Mykaila’s Glimmer Journal
Post # 1: should I be feeling something?
(Wait, what is this? Skip to the bottom for an explanation.)
Well, I applied for KT Niehoff/Lingo Dance's A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light. It was one of the easiest--and therefore most unsettling--applications I have ever completed. One of the questions was Funny or Serious? Who, me? What I prefer? This application? What?! (Okay, so I maybe got a little bit too worked up about it.) I submitted the freakishly simple application, and got a response saying thanks for applying, we'll let you know at the end of the month. A few weeks later, I got another email, which said that I had been selected to receive a solo from Bianca Cabrera.
It feels kind of light, going in to something with hardly any idea of what I’ll find. By "light" I mean without burden. I have no expectations and very little is expected of me (an odd little questionnaire and then showing up to receive my solo). Despite this lightness, something deeply personal and incredibly unique is going to happen to me, and I can’t avoid the intensity of the scenario. I guess I didn’t expect that when I applied—the intensity and lightness coexisting quite peacefully.
In most of the best experiences I’ve had, I have increased my self-knowledge. I think that receiving this solo will force me to confront myself in a new way, which is thrilling (in good and bad ways). I am looking forward to the solo as much as I am dreading it—I’m a little bit afraid. I am giddy and I am somber. I think it’s brave to give and receive a personal solo, but I’m pretty scared. Trying to describe it with a set of words with similar connotations isn’t cutting it for me. It’s like the application question Funny or Serious? I’m both.
I can’t wait to figure out where and when my dance will be performed. I’ll keep you posted. (:
Mykaila, both funny and serious
A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light is an innovative, interactive new work from Seattle Magazine's 2007 Dance Artist of the Year, KT Niehoff and her company, Lingo Dance. 30 people, including two members of the Teen Tix reviewer corps, Anna B and Mykaila O, have been chosen to receive a custom made solo from one of the Glimmer cast. They have all filled out a questionnaire designed to find out who they are: driver or passenger? sweet or savory? what items are currently in your pocket? what is the last thing you lost? what is a Seattle location you love? Glimmer cast members are using the answers to tailor-make a performance for each person to watch. The dances are personal but performed in public locations throughout the city, available for any and all to see. When we know Mykaila's date, location,and time, we'll post it.
Find out more about Lingo Dance Theater at lingodance.com
The culminating performances of A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light run April 22nd - May 15th at ACT Theatre.
