BL&D – Take Magazine https://thetakemagazine.com New England's New Culture Wed, 25 Apr 2018 22:03:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.18 https://thetakemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/cropped-TakeFav-2-32x32.png BL&D – Take Magazine https://thetakemagazine.com 32 32 BL&D Interview: Hartford Symphony Music Director Carolyn Kuan https://thetakemagazine.com/carolyn-kuan/ https://thetakemagazine.com/carolyn-kuan/#respond Mon, 13 Nov 2017 18:13:47 +0000 https://thetakemagazine.com/?p=15065 Take magazine loves to share, and so does Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Here’s their interview with HSO director Carolyn Kuan. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner is a quartet of four entrepreneurs in Hartford focused on creating collective culture by building unique, diverse and creative ventures that bring people together. Periodically they feature interviews with culture makers

The post BL&D Interview: Hartford Symphony Music Director Carolyn Kuan appeared first on Take Magazine.

]]> Take magazine loves to share, and so does Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Here’s their interview with HSO director Carolyn Kuan.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner is a quartet of four entrepreneurs in Hartford focused on creating collective culture by building unique, diverse and creative ventures that bring people together. Periodically they feature interviews with culture makers in Connecticut’s capital city, which we are happy to share with Take readers. First up is Carolyn Kuan, music director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

When Carolyn Kuan signed on as the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s 10th music director in 2011, she was the first woman, the first Asian-American, and the youngest director to lead the orchestra’s musical vision. Since joining the group—she recently extended her contract through 2021—Kuan has been pushing the orchestra to try new approaches to getting classical music in front of audiences around the Capital Region. Here’s what she had to say when she sat down with BL&D.

What got you into music direction, and how did you end up in Hartford?

I came to America when I was 14 years old by myself. My middle school in Taiwan and my high school in America were sister schools for a few years, so I was one of the few fortunate kids to come here for summer study. And [I put it] in quotations because I think it included a week [of] learning English, and a week going to Disneyland and other things [laughs]. Hey, Disneyland is an American experience. [laughs] And I just remember like, even from the first day, I remember the teacher saying, “Feel free to ask questions.” And that was like a huge lightbulb moment because in Taiwan, it’s very much memorization-based. The teacher lectures at you, and you memorize things. There’s no questions. There’s no disagreeing with the teachers. And here I was, first day in American classes, and the teacher says, “Feel free to ask questions. Feel free to disagree with me. If you don’t understand anything, ask!” and I was like, ‘Wow, this is great. This is how education should be. This is how one should learn. So I kind of secretly applied to the high school while I was there behind my parents back [laughs].

So I went home — and I was really rebellious as a 12-year-old, 13-year-old; I can’t remember — and I got in a fight with my parents one day and it was also the day that I got the acceptance letters, so I’m like, “I’m leaving” [laughs]. Ultimately, they came around and they were smart in knowing had they kept me at home, I would’ve been totally rebellious and ended up doing God knows what. So they let me go. So I came here at 14. Then, I went to Smith College, so I’ve always kind of been around the area and as an Asian girl, of course, I always played the piano. That’s like what you have to do. So I’ve always had an interest in music, but I always thought that was something you did for fun and never once in my life thought this is what you do as a profession.

When did that evolve? From when you started playing the piano to realizing that this could become a profession?

When I went to Smith College, I was trying to do a music major [and] I was trying to do an economics major and computer science. I was trying to do like a triple major thing. Did not work out because a lot of classes were in conflict. But because Smith was so small — and I also sang seriously for many many years and I was playing the piano and in the choir. So the director said, “Can you help me do some sectional?” What that means is take the one section away to practice. And because the school is so small, I ended up doing that for the orchestra. So one day, I came to school and my conductor pulled me to the side and said, “We see you doing so many sectionals for us. Would you have any interest [in this]?” Four Smith alums decided to give four students $5,000 that summer to go study. I was supposed to go back home. I actually had an internship at Citi Bank in Taiwan. And I thought, ‘Internship in Taiwan. I can be in business anytime, but I only get these few years in music and to immerse in it before going back home to be in business.’ So I talked my father and said, ‘You know what, let me go do this. Someone is giving me $5,000 to go study music. Let me go see what this is about.’

