ALTAR/ALTER

“Come as you are, stay as long as you like. We’ll make an altar/alter with our objects, presence, and attention. Bring objects that you love (or maybe objects that love you) and something to write with.”

Created in collaboration with Ajani Brannum.

Structure (a proposal that can be modified)

  1. (5-10) Meet n Greet

  2. ARRIVING: Notice and position yourself in your environment. Make any adjustments to your wardrobe (wear what you want to be wearing). Gather objects that ________ you.

  3. ALTAR-ATIONS: Accumulating. Add objects. Move objects. Play with what is on screen and what is off.

  4. “QUIET” TIME: Take a nap off-screen. Rest. Contemplate.

  5. ACTIVATION: Treat your chosen object(s) as your tether, or center of gravity. Whatever you need to do in relationship to them - moving with them, writing about them, letting them hold space for you while you witness others - is encouraged. Think of the object not just as a part of the altar you seen onscreen, but as a cord connecting the Zoom world to the larger sphere of activity in your space that is also part of the altar. (Some questions you can ask: What are the qualities of the object? How does it make you feel? What does it remind you of? Can you mimic it in any way?)

  6. BEING SEEN/FELT: Share a kernel of what you experienced via whatever mode of transmission (moving/talking/chat function/altar).

  7. ALTAR-ATIONS: De-acummulate. Removing objects as you feel called to.

  8. SHARE: Process, talk with others, listen, do as you wish.

*You can make changes to the Altar/Alter at any time

*You can return to rest at any time

We are making an ALTAR/ALTER as…

  • A structure where people can come and go as they wish

  • A structure that invites multiple types of participation

  • A way to be here while also being there

  • A way to let dancing take another (magical) form

  • A suggestion of the sacred/magic/reverent

NOTE: ALTAR/ALTER was created in lieu of participation in Lion’s Jaw Performance Festival in Fall 2020. In the first stages of what would turn out to be a much longer pandemic, we were exhausted by the compulsion to perform presence onscreen, and came up with ALTAR/ALTER as a way to feel supported by each other, while widening the parameters for what it meant to be “present.”