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I am writing this blog on the day after Thanksgiving with a tryptophan buzz.  The dinner itself was the product of many hands and minds coming together on a cool November night in upstate New York.  The friends who gathered had prepared components of the feast in their own kitchens but it was only when the entire assembly of dishes arrived in our house did the glory of what we had wrought become apparent.  It is in this spirit of a complex system or a group-mind formed by many, that the results become abundant.  Scientists call this collective action ‘emergence.’  In scientific terms, emergence is the way complex systems self-organize from a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is the way that birds know to migrate.  Emergence is what we can accomplish when we put our heads and hearts together.

Another aspect present at our Thanksgiving feast is the memories that each of us brought to the table.  We carry memories of past Thanksgivings, recipes passed down from grandparents, and meanings attached to the rituals that we the living are moving through together.   These memories are actualized in the way food is prepared and the order in which we eat, the stories we tell, the voices that we relive or recreate in our minds, the humor and the shared sustained exuberance.  The result of the emergent feast and the collective memories is a communal banquet of co-presence and meaning.

During the course of the past fifteen months we have experienced a seismic shift in the way the world functions.  Any notion of a certain or stable or inevitable future has vanished.  We are living in what the brilliant philosopher Zygmunt Bauman calls, liquid modernity.   Any promise of a steady and secure life is an impossible dream.  We are confronted with challenges never previously encountered and these challenges weigh significantly and heavily on the role and responsibilities of the individual in society.  It is the onus of each individual to adjust, shift and adjust again to the constant liquid environment of fluid and unending change. In the midst of all this reeling and realignment, the moment is ripe to activate new models and proposals for how arts organizations can function, flourish and be emergent in the present climate and into our uncertain future.   How can we begin to think of ourselves, rather than stagers of plays, as orchestrators of social interactions in which a performance is a part, but only a fragment of that interaction?  How can we develop communities of individuals who are participants of an ongoing dialogue?

In 2008, before the widespread fiscal and hegemonic plunge, SITI Company embarked upon an ambitious plan to become part of the cultural life of New York City.  I am delighted to report that despite these uncertain and trying times, we are, as a company, committed to continue moving forward with alacrity.  At a time when many institutions are cutting back, we are innovating new methods to orchestrate public encounters in the arena of the theater event.  We began our New York Season at our new home DTW.  In late October we performed our highly political and pared down production of Jocelyn Clarke’s Antigone.  The concentrated physicality and minimal means propelled the timely themes and story into the realm of collective consideration. I am proud of the lively atmosphere engendered at each and every performance over the week of seven performances.  Last week we launched the first of our five public SITI Company Mondays @ DTW where we intend to share dialogue and encourage interaction among the company and diverse audiences.  The initial event, which featured SITI Company’s relationship with music, musicians and composers, sailed on what felt like a rare and graceful breeze.  It seemed to me that everyone in the very full house exited happy and energized.  In April and May Chuck Mee’s bobrauschenbergamerica will enjoy nearly a month of performances at DTW. We believe that theater should be affordable so we would like to keep our ticket prices low and we hope to find the financial means to make this possible. 

This week we are launching the initial rehearsal phase of SITI Company’s thrilling new project:  Martha Graham’s 1938 piece entitled American Document.   We have been entrusted by the Martha Graham Dance Company to re-imagine this piece for our contemporary moment.  SITI Company actors and Martha Graham dancers will share the stage and collaborate in the spirit of Martha’s original intention to respond to the world events with words, movement, acting and dance.  I am working with Chuck Mee to create a new series of “documents” from our own viewpoint of the world and what it means to be an American at this moment in history.  We will share a sneak peak into our process at the Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater in January and the work will premiere at The Joyce in early June. 

The most vital aspect of being alive and responsible in this new climate of liquid modernity is to recognize the power and significance of individual action. All of our thoughts and actions become, in due course, public.  When we engage in a conversation with someone, even a telephone call, it does not end there.  The conversation travels.  We have no idea where it might stop or what our private action will engender on the shared public plane.  Emergence arises without our direct control. But we can control our own individual contribution to the emergent migration or flow. Ultimately we affect the world around us in our every move and thought and action.  If each of us brings a dish to the table, a feast may ensue.  In the case of the theater, a feast that is informed by the memories of what great theater might engender is a richer meal.  Recently, nationwide foundation and corporate support has narrowed.  Individual action and attention are the key components of a vital and sustainable cultural arena. SITI Company is dependent more than ever upon the encouragement, the action and the endorsement of individuals who form our ongoing community.  Our action in the world requires your action in relation to us.  Your sponsorship in effecting the success of our endeavors is key. 

With the idea/concept/notion of everyone contributing to a shared feast in mind, an action in the present, a legacy for the future, may I encourage you to become a sponsor of and partner with SITI Company?  I think sometimes that people believe that a smaller contribution would make no difference to the overall functioning of a company.  This assumption is incorrect.  Small donations actually accrue to form a mighty force.  We wholeheartedly encourage and welcome any and all donations as an act of individual lucidity in this crazy world. Please click here to make a safe online donation to SITI through Network for Good. Your donation is tax exempt and beyond being listed on our website and programs, you will make an important contribution in support of our shared action in the world.