Labyrinth Walk
Posted: December 30, 2011 Filed under: interesting, mass performance, performance | Tags: labyrinth, score Leave a comment »I did a winter solstice Labyrinth Walk at the Chadwick Arboretum at OSU.
It was dark, and the labyrinth was lit with candles in paper bags. My son wore light-up shoes which were remarkable in the darkness.
I was particularly interested in the corporate, performative aspect of this exercise – there was a whole group of strangers, and with no training, we all walked the labyrinth together. The labyrinth itself served as the simple score for our ‘performance’. There is talk that the turning motions balance the left and right brain function. So what was this shared experience of walking and turning producing for us corporately? At times, we would encounter each other headfirst going different directions on the same narrow path; there were no instructions, and we had to improvise. The system broke down; what did this breakdown offer to us as a group? Laughter, and responsiveness, and disorder, are my immediate thoughts.
Also, I kept being unsure that I was still on the path. In the dark, with the narrow twists and turns of the labyrinth, it was hard to trust that I was really “going anywhere” at times.
Interestingly, I came across another one the very next week. On Christmas eve I did this chamomile labyrinth with my son.
I’d like to learn more about these labyrinths, and maybe create one of my own.
