Thank you for everything you have done and will do to support the Seeds of Compassion Events. We appreciate the time and talent you are giving to help create a really memorable experience.
This information pertains to the Seeds of Compassion event at Qwest Field on Saturday,
April 12th. Attached are specific logistics regarding your participation including arrival times/locations at the venue.
TICKETS
By this time, you should have received your ticket to the event. Please contact your main
coordinator if you have not received information about your tickets.
SCHEDULE
The event at Qwest opens to the public at 11:30am. Some participants may be arriving
earlier. Please check your logistics brief attached for your arrival time and location. The
official end of the event will be approximately 3:00 pm. Please exit the venue after the
program ends.
BAGS and PARKING
Qwest does not allow any bags inside, only purses and diaper bags. I’m not sure if they consider a fanny pack a purse—I bet they would since it’s small-- but there won’t be any place to stage you or store anything. On your own for parking as is every participant(of which there are nearly 4000).
DRESS
Living in Seattle, we know how quickly the weather can change. We encourage your dress
to be festive and colorful—but remember to layer, dress warmly and be prepared for rain.
Remember that Qwest Field does not have a roof!
TRANSPORTATION
As you know, Seeds of Compassion is not able to provide parking or transportation to
the event. Below is a map of the general area around Qwest Field to help you orient
yourselves to parking lots in the vicinity. Qwest has a parking lot at the North end of the
field and a parking garage. There are areas around the facility for drop off.
Thank you again for your wonderful energy and commitment to the Seeds of Compassion
events. If you have any specific questions, please direct them to your coordinator.
We look forward to seeing you at Qwest!
Peace,
Kristin Zavorska Creative Producer
Stephanie Simon Production Manager
MEDITATIVE MOVEMENT PERFORMANCE: The performance will take about 15 minutes and
will consist of 3 sections of "flocking" (organic unison/follow-the-leader)
divided by 4 large group gestures/activities that will serve as breaks or
transitions. A loud horn will be used to cue each of the transitions. Each
"flocking" section will begin facing a different direction. Each transitional
group gesture/activity will involve group humming and/or sounding. We will
practice the work together in rehearsal to clarify questions.The general and
specific break down of the activities goes as follows:
TRANSITION #1 (ENTER/WALKING)- HORN: Sounding of horn to call everyone out onto
the field- WALK: Everyone walks onto the field humming (see notes below) and
continues to walk around, exploring theentire space by passing through the
moving spaces or "windows" between people.-
HORN/FREEZE/TURN: Sounding of the horn will momentarily freeze everyone into
stillness wherever they are in the space (humming stops), cueingeveryone to
pause and then turn to face the horn blower (standing at the NORTH end of the
field/opposite sidefrom the big stage).-
HORN/FLOCK: Sounding of the horn will begin the first round of "flocking."
FLOCKING #1 (SLOW)-
FLOCK: The group "flocks" together, slowly and gradually, "as if in "molasses"
(no quick or rapid movements).
TRANSITION #2 (TOUCH THE GROUND)-HORN/FREEZE: Sounding of the horn momentarily
freezes everyone "mid- flock," cueing everyone to pause in stillness andthen
begin the following:-
TOUCH GROUND: Everyone, as a group, slowly lowers and attempts to touch the
ground at the same time (using both hands and humming). Just likein the
"flocking," this will take deeply seeing and listening to the people around
you.-
RISE: After touching the ground for a moment, everyone slowly rises at the same
time (the larger group will determine the exact speed).-
HORN/FREEZE/TURN: Horn sounds - cue to stop humming and to momentarily pause
then turn to the EAST (to face the horn blower).-
HORN/FLOCK: Sounding of the horn will begin the second round of "flocking."
FLOCKING #2 ("DYNAMIC")- FLOCK: The group "flocks" together, still slowly and
gradually in general, but this round people can add simple repetitive movements
(like fingerwiggling, bouncing in place, arm flapping--- things that are easy
for others to follow but that don't quickly change directions).
TRANSITION #3 (FREE DANCE)- HORN/FREEZE: Sounding of the horn momentarily
freezes everyone "mid- flock," cueing everyone to pause and then begin the
following:-
DANCE/HUM: Everyone free dances however they want while humming (any dance/any
hum), being mindful of the people around them so as to avoidany collisions or
accidents. Your dance maybe slow (or even still) or fast, big or small, anything
as long as it doesn't hurt your bodyor the endanger the people around you.-
HORN/FREEZE/TURN: (after about 30 seconds) Sounding of the horn freezes everyone
mid-dance, cueing everyone to momentarily pause and turn to the WEST (to face
the horn blower).-
HORN/FLOCK: Sounding of the horn will begin the third round of "flocking."
FlOCKING #3 (SLOW)- FLOCK: The group "flocks" together, slowly and gradually,
"as if in molasses" like in the first round of flocking. TRANSITION #4
(CLUSTER/EXIT)-
HORN/FREEZE: Sounding of the horn momentarily freezes everyone "mid- flock,"
cueing everyone to pause and then begin the following:- CLUSTER/SOUND: Everyone
walk gently to form a cluster in the center of the space. Reach out and people
around you into a cluster. Everyone will hum softly until a cluster in the
center has more or less formed ("like a flower folding into itself"). At this
pointeveryone will slowly raise their hands to the sky, allowing the soft hum to
rise into a loud chorus of sound, enjoying the peak of thesound/reaching gesture
for a moment and then lowering the hands/ sound back to a hum while remaining as
a giant cluster.-
HORN/SILENCE: Sounding of the horn will stop the humming.-
HORN/CHAIN/EXIT: Final sounding of the horn will cue everyone to silently exit
the space holding hands to make a long "chain." The idea is to have the people
on the outside leave first, everyone holding hands, so that the group unfurls
itself, eventually carrying everyone away.
FLOCKING GUIDELINES: Similar to the way that large groups of birds move together
in organic unison, "Flocking" is the practice of moving together as a group,
surrendering individual movement impulses to the actions of the group. In this
way, Flocking is a meditative follow- the-leader game where everyone is leading
and following simultaneously. However, the emphasis is on moving in simultaneous
unison with the whole group, rather than following your own movement impulses.
The main rule of Flocking is to do what you see - every moment you are following
or copying the movements of the people that you can see. If you see everyone
begin to raise both arms, you immediately begin raising both your arms. If you
see everyone turning their head to the left, then you turn your head to your
left, at which point you are seeing different people - continue following the
movements that you see. So, with every change in direction, the leader also
changes based on who happens to be in front at any given moment in time. The key
in this score is to move SLOWLY AND DELIBERATELY, allowing the whole group to
move as one.
If you are in "front" (on the outer edge of the group) - move slowly and
deliberately, taking into account what you can see of the people around you. At
some point the direction will shift and you will again be following new leaders.
At the same time, whoever is "in front" will allow the impulses of the group to
inform their gestures, so that at times the line between leading and being led
may blur. Because we can see many people at the same time, and those people may
be doing different things, the gentle goal is to mirror movement that is in the
"middle," thus connecting seemingly different movement patterns. When in doubt,
follow what you see in your sightline and compromise to the midline. If you are
confused at any time, though, you can always just pick someone in your sightline
to follow. This particular score involves releasing your personal impulses to
the greater impulse of the group, giving your self expression to the expression
of the group.
WHAT TO WEAR FOR THE PERFORMANCE: Wear solid colors - Dark pants (navy blue,
brown, black, grey --- jeans are fine) and bright tops in warm colors
(yellow,orange,red).
Louis Gervais
