On Thursday night, I saw MOMIX: Botanica, and I was dazzled. If you wanted to pigeon-hole MOMIX, I think “modern dance” would be the title given, but this does not even begin to do justice to the visual sorcery of the performance. From the moment the curtain rises, the dancers bring you under their spell.
Creating illusions with their bodies and their dress, the boundaries of reality were extended. I was amazed at how simple costume alterations, a black line here or an all-brown body suit there, could metamorphose the human figure into another being. The entire production was a demonstration of our ability to seamlessly transfigure ourselves.
Light and dark become play things as your perception is bent this way and that. For instance, a deep red backlight with no front, side, or above lights transforms the dancers into black shapes without distinct features, or the trickery of a black light on reflective sleeves worn on the arms and legs opens new stretches of the imagination.
The dancers also make deliberate use of props, objects that are often lithe in design and motion while bold in statement.
Altogether, the show is captivating. I highly recommend seeing it if you have the chance.
Yes, I know it is a little late to be welcoming the New Year, but to be fair, there are still people I am wishing a Happy New Year for the first time. I think this is socially acceptable until February.
So far 2013 has been a great year. I celebrated my birthday more times than I ever have in the past, including with my parents before returning to Clemson, in downtown Clemson day of, at a surprise party the week later, and at lunch with my co-workers the week after that. Let’s keep the party going!
Surprise Cake! You should wish you had some… yum!
I’ve taken my pseudo-resolution to “dance more” seriously. Thus far, I have made two trips to the Blind Horse Saloon to learn and practice my line dancing – yee haw! (To the right is a very poor picture of the blind horse.) I also have been practicing my moves with my xbox kinect. Let me tell you, it takes a special kind of confidence (or lack of self-consciousness) to try to keep up with the game. I have seen two movies since returning to Clemson: Zero Dark Thirty and Waiting for Superman. Zero Dark Thirty was good, but for me, Argo was better. The suspense I felt during Argo even though I knew what was going to happen was palpable, and never quite reached that level during ZDT.
Waiting for Superman was at once disheartening and inspiring. You cannot watch that movie and walk away feeling like every child in America is getting a fair chance at education. We need change.
My guilty pleasure has been re-watching season one of Gossip Girl. They were all so young! It’s funny to see how similar the characters behaved then and in later episodes. You don’t pick up on it the first time through because you are just meeting them, but it is wholly evident when watching a second time. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
There was a weekend adventure through Great Smoky Mountain National Park (before it flooded) and a weekend non-adventure in the dungeon lab of Lehotsky. The views at Great Smoky Mountain were far superior. This upcoming weekend should provide good fodder for blogging. I also hope to have some exciting job news to announce soon. There’s the short long of it. It’s good to be blogging again.
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” John Muir
Alicia, one of my best friends, my Big Sister in fact, came to visit me last weekend, and we had a marvelous time!
Sister Sister
It took no small feat to get her here – after having to reschedule around a prior commitment, then a day-of delay at the airport causing her to have to change flights. Thankfully good fortune prevailed and we were reunited after 10 months of being apart!
Our first agenda item: Fall Crawl 2012. The afternoon was filled with friends, laughter, music, and drink, as any good bar crawl should be. I enjoyed introducing Alicia to many of my closest friends while we both pretended to be back in college. It was fun and carefree and ended with a delicious slice of pizza. How could we go wrong?
Crawlin’ with friends = The good life.Good times
Ever ambitious, we rode the bus home to prepare for a Halloween party with my friends from graduate school. I went in my standby penguin costume while Alicia dawned a sheet to be my iceberg. (Apologies! No pictures were taken.) We enjoyed a brief time at the party, and Alicia met more of the people who shaped my time at Clemson. However, the crawl crawled up on us, and by nine, we were both ready to sleep.
The next day can be described by a single gerund: walking. After a tasty homemade breakfast, we made for campus. While others slept, we went on an extensive walking tour.
Welcome to the Tiger family!
Alicia commented several times on the abundance of Tiger Paws and the Clemson name. I let her know this is the norm, we are a Clemson Family, and we take that commitment seriously. From years of Solid Orange and One Clemson, I have come to assume this is the standard on all college campuses. Having Alicia comment on it allowed me to realize that this is a special quality and not one to take trivially. As I write, I feel my Clemson Pride stir, something I will always cherish. Go Tigers!
Our next stop was Greenville. We thought we had a respectable Sunday lunch at 1 PM only to learn after that my car clock tricked us with the time change! With plenty of time, we took off on foot to explore Greenville. We saw Falls Park, open artist studies, many little shops , all the while chatting and catching up as though we did this every Sunday.
On the bridge in Fall Park!Kiko!
Eventually, we felt we had seen what was available, but still had some time left, so with spontaneous glee, we took off for the zoo. With childish excitement, we both shouted “Elephant!” as we approached the first exhibit. Then remembering our age, we took on an ever so slightly more restrained demeanor. Cats and primates and reptiles, oh my! My favorite exhibit was the giraffes where we could see baby Kiko, born less than a 14 days ago, on October 22.
We concluded the visit with a delicious treat at Spill the Beans and a short ride to the airport.
