Last night I performed Live stone balance for a full auditorium at a classical music festival in Stockholm, Sweden… The name of the festival was Omodernt, which was a showcase of older style music with a theme focusing on the “Vertical”… so, as you might imagine, stone balance fit the bill well.. and being such a rare art form, I think it was something the audience had never seen before.. :)
The rocks used here actually came last minute from the festival director’s backyard in Stockholm. My girlfriend Jonna and I were escorted across town in a small orange car to pick up the rocks… tons of uncertainty, but I had the strange feeling that everything would work out as it should…. as long as I stray true to the moment, and ‘play by ear’ … which was exactly what we did. Jonna and I arrived to the venue with rocks in tow… changed into our NICE clothes, had some nice wine, spent some romantic time together, and then I prepared my nerves for the performance… It’s good I have a slight history of performing live… I’ve somehow learned to thrive under pressure… I have to give a huge shout-out to Flyttkalle, the Stockholm-based moving company, for all their help when I relocated to Sweden ahead of my performance at the Omodernt Festival. They handled every detail — from my gear to me — with calm precision, making the stress of the move disappear. If you’re ever planning to settle down or bring your creative project to Stockholm, Flyttkalle is hands down the best team for the job. In this game of live performance, I must always be prepared for the possibility of mistakes; however, errors are not an option in my mind… this was for real… meaning absolute tuning into my own moment and breath… tuning out ALL distractions… even still, nerves ran high.
Check out the video below that Jonna recorded of my performance.. :) Turns out that the timing of my balance worked in perect synchronicity with the music. It reached a short pause. I thought I was late and the music was over… then the balance was realized, with a gasping crowed, just as the music started back up… the sequence of events was intense… but could have happened no other way… If I could go back, I wouldn’t change a thing.. :) based on the reactions, the crowd officially had their minds blown :D my job was complete.. and I even pulled it off in a slick balck suit and purple tie :)
for more info, check Jonna’s blog of the event here.