So I ended up studying conducting. Actually, I came to [University of Hartford] that summer. So I spent a month at Hart — back then, there was a conducting institute — and then spent a month at Tanglewood and then spent a month at Tusk learning German and French. When the alums give you money, you have to have something to show for it so come the next semester, they put me in front of the orchestra to conduct. So that was kind of like how it started. And the alum said, “Well, you seem really talented. You should explore this.” So I applied for graduate school and got a full scholarship. So I call my father [and say,] “Look Dad, I can always be in business. Someone is giving me a full ride to study conducting. I don’t know what this conducting thing is about, but let me go find out. I’m really curious.” I did that for two years and then got a full scholarship to go to really one of the best conducting schools in America. They actually give you a full orchestra to practice. So when you think about it, how does one learn how to conduct?

Yeah, that was my next question, so please explain [laughs].

Like if you’re a pianist, you have a piano. You can practice all you want. Even if you don’t have a teacher, nowadays you have YouTube [laughs]. You can practice a lot. If you’re a violinist, same thing. Anyone, if you have an instrument. So the instrument for a conductor is the orchestra. So there’s almost no way to practice. So the only way you can practice is with a group. So the reason I went to Peabody Conservatory, which was part of John Hopkins, and they actually give you a whole orchestra to practice. It was really prestigious.

So again, I call my father. “Dad, you know…. [laughs]” So I think when I got the Hartford job is when I finally [decided this could be my profession]. From the Peabody, my first job was with the New York City ballet. I conducted my first Nutcracker at the Lincoln Theatre without any rehearsal whatsoever, beause they don’t need rehearsal. They do this every year for 50 shows. So I was the only one who’d never done it, so I don’t get rehearsal [laughs]. Went from that to North Carolina to Seattle, and then I started conducting all over the world and ended up here as a Music Director.

How did you end up in Hartford, though? You were in Seattle and all over the world and all these places and then come back to Hartford? Like, starting off in the Lincoln Theatre. Why Hartford?

Read Kuan’s response in the full BL&D interview.

Top image: Carolyn Kuan. Photo courtesy of Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

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]]> https://thetakemagazine.com/carolyn-kuan/feed/ 0 Taken: The Negus X BL&D Block Party https://thetakemagazine.com/taken-negus-x-bld-block-party/ https://thetakemagazine.com/taken-negus-x-bld-block-party/#respond Mon, 16 Oct 2017 20:50:43 +0000 https://thetakemagazine.com/?p=15326 A double Dutch contest, live music, and DJs got the crowd jumping at The Negus × BL&D Block Party in Hartford. The Negus × BL&D Block Party was jumping on September 2nd in Hartford, Connecticut, courtesy of DJs; live performances by Vee Skeeno, Chad Browne-Springer, and Trey Moore; and a double Dutch contest. photo by

The post Taken: The Negus X BL&D Block Party appeared first on Take Magazine.

]]> A double Dutch contest, live music, and DJs got the crowd jumping at The Negus × BL&D Block Party in Hartford.

The Negus × BL&D Block Party was jumping on September 2nd in Hartford, Connecticut, courtesy of DJs; live performances by Vee Skeeno, Chad Browne-Springer, and Trey Moore; and a double Dutch contest.

photo by bethany anna

The post Taken: The Negus X BL&D Block Party appeared first on Take Magazine.

]]> https://thetakemagazine.com/taken-negus-x-bld-block-party/feed/ 0 Watch: For Now, Until My Last Dying Day https://thetakemagazine.com/watch-now-last-dying-day/ https://thetakemagazine.com/watch-now-last-dying-day/#respond Tue, 15 Nov 2016 00:44:12 +0000 https://thetakemagazine.com/?p=5692 The folks at Breakfast Lunch & Dinner say you can’t miss this quiet, complex short film from writer/director Joshua Jenkins. This article originally ran on the Breakfast Lunch & Dinner blog on November 4, 2016.  For almost as long as cinema has existed, writers have chosen to eschew traditional narrative structures for the sake of originality. Many believe a

The post Watch: For Now, Until My Last Dying Day appeared first on Take Magazine.

]]> The folks at Breakfast Lunch & Dinner say you can’t miss this quiet, complex short film from writer/director Joshua Jenkins.

This article originally ran on the Breakfast Lunch & Dinner blog on November 4, 2016. 

For almost as long as cinema has existed, writers have chosen to eschew traditional narrative structures for the sake of originality. Many believe a film truly reaches its zenith when it takes that inventiveness and incorporates it into something meaningful. Every film isn’t supposed to end on a positive note, or tell a ‘feel good story’ or follow the same plot trajectory. Just like success, pain and obsession can be meandering, unexplainable and unexpected – but also fulfilling. And in most instances, we rarely see how strange and personal that journey can be, regardless of the outcome. For Joshua Jenkins and the Sticky Pages collective, For Now, Until My Last Dying Day doubles down on that belief and creates a film that rewards critical thinking and promotes awareness and conversation.

