REHEARSAL JOURNAL
INTRO 2009
This journal is a combination of transcribed notes and spontaneous memories while transcribing. When the spontaneous remembering produced enough text to deserve its own section or page, I cut and pasted it elsewhere, e.g., Stop the Killing, Proposals, Research, or Leadership, Power, Contract. The last section of the journal – Postscript 2009 – is a collection of quotations, mostly from Marvin Carlson’s Performance: A Critical Introduction, which I was reading while working on this archive. The quotes supply a theoretical language and reference for thinking about the how and why of making this work. I expect that several of these statements will be integrated into the critical analysis writing (Delinquent Rhetoric) that is also included in this archive.
I considered different ways to consolidate or synthesize these notes but I didn’t want to erase the mundane details. I wanted to maintain the journal as an actual document of the process, rather than as a reflection or reconsideration of the completed project. The journal is discontinuous, with gaps. There were many days when I was unprepared or stressed out. I never knew who would come to rehearsal. Actually I knew that some people would always be there and never knew about some others. This made planning rehearsals really tough. I won’t address all the gaps. I couldn’t fill them now if I tried. But the next few paragraphs cover some of the larger areas of working that are barely mentioned in the journal.
Lights, Sound, Set
There were several undocumented meetings with Max who designed the lights and Matt who composed and performed the sound score, especially during October. Both of these artists made major contributions to the look, feel, and sound of the work. The set involved 4 distinct elements created by 4 artists working independently. Max proposed the white floor and the large light stands at the four corners. The other three artists responded to very specific requests from me: Tom Sepe made the solitary confinement cell with heavy, construction grade walls; Ryon Gesnick designed and welded the cage which was used both on the ground and as an aerial playground; and Rigo 23 designed and painted (with many volunteers including cast members) the mural size banners that spelled Inmate and Classmate in counter-indicatory One Way signs. These journals contain very little of the conversations and logistics that were necessary to manifest the visual aspects of the work.
Sonya Smith – Project Manager
The journal notes barely mention Sonya, who played an enormous role in manifesting Delinquent. I realize that one of the reasons that my notes so infrequently refer to the above collaborators was because Sonya was often dealing with these kinds of details. She was in charge of liaison with Yerba Buena’s tech people, as well as maintaining the budget, dealing with payroll for everyone, and securing last minute space for painting the murals. She ended up storing the cage in her garage when we learned, the hard way, that the cage did not fit into our rehearsal space. This project was rehearsed in so many places! CUE, Dance Mission, Studio 210 (most frequently), CounterPULSE (last minute cage aerials), Yerba Buena, Artaud (mural painting), and several rehearsals in my apartment. Add this constant movement and less than perfect conditions to the stress and instability of making this piece.
Costumes
From the start I knew that the main costume would be simply the daily wear of each performer. The masks were a sudden inspiration that I had when walking past a shop with both Mexican wrestling masks (lucha libre) and full head latex masks of monsters, skeletons, and politicians (US & Mex). I bought 5 of each on the condition that I could return the ones I didn’t want. Even though some of the cast really liked the lucha libre masks, it was clear that they were more familiar, not as big a risk, and therefore not the ones we would keep. The latex masks were smelly and uncomfortable and difficult to see out of, especially when dancing. But they also really distorted the performer’s appearance, altering how their body moved, and becoming crucial to the play of identity, representation, and expectation that the work was based on.
