Abstract
This is a two part reflection: a response in the form of an essay to Meredith Monk's re-creation of her performance of the solo from her iconic work, Education of the Girlchild, followed by a summary of Lenora Champagne's solo, Memory's Storehouse, and the text for that performance. In both cases, there is a kind of personal archaeology, or uncovering of the self's layers of experience and enculturation, that is revealed.
Notes
1 Memory’s Storehouse was performed in Brooklyn at Invisible Dog Art Center and in Manhattan at New Ohio Theatre in 2012 and in Tokyo at the Goethe House in May 2014, part of the International Conference, ‘The Aging Body in Dance’. For more information, see https://bit.ly/2PMYMYs
2 Bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of 17th century. The puppets are smaller than life-size but often very life-like, and are operated by puppeteers dressed in black.
3 ‘Too Darn Hot’ is a song written by Cole Porter for the musical, Kiss Me Kate (1948).