Thoughts on Vicuña

Introduction

Rosa Alcalá’s introduction was helpfully and insightful for me on a number of different levels. First, as humans we all love the idea, whether consciously or subconsciously, that others who have experienced something we have, have felt the same feelings we did. None of us wants to feel alone or inadequate. If you have never had the pleasure of experiencing a Cecelia Vicuña performance, you will feel both of these in the beginning. Because, as Alcalá tells us in the introduction, Vicuña is very much a performer of her work, or to use a cliché Naropean phrase “she embodies her work.” She takes many things into consideration as she prepares for a performance; however, she is such a master of her own preparation that it feels like she is just making things up as she goes along. This is not true in the traditional idea of what we in the United States think of as making something up on the spot. However, what she does take into consideration is the venue, the geographical location, and the audience.

The one and only time that I was able to experience a Cecelia Vicuña performance was in Boulder, CO at a Naropa University Summer Writing Program the summer of 2012. In this particular venue, one of the things I noticed was her use of every noise at her disposal. She raised and lowered her voice, which not only had this effect of being pushed and pulled, it also brought forth the hum of the recording equipment (everything at Naropa is recorded for the archive), her whispers allowed be to hear the background noise of the leaves and animals coming through the open side door of the gym. These I could tell were things that she knew would be available at her disposal, having been coming to Naropa for years.  

Space between Performance and Page (Collaboration)

I do not envy anyone who attempts to take on the enormous challenge of trying to put these performances into book form for people to study and enjoy. It is not only a challenging task, but as we enjoy the fruits of this labor by both performer and transcriber, must consider both perspectives. Because from a performance aspect, everyone should feel something different as they view Vicuña in the specific venue and bring their own expectations with them. These expectations we as the audience come in with are shattered in the process of viewing such performances, especially if we are thinking it’s going to be just another reading.

The collaboration as I see it, has four participants, in regards to this book. The first is the performance presented by Cecelia Vicuña, the second is the venue, the third is the transcriber, and lastly the audiences of both the performance and book. All four are very important and view the works of art in different ways, none of them are inaccurate, even if they don’t ever come together in some sort of concrete way. This is consequently Vicuña’s greatest accomplishment and greatest challenge. It is clear to see, especially as an audience member attending one of her performances that some people are pushed too far out of their comfort zones and won’t be returning to another performance. Some will even leave in the middle of a performance. All of these reactions are valid and expected when you are pushing the boundaries.