The AUNTS show at Grace Exhibition Space last Friday was fantastic.  It was co-produced by Roll Call/Movement Research Spring Festival.  I have to say that I love the AUNTS shows because their models for performance are always fun performance parties (like house parties with talented dancers/performers/artists making use of space while also hanging out and having fun), always free-wheeling and always in the spirit of creation.  They are the little pockets of bohemia that once dominated this city before it became a gentrified, overpriced Starbucks Nation.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a Venti Latte sometimes but fuck if I’m going to watch my art go corporate alongside the soul of the city.  

The MARKET model for the show was based around beautiful screen printed fake AUNTS money (you got $6 + $1 when entering – you byob and you got the money).  The drinks and food at the bar were free (and they were plentiful).  Most of the goods by the artists were visual art based with some videos as well.  I loved the combination of the visual art gallery with the ability to “purchase” the performances, though I had wished for more performances being shown simulatenously as I’ve seen in the past AUNTS shows (Populous and the Aut 4 One and I Believe in You shows), though I think the space made it harder to work that way.  In a way, I loved the fact that the performance, including my own, really was so influenced by the crowd.  We did a spoken word/dance/movement piece from the (I…Labyrinth) series and couldn’t hear each other, but we were so feeling the energy from those around us watching us that we rocked it and felt amazing after the show. 

I also loved the dance that Jmy Leary, Felicia Ballos and Shizu Homma perfomedwith/by Stanley Love.  Their piece featured repetitive segments of a Prince song (forgot the name at the moment so I might update a bit later on with it) and two other people counting out the amount of national debt we’re currently accruing from the two wars were involved in and of course our current national economic crisis.  They also did headstands for several minutes in yogic perfection while Jimi Hendrix played the Star Spangled Banner.   I think this is an updated version of a similar performance that I saw via video at the last AUNTS show in November of their performance in Sept. in Washington Square Park.  It was amazing. 

Also, I received a paper mache ice cream cone/flower thing from some anonymous admirer from my performance.  And this is just a tiny reason as to why AUNTS rules.