The primary and major task for Kurt Fulton and his collaborator, choreographer Michael
Kraus, was to divide the responsibilities of creating First green. Kurt took on the supervision of
the sections developed with Watchface techniques, and managed the overall technical
issues of the production, such as the music, sets, and lighting, and Michael led the
choreographed portions. Kurt had chosen the theme of birth, inspired by Iris Rose’s
impending due date. Together they outlined the various sections of related ideas and in
what mode they would be constructed. These consisted of, in order, death, sex, pregnancy
and childbirth, conception from the male point of view, motherhood, new birth, mating, and
the cycle of life.
A major source for obtaining text, along with ideas to initiate the movement, was a series of
questionnaires distributed to the entire cast. Different cast members received different
assignments. As an example, Iris was asked to write a free association narrative from the
point of view of an expectant mother. Iris’ input was clearly invaluable, especially since no
other cast member had ever had a child or helped conceive one. Responses to the
questionnaires were reviewed for possible text for the performance and for subjects that
would serve as the impetus for Bodies In Space exercises and phrases to inspire Emblems,
Abstractions and Walter Kendall Fives.
To illustrate, below are excerpts from Iris’ expectant mother narrative: the phrases in
parentheses were used within the script; the italicized lines were used to instigate Emblems;
the remainder of the text was not used.
(Everyone’s so happy). Will they be happy when it’s a little child spoiling their cocktail
party? It’s so nice to have real news to impart – “What’s new?” – “Well…(my news is
bigger than your news).”
Everyone offers help, advice, babysitting. “(Eat crackers).” “(Eat crackers in bed).”
“(Pickles and ice cream)?” “(No, just green olives).” Those with babies are happiest of
all – new recruits. Join the club.
complete expectant mother assignment
The section that involved the most collaborative effort from the group was the first movement
section of the piece. It involved the complete cast performing movement phrases prompted
by Emblems based on perceptions of sexuality in the context of procreation. The cast as
individuals created the phrases by extending the produced Emblems. They were performed
by various combinations of the cast, mixing Watchface members with the dancers. This
gave both the dancers and the Watchfacers the opportunity to explore and perform each
other’s movement vocabulary; it also showed the variety of movement levels.
For the portion dedicated to childbirth, titled Labor, which was referred to as the “double trio”
during rehearsals, the six women first performed in three pairs, made up of one dancer and
one Watchface member. This evolved into two trios made up of the three dancers and the
three Watchface women. The movement was both choreographed and extrapolated from
Emblems, Emblem notations from Iris’ notebook Abstractions, Abstraction notations and Walter
Kendall Fives. Walter Kendall Five notations The dialogue was either taken directly from the
questionnaires or compiled from vocal Jams derived from them. Labor script
A men’s quartet was created the same way, with the addition of Bodies In Space-derived
movements inspired by the male’s contribution to conception. Concepts such as violent
assault, penetration, detachment, and the penis were explored.
For Michael’s two purely choreographed sections, he took in all of this various information,
the improvised movements and their patterns, and melded that with his own movement style
and vocabulary to create the choreography to express both sections’ ideas. One segment
was a solo for dancer Chantal Germain that conveyed motherhood, the other was based on
the rituals of mating, and the resulting conception as performed by all six of the dancers.
Between these two dances, Maggie Siena and Kim X Knowlton performed a dense vocal
and movement section about the realities of dealing with a new life. The intricate script
came from Jams about the symptoms of pregnancy, painful childbirth, and dealing with a
brand new baby. A portion of their rhythmic text:
Kim and Maggie:
Birth of a nation. Birth control.
Eggs in a briar patch. Egg drop soup.
Tunnel of love. Love canal.
Incubate me baby.
A clock in a towel, sounds like a heart. Warm and juicy.
Elastic bone. Soft spot.
Soft boiled eggs. Spirit gum.
Squirmy red jelly beans.
Your head, my butt.
Have a safe landing you little piece.
Push push in the bush.
Open push bush, little gooey, fleshy cruise ship.
The section ended with a soft and poetic question:
Kim and Maggie:
Open your lips, your beak, your lungs.
All things suckle with eyes closed.
Venus fly trap comes later.
Little brains remain in heaven until they get to know flavor, light, and the folds of loving giants.
Kim:
What is it like to have words spoken softly to you for the first time?
Is it just music?
In the final section, the cycle of life closed and continued. Brief stories of life, death, and
transition were spoken, as other performers symbolically died and were reborn. Cycle script
