a long and winding road

Last weekend The PlayGround presented Acts of Arriving across metro DC - starting in Mount Rainer traveling to Brookland, then onto Meridian Hill / Malcolm X Park, and finishing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. We performed in each location, then walked to the next location. It took the whole day, with over 7 miles of walking and 3 hours of dancing. It was a long and winding journey through the city.

In January 2012 we started rehearsing for this day. In that time we have rehearsed in numerous studios, on-site many times, toured locations in the freezing cold and the heat of summer. We have researched our personal genealogy, histories of neighborhoods, stories of people who migrate, and the meaning of home and community. The company has created movement, spoken word texts, videos, while David has composed some amazing music. As individuals we have gotten married, had a baby, changed jobs ( a couple of times), and I even moved to Milwaukee (!). We have gotten to know one another in new ways, were introduced to locations in the city some of us were unfamiliar with, and each of us grew, in many ways, as an artist. The journey has been full, if somewhat long and winding.

We arrive at the end of this journey excited and grateful about what we offered. In many ways it is a culmination of many works and performances the company has created over the last number of years, and at the same time, it is unlike anything else we've created. It is playful but complex, multifaceted yet direct, formal and informal, highly structured with room for spontaneity, and approachable while being challenging. As with most of my work I hope it is welcoming without being simplistic, and visceral with a touch of poetry.

As with the end of any long and winding journey there is deep satisfaction, with a little sadness and great gratitude.

If you weren’t able to join us (or even if you were) here is a video montage of our Mount Rainier performance by Brian Harris - with dancers Kathryn Harris Banks, Anthony Barbir, Valerie Branch, Daniel Tehmann Tejos, Abigail Wallace, trumpeter Joseph Teachey, with music by David Schulman. I’m around as well:

Acts of Arriving from Brian Harris on Vimeo.

The Places They've Lived

Throughout the process of creating Acts of Arriving we offered creative workshops at locations across Metro DC. One of the activities we asked people to participate in was in listing all of the places they lived, starting with where they were born until present day. This video is excerpts of people's responses.

Acts of Arriving: Places The've Lived from Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround on Vimeo.

The photo at the beginning is of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 

and the map at the end is one we used for our creative workshop at Monroe St Market in Brookland. 

for those of you unfamiliar with Acts of Arriving:
Acts of Arriving is a multi-year project in which we engage question about place, community, and the creative act of making a home. We offered four workshops in Mount Rainier, MD, Brookland, DC, Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, and at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. We will be performing at all four locations on Saturday, October 18, 2014. 
More details at: www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org. 

Katie @ The Kennedy Center

A couple weeks ago The PlayGround rehearsed Acts of Arriving at The Kennedy Center for our upcoming performance (info here). At the beginning of the performance each performer does a solo for a different part of the audience, so there are 6 simultaneous solos happening. The following is an excerpt of Katie's solo - I like how, at only moments, she exites the shadow into the light, with a little on her face here and there.



Acts of Arriving Katie at The Kennedy Center from Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround on Vimeo.

Learn more about Acts of Arriving - with performances on October 18, 2014 across Metro DC: http://www.danielburkholdertheplayground.org/when.html