Collaborative Improvisation with Spears

I had the lovely opportunity to do an improvisation with

Spears, Michael Sauders, http://www.myspace.com/underspears

during First Thursday Art Walk January 7th

at The Lancaster House of Celibacy- 315 1st Ave (Thanks to Aaron Lugg)

Photos by Jacqueline Portolese of Last Night Blue.

Niederhauser and Sauder improv from Ryan K Adams on Vimeo.

The improv in it's entirety.

Video by the awesome RK Adams http://ryankadams.com/

of Block My Eye http://blockmyeye.com/

Northwest New Works

Josephine's Echopraxia has been granted with the amazing opportunity to show 20 minutes of work at On the Boards Mainstage June 5th and 6th 2010 as part of Northwest New Works.  We will be joined again by Spencer Moody along with 3 other musicians,  and Allie Hankins along with 2 to 3 other dancers and a film element shot by Ben Kasulke.  We are super excited!

I will be holding an audition for dancers at Open Flight, 4205 University Way NE on Saturday, December 12 from 6-8 pm.  Please arrive early to register.  Please come warm and I recommend bringing kneepads as there will be a lot of floor work.  Also, 

 Please bring a resume or letter of recommendation or a professional/educational reference and your commitments from January to June 6th 2010.

 

If you are unable to attend but still interested please let me know and we can arrange something. Email me at josephinesechopraxia@gmail.com  and  please pass this info along.

Tracings Update

Dear friends,

I would like to invite you to join me for an in-progress screening of excerpts from my upcoming film Tracings.  This film is coming together beautifully and I am eager to share it with you all.  

Please join me Thursday, December 3 at 7:00 pm at Northwest Film Forum on 12th and Pike.  I will also screen Holding This For You afterwards for those who have not had a chance to see it yet, or would like to see it again.  

A suggested donation of $3 to $20 would be gratefully accepted at the door, but is not mandatory to see the film.  I just want you to come!

I hope to see you there.

All my best,

Marissa

TRACINGS DECEMBER 3

Tracings, finished or not will screen the evening of Thursday, December 3rd at Northwest Film Forum probably around 7. Stay tuned or email josephinesechopraxia@gmail.com for details.

To whet your appetite here are some stills taken from the film (camera by Benjamin Kasulke) and one picture of the crew and myself taken by my momma.

Pictures from Stop Loss

Performed at Annex Theater 10/2/09

Top two photos by Ian Johnston, bottom two by Tim Summers.  Guitarist is Spencer Moody.

stop loss

As I prepare to perform 'stop loss' tonight at Annex theater.  The following things are on my mind. 

The hopelessness of the individual in the face of unfathomable evils such as war and exploitation. We have no rational, productive means to fight such terrors.  Our most widely used tools, those of information and communication continue to fail us... what are we left with? Superstition, including ritual, religion, and art-also art as a discharge of pent up emotions, and hope.  These flimsy amulets are all we have.  

"Stop Loss"  as simple as "Got Milk?"  Setting oneself up in opposition to loss in all of it's forms-  not against only the violence of war, but also the violence of illness,  of accident,  the violence of mortality.  

Against loss. 

The one thing that is pointless to oppose because it is unstoppable is the only thing really worth opposing.  Does that pointlessness mean we give up?

No.  

Irrational hope is all we have to keep us in forward motion until our final loss eventually comes.

Locked!

I finally locked the edit on my upcoming film Tracings. I am so excited to have finally reached this point and am gladly handing it over to sound designers Steve Barsotti and Jake Perrine and composer Jason Staczek.  The pictures above are from the shoot.  In the background  of the top one you can see Ben Kasulke and Dave Hanagan working with the camera and of course that is me in the foreground hydrating.  The bottom photo is a detail of the set. These lovely photos were taken by the PA Michelle Henley (and stolen from her facebook!)

I will be having an 'in progress' screening December 3 at Northwest Film Forum.  

This weekend on Friday October 2   I will be performing 'stop loss' (which is a reincarnation of 'economy of force' which itself was a reincarnation of 'once a thing is set in motion')  with Spencer Moody at Spin The Bottle 11pm Annex Theater at 12th and Pike. Should prove to be an all around raucous evening.

Upcoming August Shows

Josephine's  Echopraxia has 2 shows this month.  One in Tacoma and one in Seattle.  This summer I have been developing a new work that I am calling 'stifle:  Every Breath Is Victory' with dancer Allie Hankins (all-is-on) and guitarist Spencer Moody (Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death and Murder City Devils as well as owner of the Anne Bonny-http://theoldanneb.blogspot.com/)

I am super excited to work with these two tremendously talented artists and all around wonderful people.  

