I can't believe it.  I totally forgot that the Stranger existed this week. not kidding.  I was having so many other conversations and reading other thoughtful things. I was reminded by KT's letter.  I was going to respond to Brendan's review last week as well, but then forgot.  After the  conversation he and I had, I was a little surprised by what he wrote or didn't write.  that's okay. It wasn't a necessarily bad review... I don't know .. it was so soft that few shards  lodged themselves in my memory. p.s.  this piece succeeded on one level!!!!!!! I was trying what is reallllly difficult for me: to be soft.

if you get the idea and don't do anything with it, the entity moves on until it finds another person to ask for its release

there seems to be a lot of conversation and buzzing about artists, writers, audiences expectations and relationship to each other and to the work.   I think the function and role of the writer needs to be looked at and potentially redefined or at least clarified.  what are you writing for? critique- using critical theories, relating the work to the past and present or in a specific econtext reviewer - opinion giver, one that puts labels on the work, encourages people to see or not to see, say what is good and bad arts advocate and liason- one that can look objectively as possible (or at least be aware when it is not objective) at the work and nurture the relationship between the artist, their work, and the audience that receives it.  one that clarifies, illuminates, poses questions, shares the gray area, and facilitates understanding, while affirming the experience and empowerment of the audience's ability to know on some level what they are experiencing. anything is fine but be frickin transparent and write from that perspective.  (well, i don't like reviewers that write sloppily, think lazily, and are belligerent with peoples work... who cares what your opinion is?... or who cares about anyone's opinion?...decide for yourself if you care and what is valuable to you) what is success in a work? does the art live up to the intentions/expectations of the artist? was there clarity between the intention and execution?  or is it what you expect based other relationships you've made with art viewing?  what is the responsibility of the viewer?

sure I want everyone to enjoy my work, understand it on some level, or learn something from it... but it is not possible. we can't control or expect what someone will receive and how they will perceive it.  my work not always be successful, but to whose standards? mine or yours.  mine are more important. I do prefer that if someone writes about another's work publicly, that it be done with rigor.  there is truth in a little bit of what everyone says...

I sometimes go old school with my work...it is not just a thing that is separate from the viewer, for you to look at, objectify, enjoy or not, judge or not....i use it as a vehicle of change, energetic experience and conversation with the audience,  a ritual, a verb, an alternative reality, environment, consciousness...a playing with time, playing with other artists,   etc. sometimes it is just for pleasure and curiosity with no 'goal' in mind there isn't anything wrong with just looking at something or being entertained...there is a place and room for everything.  But we can't be limited in our idea of what something is and how we are supposed to interact with it. later i  might just go stand on a corner, in a sequined fatsuit and juggle pudding with my army of protestant squirrels.

Dear Amy, thanks for coming to the performance.  here is a response that is to you but also draws on a few things I have been writing in the last day. Please know that just because you don't understand something doesn't mean that it lacks sense or its own logic.  Did you not see the diagonal line that the props were placed? (which have a relationship to the whole and to each other in function- do they have to be all oranges or apples?) It is the gestalt of the whole piece through time that interests me, one element will be more in focus than the other at any given time... they work together to create a living image.  Potent art relies on the specificity of the artist's vision, perception, and experience to create work that plays along the spectrum of personal/universal.  When it doesn't or isn't allowed to do so, you get the blandest of works that is fit to stick on a street corner or in a waiting room. The Feminine.  What if that refers to softness, receptivity, non linear processing and creativity? In reference to ‘the meaning’ what happens when a person is laden with beliefs, limitations, history,and patterns that are no longer serving them and then works to break those patterns through in depth self reflection and ritual, to reveal a purer version of themselves?  you are left with with a human, in front of you, alive, honest, dancing in that freedom and clarity.  BUT what if you didn’t get to know “what it means” on a conscious level? What is wrong with that? Can you still not trust that you are having an experience that is informed by what is in front of you? we do put a ton of weight into labels, language, compartments, knowing what everything is.. i was trying to combat that in my piece and celebrate the non linear experience... and the experience we have outside of our left brains. what we can experience without out our conscious knowing...we have intelligences and consciousness on emotional, physical, spiritual, energetic, soul levels that seek information and experience regardless of our need to control it. In general, the arc of my pieces change over time like a spiral and come together by the end. This piece comes from a process of the last few years that is personal to me but universal in its theme and humanness.  It is not a whimsical folly of throwing something together with all this free money from the AWARD Show grant. It is a reflection of my process as well as a device to use structure/ritual/metaphor to transform in the process of performance. If you are not open to the non-linear, and need everything handed to you, then my work is not for you.  It is sophisticated in its own logic, nuance, mystery, movement language, among other things. As far as I know, no institution or organization has license over the content or specific execution of the artist's work. That is the artist's domain. I would have made the SAME piece without that AWARD Show grant, just with fewer paychecks to go around or I would have applied to other grants to make up the costs. I follow the work and my body. It was my intention to free myself of limitation. I make ABSOLUTELY no apology for the freedom I used. Cheers, Amelia

