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An erasure of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848
And furthermore what cannot be a citizen is great and godly and I am aware of what cannot be a body nor do I want one
Nature armed medicine and did not make republics nor designated gender, nor property
Governments reasoned, slipped behind previous gods to collect regret A gathering of claimants—our rights’ sacredness betrays us
Every day he tries to turn occupation into limbs to drown us but you and I have matches in our pockets, unending remedies—a love which implores our bodies to rest to fight
I annulled your friendship and instead—gleaned from blood—I drew a Guadalupe faith of impractical limits
My tongue’s seed bursts a sea of jasmine buds, thick leaves in every valley—I blow a concha shell and mountains flower snakes and instead—gleaned from blood—I give love I make no more maps
In my process as a choreographer, usually the image comes first: a spinning white plate, an underwater queen, a weeping bounce house, spaghetti hair. When constructing and deconstructing that image in the studio, I practice a sort of radical presence encompassing my body, my spirit, and the image. I aim at breaking open the symbolism in a way that might reveal something about the human condition. That research recycles back into my body and distills into a kernel of physical information that I use as a psychic barometer to navigate a more lengthy research period. The more time I have in this state, the more I am able to articulate tasks that I feel will guide the dancers toward surrender.
The photographs and notes shown here document this process through three works: Tropical Depression, a work in progress set to premiere in May 2019 at Miami Dade Live Arts; Carne Viva, first shown at the American Dance Festival (ADF) in 2016; and Make Believe, first shown at ADF in 2018.
This woven material data map, when complete, will comprise more than three hundred sets of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and over 1,500 feet of thread-wrapped medical tubing.