'stifle:  Every Breath Is Victory' came about when synchronistic experiences in my life all revolved around the same topics of powerlessness, suffocation and the persistence of hope and the daily triumph of mere survival.  First was the tanking of the national and global economy, watching everyone around me kiss their dreams goodbye and struggle to feel like they were even keeping their heads above water.  I was heartbroken and baffled hearing one of my closest friends express feelings of meaningless in her life compared to the sort of life I was building when she lost all of her savings.  All the while I had been feeling like I was drowning, the impossibility of trying to rise above as an artist with the whole deck stacked against you.  I was working as an elementary school janitor trying to pay off filmmaking debts and frustrated at watching my talents slip down child-size toilets.  In addition I was also volunteering at Feral Cat Spay and Neuter Project (http://www.feralcatproject.org/) an incredible organization that not only 'fixes' entire feral cat colonies but provides them with stabilizing medical care and also provides low-cost spay/neuters to low-income pet guardians. While working there one day a small kitten died, suffocated on vomit.  I watched 4 veterinary professionals trying to save the kitty, working even several minutes after it had passed on.  It was a horrifying shock to watch what should be a preventable death be completely unpreventable despite the dedication of knowledgeable and qualified persons .  To observe the wheels of fate unhaltingly grind forward and then inspiring to watch the mourning staff and volunteers soldier on providing  care and compassion to the dozens of other cats still waiting for treatment.  A week later during a performance where I was eating a viscous substance on stage I aspirated some of it and was unable to breath or to cough it up.  Standing on stage in front of an entire audience all eyes on me I was more alone than I ever had been in my life.  Looking out I saw a mix of reactions, some fear and concern, but also mirth, distrust and annoyance. Post-modern art has yanked their hearts around so much no one can trust their eyes anymore.   I placed my hands in the 'international symbol for choking' but it was my own body that eventually came heroically to my rescue.  My diaphragm leapt into my throat, sending a thick, metallic taste into my mouth and my lungs filled with painful, burning air and then I finished the dance. Covered in a  cold sweat a sticky drool on my chin.  With complete apathy towards the quality of my performance or the cough that shook the rest of my time on stage- in complete rapture at my own survival and the fact that I could be DANCING, following my dream.  

I hope to be able to develop this work more fully in the next year, but I have been granted two wonderful opportunities to show you what I have come up with since June.

I am very pleased to be performing at the gorgeous Urban Grace church in Tacoma at 902 Market Street (www.urbangrace.net) as part of MLK Move #12. MLK Move is a benefit for MLK Ballet, a tuition-free dance school (http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Org/136901-254)   The show is on Friday, August 14 at 7:30 with tickets for $14.

I have also been honored by a Flight Deck residency these past few months (http://www.openflightstudio.org/flightdeck.html)  at Open Flight a beautiful studio run by good people on the Ave here in Seattle.  They are hosting an informal showing and discussion on Sunday, August 23 at 4:30.  Open Flight is located at 4205 University Way NE and it is FREE!

ARTOPIA

Josephine's Echopraxia is pleased to be performing at this year's Artopia in Georgetown  http://www.artopiaseattle.com/  The show is Saturday June 27 and we will be performing at 5:30 on the  Intiman Stage, 5790 Airport Way.

I will be dancing a duet called 'economy of force' with  Spencer Moody on electric guitar.  The dance first appeared as 'Once a Thing is Set in Motion' part of a recent installment of 10 Tiny Dances in Tacoma.  Rosemary Ponnekanti said this of the dance in The News Tribune 'Other highlights were Marissa Rae Niederhauser....pulling tense and violent moves from shaky fingers'. 

 It is an awesome duet, amazing to be working with the powerful musical force of Spencer, a friend said it sounds like a 'dangerous combo'  in a good way and he may be right!  

Stay posted for a show of group work 'stifle: Every Breath is Victory' in Tacoma August 14 and an informal showing of the same work here in Seattle at Open Flight August 23rd where J.E. is honored to be in residency this summer.

Monolodge 6 at Annex

Preview photos of my dance at Annex  opening this weekend as part of Monolodge 6 by the Unicycle Collective.  (photos by Ian  Johnston)

Lineup includes: Mary Purdy, Kelleen Conway Blanchard, Mark Siano, Seth Rosenbloom, Christa Bell, Keith Hitchcock, Kate Smith and Chris Bell.



Show runs Fri 4/24 and Sat 4/25 11 pm, Sat 5/2 11pm, Sun 5/3 8 pm, Fri 5/8 and Sat 5/9 11pm at Annex Theatre 11th and Pike. Tickets $9 ($5 students and seniors) through www.brownpapertickets.com



All solo performances on the topic of "Love's Tangled Web"




It has been an interesting challenge restaging the piece at the last minute to con form to the demands of performing on a rug. It has led to some fine developments. Come see the result!