 

The film begins with Paige, played by Monique Antoinette, sitting with her therapist, Dr. Marcellus, played by Alex Szwed. After asking Paige if she knew the date – in which she responds correctly – Marcllus explains a theory that there’s “something about having the presence in mind constant with the present time.” He continues, saying that humans often find themselves referencing the past or anticipating moments, and those who answered his question about the date correctly have a direct interdependence between their virtues and vices, or as he puts it: ‘the things that make them tick, and the things that make them ill”. Hence, if one is unable to distinguish between the other, they become one.

As the two go back and forth, the viewer learns that Paige’s obsession is fire, and she explains how her infatuation has become cumulative and neurotically unrestrained. In a flashback scene, she talks about how she buys a box of matches from the store and leaves them on her apartment table in hopes to curb her impulsiveness and test her self-discipline. But she fails as she eventually lights every match in the box one by one, rekindling her compulsion. Antoinette is perfect in her role, delivering a phlegmatic performance that leaves the viewer questioning if Paige is empathetic towards her own struggles or has simply succumbed to becoming a slave of her own self.

For Now, Until My Last Dying Day (2016) movie poster

For Now, Until My Last Dying Day (Dir. Joshua Jenkins, 2016) movie poster

The turning point comes in the following scene when Paige is in her apartment. She’s smoking marijuana, and after turning on her record player and lighting a few candles, she begins to dance in the middle of the floor. It’s a mesmerizing moment, one yielded in intimacy and warmth but also an inhibited vulnerability as Paige hugs her arms as he looks as if she falls into a mysterious hypnosis. That theory is feels justified in the following scene when Paige walks into the bathroom and stares into the mirror over the sink. After a few seconds, there’s a brief flash of diplopia and when she walks out of the bathroom back into the living room, candles are lit everywhere. It’s quite the transitional moment from good to bad; virtue to vice, and it leads perfectly into the big reveal where we learn about the etymology of Paige’s fixation as a child, played by Ameilia Brown.

Most of the nuisances in For Now are subtle enough that viewers will have to watch multiple times to catch them all, but a few are obvious enough that you don’t have to beat you over the head with metaphors. For example, when Paige is dancing to the music in the living room, she’s wearing a red sweater and black jeans. But when she leaves the bathroom, she’s wearing a black three-quarters shirt and black jeans. It’s a minor observance and one that would typically go unnoticed, but For Now has very few settings and gives no indication of time so the audience has little to no idea how long each moment has taken place between each ah-ha!moment. The musical selection is also very clever if you’re a diehard fan, as it uses different songs titled ‘Summertime’ from various artists such as Black Hole Sun, Janis Joplin, Studio Group and Big Brother & The Holding Company. The correlation between these songs and the central theme are undefined, but they add a significance to each scene and given that For Now was shot in film, both qualities give the piece a bluesy, methodical feel.

Still from From Now, Until My Last Dying Day (2015)

Still from From Now, Until My Last Dying Day (2015)

On the same token, For Now is broad enough where viewers can formulate its own opinions and speculate on the overall messages. Is fire a metaphor for evil? Does Paige’s clothing actually have any importance? What does the mirror represent? We don’t know, and chances are we won’t ever know, but maybe that’s the point: coming up with your own explanation of why something is what it is is more beneficial to the viewer’s imagination than directly presenting one possible serialized narrative and outcome. From my vantage point, the acting isn’t as preeminent here as the underlying message: it’s not only the good that makes us who we are; it’s also our degeneracies and temptations. There’s two sides to every individual; it’s all about which one you can and can’t control that builds your true identity. Jenkins has created a quirky, simple film that uses otherwise ludicrous themes such as fire to burrow into deeper, more convoluted issues.

For now, I’d say that’s quite a success.

All images courtesy Breakfast Lunch & Dinner

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]]> https://thetakemagazine.com/watch-now-last-dying-day/feed/ 0 #Nofilter New England https://thetakemagazine.com/igz/ https://thetakemagazine.com/igz/#respond Tue, 15 Nov 2016 00:24:46 +0000 https://thetakemagazine.com/?p=5669 From food to tattoos, flowers to hotels, fill your Instagram feed with some of our favorite New England IGrs. Here’s our list of the movers and shakers, culture-makers that are documenting their artistic ploys and political rants on your fav social media platform. Take a look at New England through Instagram because on insta everyone’s

The post #Nofilter New England appeared first on Take Magazine.

]]> From food to tattoos, flowers to hotels, fill your Instagram feed with some of our favorite New England IGrs.

