This morning you may have received an email about the February events at OtB. If so, you might have noticed this gentleman in the 12 Minutes Max section:

[image by Diane Anderson]

Please meet Otis P. Otis of the A-hole Baryshnikovs. He and the other 12MM artists will be taking over the Studio Theater Feb 21 – 22 at 7pm each night.

I’m proud the show flows so nicely. It surprised me how ’solo’ and ‘dance trio’ the show is. Duh. Interesting that I had several artists in the evening comment to me how their piece felt out of place with the others. There is no place, which makes them all in place—an entertaining and stimulating place. Read: Bake You A Cake choreographed by Gabriel Bruya is a fifties fantasy dream kitchen with rustic American dresses and stiletto heals, sweeping the floor with sweet smiles, inviting you right in the eye. I could taste those cakes. Jose Amador’s El Hijo Prodigal de Boricua spooked my shit, energetically conveying a true Santeria (Christian/Voodoo) tale about his family in Puerto Rico. Why did I feel for that whipped black bird? Tamer Abdo’s Stigma flowed in dichotomies: lithe and powerful, sultry and harsh, peaceful and brittle. His finger-play in the light, and sultry caress up his neck and through his hair turns me on and then he violently flogs his body to the stage. His life and story are tremendous. Ask him about it. I Love You, I Hate You Mike Pham white feather leotard ice gymnastic dance body bag wrestle twirl and spin triple axle glitter added face drip. Should I laugh or hurt? Little Man Monk by TWIG Theater defies explanation. He is live, he is being, more than I am in a year. Karin Stevens Dance’s And You Will Renew the Face of the Ground to me swims in water above the stage. The dancers undulate through arches and waves (the hand-kind). I don’t know why it is so watery to me, as apposed to ground. Love it though. Charles Smith’s Tassel In Black is a freakin’ hysterical and retarded graduation speech. He IS the smartest kid in the school.

I’ve had a wonderful time hanging with the OTB, taking pride in the work of others I’ve been lucky enough to witness before others. In retrospect, the hardest part about curating is declining good artists who auditioned with entertaining pieces. (These should be called showings, not auditions, by the way.) But in the end curating is about connecting a flow to the evening. In this we succeeded with flying colors. My twelve year old daughter said it was surprising, interesting, and fun. Pretty much sums it up.

- curator K. Brian Neel

One of the most enjoyable things for me about this 12 Minutes Max showcase was the progression of pieces throughout the evening. Even though the five out of seven of the pieces are essentially solos, it doesn’t feel like a solo-heavy show because three out of five solos involve video, a musical instrument and two puppeteers for the solo puppet. Another thing that caught my eye were the costumes. Jose Amador and Tamer Abdo were both modestly dressed, but each had their own powerful message. Karin Stevens’s dancers subtle costumes matched beautifully and supported the sharp ensemble choreography. Gabriel Bruya’s costumes helped create the 50s period-appropriate atmosphere along with matching retro pyrex containers. Heidi Pendergast/Twig Theater’s two puppeteers’ eastern tunics augmented (the puppet) Little Man Monk’s robe. Charles Smith had a perfect collared shirt, tie, and button up V-neck sweater for his 12-Minutes-of-fame valedictorian speech.

- curator Danny Herter

Curating this 12 Minutes Max was truly a pleasure, and I think we selected a knock-out line up. The best part about this 12 Minutes Max is the variety of performances.  Not only do we have a variety of styles, like dance, theater, puppetry, and video/performance art, but also a contrast in mood and tone. Some pieces are hilarious, some eerie, while others are touching, beautiful, bizarre, and nostalgic.  Tell yourself and tell your friends, don’t miss it!

- $12 for 12 Minutes Max Guest Curator Danny Herter

Jeremy at the SunBreak covered last night’s 12 Minute Max:

12 Minutes Max, On the Boards’ semi-monthly showcase of local performance talent, kicked off its new season last night with a program co-curated by Olivier Wevers (it plays again tonight at 7 p.m.; tickets $8). While there was plenty of great (and some not-so-great) work on display, overall the night felt like the latest installment of the rolling launch of Wever’s anticipated new company, Whim W’Him, whose debut is at OtB this January…

Read the full article.

Wow — last night’s 12MM was totally awesome! All the performers were energized by the capacity crowd and we could tell from the enthusiastic applause that it was a crowd pleaser. As an extra bonus, during tonight’s show the $12.00 for 12MM guest curator will be chosen right after intermission. The lottery is a great way to support 12MM and the winner will have the unique opportunity of experiencing first hand the process of curating a show. See you tonight — come early.

- Michael and Chris Sannella, Curators

We’ve been coming to 12MM for about ten years and were recently thrilled to be given the opportunity to co-curate a show. After a day of auditions, we worked with Olivier Wevers to put together an engaging show of dance, theater, and performance art. And we’re looking forward to seeing it all again: an intriguing mix of stories, movement, music, sensuality, tulips and a harmonica.

- Chris and Michael Sannella

to start thinking about your 12 Minutes Max audition! We just posted the 09/10 Season application and the first audition is coming up quick, on August 30th. Check out the 12MM info page for more details.

Remember, all applications are due in to OtB by the Friday of the week before the audition, so in this case, by August 21st!

Next weekend OtB is presenting a full 5 days of art. That’s right – 5.

On Thursday, February 12, we kick off the weekend with some creepy, yet crafted dance theater from Portland’s tEEth. The company just started moving into our Mainstage Theater, bringing with them:
-6 dancers
-blue screen materials
-a whole lot of videocameras
-a moment featuring one of my favorite images of the season
-costumes by Coraline collaborator Paloma Soledad
-donuts (for the production crew – they’re a sweet bunch!)

tEEth run through Saturday night only (get your tickets now to make sure you get a seat!).

Then, on Sunday the 15th, we present a fresh edition of 12 Minutes Max. This one was curated by Lyall Bush (Interim Executive Director, NW Film Forum) and Ginny Ruffner (OtB Board of Directors) and features the following folks:
-Dr. Andy Hubble’s Crucible of Authenticity
-Morgan Nutt
-Pam Kuntz
-ilvs strauss
-Kristin Hapke | tindance
-Southside Sunday Company

Read about what each artist is up to and then plan on lining up early Sunday and Monday night for tickets at the door.

Thats a whole lot of art over the course of 5 days. And all for quite a deal – only $18 for tEEth ($12 if you’re under 25) and $8 for 12 Minutes Max.

That’s right, you can now start thinking about your application for the NW New Works Festival and for the 12 Minutes Max showcases this season. Woo hoo!

The NW New Works application can be downloaded here [Word doc]

Deadline is Friday, October 31, 2008. More info here.

The 12 Minutes Max application can be downloaded here [Word doc]
Applications are due on the Friday one week and 2 days before the audition. Audition and show dates are here.