Crest Phase Trail Pace (reconstructed spill)
When I made the decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, I started to think about ways I could continue to explore movement. Up until now, the process was fairly similar. It would start with something vague and very small – perhaps a photograph that I found compelling, a phrase that ignited a flurry of images, a singular gesture that began to hold more weight and importance. Or maybe it was taking one element from a previous work and expanding the potential. Or maybe after a work was completed and performed I realized something new that I hadn’t seen before and it propelled me in a new direction. Most likely it was all of the above as I approach each new work from many sides as I listen to that intuitive voice showing me the way in the process of discovery. It is always a process of discovery and that is very exciting to me. I would then write a treatment about the new work and share it with the dancers hoping they would continue to work with me. I would find a non-traditional venue to perform the work. I would set the performance dates and then spend the next 9 months to a year working toward that ultimate goal - a new work of art performed live for a specific length of time – ephemeral and immediate, already fading into billowing memory after the experience. I would then attempt to edit performance footage into a cinematic experience that tried to capture the sensibility of each work. I didn’t want to create a performance document but rather something that could stand on its own and perhaps be a unique work of art.
As I continued my research into gear and the trail, I began to envision myself moving on the trail- yes, walking of course – but something more akin to finding raw and unrefined movement - gesture, torso, head, arms, hands, feet, legs, flexion, extension, breath, fluidity, core, distall - immediate and forthright.
And then one day I realized that the trail could be my studio and I could find moments of movement along the way and record them into a phrase notebook. And maybe at the end of the trail, I would have a new body of material to propel me toward a new dance work or perhaps the process of locating within myself the essence of a movement, that would be the work and recording and sharing each moment would create a unique way to experience a performance across an expansive length of time and through a vast ever changing landscape.
Instead of working in the studio with the dancers and then having my work seen in a space with stage lights, sound systems, cinematic projections and confined time and space, I am going to embark on a personal journey – both in the reality of thru hiking and in a unique path of creation and performance.
I will find movement through the experience of hiking - the challenges of terrain, weather, endurance, power, solitude, comradery, physicality, mental stamina, hunger, thirst, courage, fear, uncertainty, redemption, forgiveness, kindness, generosity, beauty, barren and lush landscapes.
The sunsets and sunrises, the moonlight and shadows, the blazing sun and sudden crust of dense clouds will become my light plot with forever changing hues and colors and intensities.
The flowers, rocks, trees, mountains, streams, lakes, valleys, deserts, snow, dust and brilliant panoramas will become my backdrops where movement can co-exist and create stark juxtapositions or seamless fluidity - dangling on the precipice or cascading down slippery slopes or wading within the rushing currents or quietly gathering in the hush of night.
The howling wind, buzzing insects, soaring birds, thunder, rain, immediate laugher, sudden quiet will become the sound scores upon which the movement will float.
I will use all of these elements and sources of inspiration. I will follow an intuitive sensibility and be open to experience, allowing the physical presence to speak to me and show me what is possible with the moving body in ways I could never have imagined.
And I will record these sudden moments of discovery and add them to my phrase notebooks. I have no idea when I will be inspired or moved or driven to find those movements. They may happen at a camp site watching fellow thru hikers raise their tents, cook their dinners, converse or laugh or cry. It may happen while I am alone struggling up a steep slope, exhausted and overcome with possible defeat. Or it may happen during great moments of exhilarating empowerment having successfully traversed a snowy slope or forged a raging river. I cannot predict when nor do I want to know in advance. But the process of discovery and knowing that somewhere I will find something is profoundly exciting to me.
I decided that I would take some movement with me to the trail. I chose a few moments from Spill, the Third Movement from CHOREOGRAPHY. It’s a very short set of movements – about 2 minutes. And I decided I would give this experience a working title -
Crest Phase Trail Pace (reconstructed spill)
I hope to embody this movement at the Southern Terminus near the monument and let it become a moment in my life and the first moment in my creative process. I am sure other thru hikers will stare at me with bewildered expressions but this is my hike. And this is what I want to experience while I hike. I have wanted a creative life. And hiking for me is now a part of that creative life.
So…
Make a space
For my body.
Dig a hole.
Push the sides apart.
This is what
I'm controlling.
It's a moat
The inside that I carve.
This will be my monument
This will be a beacon when I'm gone
Gone, gone
When I'm gone
Gone, gone
When I'm gone
So that when the moment comes,
I can say I did it all with love
Love, love
All with love
Love, love
All with love
I will let this monument
Represent a moment of my life
Life, life
Of my life
Life, life
Of my life
- Royksopp
