me kissing you: me kissing Loueva

Friday, February 10, 2012

me kissing Loueva

Loueva Smith is someone I've run across now and then but didn't really get to know until last summer, when we were both in the dance film, Framing Bodies: LOVE ME.

She's primarily a poet and branching out a bit. She always has surprising images in her work and just a couple of months ago appeared in a multimedia show she co-created with Freneticore Dance Theater. Her Tenderina was the tale of a stripper ballerina, but that title doesn't begin to tell you about the truly tender story that was told through fresh images and not a little humor.

Loueva is treasure. If you see she's reading somewhere near you, do make the effort to hear her. You can thank me later.

1 comment:

AnonymousFebruary 11, 2012 at 10:49 AM
It was a wonderful kiss! I love all the electrical switches over my shoulder, and the unseen angels I'm looking at over our heads. xL
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

about this blog . . .

So 2011 saw me dealing with a bad 2010 by posting a picture of myself, taken first thing every morning, as some kind of conceptual art project. You can see all 365 blurry, bleary photos here.

As it was, at it's core, a response to loneliness, I knew it was not something I could or should sustain beyond the one year boundary I initially set for it. But I sort of liked this photo blogging thing . . .

So I decided the next logical step was to reach out to other people. Not just reach out, but cross some of my own comfort zones and kiss them. Not on the mouth, not in a romantic or sexual way, just a kiss on the cheek.

So, this year, I plan on kissing as many people as I can. I won't even try to kiss someone everyday, but in various situations, I may just ask someone, "hey, can I kiss you and photographically document the event?" If they say no, no worries, I'll move on. If they say yes, I'll say, "I have this tiny release form granting me permission." (It is a tiny release form, postcard size.)

It's a small way to get me out of a rut I'm in and also to spread a little love. In the ancient Christian church, there was the custom of the "kiss of peace" (which survives in liturgical churches today as "passing the peace," usually signified by a handshake). I think of this exercise as something of passing the peace, too, of offering a kiss of peace to whoever will let me do it. And document it.

Wait---there's more! You can be kissed, too! If you're in the Houston area and would like to be kissed by me, let me know. Or if you're coming to Houston. Or even if you're not in Houston or coming to Houston, but want to be on a list of potential kissees, in the event that I might be traveling to where you are (I get up Austin a few times a year, I hope to get to Chicago this year, etc.), let me know that, too. you never know where I might pop up. Email me at neilellisorts (at) yahoo dot com.