#emergencystairs

#Southernmost #journeytonowhere #emergencystairs Day 4 & 5: We would like to be professional. Come for a rehearsal, engage, present, repeat. But.... I sat there listening to the sounds of Andy's flute and a gush of memories started flooding back. With my eyes gazing forward, I sense tears starting to well, my limbs hit by pangs of pain recalling moments in my history... The body is memory. The body is history. The body is emotion. The body is archive. The body is repertoire. The body is but human. How am I to deny the senses that influence the body when we interact, when we gaze, when limbs collide but not touch, when we hold each other, when we ask questions... I was told to "sense" with my eyes closed. Didik's aura overwhelms me even we he doesn't move. Elizabeth and Rady's aura enters and retreats at will, like visiting spectres. I moved and kept moving not noticing that every one else has not moved and was just looking at me trying hard to not giggle. I felt probably something was amiss but I kept on going feeling probably they were ahead! But no... I opened my eyes to laughters. "You were suppose to sense us!" said a smiling Elizabeth with Didik and Rady by her side sitting in a straight row. Apparently I was so caught up in my own idea of sensing auras they allowed me to keep going undisturbed. I appreciated that and I will treasure the moment. Bump-in is today. And tomorrow is show day. I am not sure what to feel and if I have any feeling about it. I am in between, in a liminal state. I feel comfort but there is anxiety. I feel stable yet also a pinch of uncertainty. I feel safe but yet unprotected. I feel confident yet surrounded by moment of self-doubt. But I like these feelings. Keeps you grounded, keeps you ready, keeps you open to failures and successes. Be human, be you. 📷 @incorriegible (at Centre 42) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp8C4_qhGztDECPiF-PVupnvmqln3dg8UyBWT00/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hq49fuigq6er

#Southernmost #journeytonowhere #emergencystairs Day 3: We sat in a circle. We talked. We expressed what we felt about certain issues in our respective countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore). I was a tad overwhelmed when I spoke about the circumstances about people who seem to endorse a "post-culture" perspective about the arts without considering space, place and history. My ongoing issue with terms of what is contemporary and the traditional, the relegation of the latter, the disempowerment and the passive acceptance of such by "traditional" practitioners as well. I will Stop here, order me a coffee and we will take thisfurther. Refraining from talking about rehearsals too. Awesome experiences, infinite possibilities. Trust in the process and the process will keep you going. Surreal, but not willing to risk sharing spoilers :). Please get tickets soon! More details on Emergency Stairs IG. Meanwhile, this photo of fatigued bodies but smiling faces at 9am in the morning, is strength and love. Minutes before, we had a Japanese language greetings lesson with Sensei. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp1zS9LB3ohYC1tELflRItyjXz24YF_Q9fvp380/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1x70egf7elnn

Southernmost #journeytonowhere #emergencystairs Day 2: It has been awhile since I had such a wholesome day of physical activities. Today was quite a challenge. I learnt something I have been wanting to learn and taught by someone I adore as well @ngetrady. Rady was patiently teaching the monkey role of Lakhaon Kaol especially the transition from human to monkey, engaging muscles I have not used before. Later, he taught me how to engage my diaphragm to make sounds and we were both producing sounds, ones which I felt expresses the inner human voice, devoid of syllables and linguistic meaning. It seemed the different pitches and tones were enough for us to communicate. Afterwards it was my turn to teach Rady something. It was wonderful to teach him basic Silat movements and how we created another duet soon after. We juxtapose sharp and staccato movements and allowed some improvisation to tell a narrative about guru and disciple. Atypical but there was something about dancing with a Southeast Asian cousin that has similar "grounded" movement basics and fluid hand gestures. A connection not easily translated into words. Yesterday I was a student to Mas @didikninithowok and Shimizu Kanji. Today they had to become my students. Mas Didik and I had a wonderful moment talking about Mak Yong and rituals / state of trance in the nusantara. We created an imagined ritual and the rest was history. Lets just say, we possessed and we had a "melodramatic" number. Sensei Shimizu had a lesson on typical Malay dance gestures. Sensei was eagerly learning the movement and he didn't stop. He kept on recapping the movement until he got it right! I was very touched. And true to his principles we only rehearsed once and just allowed whatever "happens to happen" later during our presentation. I pray his muscles will not ache tomorrow. Yes, he attempted the kuda-kuda (the horse stance) and was steadfast in doing it. Surreal... So you can only imagine what this body has gone through in the span of 9 hours. I was part monkey, part in trance, part envious guru, part father haha! Glad I still have the energy to write this -- grateful I am. https://www.instagram.com/p/BpzTCPMh85yBc0S448AjFHsX9t4Egd7-Yl-JVs0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dpvz1xsskxbb

#Southernmost #journeytonowhere #emergencystairs Day 1: I was emotional. I was in the presence of people I have read about and revered quietly. And today I had the opportunity to spend an intimate, one on one, 45mins session with two masters, Indonesian Cross-Gender Maestro, @didikninithowok and, Noh Theatre Sensei, Kanji Shimizu. In this Mini workshop, I was a student but with the opportunity to give directions to my Masters. Two down to earth masters in their mid 60s, sharing some of their inner most thoughts and philosophies of their practice. With Didik, I learnt about the variety of characterisation on the female role and he coupled his teachings with Javanese philosophies that nourished my soul. It made me reflect on what are the attributes of humans and how we have created instrinsic knowledge to understand our own position in the cosmos. Didik reminded me that we must cast aside our ego. Don't perform the "me" but perform "my dance". He cautioned how the ego makes it cautious of the "self", what others would think of us, and to focus on the body in performance. He went through the Javanese court dance mudras "gestures" with me and the technique of walking in the surakartan dance gestures. Sensei Kanji Shimizu and I struggled to hold a conversation while waiting for our translator colleague to return after the short break. But we managed to have a conversation about my time in Nara (I was there in 2012 as part of SSEAYP). Later, our sharp and fluent interpreter, Sim, helped us as I queried deeper about Noh Theatre and its philosophies. In that 45 minutes, I was briefly educated about Noh Theatre, the shape of its stage and the function of the bridge, and why Noh characters are not human (ghosts, spirits etc). He is an endearing man, ever so patient as he physically corrected my stance and posture. Yes, I was very cautious of my form and was very caught up ensuring that I had the stance "right". I had very nice moments with Sensei. I was very careful with him, I was very studious and I was afraid to laugh. However when we rehearsed , there was a part when I was very lost and we had a moment when we both laughed. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpwwk7EBiKm9SDdep87r_9GNmYfqxzjc-ZljkE0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r74fr62zr4dg

Celosías mexicanas #celosía #cdmx #streetview #streetphotography #citylandscape #emergencystairs (at Calle Guanajuato Roma Norte)

Y,V,> #structure #stairs #emergencystairs #cdmx #architecture #jacaranda (en Mexico City, Mexico)

Piso 24 #RoofTopView #Guadalajara #emergencystairs mission 😳🌃🤣