Paris, 20ème arrondissement

Cher lecteur,

comment allez-vous ? Comment allez-vous en cet octobre 2011 ? Cet octobre politiquement chargé. Comment allez-vous ? Pendant que dans le monde, les protestes se multiplient, les élections politiques se succèdent, les décisions minables s’achevalent, comment allez-vous ? Ce qui veut dire : comment vous-sentez vous ?

Vous, la personne.

Fatigué(e) ? Heureux(se) ? Stressé(e) ? Endormi(e) ? Neutre ? Etiré(e) ? (Sur)chargé(e) ? En forme ? Beau (belle) ? Fade ? Doulourant(e) ? Deprimé(e) ? Fâché(e) ? Triste ? Engourdi(e) ? Ignorant(e) ? Vif(ve) ? Emporté(e) ? En position de pouvoir ? En position de faiblesse ? En contrôle ? Aux sens affinés ? Respectueux(se) ? Renfermé(e) ? En plein milieux du changement ? En mouvement ? Statique ? Transporté(e) ? Seul(e) ? En compagnie ? Plein(e) de ressources ? Pauvre ? Prêt(e) au changement ? Plein(e) d’idées ? À un carrefour ? Confiant(e) ? En connection avec l’Autre ? Dans le pétrin ? Souriant(e) ? Féroce ? Envieux(se) ? Jaloux (se) ? Stupide ? Rangé(e) ? Plein(e) d’oxygène ? Sain(e) ?

Comment vous sentez-vous ?

Je vous le demande, parce qu’en ce temps, qui comme beaucoup d’autres comporte des coalitions, des mouvements, des changements, des décisions, des évolutions, du caché et du visible, l’individu est souvent au milieu d’un conflit entre son monde et celui de la communauté.

Comment vous sentez-vous ?

Quelle est votre relation entre vous et ce qui vous entoure ? Entre vous et tout le reste ? Entre vous et l’air qui vous entoure ? Entre vous et vous-même ? Comment faites-vous partie de ce qui se passe en vous ? Comment faites-vous partie de ce qui se passe autour de vous ? Comment faites-vous partie de ce qui se passe près de vous ? Et loin de vous ?

Respirez, et dites-moi où sentez-vous la réponse à ces questions ?

(Sen)siemment,

Nerina

Paris, 20th arrondissement

Dear reader,

Italy’s government is shaking like a phone on vibrate, but which still stays on the table. Today’s La Repubblica shows, among other things, the pictures of an empty Camera (House of Representatives), of Berlusconi’s right hand man Umberto Bossi’s yawns and of the Radicals, the only five politicians of the opposition which remained for Berlusconi’s nth discourse to get “la fiducia”, aka trust. But most importantly: a series of six very important shots showing the Premier of Italy’s government taking a cough drop, putting it in his mouth and swallowing it.

I know Italy may seem really far away and quite irrelevant to many of you. And yet, I have one question. How are you, wherever you are, connected to this ongoing political crisis? What are its effects on you, on your everyday life? If your first answer is: “None.”, think again. The one and only fact that you’re reading this, well, it means that you are connected to it. In your mind, with your body, with the language you may or may not speak.

The word “connection” comes from the Latin connexio: cum (with) + nexium (bind, tie). Everything is connected, with ties. Whatever those are, our vocabulary, our food, our thoughts, our energies, our Ikea furniture, our water, our oxygen, our atoms, we are connected, and as such are part of one thing.

So, now, take a big breath, and feel the connection with this universe of atoms, of oxygen, of water. Of money and interests. Of personal advantages in a continuous scramble for happiness. Just breathe. And let me know if we can’t just the connection be. Together. One but all together.

With oxygen in your lungs, hopefully.

Nerina

Parigi, 20th arrondissement

Dear reader,

as I was telling your Italian-speaking fellow on my previous post, POST•M is articulated around a discussion on human rights and, most importantly, on human rights as the recognition and respect of the human being in each single person. This discourse comes from a global aware perspective; this doesn’t mean we speak in support of global economies or their local system antagonists, but that, because of our multiple origins and the international nature of our life experiences, we of inoutput are invested in a process of exploration of human dynamics, interactions and shared responsibilities at a global/international/beyond borders level.

“Beyond borders” is probably not the best expression to present the spirit that animates us, but it gives a very simple image of how we work as a company: the borders of languages, of cultural differences, of creative processes connected to our specialty discipline are all contingents we must take into account whenever we work together, be it for the performance itself, or for the logistical details of rehearsing, touring, organizing. “Beyond borders” gives a solid sense of what we go through, day after day: living in Paris, I meet people at Gare au Théâtre in Vitry sur Seine, go read “Die Vergessene Generation” by Sabine Bode in the lobby at La Colline, call l’Arboreto di Mondaino in Italy, or skype with our contacts at the John Nicholas Brown Center at Brown University, or Heather in Greenville (SC, USA), or Andrea in Florence (Italy). “Beyond borders” means being aware that we are single individuals in this massive interconnection that are our actions, our connections, our communications, our desires. That nothing stands isolated.

Nothing stands isolated, just like the water we drink every day has been recycling itself on this planet for the past millennia. So probably Cesar peed the water you used today to boil your pasta.

Nothing stands isolated, just like the air we breathe might have entered a whale’s lungs somewhere, far off the Antarctic coast, a couple of hundred years ago. The same whale which could have been killed to make the soap your great-grandmother used to wash her sheets in some river in Northern Europe, or America, or Australia, or Hong Kong.

Since so much happens daily in this busy planet of ours, and that nothing stands isolated, let yourself be touched by these interconnections, by the simple question: “what is that person, in Australia, doing at this time of day? how does her driving her car affect the air I will breathe, in 6 months or so, as it gets to where I live?”