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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
decem ber 1. 2000 • Juxt 0111 . 3 g Doing the time warp ------ - ...... Portland performer pushes boundaries with engaging new work by J e s s ic a C it t ì am attracted to intensi ty in general,” says les bian experimental the ater artist Heidi Carlsen, whose new perfor mance piece, A Gradual Instant, will open early this month at Conduit. A small woman with articulate limbs and dark, flashing eyes, she has been performing in Portland for the past five years. A Gradual Instant, which Carlsen also wrote and directed, was created in collaboration with conceptual artist Nan B. Curtis. This new work reflects Carlsen’s ability to translate intellectual ruminations into vividly three-dimensional form. “I love to work with emotion, space and my body," Carlsen says. Her most recent perform ance art allows her to do just that, mixing ele ments— movement, voice, props and text— that challenge the audience and explore the emotional capacity of art. Carlsen first encountered modem dance her senior year at Lewis &. Clark College in Port land, and it turned her life around. She began dancing with Conduit, an organization offering Heidi Carlsen makes a gradual leap space for dance artists to perform and teach, appearing in Intersections and other pieces. Over time, her performances evolved from modem dance to experimental theater. This change resulted in works such as her 1998 solo piece, The Line Between, a performance about society and mental illness. Carlsen also has performed with Mary Oslund, Dawn Joella Jackson, Tahni M. Holt and Imago Theater, appearing in Blood Wed - ding, Blood Wedding. In addition to her studies in Portland, she received training at out-of- state workshops and at the prestigious Saratoga International Theater Institute in New York. A Gradual Instant is based loosely on her investigations into history, war and memory. It is about something traumatic occurring in a m — ■ | „Jf woman’s life, an intense experience that can happen in an instant and change everything. Carlsen likens a gradual instant to a slow death: The dying itself is gradual, but the death— the actual moment of ceasing to be— is instanta neous. Her piece explores the place where a per son travels in her mind to find the will to go on after an intense event, whether it be war, the death of one’s mother or sexual discrimination. “It’s about riding on history,” Carlsen says, “and finding out who you really are.” Serious stuff, but Carlsen hopes her piece is universal and concentrated enough to interest a general audience. As she promises, “There’s a lot going on to watch.” The performance will be animated by an equal measure of lighting and music. There are 4F^érÊ\ÊmÆ. WSz ii 6N IG H TS A W EEK - - - M on -T hurs 9 pm -2 a m * F r i - S a t 9 A G radu al I n st a n t starts 8:30 p.m. Fri days and Saturdays and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 10 at Conduit, 918 S.W. Yamhill St. Tickets cost $10412. Call 503-221-5857 for more information. JESSICA C ittì is a Portland free-lance writer. LE] ^TT - - - also Curtis’ sculptural ele ments to consider: Carlsen’s character will move through an unsteady landscape of objects designed by this well- known installation artist. These objects constantly transform and assist Carlsen as she works her way through memory and history. Although Carlsen identi fies herself as a lesbian and says “sexuality is always about how I am in the world,” the piece is not specifically about sexual identity. She says that she hasn’t had any difficulty as a lesbian in the dance community and, in fact, that many powerful and artistic lesbians have acted as her mentors in Portland. Audience members should have no problem identifying with the human struggle Carlsen undergoes on the stage. Like her character, we all sometimes find ourselves lost on thin ice, forced to confront history and all that lies beneath. Ultimately, Carlsen’s piece is about survival in the face of adversity. “It’s about will and freedom,” she says, “and not letting people take these things away from you.’ * j n pm -2 :3 0 a m Don ’ t M i s s L i g h t s on B r o a d w a y Dec em ber F i r s t , Sec . t ond, and T h i r d Plan to p a rty in the N e w Y ea r w ith us Visit us at www.starkys.com 503 . 230.7980 2 9 1 3 SW S ta rk EASTSIDE PORTLAND M Glitt« P ] The/Star gate/ Lovcntye/ [Ypföft n ay A visit our website at (SP www.citysearch.com Parties welcome • Pool table & pinball • Full bar • All lottery games. New dancefloor ^ 2 6 5 1 E. 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