Why Capacitance Rules by Katie Ewald (2016)
I have been weird my whole life. I like contemporary dance, experimental theater, and I identify as a radical feminist. And when I say I like contemporary dance and experimental theatre, I mean to say that when I witness an inspiring piece of work, I feel the world is a better place. I like to feel changed and challenged and fucked up and hopeful. I like the messy, shitty and awkward side of humanity to shine forward in art, with honesty and vulnerability.
That is why I love improvisation so much.
That is why I improvise.
I loved those hours in dance school (long ago) where I witnessed my fellow students experiment for the sake of experimentation. Capacitance brings me back to that feeling.
Like:
WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN NEXT?
IS THIS NOT WORKING?
…OR IS IT THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER EXISTED!?
Now I am a mom who makes art professionally and has to fight like a falcon to get an hour of creative time just for the sake of it. Usually that work is ordered and structured toward an eventual show.
And then Lynette Segal goes and invents Capacitance, and we get to go on the odd Sunday, like church, and witness dancers, musicians and other artists, thrown together for an hour to make something worthwhile.
GO!, she says, I WILL NOT TELL YOU WHAT TO DO!
I love it.
I LOVE it. I fly. I get restless and tense. I laugh and then cry. Look at these beautiful weird humans whose talent is so obscure! Look at them make something together! Look at them try to figure it out!
It’s beautiful.
Thank you, Lynette, for bringing this here to Guelph.
Then, she invites Leanne Dyer, Kid Millions, Katie Ward and Bry Webb to be in the Kazoo! Fest show. Four of my favourite performers of all time get to try to work this out together. I am going to be there, front row, dying of happiness, feeling changed and challenged and fucked up and hopeful.
Katie Ewald is a dancer and longtime collaborator with Public Recordings. She is the curator and organizer of Kazoo! Fest’s Short&Sweet: Guelph Edition 2016.
An excerpt of the first Capacitance performance from September 20th 2015:
