Because it really is almost spring, damn it, and it's time to create again.
By Jen Littlefield (Choreographer/Librettist)
I'm back Crazytown, and feeling more human every minute. That sickness going around is SERIOUS. I was out of commission for over a week, while still sometimes working and following through with commitments made during healthier times. But I'm back on the supplement train and ready to create again.
(Being sick kills any motivation toward creativity and actually makes you feel like you will never be artistic again, so why even bother with this life you're fooling yourself into believing will ever matter to anyone, ever. It was a rough week…)
Here are a few of my recent inspirations:
Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui
I just happened on this exhibit this weekend when I took my visiting mother to the Brooklyn Museum's First Saturdays. This exhibit is amazing. Using discarded wood and metal, especially used bottle caps from a distillery in Nsukka, he creates these giant wall sculptures and hangings that are just incredible to see. Up close, they are intricate patterns of individual objects, far away, they are sweeping shapes of draped color and texture that command attention. So beautiful.
The Other Place
I know David wrote about this play last week, but I also rushed the show before it closed and boy was I glad I did. I've been in a rut with a scene for our new musical recently and it was so nice to see a well-structured show with a serious twist. I loved the way the author Sharr White built the scenes around memory to draw out the tension until the very end. And the acting… I only wish I could have been closer to feel the intimacy of some of the scenes. Brilliant.
House of Cards
I'm kind of obsessed with this show. I started watching it when I needed to keep my ass on the couch doing absolutely nothing for a few days and became hooked. I was a little thrown off at first because Kevin Spacey's character talks directly to the camera sometimes, but thankfully, I got over that. There is so much at stake in this show, it's almost stressful to watch. And talk about twists, this plot is so well thought-out, I get mad when I don't see the real reasons behind everything Frank does. It's worth the $7.99 a month for Netflix Instant.
The Jayhawks Artist Radio on Spotify
I'm not sure why I picked this station, I thought one of my writing partners mentioned a song by them as one of their inspirations but I'm not sure. Regardless, the songs that come up are perfect for background music while writing and the mix of artists keeps it interesting. I love the artist radio on Spotify, and keep trying to find the "best" one.
Also, my students
My students are amazing. Monday I saw four of them (two former, two current) in The Actor's Fund Reading of Our Town, and next week I'm seeing N*****/F*****, a new play by another one of my former studetns at the HERE Arts Center as part of the Downtown Urban Theater Festival. But they just come to class every day to work hard and improve, they volunteer their time to help each other and the department, and they audition like it's their job, when their actual job is to just be students. I love them.
And finally, this
JEN LITTLEFIELD is a freelance choreographer and writer with a few steady teaching gigs at Pace University and Concordia Conservatory. As she's come to discover, freelance is code for constantly working, so she is also a single gal who lives and lives-it-up in Hell's Kitchen. www.jenlittlefield.com
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