me kissing you: me kissing Joanna

Thursday, October 11, 2012

me kissing Joanna

This is Joanna Friesen. I've only recently met her, although she has a longstanding presence in the Houston dance community, especially as an educator at the University of Houston.

My first experience with Joanna came when i received an email from her. She had gotten my name from my friend Toni (who was my first kiss on this blog!), who said I might be interested in a little project at the Menil Collection. Deborah Hay was coming to Houston to do a site specific performance and they needed six performers to support Deborah's solo.

My first thought was "I don't have time for this," followed immediately by my second thought, "I have to do this!"

The performance is this weekend, Saturday, in Richmond Hall (which is also the title of the performance). There will be two performances, at noon and 3:00pm. Click the Menil link above and look at their programs, if you're reading this before October 13, 2012.

I kissed Joanna after rehearsal today. For getting me involved in this project, she deserves at least a kiss.

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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.