Published Fall 2018. Canadian Theatre Review. Commissioned by Alana Gerecke
City Hall was the least likely place I thought I would end up spending so much of my time. As a freelance dance artist and occasional event/arts programmer I had actually very purposely avoided heavily administrative and bureaucratic work places. When a job became available in the Culture Department at City Hall a colleague suggested I apply. I don’t do full time, and I don’t do beige cubicles- but sure whatever, I’ll bite- and apply. When I got offered the job I literally almost fell of my chair. I had to actually make a decision around this now. I was being offered a salary for the first time in my life, and a decent budget to work with on art events, activations and ultimately on artists and culture in the city I live in. But was I going to give up an emerging art practice and working in my office/patio in my bathing suit and ball cap? Maybe as an artist “inside” City Hall, I could make some sort of small… movement I thought. Cut to 13 years later - Below is a score of fragmented choreographies; the coming together of people, ideas, and movements, connected by site.
A.
STAND outside of City Hall.
Wonder what the hell am I doing here?
Call friends and family for advice.
Think that perhaps this is a place to make a difference.
Consider: I deserve stability, I fear stability. What does stability even look like?
Think: I deserve to be paid well for my work.
Repeat: I am not actually working for the man.
Question: Or am I?
Hope to infiltrate from the inside.
TRY to be casual but actually jump for joy when your manager decides to bring Nuit Blanche to Toronto and sends you to Paris to do research.
Pretend you actually do own a suit.
Stare in amazement—for 12 hours straight—at the hundreds of thousands of Parisians in the streets experiencing the art.
Ask your Parisian colleague if they worry about being too loud in residential areas.
Listen when she says, No we don’t care.
Ask Parisian colleague if they do any family programming.
Giggle when she says, No, we hate children.
Befriend assistant to the Deputy Major in Paris who moves to Toronto to volunteer with the event.
Recognize you still need more help.
B.
LURE a friend out from one job so that she can help you on this one.
Hold meetings together on the treadmills in the basement gym of City Hall
Run at lunch with said friend.
Wear running outfits from the 1970s.
Question: Who runs things?
Together, start a running based collaboration called The Movement Movement.
Create performances titled Run with Art; invite the public to run with us through art galleries, institutions, and museums.
Propose: Collectively we are stronger and can actually question Who runs things?
Find a champion from within.
See negotiation as part of the artwork.
Realize there can be power in asking for permission.
Feel welcomed.
Work with security.
Befriend head of Security.
Feel a little bit flattered & athletic when one curator calls you “jocks not artists” and refuses to let you run in their gallery.
Recognize this is part of the art.
Run with more than 300 people through the Royal Ontario Museum, The Glenbow Museum, & The Melbourne Museum.
Run laps of five to ten km through Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Toronto Alternative Art Fair International, The Theatre Centre, around the Henry Moore at City Hall, and elsewhere.
Create playlists.
Create multiples.
Document the work.
Learn about the importance of documenting work.
A.
RETURN to City Hall.
Look at the city with new eyes.
Let space inform & transform.
See that every space is a stage, canvas, platform, opportunity.
Bring together incredible curators who then bring together incredible artists.
Open up the process to applications.
Talk and think about access.
Be diplomatic.
Be concerned when people say you are diplomatic.
Wear cheap blazers with rocks shirts underneath when a memo comes out about workplace attire (knowing it is directed towards you and your colleague).
TRY not to break your toe right before the event.
Wrap the hell out of it and carry on.
Jump up and down on said toe the night of the event with teammates yelling It’s working it’s working! People like it!
Don’t feel the slightest bit dorky.
Remember you want people to love this.
Repeat this formula.
Don’t let anything become formulaic.
Know it will never be the same.
Learn from your totally brilliant and passionate colleagues.
Value team & collaboration deeply.
FEEL your heart swell as you see people run from artwork to art yelling More art more art, or quietly and intently talking about a work.
Be concerned for various reasons about the drunk teens
Don’t disagree completely when a friend notes Drunk teens need contemporary art too!
Know that it/you/things can’t be everything to everyone.
Believe in the power of art.
Know things are not perfect.
Change what you can.
Accept what you can’t.
Don’t accept this readily.
Understand that asking for forgiveness sometimes works better than asking for permission (and sometimes it doesn’t).
Get better at some things.
Get worse at others.
Protect your energy, time, colleagues, relationships, art practice, community.
Build resilience.
Know some things take a lifetime.
BE aware and work with bottlenecks, entrances, exits and flow.
Train in things like AODA, CPR, Health & Safety, and Conflict Resolution.
Listen intently during training sessions on lost children and riots.
Learn the difference between code blue, black, orange, red.
Learn radio etiquette.
Learn that it is not actually called a walkie talkie.
Think about scope, scale and spectacle (without losing meaning).
Challenge the constant push for metrics
Create new metrics
SEE more and more people come out year after year.
Do not pretend to know what you don’t.
Be in awe of your colleagues.
Don’t read the reviews.
Read the reviews.
Wonder how to change the story
Wonder how to highlight the good (because there is so much good).
Remember this is about access, advocacy, and art.
BE incredibly grateful that more hugely talented people are assigned to work on the event.
Learn a ton.
Screw up a bunch.
Keep working.
Rely on expertise of colleagues, City partners, and other professionals to assist with major issues of crowd control, navigation, and risk management.
Recognize that people hate to line up.
Accept that there are many times that this cannot be avoided.
Believe that some art experiences take time.
Attempt to soften the lineup experience by working with art guides & docents to talk to those in line about the art & artist.
Create signage to inform viewer of a wait times.
Create signage with a dear colleague to suggest & encourage a positive lining up attitude.
Accept that these signs work for some and annoy others.
Try to assist making it worth the wait.
B.
RETHINK use of stage when asked to choreograph something for the stage at City Hall.
Appreciate that the curator asks you to respond to the site.
Wonder if is this too close to home?
See that the stage is situated between stairs.
Wonder if you could repeatedly throw yourself down them.
Recognize your limits.
Hire a stunt woman.
Do a call for volunteers since the budget sucks.
Don’t feel great about this. But, at the very least, be totally transparent.
Try to get stuff for them.
Know that T-shirt’s and donuts don’t cut it.
Ask for more money for dancers, costumes, music, and your work when asked to do this work a second time at the same site by different and performance-loving producer.
Provide childcare during the performance for the performing moms.
Keep rehearsal short, clear, and fun.
Make a quick speech about the site of City Hall & what it means to you, both good and bad.
Talk about the movements up the stairs and the stumbles down being about female resilience.
Decide to do the work even though the stage is now shared with a beer garden.
Get beer tickets for everyone.
Climb over and around people with beer during performance.
Silently cheer for the guy who tries to help the falling performer.
Restore faith in humanity.
Remain calm when one of the original producers gives attitude because you won’t put video cameras on the heads of the dancers so he can get a good shot during a performance and says We responded to all your requests (water and a broom).
Recognize he obviously does not know how to work with human beings and try to be in a place of generosity.
When he asks you to step outside the room to talk so he doesn’t have to call you out in front of the other dancers calmly tell him There will be no stepping outside, there is no calling out, and this relationship does not require a private conversation.
Tell him he should be a little bit embarrassed and owes you an apology.
Accept the apology.
Be annoyed.
Keep eyes open.
Keep heart open.
Keep working.
Dance your dance.