FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. When should I plan on attending?
We recommend coming as often as possible and staying as long as possible. The intentions for this performance are to explore the nature of present-time experience, to provide an opportunity for creative slowing down, and to experiment with a retreat-like atmosphere for community performance.
You can look at the full schedule below to pick out specific hours that most interest you. Or just show up and participate in whatever is going on at that time.
2. What if I only have time for a little bit of the performance?
If you want a kind of “summary” experience of the whole project, than we recommend seeing This Too, the central piece (running from 8 – 9pm each night.)
This Too has been created with IIE over the past two years. It is choreographed and directed by Eric Kupers, with an original music score by David Ryther (that will be performed live by IIE), text by Kimiko Guthrie, and additional choreography by Amy Marie, Kimiko Guthrie and members of IIE.
This Too is a whirlwind journey into the minds, hearts, and physicalities of a diverse group of seemingly isolated people all grappling with the uncertainty of the times we are living in.
It will be performed at 8pm every night May 1st – 5th, and again at 10pm on May 4th and 5th. It runs for about 50 minutes.
3. How do I participate during the hours I am there?
There are many options!
You can sit in the audience and watch/listen to whatever is happening onstage…
Or you can lay back in one of our zero-gravity reclining chairs at the front of the audience and let yourself drift in and out of sleep or meditation…
Or you can come up onstage and participate in the hour-long workshops and participatory dance, music, yoga, or discussion sessions that are sprinkled throughout the 49 hours…
Or you can receive a free community acupuncture treatment from Oakland Acupuncture Project while you watch the performance on May 2nd between 12 noon and 2pm...
Or you can come and go as you like throughout each day…
Or you can move back and forth between all of these options.
The primary guideline for being in the theater space is to not use mobile phones at all. Please don’t even take them out for a moment. If you need to access your phone, do it out in the lobby or outside. We want to experiment with the energy that is created in a phone-free zone over long periods of time.
4. How much does it cost to attend?
Admission is free before 6pm each day. If you come before 6 you are welcome to stay as long as you want. However, if you leave and come back after 6pm, you will have to pay admission:
- $5 for CSUEB Students;
- $10 for discounted tickets;
- $15 general admission
Tickets are available HERE
- Can I share my own art in the performance?
There are many opportunities throughout the 49 hours to join us onstage for dance and music workshops and jam sessions.
If you have a specific performance piece you’d like to share, please email eric.kupers@csueastbay.edu right away. There are still a few flexible spots in the schedule that might be able to accommodate additional dance, music, theater, story, spoken-word, or other types of work.
- Why are you doing such a long performance?
This work grows out of Eric, IIE, Bandelion and collaborators’ shared interest in performance that is deeply transformative at the personal, community, and societal levels.
We seek to create environments of inclusion, connection, inquiry, creativity, spontaneity, catharsis, healing, surprise, and presence. We long for opportunities to sink deeply into dance, music, story, spiritual practice, discussion, and collaboration so that we can understand and embody more fully what it means to be human at this time in history.
We are curious about what happens when we push beyond our familiar edges and limits. We are curious about states of consciousness we gain access to when doing something for a long period of time. We are curious about cycles and momentum. We are curious about stretching the boundaries of performance forms. We are curious about developing new ways of coming together in inclusive community.
We want to learn and grow, while working together on something that provides the space for others to learn and grow.
We want to court the unexpected, the mysterious, and the aspects of being that are found through intensive creative and spiritual practice.
- Why the number 49?
The number 49 shows up in many spiritual tradition. In certain Buddhist world views, there are 49 days between death and rebirth. The 49 days from the Jewish Passover holiday to Shavu’ot are called the Counting of the Omer and are dedicated to special practices. The Buddha is said to have sat for 49 days under the Bodhi Tree before reaching enlightenment. The original plan for This Too Shall Pass was for it to last for two continuous days, plus one more hour. We like all of these synchronicities of association and figure that the number 49 will show up in interesting ways throughout the performance.
- Is the performance kid-friendly?
We think the performance is great for kids. There are even a number of kids performing in it.
However, “kid-friendly” means different things to different people, so check the schedule and feel free to email with specific questions about specific hours.
We’ll do our best to give warnings when a certain hour might contain more mature material.
- Who is collaborating on and performing in this work?
There are over 100 performers in This Too Shall Pass.
Here is a partial list of the collaborating groups and artists:
Kanyon Sayers-Rood, Eric Kupers, CSU East Bay Inclusive Interdisciplinary Ensemble (IIE), DanceSing Drum Company, Dance Ensemble, Dance Touring Company, Creativity Lab, Ultrasonic Current, Exfoliate the Government, Dawn Holtan, Bandelion, Jasprit Singh, Lucia August, A. Fajilan, Miriam Araya, CSU Ferguson, Joe Landini, Nina Haft, Richard Olmsted, Lydia Martin, David Ryther, Kimiko Guthrie, Keith Penney, Ulises Alcala, Junghoon Kim, Masa Fukuizumi, LEEP Taiko, CSUEB Dance for All Bodies and Abilities class, CSUEB Modern Dance Class, American Wonder Woman, Raven Malouf-Renning, Judy Andrade-Garcia, Karin Adams, Benny Avalos, Mariela Guerra, Colleen Swafford, Amy Marie, Randall Krieger, Tom Bickley, and more!
- Is the space accessible?
The CSUEB University Theatre is wheelchair accessible.
We would like to make this performance as inclusive and accessible as possible.
Please contact us if you have specific accessibility needs and we will do our best to provide accommodations, including ASL interpretation.
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FURTHER FAQ’S (added May 1st, 2018)
What connects all the different activities each hour?
There are a number of things that we intend to rely on as connectors through each hour of this performance. These include: a sense of inclusive community, a sense of exploration, inquiry into the nature of time, cycles, and history, and a performance ritual that will take place at the top of each hour.
The ritual involves one person ringing a gong a number of times corresponding to which hour of the performance we are beginning. Simultaneoulsy, a movement leader will travel to each of the 8 main stage directions and do a gesture of touching the earth. There will be other movement performers participating during most of the hours. These performers will follow the movement leader, and improvise movement while maintaining the same facings as the movement leader.
We see this as a time of “palette cleansing” for the mind/body/spirit. It will help us reconnect to the deeper essences of the performance each hour, and to sustain our energy for the long haul. Please feel free to meditate, watch and listen to the ritual, and/or refresh yourself in whatever way makes sense to you.
An instructional video for the hourly ritual
can be found here:
Why is there a “no mobile phone use” policy inside the theatre?
We want to encourage all performers, audience members, and participants to experiment with staying as present to what is happening in the room each moment as is possible. We love our phones, and use them often. However, we are acutely aware of the ways that our phones can often take us away from present moment experience.
Even when someone uses their phone hidden from public view, it changes the energy in the room. We want to create a sanctuary space during these 49 hours that reminds everyone to breathe, experience our five (or more) senses fully, connect with each other, and allow for the unexpected to arise within and around us.
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A full schedule that includes descriptions for each hour is below. For more info go to:
http://www.dandeliondancetheater.org/this-too-shall-pass-49-experiments-with-impermanence/
Or email: