You are more than your appearance. Your body is a vessel that carries your unique personality, experiences, and skills. Embrace it. Love it. Celebrate it.
Kendrick had us all shook with his Superbowl Halftime performance. Truly making the revolution irresistible, this diss to the American elite has ignited and emboldened us all to press in.
social media is an increasingly powerful tool for championing the causes that are important to us. But how effective is it really in generating long-lasting change?
We continue to celebrate the enduring soul of our city, a testament to the resilience of its people and the unwavering belief in a brighter tomorrow.
The following reflections emerge from the multilayered and deeply relational experience of being part of Ana Maria Alvarez’s class Performance Lab: Ancestral Technologies on the Border at UC San Diego. You can can also join the movement by reflecting in the concept of In LaK’ech, and create a love letter to our world.
“joyUS justUS”, is in no way a neutral piece of art, but a call to action. This work is a radical celebration of our humanity, an honoring of the feminine, a passionate battle cry for our rising collective consciousness and a calling for connection. We are asking you to be a part of our movement to choose joy, to stand for justice and to vibrate together in love. - Ana Maria Alvarez
Something I wanted to share: I simultaneously keep two journals: a choreography journal and a journal for free writing. The choreography journal is a mess - sometimes I even fill the pages out of order or start from the back. Sometimes I will write and imagine, and know I have more to wrestle with on this idea, so I leave a few blank pages so I can come back later. Sometimes I come back and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes those pages just get used for new ideas, thoughts or feedback. It’s the way I keep myself in check, being present, not trying to ‘write a book’ from beginning to end, but I use it as an open, living, breathing document that can reflect the mess inside my mind. I take it to rehearsal, write choreography notes in it, plan out large ideas about structure, staging, realizations, questions. It frustrates me how messy it is and how sometimes I can’t find things that I wrote down which then makes me need to re-envision / recreate that original idea or thought. I think I purposely make it this much of a mess so that I don’t become too precious with or lean too much on words. I put it into existence by writing it down and then let it go and if it comes back I know it is resonating. My second journal is a more linear documenting of thoughts and feelings, chronological, one page after another. Sometimes it is just for free writing but it’s much neater, clearer, and I don’t like to skip pages, I like to use a nice pen that writes smoothly (I’ve been known to write with my sons’ crayons in my choreography journal!). We often imagine creating as a process that is about organizing thoughts or ideas - however I think creating is about giving space for all of our messiness to show up - all of it - so we can then have an incredibly rich palate from which we make… - Ana Maria Alvarez
The act of mothering is a revolution - both personal and collective - being in a constant state of 'it's not about you', creating, building up and moving forward the next generation of people who you hope will continue to fight for a more loving and just world and finding in yourself the continuing capacity to grow, regenerate and expand in ways that you never imagined you could, and I won't even go into the sleep deprivation part! The sacrifice mothers endure - Mothering is revolutionary. I have over the last six years become hyper aware of how much I depend on my community as a mother but also how often I feel completely alone. I joked when we adopted ou second son that my calling in life was to dismantle male patriarchy by raising two loving, compassionate and feminist boys. I'm working on it. - Ana Maria Alvarez
Whenever I'm asked to speak on panels or at conferences, as a “mid-career” or “established” artist and an “expert” in the field, I always get a little tinge of "imposter syndrome'. My father always told me that curiosity about life and a hunger to grow were things that you should never lose as long as you live. I’ve taken that to heart, and so I always feel like there is so much more work to be done, so many more things to learn, so many more ways that I need to grow and expand as an artist and human being. In that way, I still very much feel like I’m at the beginning stages of my career as a choreographer.
I finally got to meet my mentor, Liz Lerman!!
That being said, I know there are things that I can share and contribute to help others in their journeys through life, and I know that many younger artists and activists consider me to be a mentor.
How I reconcile this feeling is that I never show up with an answer. I always show up and simply listen. I listen to what gets another person curious and interested; I focus on being really atuned to what it seems gets them excited. And then I ask questions and respond to what I’m hearing. This practice of listening before contributing has shown up in a lot of areas of my life—with my dancers (during company and individual check ins), in my classes (assessing prior knowledge and finding out what they are excited to get out of the experience), in my marriage (it's a great practice in partnership, though admittedly, some days I do better than others :-)...
The practice is rooted in and inspired by Liz Lerman's “Critical Response Process” (CRP). CRP is an inquiry-based feedback system that’s been in use for over twenty years, and has been embraced by people in the art field, in science, in education, and beyond. It’s hugely valuable in all kinds of creative endeavors and collaborative relationships for folks of all ages. It’s a critical communication skill. And Liz Lerman, who I consider to be a true “expert” and established artist has been a huge inspiration and guide for my creative and community engagement throughout my career, being a mentor without us ever having spoken or met (I even give her book Hiking the Horizontal as a gift to friends and colleagues at least a few times every year!!).
So, imagine my absolute excitement when I was reviewing the schedule for our upcoming tour to Tempe, AZ and heard that Liz Lerman was now teaching at Arizona State University at Tempe! I immediately called our presenter at ASU and asked if it might be possible to set up a time to have a meal or meeting with her. It was a bold move, but I figured it was now or never. I always believe life (the Universe) happens the way you create it and believe it to be, and I've been “creating” for years to meet Liz! Michael, our presenter, said it wouldn’t be a problem, and so on a warm November morning I found myself waiting at a diner to meet this incredible artist and mentor!
Liz holds my baby boy, Luca. :-)
When she walked in I knew immediately we were going to be friends; she has such a warmth and light surrounding her. We talked and laughed for an hour that passed way too quickly, and at the end of the meeting, when Luca (my baby boy who was 2.5 months old) woke up, she even held and loved on him!
Liz came to our Agua Furiosa show and offered to connect again. She then gave me the gift of all gifts—she went through the Critical Response Process with me in talking about "Agua Furiosa”! It's been an amazing opportunity for me to see places where I am 'stuck' and get answers to burning questions that I wasn't sure who to ask or how to answer. This whole experience has made me so much more thankful for her Liz and her work, and also so clear that I am a better mentor because of the incredible mentors and powerful leaders (mostly women) that I've had in my life.
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