MISCHA BAKA: Mishka Beckmann

Showing posts with label Mishka Beckmann. Show all posts

Thursday, September 13, 2018

The Other Shore

Sarah Hotchin September 13, 2018 0

A dance was performed as part of Rebekhas show opening. This opened up a dialogue of movement and emotion with the works. I felt it gave the audience permission to think and feel more in response to the works. The dancers were inviting the audience to imagine how a work may speak to the heart, body and mind.

Rebekhas choreographic direction:

Wind: Ask the wind what it has to say to you.

Heat: Ask the heat what it has to say to you.

Cold: What does the cold say to you?

Water: What does the water say to you?

Air: What does the air say to you?

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Being open to one’s self, being open to others.

Rebekah Stuart August 26, 2018 0

Today in Alchemy Rebekah shared with the group her appreciation of Anne turning up to every class with a consistent ability to facilitate such a warm, nurturing and open environment. (Over 15 years for Rebekah) This sparked some emotional sharing from the group.

Anne shared how her many years of facilitating Alchemy began from being in a dark place, and that Alchemy and her students had helped her find happiness in life. We were thanking her, but she also thanked us.

Many people expressed being open and expressive and its profound impact on how they feel about life and humanity. They expressed how Alchemy allowed them to find an openness with other people, and often, helped them understand how they were deserving of opening themselves up to the world because they were beautiful and worthy.

Mishka shared that Anne helped her understand when she could hold back from being open and not overshare.

Anne described how being open to one’s self is sometimes the first stage of being open to others. I liked this understanding. It resonated with my creative process, that begins with a sensitivity to personal experience and then extends outwards sharing that emotion and understanding with others.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
from her book: 'A Return To Love'
Marianne Williamson

Friday, June 1, 2018

knots and swimsuits

swimsuit project June 01, 2018 0

After the day shoot Mishka invited her friend Luke over to tie her up in the peach bathing suit. Gathering more material for the swimsuit project.

Luke’s art form of tying ropes and knots around the body was beautiful to watch. Observing Mishka and Luke relate to each other the process of tying, binding and finding what feels right on the body was captivating.

Mishka Beckmann

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Dandenong Dance Film

Rebekah Stuart May 26, 2018 0

A visit to the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden with Mishka and Rebekah to make a dance film.

We explored a high angle view looking down on bodies rolling down hills. The rolling body picking up leaves and sticks as they cling to the dress was beautiful. The colours of autumn leaves were beautiful.

Some modern twerking dance moves made for an intriguing juxtaposition with the old English dresses and English style gardens.

Mishka's enthusiasm and glee when creating art is infectious and powerful. Her excitement can feel overwhelming and volatile, but it is a feeling that often arises in the excitement of making art, and it is good to become comfortable in its presence, allowing the work to flow with it, rather than against it.

Two people one swimsuit.

Rebekah Stuart May 26, 2018 0

After a big shoot in the hills we returned home to review rushes and explore a new idea. Mishka and Rebekah wearing one swimsuit. This is part of an ongoing project that uses the same swim suit as the consistent element in a series of movement explorations.

The concept: Products collect people.

This concept questions the idea that a consumer collects products in a unique process of cultivation and choice. The concept suggests that products are mass produced and exactly alike, and it is in fact a product that gathers unique and individual people into a collection to be claimed by a company, or the product itself. The swimsuit representing a singular product that varied individuals try to fit into and conform to.

Mishka and Rebekah in one swim suit, Mischa Baka

The swim suit inspired a dance that had Rebekah and Mishka appear as one body moving. The swim suit and their individuality vanished in this respect, the strangeness became normalised. They became a creature in their own right.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Saltbush Story telling and story listening.

Saltbush May 24, 2018 0

Mishka attended our 2^nd rehearsal to share stories with the teenage actors.
This was to model the type of personal stories we will have the characters in the film tell and set a tone for how they may be delivered. Mishka always tells her stories with heart and vulnerability.

Story telling and story listening.

Mishka is a great story teller, either stories form her life, or fantastical ones. She tells them with emotion and captivating vulnerability.

It feels like being chosen to hear a special secret when she tells a story. Our actors were enthralled by her stories.

I used the camera to film the actors listening, discussing how they can surrender to being watched by the camera. We could see that listening to a story opens you up and makes you vulnerable. This is what we captured, their vulnerability. The same vulnerability to be made available to the camera, the audience, and other actors when making our film.