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A Hand in C Major (2022)

Performance, 20 min.

On Gesture, Tension, and the Open Hand

A Hand in C Major traces the somatic aftermath of refusal unheard, of articulated boundary unmet. Bitterness tightens in the body as clenched fists, hands sizzle with rigidity. Equilibrium is lost between tension and release.

 

The nervous system shifts key. Breath that once resonated in C Major - curious, compassionate, relational- begins to register in D Minor; tense, withdrawn, resentful.

Detached from safety and belonging, it calls for the guidance of anger.

As transgression leads to hardening, the return to the opening/flowing/receiving/giving hand becomes a complex negotiation, shaped by the cultural ground where boundaries, accountability, and care take root.

Through movement, the alchemy of grief, solidarity, and the elemental kinship of water, sun, and song, a rebalancing emerges. The hand begins to open again. A light left on. A quiet invitation to future intimacies built on trust, clarity, and the sacred labour of reciprocity.

Credits, Inspiration & Lineage

Ecologies of Transformation, Camille Barton.
The GEN Grief Toolkit, embodied social justice practices and many other offerings by Camille Barton.
Si/Lo, (QT)BIPOC Not-Contact Improvisation and other offerings by
Joy Mariama Smith (including the t-shirt).
Offerings, words, shared joy and guidance of
Victoria McKenzie.
Practices with
Char Kasza, as well as generous, loving healing work in times of feeling D minor.
Ecologies of Transformation friends.
Clown Intensive by Sabine Choucair of
Clown Me In.
Towards a Black Ecopoet(h)ics by
Ama Josephine B. Johnstone.
The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice, Staci Haines.
I Hope We Choose Love, and deeper understanding of conflict, by
Kai Cheng Thom.
Pleasure Activism, adrienne maree brown.
Then of course; Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power by Audre Lorde.
Embodied Activism (Embodied Social Justice Summit), Nkem Ndefo & Rae Johnson.
Finding Our Way podcast, Prentis Hemphill.
Non-Violent Communication course by Meenadchi.
The Resilience Toolkit by Nkem Ndefo, conveyed by Char Kasza and Wang​ũi.
Portals & Ritual course by Evan Ifekoya.
Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement, Ejeris Dixon, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.
Shostakovich: The Present-Day Master of the C major Key, David Fanning.
Embodied Trauma-Informed Practice by Lumos Transforms, conveyed by Camille Barton.
Theatre of the Oppressed, Augusto Boal.
Technical help by Rick Haring, the MediaLab, Ineke, Ramon, Ivo.
Video documentation and precious feedback by Ariane Boot.
Photography by Dora Lionstone

doralionstone.com
@doralionstoned 

 
Sound Material
 
It's All Coming Back to Me Now, Celine Dion
Maria, Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
No Not One, LaShun Pace
Genie in a Bottle, Christina Aguilera
Etude in D Minor, Carlos Feller
Georg Philipp Telemann Fantasia #5 C Major for flute solo, Katja Pitelina
Çargâh Peşrev in C Major, Resat Aysu
The Piano Sonata No 16 in C major, Mozart
Bolero, Maurice Ravel
Also sprach Zarathustra Op 30, Richard Strauss
Symphony No 100 in G Major 2nd Movement Allegretto, Joseph Haydn
Imagine, John Lennon
Prelude in C Major, Johann Sebastian Bach
Çargâh Oyun Havası in C Major, Cihat Askin
The Barber of Seville Largo Al Factotum Figaro, Rossini
Carmen, Habanera, Bizet
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Johann Sebastian Bach
O Fortuna Carmina Burana, Carl Orff
Overture to Don Giovanni, Mozart. Requiem in D minor Lacrimosa dies illa, Mozart
Oboe Concerto in D Minor Adagio, Alessandro Marcello
Night on the Bald Mountain, Mussorgsky
Dances from Borodins Prince Igor, Polovtsian
Requiem Introit Kyrie Herreweghe, Mozart
The Sun is Down, Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono live at the Orpheum Theater
could cry just thinkin about you, Troye Sivan
Say It, Maggie Rogers
Light On, Maggie Rogers

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