Here’s our list of the movers and shakers, culture-makers that are documenting their artistic ploys and political rants on your fav social media platform. Take a look at New England through Instagram because on insta everyone’s a photographer.

@hotelonnorth

Hotel on North is arguably the most photogenic place to stay in the region. Made from two 19th century buildings in downtown Pittsfield this place is anything but the pits. Between the claw foot tubs and the keep-sake quality local trimmings and trappings in each unique room, this place is most definitely instagram-worthy.

@snowsculpt


Dave Rothstein is a snow sculptor and famed donut photographer. He’s a renaissance man of the 21st century and his Instagram account—which includes vegetables dressed with googly eyes, Spock holding a donut hole, and close ups of nature that’ll make you take a closer look at the beauty in your own surroundings—stands testament to that.

@thewadsworth

The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public museum of its kind in the country, founded in 1842, but it’s aging quite well.

@breakfastxlunchxdinner

#NEGUSpublication 10/26/16 @ 7PM EST 760 Chapel St. c/o @grieretelosbo

A video posted by BL&D (@breakfastxlunchxdinner) on

The tastemakers of Hartford, CT are on Instagram and it looks good. Follow this crew for event updates, artist profiles and all things contemporary and cool in Connecticut.

@sad13

honestly promoting this new record today feels like a misuse of time when there’s so much in my country to protest against and organize towards. but… to those of u telling me my record’s getting u through the hurt & disbelief of this week, i hear you & appreciate that more than u know. that said, THE SAD13 BAND starts its first U.S. tour tomorrow w/ some amazing bands. hope to see u there. this beautiful poster is by @cdirck. if you need help getting to the show safely or to get in touch in any way, you can always find me here or at sad13sadie@gmail.com excited to see all my friends throughout the country, excited to wear my new american flag-printed kicks & remind myself that this country at its best is about love & community, and not those other hateful things some bigots would have you believe tickets at sadthirteen.com

A photo posted by Sadie Dupuis (@sad13) on


Sad13 is the fierce, feminist solo-project by “frontdemon” of Speedy Ortiz. She just released a new album “Slugger” and did a reddit AMA in a Sailor Moon wig (okay, YAS). Sad13 aka Sadie is the ultimate celeb crush and my forever #wcw. Visit her account for all things pro-love!

@loopvintageupcycle


This Insta takes the retro cake in satisfying all your delightfully kitschy mid-century needs. We had a feeling you would ask, and the answer is yes, they have an Etsy shop: LINKY. The best part? You can invite your friends for a dinner party and brag that your 60-year-old Alvin and the Chipmunks themed glassware set is probably one of a kind.

@wildfolkstudio


Somerville florist, Caroline O’Donnell Instagram will make you want to die and be reincarnated as a flower in one of her arrangements. There is literally nothing more perfect than her subdued purples and pinks and muted earth tones, and the filters don’t hurt either.

@mollyhatch

Molly Hatch is a designer, illustrator, drawer, author, creator-I could go on. Her Instagram is painfully cute and framed in pastels that upon scrolling through will make your stress melt away. Beware, her flawless composition and frequent enviable tea parties will probably make you resent your own Instagram.

@matthealeyphoto

As his handle suggests, Matt is a badass photog with a knack for portraits. His feed is littered with humans-in-action AKA ~athletes~ and as you can see, pretty priceless game faces.

@Narrangansett

The #OfficialBeerOfBrunch is back!!! #ASwallowWillTellYou

A photo posted by Narragansett Beer (@gansettbeer) on

It’s beer season! Well, it’s always beer season. ‘gansett’s vintage-inspired cans will take you back to the days of pick-up ice hockey on the local frozen pond. Plus, the outdoors-y Rhode Island imagery will give you the feels for Fall.

@bostonhassle

Boston Hassle is your volunteer-run DIY info flow on everything underground and ~kewl~.

@shady.pines.sleddogs

Midweek motivation, on this day. #heroichearts

A video posted by Sally Manikian (@shady.pines.sleddogs) on

Post-election stress got you feeling some type of way? Look no further. These dogs aren’t just cute, they’re also smarter than your honor student. These puppers are Sally Manikan’s small to mid-distance racing team residing in the White Mountains of NH and they want to be your BFFs.

@laughingloone

Laughing Loone is the pseudonym of Noel’le Longhaul’s online tattoo persona. Her Instagram is home to dark, ethereal masterpieces on fleshy canvas. She’s also in three bands. In short, there is no one cooler than Noel’le.

