Monday, April 22, 2013

Listening




“Grandmother Azucar, you Know, money talks”.
“oh my dear child, perhaps, you have forgotten how to listen…you have forgotten how to listen to other voices and other things. Money speaks, screams, and threatens—it can often be a bully for attention. But, if you forget how to listen to anything else but money, you will be blind and lost. Remember how to listen without money. Silence it and listen to the other things in life”

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Four Corners of Mitote

There are 4 elements of Mitote.

1) Aztec Dance
---The Structure, the base. the use of space. the sacred. the enacting as things are done. evocation. completion.


2) Vogue/Voguing
--spirit. fierceness. cunty. soft. changing. release. realiness. hands and pose.


3) Ballet
--- line. structure. pelvis. lift. "technique". presentation. simple eloquent beauty. hyper-mobility.



4) Modern Dance
--innovation. time. space. resistance. recapitulation. change. chance. freedom.

Monday, April 15, 2013

The Gay Hate Mirror: Discovering Who We Are Through Each Other

In 20MALEGAYNYC, filmmaker Blake Pruitt offers us a peek into the minds of a group of gay New Yorkers in their early 20s. Pruitt, 19, had heard several gay men say in passing, "I hate gay guys," and wanted to explore why, in an age of unprecedented miracles in the courthouses of America, so many gay men find themselves deeply at odds with each other out on the streets. The film has just been accepted into the Johns Hopkins Film Festival.
First posted on Andrew Sullivan's Daily Beast blog in December 2012, the 10-minute-long compilation of video interviews has since inspired hundreds of impassioned comments on that blog and on websites like Advocate.com and NextMagazine.com.
Many of the responses take aim at the men's views on the desirability of masculinity and femininity among gay men. The interviews suggested that a masculine man is both the sexual prize and the personal ideal, while a feminine man is not only sexually unwanted but sometimes repulsive on a personal level.
One perplexed commenter rightfully noted that some of the interviewees embody the very same feminine qualities that they so despise in other men. Another commenter wrote, "They are all so insufferable and self-hating." A contrasting voice rebutted, "Those of you who are attacking these young men are only doing so because they are speaking truths that are painful to you because they are so real."
Indeed, there are many soundbites in 20MALEGAYNYC that we can roll our eyes at or brush off as culturally insignificant, but a closer look at Pruitt's film reveals a selection of seemingly ordinary men, each of whom is struggling to reconcile his beliefs about what makes a man lovable with the reality of the man looking back at him in the mirror.
This struggle is not uncommon; many gay men find their own qualities, perhaps apparent to everyone else but them, extremely discomfiting in other gay men. We slither in embarrassment for them or laugh uneasily and toss snide remarks. Comments about 20MALEGAYNYC are full of this type of response, belying a self-righteous anger that simply does not coexist with self-awareness.
A self-aware man instead asks himself this challenging question and affords himself the compassion to answer truthfully: "What qualities do I find upsetting in other gay men, and do they reside in me?"
Author Simon Peter Fuller wrote, "What angers us in another person is more often than not an unhealed aspect of ourselves. If we had already resolved that particular issue, we would not be irritated by its reflection back to us."
Often, a quality in someone else that provokes a deep, visceral reaction has been within us all along, yet we choose to blame them rather than admit that they've simply reminded us of our own dark thoughts.
The saving grace of this "mirror" perspective is that the qualities we so admire and desperately seek out in others have also been within us all along. The sexiness, the strength, the confidence. They reveal themselves when we dance to our favorite music when no one is watching or think about being stars at our dream jobs. In exhilarating moments like these we feel what it would be like to unleash the fullest possible version of ourselves.
We are quick to disconnect from such images of glory, rejecting them as fantasy or narcissism. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be sexy, strong and deeply at peace with myself?" Looking at our mental list called "Things About Me That I Need to Change Before I Can Be Happy," we conclude that because of what we have done or have not done, we are unworthy of the power that owning our sexiness, strength and confidence would bring us. We have the fabulous qualities; we would just rather that someone else own them for us. This is how many gay relationships begin. And it's how many end; we may ultimately feel unworthy even to be loved by someone who has the power we want for ourselves, so one way or another, we unconsciously drive it out of our lives.
But it is not narcissistic or arrogant to think that you deserve an amazing life. It is humble. The evolutionary impulse of the universe effortlessly turns an acorn into an oak tree. It does the same thing with a zygote, turning it into a fully functioning adult human. And this evolutionary impulse wants to do the same thing with the circumstances of your life: grow and expand them to their highest potential. We need only get out of the way and allow the universe to do its job. When we truly forgive ourselves, we automatically release the judgment we have held toward others and humbly accept our rightful destiny as sexy, strong, powerful children of the universe.
Of course, these life lessons apply to all human relationships, but a gay man is on a spiritual fast-track to learn them, or at least he can choose to see it that way. His primary relationship is with himself, and all others are mirrors of it. An honest investigation of what irritates him about or attracts him to another gay man can hasten his own quest for personal power and authenticity.
The miraculous shift in perspective that begins to evolve your life is going from saying, "I totally hate that guy," to asking, "What is he showing me about myself?"



-- by 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-bach/the-gay-hate-mirror-disco_b_2950073.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=4103252,b=facebook

 

 

 

Friday, April 12, 2013

Narcissism

A message from the Glitter Shaman:

Narcissism:
When you as a Gay Boy, date a Gay boy who looks just like you. Same shape, tan, clothing style, haircut, bone structure, and attitude.

