Photos

"I call "photographic referent" not the optionally real thing to which an image or a sign refers but the necessarily real thing which has been placed before the lens, without which there would be no photograph. Painting can feign reality without having seen it. Discourse combines signs which have referents, of course, but these referents can be and are most often "chimeras." Contrary to these imitations, in Photography I can never deny that the thing has been there. There is a superimposition here: of reality and of the past. And since this constraint exists only for Photography, we must consider it, by reduction, as the very essence, the noeme of Photography. What I intentionalize in a photograph (we are not yet speaking of film) is neither Art nor Communication, it is Reference, which is the founding order ot Photography. " - Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida

I wonder what Barthes would have thought of our super mediated society. There is perhaps no more ubiquitous form of communication, his Reference, than pictures, and to a large extant photography.

"it has been here, and yet immediately separated; it has been absolutely, irrefutably present, and yet already deferred"

The it in photography is not real in our current sense of thinking. We can't reach out towards the newspaper and touch the fighters in Iraq, our fingers coming back bloodied and sandy. Yet photography is often, sometimes unconciously, perceived as the grounding of a news story. A story's credability can be seriously affected by the lack of a photo, or the presence of an inferior one.

If one is to look at photos through a Barthian lens, the importance of photography then becomes multiplied tenfold. The photo as a point of reference, a represenatation of History. We were not there, History is where we are not, but the photo can be/is a direct link to the reality under discussion. There has to have been something there for the photograph to exist.

Photoshop aside, as Barthes was discussing pure, real photography, Photos are not given serious enough consideration anymore. Webcams and live video streams via overheated laptops and overworked cameramen are the norm. But Photography is still here, perhaps because reality needs Reference to maintain its identity.

16 pounds of fur covered Christmas cheer

Dancing my little heart out

Tonight I took a master jazz/contemporary/hip-hop class by Travis and Ivan, best known for being finalists on the show So You Think You Can Dance.

My sis got herself great pics with both of the guys

Here's Travis

And Ivan

The class itself was great - Travis' intricate choreography infused with Ivan's bold street style was an absolute blast to learn. The dance was not only physically demanding, but there was no room for zoning out at all. The music was a tricky mix of cowbell (no joke), bass, guitar, and percussive beats, and we were supposed to accent all of the above. The bar was also set high from watching Travis and Ivan perform the choreography flawlessly, with enough style to light up Times Square.

If I were to find any negative thoughts about the class, they would all have to do with the other students. With over 90 students in the one studio, space was cramped. That's all well and fine - pros in LA and New York face similar class packouts all the time. It was the unprofessional attitude of the majority of the other students that made it hard to completely enjoy the class.

Because Ivan and Travis were such huge draws, students came from all over the Puget Sound. Bellevue, Issaquah, Redmond, Seattle, Everett, etc... One would think that young pre-professionals would be grateful, thankful for the chance to take class with such amazing teachers. One would think that these students would be respectful of others in the crowded classroom. One would at least think that these students would not have to be told sixteen or seventeen (no exagerration) times (nicely) to quit talking.

One would think.

But one would have thought wrong.

People here in the Northwest complain about our rather limited dance scene, especially when it comes to more mainstream offerings such as jazz and hip-hop. It seems extremely counterintuitive to present one's self as someone who is a. disrespectful of basic class etiquette, and b. someone that must be deaf, as that's the only possible explanation for not listening to a guest teacher pleading for quiet.

Not to mention that many of these girls were wearing the team jackets of their home studios. I fail to see how causing the guest teachers to become visibly agitated b/c of the ceaseless chatter is good PR for one's dance school. And the dance world is very, very, very small.

I found myself writing off much of the behavior to the students' ages, their displayed socioeconomic class, their hair color... the reasons becoming even more vapid then their behavior as the class journeyed on, until I finally hit on the realization that ultimately, it is the dance school's responsibility, every dance school's responsibility to train their students not just in technique, but in how to present one's self responsibly and respectfully. Sadly, it appears that this is not happening nearly enough.

I hope that if Travis and Ivan weren't completely scared away and do come back to Seattle, that there will have been a paradigm shift, a moving of perspective, that makes the students shut up and dance, showing respect for two amazing artists and dancers.

En L'air

Home from a two-day run of En L'air, a benefit show for Ashley House.
Good show all around, and great energy from the audience.
Broadway Performance Hall is also always fun. Capitol Hill has so much artistic energy floating around - inspiration strikes just walking to the theatre.
As I was just in one piece, I had plenty of time to people watch and observe what I am usually in the thick of during more hectic shows.
1. People like being insular. While it is true that one gets to know the people in their own dance the best, it is still striking that everyone (myself included) tends to stay within invisible boundaries, separating 'us' from 'them'.
2. If one violates the above boundaries and *gasp* tries to talk or sit next to someone outside of their dance, he or she is met with resistance. No rudeness or yelling, but a definite coldness. "You aren't in my piece, why are you talking to me?" is the subtext.
3. The poor people that are in more than one piece spend their backstage time frantically running back and forth between dressing room locations, trying to insure they haven't ignored anyone important at any and all check points.
4. Everyone leaves as soon as humanly possible once the show is done. The dressing room was empty about two minutes after the curtains closed.

I'm sure there is some deep, metaphorical comparison to be drawn between backstage life and real life - the need for structure, resistance to change, reluctance to step out of one's interpersonal safety zone, but I'm too much in that weirdtiredheadfloatylightsdizzyreallytiredmode right now to flesh it out any further.