@pizzablonde

I've got my @dominos, I've got my ?? rosé, and I'm ready to go. #electionnight

A photo posted by Pizza Blonde ??? (@pizzablonde) on

This is proof—blondes do in fact have more fun. Pizzablonde is essentially living out everyone’s dreams- ya’ll dream about cheese too, right? Right?! By acquainting her tastebuds—and in turn, our insta feeds—with every form pizza can morph into, (i.e. sandwich, spaghetti, and smore) the world can finally see all that pizza can truly be.

@shanelavalette

#agnesmartin @guggenheim

A photo posted by Shane Lavalette (@shanelavalette) on

Shane, hailing from Burlington, VT is #instaporn for black and white photography enthusiasts. The way he plays with the duality of shadows in his pictures will give you a chill and leave you feeling confused in a good way.

Top photo courtesy Wild Folk Studio Instagram page

The post #Nofilter New England appeared first on Take Magazine.

]]> https://thetakemagazine.com/igz/feed/ 0 BL&D Interview – Arien Wilkerson https://thetakemagazine.com/bld-interview-arien-wilkerson/ https://thetakemagazine.com/bld-interview-arien-wilkerson/#respond Mon, 05 Sep 2016 11:00:11 +0000 https://thetakemagazine.com/?p=4010 It’s no secret that the Take Magazine staff loves the folks at BreakfastxLunchxDinner and all the work they do for Hartford. Below is a post that appeared on their website back in January 2016. We’re pretty jealous that they got to chat with Arien Wilkerson before we did, so we’ve decided to share their interview on our new website.

The post BL&D Interview – Arien Wilkerson appeared first on Take Magazine.

]]> It’s no secret that the Take Magazine staff loves the folks at BreakfastxLunchxDinner and all the work they do for Hartford. Below is a post that appeared on their website back in January 2016. We’re pretty jealous that they got to chat with Arien Wilkerson before we did, so we’ve decided to share their interview on our new website. Be sure to follow BreakfastxLunchxDinner for all their posts and events, and be on the look-out for their upcoming Friendship City Dance Carnival Part II, September 10 at Eight Sixty Custom.

He’s too black, too vocal and too flagrant. He’s also one of the few indispensable figures in Hartford’s ever-continuous push to art and cultural prominence. Say hello to the city’s new brash monarch.

INTERVIEW BY: ONYEKA OBIOCHA & AUNDREA MURRAY
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSHUA JENKINS

Onyeka Obiocha: Thank you for coming out today, man.

Arien Wilkerson: Thank you for inviting me. I like interviews. I never get a chance to talk as much, so it’s cool.

OO: I mean, we have conversations like this all of the time.

AW: Right.

OO: Which is interesting to me because I can tell you – I have learned a lot about community art in terms of what art can do for the community through a lot of things and a lot of initiatives that you’ve propelled or that you’ve been apart of. Whether it’s Tnmot-Aztro, whether it’s Hartford Denim Company [or] even helping out with The Brother’s Crisp in some ways, even helping out with Breakfast Lunch & Dinner and de Muerte, you know what I mean?

AW: I threw the Saint Colt birthday bash. That was fun.

OO: Why Hartford? And what drives you to push the art community as you’ve done so far?

AW: Well, the only reason why it’s Hartford is because I’m born here. It’s as simple as “rep where you from”. I also believe that if you can’t make it where you’re from, then you can’t make it anywhere. I feel like it’s the opposite of people who are like, “Oh! I left Michigan or I left Indianapolis because there’s nothing there for me.” And that’s fine because sometimes there isn’t. But if you can’t make it there, then why are you leaving to try to make it somewhere else?

OO: Fair point.

AW: I felt like that was huge to me. Do I want to go out there and shuck and jive and sell myself for a place that could eat me alive if I don’t know it? So I think that’s kind of what it was: being comfortable and being uncomfortable at the same time. Being comfortable to be here and then being uncomfortable to know that, ‘OK I want to go, but I can always come back.’

OO: So for the Hartford arts community, how do feel you’ve been doing? What are some areas you wish you could improve on personally? And then as Hartford artists, how can we all get together and improve on that to push it so that we can all make it where we are?

AW: To be honest, I’ve never looked at what I’ve done. [laughs] Just because I haven’t looked at it. I think it’s a little bit of both. Predominantly, one big help was Hartford Denim Co. That was a huge help from coming back from Tel Aviv. Being able to have a platform to be young as fuck, and to be working right next to Kristina Newman Scott and Andres [Chaparro] and Lauren [Varjabedian] – whose last name is impossible to say. It was interesting because I was very young. No one knew the concept of just see things for what they are and do what you can. Not try to get everything done because you feel like it has to be done. Do what you can do without asking for help and then the rest will come.

