Working Together
Noontime Chat: A.L. Steiner, Sonya Robbins, Layla Childs, and AJ Blanford talk about C.L.U.E.
09/05/09 12:30 p.m.
posted by: Allison Halter
“What is so important about a singular vision?”
Although it wasn’t the first question asked in this discussion, it certainly felt like one of the most important. Posed by Cathy Edwards in response to her own description of the works of this year’s TBA festival as being precisely that (works of a singular vision), the question reverberated throughout the Commons of PNCA, an institution which is itself constantly reaffirming the myth of “solo artistic genius.” Steiner, who in her introduction stated that she collaborates as often as possible, retorted that she finds the idea of the heroic genius artist both offensively patriarchal, and practically unrealistic. Hearing this stance iterated so unflinchingly, from a group of women whose love, respect and admiration for each other was palpable, even filtered through the often awkward experience of a panel discussion, quite frankly made my heart soar. They traded microphones and finished each others’ sentences. Talked about being inspired by each other, and how that desire to hang out and make things together was really the genesis of the collaboration.
Speaking about how and why collaborations happen and work is difficult, especially when roles begin to interchange, and things really start moving. The process of collaboration is often looked at in terms of product, but the panel made the argument that the real result is the relationships that exist and shift throughout the process. Watching the video of C.L.U.E. (Part 1), it was clear that these relationships are in fact central to the piece – the relationships of the dancers to each other, to their landscape, to the director and cinematographer, and finally to the viewer. It is so heartbreakingly lovely to see bodies moving in this collaborative way: struggling, moving together, tenderly checking in, or suddenly collapsing. It gave me hope to see that there are people out there who actually care about the same things that I do. I want to live C.L.U.E. every day for the rest of my life.
