Hello dear readers,
In my opinion, spring is, by far, the worst season. This should come as no surprise to many of you, especially those who read COVEN BERLIN’s “A Thing That Feels” when I was behind it. Although my feelings about spring are no secret, and last year I said this: “Next spring, we would do well to anticipate, maybe even celebrate, despair”, the screaming misery of spring surprised me once more. Read more about patriarchy fueling dangerous misconceptions about spring here.
I decided against indulging you (and me) with my annual tirade about the woes of this wet and painful time of year because it seems like the spring has been hard for everybody. Instead, I wanted to share one of the “downloads” I have been getting from the “cosmos” this season, and send you to read a recent collab’ I did with my own mother, Anne Swardson, in her blog called Planted in Paris.
The collab’: In 1997, Anne was a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post and wrote a story about fountain pens in the french school system. She describes her perception of my struggle with those inky devils, and wanted me to write a response, 27 years later. I did! Click here.
The download: spring, while being famous for its new beginnings, is actually a perfect time for finishing things. Draw things to completion. Tie the strands together. Make an omelette with the eggs you have already put in your baskets and eat it. Do not wait around mournfully for the weather to be nice! It will not be nice until June, realistically. Focus instead on staying warm and dry indoors and completing long, drawn-out projects, like your website, or your taxes. Bring spring to you while you focus on finishing the job by buying some nice flowers and putting them on your desk, where you can comfortably wear a t-shirt. Use the generative energy of the moment to make sure that when warm weather comes you do not need to be dealing with stuff you could have done when you instead insisted, preemptively, on having a picnic.
With that, I’m off to finish some stuff.
Sending love,
Louise
Announcements:
~ Melanie Jame Wolf is performing a new piece called “The Promise of Their Body” at E-Werk Luckenwalde on May 3rd, and I am, among other things, operating the follow-spot. I can’t say too much about it right now, except that there will be ceramic tongues and it will be performed in an empty swimming pool. The full program of “Tell Them I Said No” can be found here. Be sure to book a ticket if you want to come.
~ On July 13th and 14th, Lester St. Louis will set up his piece called “In Residence” at Hošek Contemporary (which is a gallery on a boat), in a festival curated by CREAMCAKE. In it, I dance and hold conversations. I love Lester and his work, I am a CREAMCAKE fan, and to make it even more exciting, Nikima Jagudajev is also in it and all the dance material is from their work. I haven’t danced in Berlin since before the pandemic, and I would be so happy if you came and watched. I will announce this again, but you can already put it in your calendar. The last time we performed “In Residence” was in Nuremberg of all places. You can read what I wrote about it here.