Early Thursday night, the artists and musicians of the MASA Bezalel-Rimon group greatly anticipated a two-day retreat at the Vertigo Dance Eco-Village in Beit Shemesh. Though our group had very few expectations, we were ready for an eye-opening, creative experience.The smell of a wood-burning stove and cauliflower curry warmed our senses as we prepared for an introductory session of “contact” dance. Our instructors, four expressive, bright-eyed sisters, gave us a foundation in “contact” so we were able to branch off into our own forms of self-expression. The evening soon evolved into a synergy of art, music, and dance that continued long into the night.
After a soothing Tai-Chi class and a delicious breakfast the following morning, we headed outside to mix the right amounts of sand, clay, water, and straw for mud bricks. We artists enjoyed “getting messy” and learning about sustainable living in an eco-conscious setting. With our mud bricks baking in the mid-day sun, the musicians and artists split into separate rooms for our respective workshops. The artists participated in a project involving semaphore flags to spell out a single word that represented each individual. The musicians partook in an improvisation workshop. When the artists and musicians converged in the main studio, we exercised all we had learned over the past two days in a collaborative dialogue of dance, music, and art.
The workshop helped us articulate our own artistic statements within a broader community of artists. We exercised what comes natural to us in a non-conventional way. We were thrust out of our comfort zones, though the discomfort didn’t hinder our creativity; it exposed our humility. From this raw, vulnerable state we grew together. Witnessing this change in ourselves and in each other, we became closer and unafraid.
We became closer and unafraid?! More like we wallowed in each other's BO, and shit in a hole in the ground covered in sawdust.
It was actually nice. Except for the Tai Chi class where I was paired up with a realllllly smelly, old, Israeli geyser.
Other stuff that happened:
The past couple shabboses, I've been baking fantastic challah. I learned how to braid with four, five, and six strands. I went to the schul nearby the Kfar and met Esther, the jewish finalist in America's Next Top Model. She looked...okay. Her lips were a bit too pouty for me.
challot
Saturday night Klezmer in a basement in Mea Shearim
I had the BEST BREAKFAST (brunch?) at Kadosh, the BEST BREAKFAST (brunch?) place in Jerusalem. We got a basket-ful of rolls and brioches, an omelette with cheesy scalloped potatoes and labane, sunnyside-up eggs on a fried brioche with wilted greens, israeli salad, an assortment of spreads, two hot drinks apiece, and they come with little butter cookies to dip in your coffee. I didn't even feel like stealing sugar packets, I was so satisfied and felt i had gotten my money's worth.
I visited my drawing teacher's studio yesterday. He invited me because he was inviting another girl to come and see a sculpture of his, and he didn't want her to feel as if it was an invitation for rape. It still felt like an invitation for rape, but I was comforted that I had one on him...having two arms to defend myself and all. His studio is awesome. Located right behind the shuk, incredibly messy, and with an extensive music collection. The 8-foot epoxy'ed sculpture of a naked man took up half the space. He's a really coool dood.
Pesach just cheesin'
The epoxy golemI got a pretty mucus-y cold this week. I've been stuffed and coughing like a smoker. But i'm over it thanks to Ricola Cranberry Cough Drops.
Purim's coming up, and I just bought tickets for Bezalel's Purim party. It's held at school and I feel a lot of pressure to come up with an outrageous costume. I had originally intended to make a snake headdress for a medusa costume (the purim theme is Monster) but I couldn't find plastic snakes in Jerusalem. I will probably just dress up as Vishnu again just because I'm making henna paste now and I have those crazy paisley Aladdin pants. (I'm REALLY SAD IM MISSING THE PHAGWA PARADE IN QUEENS, BY THE WAY!) If I'm really pressed for time I'm gonna just put purim on my nipples (pur means dice in persian), and a hamentaschen on my pubic area. Or get a false beard and dress as a rapist. Or my drawing teacher!
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