OO: Got it.

AW: So I think it was a lot of that. That Hartford Denim “Do It Yourself” mentality – kind of like surviving in the wilderness that I approached in a sense of surviving in this urban wilderness. People and politics are just as crazy as fucking animals in the fucking wild. [laughs] They’re the same thing. So approaching it like that, just being very animalistic and aggressive. I think from now to then I’ve been less aggressive than I was before because now I feel like the much more important I’ve [gotten], the less aggressive I have to be with people who won’t listen to me. But when I first started, I was just aggressive as fuck you know? I think that was something that’s interesting. And I still [am aggressive] in a sense of being able to approach anything with an open approach.

OO: I personally like the aggression because I think it’s on both sides of the coin.

AW: Right.

AUNDREA MURRAY: Describe more of that aggression. What’s that like?

AW: I think that aggression is just being able to approach someone right in their face, look them in their eye and say, “Hey, what do you do? How does it help me? How does it help this city?” and them being like, “What? Haha. Hi, I don’t know what I do.” or “I don’t know how I approach the city.” Or some people being like, “Hi, I’m so and so. This is what I do. This is how I approach the city.” You know what I mean? It’s being flat as fuck. There is no bush. There’s just you and I and this Goddamned desert.

OO: You’ve been a real art advocate especially for the North End.

AW: Yeah. That’s kind of how I started, too. I think it was predominantly from being in Tel Aviv and that was the last place that shook me up with realizing the difference between a refugee and a citizen and really understanding what that was like.

OO: What do you mean by that?

AW: Just seeing how you can be in the same place and still be very separate from someone. OK, so we’ve kind of “deleted” racism, so what? We’ve kind of “deleted” the idea of bigotry.

OO: In Tel Aviv?

AW: Just everywhere. We’ve so-called “deleted” it. Racism so-called doesn’t exist anymore, bigotry so-called doesn’t exist anymore, but it does. Racism still exists, bigotry still exists – you know what I mean? Seeing that idea and seeing a real refugee next to a Jew and though he’s Black and that person’s Jewish, or that person’s tan and Palestinian, they’re all citizens but people still [place them separately].

The Matrix of Denomination. That’s what someone said to me. “Things that separate you,” and that got me thinking about when you take your SATs [and it asks], “Are you male? Female? Black? White? Asian?” Shit like that. When you apply for your food stamps – just everything. Census Bureau, you know? “How many people live in your home?” Those things didn’t make sense when I was younger. Or it just didn’t make sense because I wasn’t looking at it like that until then.

OO: I feel like you translate some of that into your work, too.

AW: Yeah. I guess. I feel like there’s always a sense of identity in my work. Everything trickles. There is a path that you walk down. It’s never a journey. It’s an ‘immersive experience’, which I think is cool. You’re immersing yourself into something and then getting out of it.

AM: How old are you?

AW: I’m 24!

AM: So you’re 24, you sound like this razor-edge of a person. How did growing up hone that? How did you sharpen yourself to get to this point?

AW: Just from not having anything. Just from the ability to live with not having anything. Then you start to know what you want, you know? And start to know what you need and not only what you want. Like, “What do I need?”

AM: What do you need?

AW: What do I need? That’s interesting because it’s a difference. It’s like, do I need stability or do I not need stability? Do I need money or do I not need money? Now as I get older, it’s hard for me not only to define what I need but to say what I need because everyone needs the same shit! I’m kind of like, “I need that. But that person needs ‘that’ too.” I’m starting to realize that everyone’s really the same in that kind of context of everyone needs money, everyone needs stability, everyone needs consistency, [and] being able to go back to the same thing or to do something new and still have the same basis.

I was talking to my friend George who is a volunteer at the Boar’s Head Festival and he is apart of the Hartford Symphonies Orchestra. He was like, “No matter what, we always have 400 people in our shows a night. We know the starting base of any amount of money that comes to see Hartford Symphony Orchestra is 400 people. It can go more than that, it can go less than that. But we know we always do a range of 400 people in the audience,” or some shit like that.

The point he was trying to make is the idea that they have something consistent. So no matter what, they know that they have 400 people that are always going to see a show or 300 people that are always going to see a show at Hartford Symphony Orchestra. It’s that kind of idea of being able to maintain that and that’s what I feel like every artist needs: that consistent thing that you can go to. When Rihanna drops an album, she has an album, a video, a tour, then vacation, then she does it again. Every artist needs that.

OO: Can you talk in general about Black Boy Jungle and The Projector Series and if someone were to come see the show at Real Art Ways, what they should expect from The Projector Series?

