NINA on Feeling and Freedom

The True Path

Just before Ninakawa passed away the Zen master Ikkuyu visited him.

'Shall I lead you on?' Ikkuyu asked.

Ninakawa replied: 'I came here alone and I go alone. What help could you be to me?'

Ikkuyu answered: 'If you think you really come and go, that is your delusion. Let me show you the path on which there is no coming and going.'

With his words, Ikkuyu had revealed the path so clearly that Ninakawa smiled and passed away.

~ Zen Stories - some traditional, some by Muju 

On Living

The Vision

Follow the vision.

But this is not to say, wait for the vision before you embark on the journey...

Embark on the journey regardless...

The vision will clarify your journey, and your destination, when it decides to come to you.

When it does come to you, hold it dear...

For excellence resides where it comes to fruition. 

Reflection: Windows and Mirrors -PAR Q1 _ 1.0

On the work of Prof. Hausler

Memories... sometimes they come suddenly... sometimes they come over time...

Pictures... they bring back memories... they locate you in a different time and place...

Music... it evokes memory... denotes an era...

Family... you in different forms

Roots... a never ending, ever increasing, source of you...

Continuum... life, work, space...

Movement... how do we navigate through time and space?

Space... how do we move, inhabit, and ... wander through...

Exile - PAR Q1 _ 0.6

• To wander away from home is to be exposed without protection… sometimes a fate worse than death…

• Euripides likens all women's position to exile; in their having to leave home to serve their husbands. So Medea was doubly in exile, both in the ordinary sense, as a non-Greek foreigner, and as a woman. In the same speech, Medea talks of her status as 'a foreigner [falling] in the city['s ways]' and, on being married, 'we come to new behaviour, new customs'.

• Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."

• Exile can also be a self-imposed departure from one's homeland. Self-exile is often depicted as a form of protest by the person that claims it, to avoid persecution or legal matters (such as tax or criminal allegations), an act of shame or repentance, or isolating oneself to be able to devote time to a particular thing.

• An exile, expatriate, expat 
• A person who is voluntarily absent from home or country…
•  Absentee  - one that is absent or not in residence

• An exile, deportee
• A person who is expelled from home or country by authority
•  A foreigner,  alien,  noncitizen,  outlander -  one who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country

• Exile, deportation, expatriation, transportation
• the act of expelling a person from their native land
• “Men in exile dream of hope”
• “the sentence was one of transportation for life"
• banishment, proscription
• rejection by means of an act of banishing or proscribing someone)

“Men in exile dream of hope”

Finding the Research Question - PAR Q1 _ 0.5

Indigenous South African performance genres, like many other things African, seems to be absent in the main domain of public cultural influence, it seems to be exiled to the past, only to come home to the present during traditional ceremonies, and in few rural private spaces, to be exhibited like ancient treasures.

Working with elements that make up the Southern African Folktale, and evoking the spirits of past storytellers, I aim to reignite the exiled performance genres to claim their place in the main domain of public cultural influence.   

cont...

When People Play People - PAR Q1 _ 0.4

On the development of theatre in Africa

Theatre is part of the people’s life. The contemporary African Theatre practitioner is aware of the need to evolve an authentic African theatre that will be relevant to the community, and also be part of the people’s life. (Mda, 1993, p7)

On the travelling theatre concept

‘The theatre artists in these shows were coming down from some ivory tower to show the poor illiterate rural masses something they were missing from their lives’ (Kamlongera, 1989, p70) These plays were presented in the villages, but rarely did they address themselves to the question of their audiences’ reaction to this whole exercise. Even when the emphasis had shifted to presenting plays on local issues, the format was still the one learnt in schools from Western sources. No attempt was made to incorporate or learn from the people’s own performance modes. (Mda, 1993, p9)

On creating theatre for the people

Kamlongera writes that some practitioners trying to establish a truly African theatre have resorted to adopting ancient legends, myths, and rituals, and presenting these in the context of, and within the understanding of Western theatre…

Creating theatre for the people assumes that the people are devoid of any theatre experience. The latest stage now is to try to identify and African aesthetic by creating theatre with the people. (Mda, 1993, p9)

On identifying a truly African theatre

It is not a cliché to say indigenous performances in Africa contain within them some functional element. It most cases this takes the form of a didactic statement. Whilst performers might engage in doing spectacular movements and dances, they might also carry within the performances special messages or lessons to some members of their audience. (Kamlongera, 1989, p.88)

It has already been stated that in pre-colonial Africa, art both functioned and communicated. This was an epoch before the commodification of art, and creators of art were not solely artists, but community members who engaged in the creation of artistic products among other activities. (Mda, 1993, p.47)

***   Individual author – script – structured stage / arena trouvé – charged admission / free performance – actor’s ‘magic’ – actor’s self criticism – audience applause / participation – post performance contemplation / analysis ***

The Value of Me - PAR Q1 _ 0.3

Being of a place different from that which I was born...

Being of a culture different to those I was brought up in...

A global nomad... everywhere the other, a visitor, a perpetual outsider

Being unheard in the land of my origin...

Being of peace in a world of violence...

Being of law in a lawless society...

Being of knowledge in a land of ignorance... 

Being of the soul in a material world...

What is the value of I?

(First published in Reflections Of A Mind In Exile; titled Of Value and Me)

The State of Practice - PAR Q1 _ 0.2

Of Us (You and I)

Dali -  Birth Of A Divinity

Dali - Fertility

Dali - Three Apparitions Of The Vision

An Introduction - PAR Q1 _ 0.1

It is difficult sometimes to pinpoint what thoughts to share with yourself, and with others, more so with others than with yourself.

With yourself, thoughts enter your consciousness at will... you take control of which to take mind of the most. With others, you then share the cream of that crop.  

Of all the world, what is there to contribute? 

What is there to share? 

What is there to help mankind notice the self from above? 

What is there to assist change...?

In my neck of the woods I would like to see Africans come into their own... I would like to see them in charge of themselves and in charge of their surroundings... I would like to see them all on the path to excellence.

How do we educate the uneducated? 

How do we encourage action in a dormant community?

How does art inspire consciousness?

How does drama inspire action?

By calling the oppressed oppressed are we not validating their oppression? 

Is there dignity in oppression?

Is oppression a necessary opposite to its opposite?   

Through generations the African folktale has taught its audience lessons of life... is there place for the teachings to continue today?

The making of a modern day folktale - Image - Narrative - Rhythm - and Trope.

Introducing the state of us - how it is!