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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Welcome back, Mario

7/9

Seemingly from the four corners of the earth, Mario and his colleagues from the (Grotowski) Work Center in Italy have regathered at West-Park. In the meantime, Jeremy G has kept the home fires burning with weekly open choir sessions and seed group meetings. Now they are all here to put together the symposium on the meeting point between the sacred and art practices… Performing (and) the Sacred ..A living exploration of artistic and community practices.

There is Myrto, Greek by way of Toronto; Graziele from Brazil, still in a state of shock from yesterday’s, as Zeljko would call it, mythological World Cup game between Brazil and Germany; Lloyd, the American with his Williamsburg hat and Mario from Italy.

As always, the conversation shifts between working out practical details and deeper levels where words like ontological and didactic come into play. And Mario moves back and forth between his very grassroots connections and connecting with the upper echelons of tall steeple religion. I keep pushing the conversation past the reformation of what already exists to the creation of new intentional spiritual communities.

Someone has said to Mario there is a difference between the spiritual and the aesthetic. I don’t think so. It’s intersections we’re looking for.  And someone asked what he would answer if asked if he believes that Jesus is God or the son of God. And he’s not sure. And I say it depends what assumptions underlie the question. That it is didactic in a a world of being, of ontology. And we talk about evangelicals. And  Catholics. And how colonial Catholicism allowed the survival of indigenous religion, especially Native American and Yoruba, by translating one set of gods into a different set of symbols. And how somehow the experience of singing transcends any theological boundaries. And hoe somehow we’re going to explore all this in a night together. With theatre people. And musicians. And clergy. And old garifona women choir singers from the Bronx.

Well, at least we’ve got the outline down.
Argentina is ready to play the Netherlands. Several of the Work Center folks are chanting go global south…..






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