Wall Art - an interactive improv piece

At Calamity #7, we wanted to close with a piece that got the audience involved, because we really do believe that everybody has an artistic voice, and that it is important to listen to all those voices.

Our friend Shannon Reynolds, who also showed some of her paintings at #6, is an art therapist and also one of those people who has a million lovely and wonderful artistic ideas spill out every time they open their mouths. So when I was heading out to visit some friends on the Cape a few weeks ago, I stopped over in Providence to discuss some ideas about how to get the #7 audience to become a part of the show. We got some smoothies, checked out a very cool local festival, and talked about art!

I didn't take any pics of how cute she was that day, but here she is when we were out celebrating on the 5th of July! (That's not a typo.) You can also see me and our friend Steph in the background -- you've seen her before rapping at #5 and choreographing for the flash mob!

photo by Alison MacEachern

Shannon and I (well, mostly Shannon) came up with this verrry cool idea:

1. post paper on the side of the stage
2. give everybody in the audience a crayon
3. assign a color to each dancer
4. when the dancer who matches your crayon stops dancing, you get up and draw something!

It was that simple! We had four dancers - Rossella Calabrese, Katie McGrail, Amy, and me (and poor Molly was sick or she would have joined in!) - so we assigned a few colors to each dancer.

Unbeknownst to me, Kelley Donovan - who also hosts a dance series at Third Life and is looking for choreographers for her September show - took some video! So, here's the video! Also, sorry to Kelley for standing directly in front of you for so long!

Post by Kelley Donovan.

And last but not least, I really wanted everybody to get a chance to see the audience's drawings! I love the range of figurative and abstract, and was impressed at what people were able to do with their crayons.. check 'em out!