AW: Well, Black Boy Jungle is completely different from The Projector Series because Black Boy Jungle was interesting in a sense that I just feel like The Projector Series and Black Boy Jungle are climate pieces because I choreographed them at weird times. Every time I think about The Projector Series, it’s always done in the winter and we’ve always done it in November, December, January. We’ve always done this piece when it’s cold. [laughs] I’ve always found that to be very weird.

And with Black Boy Jungle, we made it in the summer. I feel like Black Boy Jungle is the story of American identity told through reggae music, which was fun because I’ve always wanted to use reggae music. I’ve always wanted to use Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and King Tubby and I’ve always wanted to indulge in that type of, still, very political way of thinking. Reggae music wasso political back then. In the 60’s and 70’s, it was more political than what it is now. And they said more than what you can probably say now.

There were songs like “Straight to the Capitalist’s Head”, as titles. Just sharp edge, you know? They’re not missing anything and that to me was important as fuck. Let’s just take the essence of being able to be next to your fucking father on the island in the God damned truck, driving down the road with your hair in the wind meets who am I? How am I going to define myself?Where is it that I come from? What is the idea of an American, the perfect American? How do we make up an American? How am I an American but still have ancestors that link me to a place that is not here? Am I essentially American or am I not? How does that define everyone? Especially in my company. [Black Boy Jungle] was about them. It truly was about the members of the company that I have. I have six beautiful dancers and they’re all different. Literally. One’s Greek, one’s Buddhist – he is Malaysian – one’s Mexican, one’s German and Polish and half-Black, one is West Indian.

OO: What’s The Projector Series?

AW: Now The Projector Series was cool because like I said to you before, it’s a work of iteration. It was a one man solo done in a room [at about] 17 minutes long. A 17-minute solo that was non-stop moving. I kept changing, and everything was happening in front of the audience. When I changed clothes, when I did everything, it happened in front of the audience – it was a one-man show. I liked it because I’ve never done a one-man show before.

Coming from dancing in companies to doing a one-man show was fucking scary, but it was exhilarating as fuck because you start to defy what you want versus what you need. As artists, what do I want to say and what do I need to say? So that was kind of fun too.

AM: You said that it was broken into pieces? The Projector Series?

AW: It was kind of done like that. It was a 17-minute long solo then it became a one-man show that had duets that spurt over time. I had two dancers just to perform in two different sections of the work. Then I kind of stopped and I don’t know. I think that’s weird now that I think about it.

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AM: Now that you’re thinking about it, what made you do it that way though?

AW: I think it was more so because of the timeline of it. I was actually apart of the first hip-hop dance company in Connecticut and that was ‘the thing’. I was the Rehearsal Director of the company. We performed everywhere. The Riverfront – everywhere. It was like ‘the thing’ and it was cool because I still have the picture in the brochure and the 2014 featured events of my face and me dancing. It was really cool, it was a really great year.

Before that, it was just weird for me because I left this company and I wasn’t necessarily dancing and Tnmot-Aztro wasn’t necessarily about “dance”. I felt like I could get dance from somewhere else [while] Tnmot-Aztro was about being able to say things that I couldn’t say through not dancing. It was fashion, photography and film. A lot of films we just did a lot of impromptu films on cellphones and fucking bullshit-ass cameras and it was just about being on the block and really not having [anything] and not having [anything] to do and really being bored. When you’re really bored and really have nothing to do, you really start to figure out what it is that you want to do and what it is that you need to do.

OO: How did you get the name Tnmot-Aztro?

AW: That’s so funny because I found the ‘Tnmot’ and my boy found the ‘Aztro’. The Aztro came from Quasimoto. That’s really cool just because we fucking love Quasimoto and we love Madlib. That’s just a mutual thing. I’m a hip hop kid, so before ballet and before modern dance and African and West African styles, there was hip-hop. I would never have known dance if it wasn’t for that so that has always been first and foremost to me within the company. It has to stay connected to ‘the root’ of the street.

‘Aztro’ came from Astral Black and Astral traveling and the whole Quasimoto vibe of getting high and motherfucking making art, you know? We love to smoke weed and we fucking love to make art. The ‘Tnmot’ – I didn’t want something that was Spanish, I didn’t want something that was Greek, I didn’t want something that was French. I wanted to find something that was really interesting to me. So I looked up Macedonian language and it’s a really hard ass language. There was talk about it being Russian or it being Turkish. It’s the south Slovak language. It’s Middle Eastern enough. It’s hidden [and] people have to look it up which is kind of fun. I wanted something that was just hard. ‘Tnmot’ means “team”, so it’s just ‘Team Aztro’. And ‘Tnmot’ can mean “team” or it can mean a “hard substance”. So the idea is that rocks are built together in one big clump.

