and is magnified through your curiosity, commitment, and soul.
These investigations become our prayer, a language that expands our creative potential to such a degree that we are then driven to share these discoveries with an audience.
Hip Pocket Theatre’s 45th season premiered Walking on Wire: Stories from the Feet, directed by myself and my hugely inspiring sister Lake. Our family theatre’s newest production was devised by the ensemble with guest artists Martha Peabody, Bonita Mugnani, Peter Fodera, and David Roby with the musical accompaniment of Raven Recordings.
We brought to the stage a spirited group of creatives; none of us had been able to come together in two years due to the pandemic. It was a very moving experience!
Through the magic of collaboration and improvisation, the ensemble presented an inventive and poetic series of stories through visually striking imagery. The action invited the audience to consider, as Gabrielle Roth has profoundly asked, “What will we find on the other side of all that we know?”
Walking on Wire: Stories from the Feet is dedicated to our mother, father, Gabrielle Roth, and the elders who have walked before us; those who have created the ground unto which we stand full-heartedly. As we move forward into the great unknown, we honor you and your teachings, and thank you for giving us roots and wings. Your artistic vision and hunger live and breathe inside the lining of our skin.
Learn more, find workshops, and join the mailing list at:
LorcaSimons.com
