Offline Onsite Hookups take time. it seems to happen slowly over the space of a few hours. it is something about questioning and testing body techniques where people are watching from a distance. where there is a longing for no distance, for some kind of a closeness, but also an uncertainty about how to make that happen. and then some unstated rules about what is done and not done that seem to get in the way.

– gestures – eye contact – pacing – attitude – risk – transmission – transgression – safe – respect –discretion – desire – private – no – yes – public – touch – contact – more privacy –

i wanted to tell you about the relaxation techniques i’ve been playing with to think about intimacy in performance. to talk about these morphic experiences i’ve been having with spaces, things and bodies. but maybe, I thought, it would be too long of a rant, or too complex to describe clearly in words ….

so maybe i’ll save the rant for the performance itself? and see if i can communicate the intersecting ideas, challenges, politics and principles to you telepathically…or through osmosis…?

 it is something about experiments with vulnerability that move beyond the human condition. a space of caring and listening… or a boldness perhaps. it is something about attempting to shift my own expectations, directions, and flows of attention and perception, and call in others/other things to connect in some way.

Offline Onsite Hookups is a queer more-than-human performance event by val smith for Experimental Dance Week Aotearoa.