And So No Sin was a Dance/Performance Troupe that I was heavily involved in
from February 2001 - January 2003. I was a dancer + "second hand schmee."
Due to conflicts which came to a head during the "7 Acts of Violence"
show (chalk them up to artistic differences), I resigned in February, 2003.
I designed the original ASNS website (now completely changed) - see some screenshots from my version here.
Official Summary: The ASNS Performance Troupe was founded by two MFA students, in 1997. "Based on the premise of revolution, utilizing the (un)conventions of performance art, ASNS strives to fill the void of funny, interesting accessible (and cheap!) performance art in the Boston area. Using violence as a means and metaphor for change as well as an end in itself, ASNS has been deemed “more interesting than staying home and renting The Sixth Sense again” by the Boston Globe. ASNS performs in videos and musicals, creates dances, pantomimes, fights, and general mayhem (there is even a "RentaRuckus" option). ASNS specializes in slapstick, violence, speed and simply livening things up in a dull world."
My commentary: I first saw ASNS at the "No Talent Show" in October 2000. It was part circus, part cabaret and part drama. The baby in the microwave idea (bottom of page) came from this performance; it was a true story about a mother with a psychological disorder who had 'accidentally' put her baby in the microwave instead of her tea. Alisia was crying by the end of that 'skit' and it was intense. In other parts, there were a lot of laughs, so I came out very emotionally charged and thoughtful.
When I met Alisia some 4 months later at a bookstore and she suggested I come to auditions for dancers, I didn't take it too seriously - I'm generally shy and I didn't consider myself a performer or dancer. However, I talked myself into it, arguing that the worst that would happen is that I don't get in. She taught us a silly dance and had us do improv dance and videotaped it all. A few weeks later, I got a call and she said she watched the video and I was a really good dancer, would I like to join? I said yes, and ended up working with her almost weekly for the next 2 years.
We
worked mostly on violent parodies (i.e., fake fighting + blood) that were dance-y,
but also on purely silly things and one sound art piece. We rampaged through
the streets and parks and filled the mobius theater with red corn syrup [fake
blood] and laughter. There were a lot of good times and there were a few bad
times. I learned a lot: about performing in Boston, choreography, publicity,
getting space and of course dance. I performed in a number of pieces, most often
in Kamikaze performances (winter 2001- spring 2002), but also in several more
elaborate or staged pieces - all of these in Cambridge or Boston, MA. I included
some descriptions (by Alisia)and photos (various, credited) below.
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January, 2003
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Tired of the cheery holidays? Can't wait for all the "fun" to be over?
Come explore your dark side with a post-holiday evening of blood, guns
and real-life mayhem from The ASNS Performance Troupe. Come watch ASNS
illuminate seven dastardly acts of violence fresh from their Director's
everyday life. From friendly violence to greedy violence to good ol'
senseless brutality and bricks, this hired gang of innocents find themselves
performing combat with far more realism than they seem prepared to face.
Is that real blood? A real knife? How authentic can violence get before
someone gets hurt for good?
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| June, 2002 Channeling Heroes Fort Point Cultural Coalition Public Art Series Performers: luQ, Han |
Created for the Fort Point Cultural Coalition's second annual
Public Art Series, this is yet another comic book inspired piece for ASNS.