It’s like looking into a mirror and saying: “mmmmm, I’m so hot and sexy, I wanna have sex with myself” …. and you do….

This, of course, is a side affect of the “Castro Clone” complex, highly established and developed both in the Bay Area and Greater LA Areas (all of SoCal).

There is no real cure, just fierceness, and realiness. Self-expression, and enjoyment of being your unique self to the fullest. Oh, and of course, a lot of Glitter!!!!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

memories

THE NATIONAL QUEER ARTS FESTIVAL PRESENTS:
FROLIC!: Rainbow Circle
The Garage, 715 Bryant St., San Francisco--June 20th, 8pm
**Look for the RED DOOR**


FROLIC!
June 20th -- 8pm -- The Garage -- 715 Bryant St. San Francisco, CA

“Frolic: Rainbow Circle”, is a dance concert which commemorates the 500 year history of the Two-Spirit/Queer Indigenous peoples’ presence. It’s a remembrance, an honoring, and a renewal through dance. Created by the Cuauhtemoc Peranda Mitote Dance Company, a male-Aztec Warrior, and a lady-Samoan Warrior have created an HONOR DANCE, which gives thanks to the existences and fight of the queer, two-spirit Native peoples of the past and the future. This four-part duet dances through movement a Creation Story, a War Dance, a blessing through Smoke and Ash, and a Flower and Rebirth dance. This dance presents the indigenous Aztec calendar’s shift from Ometeotl (Divine Duality, 5th Sun) to new sun Xochipilli (Flower, Integrated dual-gender, peace, 6th Sun). It is a necessary dance, a Milestone of the Aztec Peoples, and the National Queer Arts Festival. Dancing through space and time, four feet bless the stage in a contemporary duet, a Frolic.
This dance is made possible by a grant through the Queer Cultural Center of San Francisco.
BUY TICKETS! Brown Paper Tickets Link: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/231643
$12-20 Sliding Scale, No One Turned Away for lack of funds




Please visit this site for more information about the dance, and other NQAF events:
http://queerculturalcenter.org/NQAF/performance/frolic/



"like" on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/cuauhtemocvindiction









--Frolic, Picture by Rachel Holt

Aztec Dance Group @ Two Spirit Powwow




Cuauhtemoc Mitote Preforms with the Queer Danzantes at the Two-Spirit Pow-Wow in Oakland, February, 2013.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Well Red



If you got a minute (80 seconds), please check out our latest WELL RED posting!!!  CSRE grad Todd Phelps talks about being asked if American Indians still live in teepees!  He has an awesome answer!!!  Here's the link:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CG6Yu-4hCo


If you want to catch up on past interviews with Adrienne Keene, April Chavez, Cuauhtemoc Peranda (and more!) - or would like to see pictures and chat about the series - here's our Twitter page, YouTube channel and Facebook page:


www.twitter.com/WELLREDseries

www.youtube.com/tecmon

www.facebook.com/WellRedDocumentary

New Work, for May 5th Concert


Title: ChuChu Scene 1, enter Dah Club
 
Choreographer & Dancer: Cuauhtemoc Mitote

Music by: John Hart "Who Booty ft. LamSu"


Description:  


An excerpt from the choreo-play in progress "ChuChu: A Delicious Life", ChuChu, or Jesus Guerrera, enters a gay club for the first time. In love with his surroundings, he plays with the folk who fill a smoky and sweaty room. This was a big step for him, but only the beginning of this delicious adventure.   

Random Philosophical Moral Question to the Choreographer

Reality check requested:
In the exercise of a gregarious positioning, for the primary purpose of acquiring new/positive/exciting fulfillment, is it precarious to oneself to be sincere and is it unjust to self to be insincere?
I anticipate that the problem is in going overboard with all of new/positive/exciting at once. There must be a reward in there somewhere.
Asking for a "friend."

--T







The Reward is fulfillment, and an expanded and more encompassing life--if that is something you desire. Moreover, to not engage is to remain static and dull.... festering in the superficial.

There is, however, nothing wrong with the festering, if that is how you wish to live your life--but is is not the only option, and it is not an option for me....because I live a life of exploration and learning: creation, love, and light.
Yes, it is precarious to be sincere. To be open, and honest, is to be vulnerable--thus easily hurt.
Yes, to be insincere is unjust, because it be come toxic, untrue, and ugly.
So where is the median?
You must be sincere to yourself, and tactical with the surrounding ecosystem. This of course requires great work in knowing yourself, and knowing the world.
Know your loves, non-loves, your tastes, moods, abilities, strengths and ignorance.
Know how the world works, plays, functions, operates, and evolves.
Adapt. Self-preservation.

It is a basic instinct for all animals on this earth to be self-preservative, self-creative, pro-create, and adapt. It is even on the subatomic level, and in the consciousness of the chaotic logic of the world.
It is not insincere to be tactical with how your work with others. It is respectful and cordial, it is tactical. To work with others you do not like, to speak good of a person, even though you do not like them, may be insincere, but if it is important to the success of your being, than it is tactical, and important to your survival.
You must at all times remember people in multiple ways. Everything is diverse, bad, evil, good, great, special, beautiful, ugly. You just need to see the tasks at hand, and know how to engage, given a certain time and circumstance.
This is my wisdom to you. Love yourself, Love your friend, be tactical, sense and feel more, search for happiness, do the work necessary to get what you want, and most importantly, be unconventional, and learn to bend the laws.

--Cuauhtemoc