DANCE

In some families, religion is a serious affair. For the Beaullieu household, being a good Catholic was the central idea for tradition, rules, and, ultimately - laughter. Catholicism, peppered with Louisiana notions, dictated a combination of humor vs. beliefs; of morals vs. personalities. The result was a generous home of seven children governed by a mother’s love backed by the Hand of God.

Once again, choreographer Becky Beaullieu Valls of Houston, sculptor Babette Beaullieu of New Orleans, and filmmaker Deborah Schildt of Anchorage, team up to create an evening-length, multi disciplinary work of dance, performance art, sculpture, and film. The Beaullieu sisters present their third installment in the Memoirs series, Memoirs of the Sistahood – Chapter Three: Ave Maria, on November 17-19, 2011, at 8pm at DiverseWorks ArtSpace.

Memoirs of the Sistahood – Chapter Three: Ave Maria is a study of motherhood and humorous tales of growing up Catholic. Vignettes from Catholic schooling are juxtaposed with minimal tableaus of cradles rocking. Scenes of motherhood, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Catholicism are paralleled through movement and spoken text. During the performance, Babette is present on the stage assembling an artwork with wire and visqueen. Her sculptured boxes and wooden cradles are manipulated by the performers throughout the show, and become part of her final art installation.

A sense of déjà vu pervades Chapter Three as sculptures, family film footage and performers reappear from Chapters One and Two. Both Beaullieu sisters Becky and Babette take the stage, as well as former Memoirs dancers– Kristi Farr, Mallory Horn, Nicole McNeil, Joani Trevino, and Toni Valle. Singer Natasha Manley joins the “sistas” with live vocals. Lighting design is by Kris Phelps. The reappearance of the wedding dress and several alter boxes from Chapters One and Two complete the ensemble.

Chapter One (2007) focused on six sisters as well as their ancestral matriarchs, the collective unconscious (Catholic tribe), and female archetypes (i.e. princess, martyr) of 1950s Louisiana. Scenes with stark imagery (a woman with no arms sits at a table and her husband serves her spaghetti) comment on the role of women in this decade. Six life sized “alter boxes” were constructed by the sculptor to represent the sisters. Made from found-materials from the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, these “totems” appeared throughout the Memoirs of the Sistahood series.

Chapter Two: House (2009) centered on the chaos of living in a large family with expanding content on the social-economic aspects of “dwellings” and the possessions we value. One scene included the dancers building a bamboo tent-structure as a video shows the loss of homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina while a woman unpacked her sack and carefully folded a stack of washcloths. Humor was woven with gut reality when a 1950s housewife is portrayed with a box of Cornflakes and a wine glass in-hand to give the audience pointers on how to be a “good wife”.

For Chapter One and Chapter Two, the film maker selected moments from the 63 rolls of 8mm filmstrips of the family to create video images. She repeats this process for Chapter Three selecting scenes of family Catholic ceremonies (First Holy Communions, Confirmations, etc.) to convert, manipulate and edit into video that can be projected on different surfaces.