Hi Paige, Thank you for coming to the performance.  Here is a letter I sent in response but with a few more thoughts. Please know that just because you don't understand something doesn't mean that it lacks sense or its own logic. Potent art relies on the specificity of the artist's vision,perception, and experience to create work that plays along the spectrum of personal/universal.  When it doesn't or isn't allowed to do so, you get the blandest of works that is fit to stick on a street corner or in a waiting room. In reference to "this is a forgery", what happens when a person is laden with beliefs, limitations, history,and patterns that are no longer serving them and then works to break those patterns through in depth self reflection and ritual, to reveal a purer version of themselves?  you are left with with a human, in front of you, alive, honest,dancing in that freedom and clarity. The presence of video/elements in the first section and not in later section is in relationship to that. I see your criticism as a success on my part.  It is the gestalt of the whole piece through time that interests me, one element will be more in focus than the other at any given time... they work together to create a living image.  You may need me, the dancer onstage, to be the focus the whole time, but I don't need that. The piece didn't need that. In general,the arc of my pieces change over time like a spiral and come together by the end. This piece comes from a personal process of the last few years. It is a reflection of that as well as a device to use structure/ritual/metaphor to transform in the process of performance. If you are not open to the non-linear, and need everything handed to you, then my work is not for you. As far as I know, no institution or organization has license over the content or specific execution of the artist's work. That is the artist's domain. I would have made the SAME piece without that AWARD Show grant, just with fewer paychecks to go around.   I find that your distaste for the degree of my artistic freedom means that it existed and that I did something successfully, regardless of your opinion. I follow the work and my body. It was my intention to free myself of limitation. I make ABSOLUTELY no apology for the freedom I got a taste of. Amelia P.S. what does it matter if it is dance/performance art or whatever? that is not  relevant.  I perform and use any means necessary for the work.  That attaching a label or claiming something doesn't  fit within your label can somehow be used as a weapon  is continually frustrating and boring to me.

the end section has a different feel, aesthetic, quality, then all that precedes it because IT IS DIFFERENT.  a different stage or movement in the narrative.   leave all that shit behind.  not only am I different and expressing that,  I am setting up concepts and ideas to embody in that section....that are new for me, that are the changes/states i want to embody... freedom, sensuality, joy, pleasure in moving, whatever... form follows function... if I change my states, qualities, consciousness,  I change my body and my life.

pain ritual transformation. started with chronic pain.  looking at that was a starting point that opened up a whole investigation of "what is wrong?what is out of balance? what is its source? ask, listen, receive, respond. My work personally has been to soften and break patterns within the physical body, break patterns in my thinking,  to soften and break patterns in my heart, and attend to my spirit, my soul.   moving from inauthentic to more authentic. Choreographically I am setting up circumstance, form, and metaphor to experience freedom and joy....living the metaphor, narrative, and ensuing dance as a container and vehicle for transformation.  It is a personal and specific narrative that comes directly from a dialogue with my body, subconscious, history, etc but I think it is a shared narrative on some level and a shared consciousness. If I can make a transformation through performance.. if i can make a new form to allow new function..if i can change my consciousness in order to change my body/life... if i can change my form in order to allow new states... and create a framework to embody new concepts, together with the energy, presence and consciousness of the audience, then that change and experience happens to all of us potentially.  we share in consciousness.   that attempt is my gift to you.  along with, i hope, a visually, sonically, kinesthetically,  interesting stage show. :)

seattlest.com/2010/04/23/amelia_reeber_this_is_a_forgery.php thesunbreak.com/.../amelia-reebers-this-is-a-forgery-looks-real-to-me seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2011684192_reeber24.html http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/one-week-four-dances/Content?oid=3947754