Birds Fled From Me

Birds Fled From Me . music video from Jono Schaferkotter on Vimeo.

I saw her at Boo Boos in San Luis a Couple of weeks ago and she was AMAZING and I really like her simple, honest style.

Presence part 2

So I've been contemplating my nugget quite a lot lately and I keep thinking about my time in France and the effect that it had on my views of life and my way of living, specifically the awareness of self. I realized very quickly that I can never be anyone but my true self; therefore I should explore all the parts of me. The soul and/or spirit are ever changing and I found that every day I realized something new, sometimes it completely conflicted something I had just learned about myself.


Being unable to speak French and communicate through language opened another opportunity to communicate through facial expressions and movement. I had a lot of time in France to contemplate and think things through. I internalize naturally when I process new information or ideas. I don't like to share what I'm thinking or feeling I'd rather work through it alone and then share my conclusion (maybe). Especially if it makes me uncomfortable or vulnerable.

I keep thinking about presence and how each person's interacts, do they? I feel like presence creates those overwhelming instincts about people, almost like an aura that radiates. Some radiate more than others. Do we like to be around people that match our presence or do we like imbalance? Does an imbalance of presence create balance?


There was someone in France that had a presence, presence that I was addicted to. Sometimes it was great other times it was a nightmare. Which brought me to the idea of Charisma, is external charisma the same as presence? No because you can have a stern, commanding presence and not be at all charismatic. So, was it the presence of my friend's charisma that I liked? I don't know...

Presence

I am currently working with a company here in San Luis Called Variable Velocity Performance Group. One of the directors approached me about the idea for the new show and asked me to consider the idea of presence in conjunction with my time in France and my experience abroad. She mentioned that she might want me to say something in French. My immediate thoughts were oh no! I don't speak French, but I do know people who do.

Then I started thinking about presence and what it means to me, what it meant in France, what type of presence was needed for different situations. Specifically I thought about the stuggle in France between wanting to be noticed and having a strong presence and times when you'd rather be invisible and just blend in.

I thought about the fact that presence can also be a lack of presence not just the actual being of it. Therefore I began to play with ideas like in France I knew only a few phrases that really came in handy:

Je ne comprend pas or I don't understand
Je ne sais pas or I don't know
Je ne parle pas francais or I don't speak any french
Je parle francais un peu or I speak french a little
Je veux/je voudrais or I want/I would like
Bonjour/Bonsoir/Au Revoir or good day/good evening/good bye
oui/non, d'accord, pardon, desole, s'il vous plait/merci or yes/no, ok, excuse me, sorry, please/thank you

That was the presence I had and knew. I used them to grab attention when I needed help, or to blend in so people would think I was French. These were my tools I used them in every function imaginable. Most of the time I was a chameleon I tried to slip through the cracks appear French or European at least. I never wanted to be that American or the ugly American, stereotypes were my worst fear.

That is as far as I am in my discovery of presence in my life so far, but I will keep updating the thought process.

The Intimacy Chronicles: joyeux, mon amis

Part 4 of The Intimacy Chronicles

This section was playing with new camera angles and free movement with in my opinion a very fun light piece of music by The Books, song That Right Ain't Shit.

I focused a lot of phrase variations, new facings, and thinking about a floating quality to the movement. I didn't want to feel weighed down in any way. Instead I thought of circles and lift.

The Intimacy Chronicles
joyeux, mon amis

The Intimacy Chonicles: joyeux, mon amis from Lauren Chertudi on Vimeo.

The Initmacy Chronicles: apologies

Part 3 of The Intimacy Chronicles


This section is the complete opposite of part 2. It is entirely based on an event and feelings towards the end of my time in France. I was very emotionally all over the place. It plays with the whole inner conflict idea. Basic human emotion as I like to say. This description sounds really cliché but I promise the movement isn't.

This video was caught late one night as my camera was dying (hence it being only 2 mins long sorry). Yay for site specific work! Space as you can tell is limited. Music by Lykke Li, song Time Flies

The Intimacy Chronicles: apologies

The Initmacy Chronicles: apologies from Lauren Chertudi on Vimeo.

The Intimacy Chronicles: Boxes and Curves

Part 2 of the Intimacy Chronicles

This stems from watching the Sigur Ros documentary Heima on youtube (it means "at home" in Icelandic) while in France. The scenery of Iceland was so beautiful and moving, it reminded me of the travels I was doing at the time in Europe. I was playing with the idea of distinct dynamics of movement and the idea of a box and body curve. Hence the title boxes and curves.

This piece is an improvisation of a phrase I was playing with and the piece is focused on imagery not so much feeling or story like the first section. Music by Sigur Ros from the movie Heima

The Intimacy Chronicles: boxes and curves

The Intimacy Chronicles: Boxes and Curves from Lauren Chertudi on Vimeo.

The Intimacy Chronicles: C'est Ma Vie Versailles

While in France I spent a bit of time working on new material based on my life there and the people I met and lived with. This is the first installment of the project that I now call The Intimacy Chronicles. The name of the project stemmed from the fact that all these videos are based on very personal (you might say private) feelings that are very intimate to me. It is a non verbal way of sharing all the things close to my heart that I would never say out loud. Essentially these are my private thoughts.

Part one is called C'est Ma Vie Versailles

This piece is based off of an experience that truly started a couple days before the trip to Versailles but came to full bloom in a way on that trip. It is a compilation of 7 one minute improvised sections. filmed in my French apartment one afternoon. Music is by Jaydiohead, song title Change Order

The Intimacy Chronicles: C'est Ma Vie Versailles

The Intimacy Chronicles: C'est ma vie, Versailles from Lauren Chertudi on Vimeo.

Dance Dance Dance

Dance Dance Dance in France (Photo by Laine Riley, Rouen, France 2009)