Ying adapts and embraces with committed energy.
"Why can't we have a black line?" she asks. "I'm not sure, but we can't project black light." I say.
Two days later, she comes back with a new choreography and completely accepts the white light. Then she points something else out, and I
have to say, "I'm not sure, I have to think about that." She makes me think, question, and rethink. Ying keeps me in a perfect state of being unsure.
I couldn't have done it
without this amazing team.
--Susie
"How about the accordian?" Emily had said. Immediately dusk at Paris at the turn of the century came to mind, and I was completely unconvinced. But Emily persisted and then created sounds, haunting, comedic and longing, with a score that went beyond what easily comes to mind. Now I cannot imagine anything else but her melodic lines and atmosphere to actualize this piece.
Reina came out of the blue and one day contacted me after reading an article about my work and said she would like to meet and talk about upcoming projects. I was totally impressed by her directness and boldness. She has always maintained those characteristics and it is a type of courage that pushes this work further and more honestly.
I saw Keeara's drawings first as struggles with the digital pen, then as clumsy gestures with the choreography,and then begin to blossom as something with personality, confidence and meaning. Her lines embody her authenticity and in them was like a microcosm of an artist developing, and it was amazing to see.
I don't know why, but I constantly question Okazawa, aka Frank, as he deals with my technical challenges and demands. He'll say, "This is how we're going to fix this problem," and I'll say, "Really, are you sure that will work?" He will then stare at me at length, since I have no knowledge of theater technicalities, while he knows a ton, and then proceeds exactly as he was going to do. And on the way, he has patiently taught me new terms like "cheeseboroughs" and corrected my use of "upstage" and "downstage.
Given a lack of dress and costume savvy, I had no idea how to guide Catherine on the design. But it had loads of parameters: "No wedding (oh, but it's white), no bedroom pajama-look, no little girl, no hospital gown, no lingerie, no over-decoration or stitching, not too long, not too short, not too casual, not too formal, and if she could make Ying look feminine without being too revealing, and oh, yes, it had to be a certain type of material as projection screen, that would be great." And she did just that.
Andy has given demonstrations of his innovations to hundreds of researchers. Bill Gates has seen his work. And yet, he has dedicated the time and curiousity to this project. His perspective, skills and engineering elevated this work from somone getting up to turn on a light switch to illuminating the sky.