Super Art and Super Commerce (what else?) battle to the death (or at least
the pain) all along the Channel during various rush hours for an audience
of both suits and berets. Spouting over-the-top dialogue in true, corny
super-dude style, they will use hand to hand combat to dramatize the current
and ongoing conflict between major Fort Point Channel landowners and New
England's largest artist community, essentially vying for the same turf
in an uneven battle of wits, brawn and cash. |
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May, 2002 Performers: luQ, Han, Shoe |
A barroom brawl between a woman and a man using violence as art and fight as dance. Between blows, she recites a feminist lampoon of the classical world while he exposes (verbally and physically) the stage combat tricks behind their seemingly painful, fierce brutality. Postmodern dance, speed, fury, humor, politics, blood. Originally entitled "Myth" after the poem by Muriel Wokaiser (which is read during the dance), it was first shown in January 2002 at Greenstreet Studios. Later, it was performed at the Berwick Research Institute in September 2002 and finally it was incorporated into "Seven Acts of Violence" in January of 2003. |
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May, 2002 Performers: Alisia, Jim B., Winston Y., Kathryn A., Liz G., luQ |
A room full of blindfolded people, a gang of weirdoes skulking among them waving toy guns and slapsticks, shouting and.dancing? This is no hostage situation, but it's no Nutcracker either. It's the raving lunatics from The ASNS Performance Troupe, once again set to put the world of dance out on its ear for Cambridge Dance Month. From what sounds like an elaborate classical ballet, to tales of tiny beasts you just might feel crawling amongst you, there will be nothing to see here, folks, but plenty going on. And we can guarantee that you've never heard dance like this! Having been invited to participate in an experimental music series at the Zeitgeist Gallery (which proceeded to be gutted by an electrical fire a week before this show), faced with a gallery made for sound, not their brand of raucous movement, the troupe had to make a plan. What emerged is an amalgamation of disturbing theatre, absurdist dance parody, political improvisation and mock interpretive dance, all for an audience who can't see a thing.
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November, 2001
photos on right (krazy
kat costume), |
From George Herriman's cartoons to your front door, watch Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse battle it out with bricks to the head and love in the heart (well, one heart at least). Taking exact panels from the classic cartoons and translating them into fluid dance, movement and slapstick fun, you can witness the tragicomedy of the Kat who only understood love in the form of a brick and the Mouse whose hate kept him throwing them. [I made the tail and pants part of my costume myself! - LuQ]
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October, 2001
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Pipp and Waller bring to life their hilariously horrible vision of a corporate gathering. What begins as a dull Power Point presentation lauding another successful year at ConglomoCo. with occasional ridiculous interjections. After the audience has fallen into the dull rhythm song and dance numbers interrupt the monotony, including Technology Will Save the Day, the Janet Jackson dance and other ConglomoCo. classics. At intermission audience members are offered samples of the New Snapple Extreme only to find pools of blood and tied up executives. The Presentation continues by describing the newest addition to the ConglomoCo. product family, Snapple Extreme, a beverage that makes people violently ill for sport. Gradually the coffee smell becomes oppressively radiant as everything falls apart. People disappear, scapegoats are beaten, blood pours out of the Power Point animations, questions are asked, and conspiracies are quelled. Finally as the bedlam peaks a line of menacing tapdancers on cellphones charge the audience, an executive howls, a phone explodes into blood. But none of this is noticed by the presenters who then proceed to send their firmest congratulations to the audience (the ConglomoCo. employees). The evening ends as they offer delicious hors d'oeuvres like Spam canapés. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson permeates the air.
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2001 - 2002
(photos below right) |
The Kamikaze wing of the ASNS Performance Troupe met weekly
with an ever-changing roster of fabulous performers. Rehearsing for one
hour + performing for the next, they struggled continuously with ideas
of commitment, performnace, group dynamics... you name it. Let's just
say it was a learning experience for all. Here's a small sample of our
(also ever-changing roster of dances:
Petrouchka: Part of the repertory of the celebrated Ballet Russes, starring Nijinsky and the usual unending spectacle, we have reduced it to five steps with a rotating cast of three performers and one prop. Go figure. Swan Lake: An evil sorcerer armed with squirt guns? Prince Siegfried in love with the swan and not the maiden? A no-nonsense, enchanted water fowl whose main competition for love is a sock puppet in a tutu? It could only be swan lake! Marshmallow Peeps: Choreographed very slowly over a period of months, performed weekly in snow drifts and lethal heat, a true hodgepodge of random steps and silly pantomime. (LET'S BE ELVIS! LET'S BE RAMBO!) Marshmallow Peeps is the true backbone of ASNS's Kamikaze Outdoor Performance Corps. Marshmallow Guns: See above but readjusted to be used as a tool for teaching Combat Mime. This concept is very important. In history somewhere perhaps? Lots o' toy guns and dynamite involved as well as war cries and smoking imaginary cigarettes! |
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Petrouschka variations: Kamikaze winter performance -
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