OO: You’re a very energetic guy. You have a lot of energy and you talk fast. I have never understood you as a human being until I saw you teach dance, and when you were in your element, I understood for the first time who Arien was. How did you get introduced to dance and in what ways do you feel like that represents who you are?

AW: Well, dance and language is like any other language. I’m not fluent in a lot of other languages as I should have been, so I feel like dance makes me bilingual. Before you watch out for sounds you watch out for movements. It’s a language. I didn’t see it until I was a lot older, but I started dancing because I was just bad as fuck growing up. Nothing else [would stick], you know? I loved Gene Kelly. I knew, also, that I liked men from the time I was five, so I knew I was a homosexual. I knew all of these things about myself, so I was just like I need to figure out how to defend myself. It was more about me figuring out masculinity as opposed to the language of moving. So when I discovered hip-hop, I was always dancing. [When I was younger], they would always be like, “Arien, dance. Dance. Dance. Dance. Dance.” And it was sloppy and it was horrible, but it was filled with a lot of energy and a lot of passion and a lot of just raw ability. But it didn’t become a conversation until I started b-boying.

OO: So you learned masculinity through dance?

AW: I learned masculinity through dance and through watching male dancers growing up. I actually watched more male dancers growing up than I watched female dancers. My parents were like, ‘OK. He likes to dance, so let’s try to put on males who dance’. What Black home did not like Michael Jackson at that time? So you were always able to watch shit like that and that was easy. I guess getting older and my mom realizing that I was different, [and me] realizing that I was different than everyone else, she brought me to Artist Collective. It just kind of happened like that.

I met a woman by the name of Jolette Creary. She’s the owner of Studio 860 and she asked me, ‘What are you doing on Saturday? Come back.’ And that was that. It was like boom! Started dancing. And I stopped for like a year to go play baseball because I guess I still wasn’t even convinced that I going to dance. I was going to play sports or do something masculine. Baseball sucked and my mom was like, ‘Fuck it. You wanna go back to dancing? Because apparently, that’s what you’re good at.’ My parents – thank God – are smart with not forcing you to do what you’re not good at. It was more of ‘Stick to what you’re good at’, which helped.

OO: What’s next?

AW: I mean, that’s the thing: I don’t even know. With this piece, it’s funny as fuck. It’s my decadence. Everybody has that one work, or has those three works. Sylvester Stallone has ‘Rocky’. Everyone has the best thing that they made. It’s that idea that I’m talking about. It’s kind of scary to have something that you know is good and will always live forever, even after you die.

AM: What’s your ultimate trademark project look like to you?

AW: This.. Is.. Not it. But at the same time, I don’t think that I know what my trademark project is because I haven’t had the ability yet to hit it on the nail. The only reason why this is possible is because we know how to do it again. It’s the resource of how to do it again. I don’t know how to do Punching Bag again. It was created in a space that was sourced from an individual that I might not be able to use those resources again.

OO: Just to be clear: Punching Bag was the work you showed at Open to Anything.

AW: Yeah. We can maybe do Black Boy Jungle again, but how do I get 30 vintage trunks from all over the world? That’s what the theme was. Black Boy Jungle was a reggae piece set in Ellis Island and Ellis Island happened way before the psychedelic reggae movement happened. How do you even do that? [laughs]

Once I understand how to source the things and do the things again, then you can start to obtain my work. You really can’t obtain my work because it’s not a painting, it’s an installation. That’s why I say that it’s an installation because it’s not like The Nutcracker. You can do The Nutcracker during any season just because you wanted to. Everyone knows it. It’s something you can source out of anywhere because it’s an easy story to source. It’s my resources. Getting the city on my side would be fun but that’s interesting within itself because I don’t think [Hartford] is ready to support someone who thinks more than they probably think. Everything has to exist in order for things to be done. The city needs to already see that I can fill a place with 200 fucking people every fucking time before anyone reaches out. They don’t give a fuck about what’s new. They don’t give a fuck about the idea of ‘small’.

AM: So how did you do it without ‘their’ help, so to speak?

AW: Well money, yeah. But once you get the money, it’s just the right planning. Simple as that! It isn’t someone else saying ‘Do or die’, it’s you saying, ‘Do or die’. If you’re not moving forward then you’re just not moving. I feel like that’s a huge factor to how we did it.

OO: I feel like now [Hartford] is in a great position to really help some budding artists.

AW: They are! They absolutely fucking are.

AM: Agreed.

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