Summer Solstice

I went to my favorite place in the city on Saturday, the IMA. The grounds are absolutely beautiful.

On Saturday, to mark the Summer Solstice, the IMA and Asian Art society presented Mare Fecunditatis. Mare Fecunditatis means "Sea of Fertility" and blends traditional rites of purification from Japan with classical and contemporary Western influences. There were three parts to this program. Part I: Purification opened with a duet between two vertical instruments: the single-string bow of a Japanese Zen Archer and the Cello.

Reaching back to the primal sounds of man and the hunt, the archer shoots the arrow over the distance of the stage, instantly purifying the space.

Part II was Festival, where migrating across a desert, the dancer breathes life into the newly purified space. Evoking the lives of the community and migrating forward to the future while looking back and remembering the past. For one small instant the search stops and the present prevails before moving on in the journey again.

Part III, Resonance The three separate entities, representing the interdependency needed to become one, grow into a crescendo of understanding as the performance culminates with a larger 12-million candlelight Searchlight stretching its horizontal beam across the stage illuminating the journey's path while a lone-archer releases his arrow into the darkness of the night.

In the top picture the dancer is pulling different colors of string as he continues on the path of the future. He is illuminated in a searchlight as he walks down the 100-meter long, 54 inch wide vinal stage.

Another highlight of the night was getting to spend some face time with my little man, Orion Charles.

We had a blast playing in the grass, clapping, and listening to the music. At one point Orion fell asleep while in my lap and woke up just in time for the ending. It was a perfect night.