Update from resident artist,Diana Heise, travels:
Update from resident artist,Diana Heise, travels:
Dear friends. Giant cyclone sized apologies for my silence during the past months.I found it hard to reflect immediately upon my experiences while in the middle of them.But rest assured, the gypsy adventures have been continuing and I have resurfaced.
To recap, I returned to the States in Decemberto my native Newtown CT,which still seems surreal when I think of the tragedy this past year.
Then to Kansas City, to hibernate in the studio for the winter and dig into the archive of images.A show of this work is forthcoming in the fall at The Studios Inc. 
Now.Back in Mauritius.
We are shooting a new film on the Ravann,a video that will accompany a new bookfor anyone who wishes to learn a historically centered method of playing, a method that ABAIM has devised and the first of its kind.
We had our second shoot yesterday. The sun sets around 5.30pm here.Winter. Chloe, Gina and Jason AKA Timoumoun,whose nickname translates to ‘little person person’are at the Center when we arrive,warming the goat skin covered drums on the space heater.They don’t sound right without the heat.
With Marousia we record the second ‘morso modern’Modern song,before moving onto sakade,the broken beat. Everyone goes to the garden for the second session.
Stefan smiles and laughs as it is his turn to wear the microphone.The master improviser for this take.Kessidy is still in her uniform, coming straight from school.She is daring with her ravann, despite being only 10 years old,which makes me proud in that lady solidarity kind of way.
We make the sound tests.We reheat the drums.We race against the timing of the sun.Take one, take two, take five.Yet the energy and concentration is there,in this fully felt collaboration of sound and recorded movement.
Zoli,Beautiful, I say after we are done. The children help me put the equipment away as we move into the Center to have snacks and tea.I sit on the floor with the younger ones and play.They kid with me about doing yoga and show me their splits. The older ones are standing up making jokes.I can’t recall what was said.But I remember the feeling of deep belly laughter as Kessidy and I lean into one another,impressed by Allenson and Stefan’s teenage boy banter.Decompression. More news and images soon. We start shooting again this afternoon. Diana PS. I was in the newspaper here last week.
A link if you wish to read Norbert’s words.http://thestudiosinc.org/2013/diana-heise-featured-in-lemauricien-the-mauritian/
We had our second shoot yesterday. The sun sets around 5.30pm here.Winter. Chloe, Gina and Jason AKA Timoumoun,whose nickname translates to ‘little person person’are at the Center when we arrive,warming the goat skin covered drums on the space heater.They don’t sound right without the heat.With Marousia we record the second ‘morso modern’Modern song,before moving onto sakade,the broken beat. Everyone goes to the garden for the second session.Stefan smiles and laughs as it is his turn to wear the microphone.The master improviser for this take.Kessidy is still in her uniform, coming straight from school.She is daring with her ravann, despite being only 10 years old,which makes me proud in that lady solidarity kind of way.We make the sound tests.We reheat the drums.We race against the timing of the sun.Take one, take two, take five.Yet the energy and concentration is there,in this fully felt collaboration of sound and recorded movement.Zoli,Beautiful, I say after we are done. The children help me put the equipment away as we move into the Center to have snacks and tea.I sit on the floor with the younger ones and play.They kid with me about doing yoga and show me their splits. The older ones are standing up making jokes.I can’t recall what was said.But I remember the feeling of deep belly laughter as Kessidy and I lean into one another,impressed by Allenson and Stefan’s teenage boy banter.Decompression. More news and images soon. We start shooting again this afternoon. Diana PS. I was in the newspaper here last week.A link if you wish to read Norbert’s words.http://thestudiosinc.org/2013/diana-heise-featured-in-lemauricien-the-mauritian/