Annotations for Description: Transcript

that a fern?

(unintelligible)

(laughter)

[pointing to a rosebush] Oh, look at that.

Oh, look at that. [points to a rose] (unintelligible)

(unintelligible) (laughter)

Beautiful flowers, man.

(dog barking) My name is Gesel.

[waves right arm in a single arc] Hey!

Howdy, hi.

Cheles, you better get up here.

Have a seat, I got a couple chairs here. Um, (unintelligible)

So, what's uh--of the

Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure he's not out in the front with, uh--

Gettin' bit.

[laughing]

With, uh--exactly!

[laughing] Remember that last time, [laughing] Robbie was like--.

[laughing]

Well, she-- she startled him, but he ran out of the room.

He ran out.

I'm glad, uhm, he went that way.

Uh, huh. He ran, yeah. [leans forward to adjust glasses]

(laughter)

Otherwise, yeah, 'cause she'd be kind of a like a, a tidbit.

She'd be a snack, uh-huh. He'd be like-- [smacks his hands together imitating jaws snapping shut]

What's it-- what's the dog's name?

Finished.

His name's Mojo.

Mojo.

Yeah, he's a big boy. Yeah. We're [gestures to David] big dog fans.

Uh-huh. [nods, smiling]

Yeah.

(unintelligible)

Yeah, let's do this.

Yeah, so I won't be grabbin' it.

Is this, uh, any--

It's all on here. I don't--

On this one.

Yeah.

Okay.

Now. What did I just do?

Hm.

Seems to work.

(laughs)

Okay, now we won't have any wrinkly stuff (unintelligible)

Right, right, right.

Uh, as long as you don't hit this [taps the pop filter in front of the microphone], ya know what I mean? Ah, you're a little bit [adjusts the pop filter] that actually should work pretty good.

Is this too much light? I mean, like, too much heat? Or are you fine with it?

That's fine.

She's--she likes heat.

Aye yeet(??)

Alright, um, if, if I can, can you just start reading? I'm just gonna get some level stuff.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Funny how it's the little things we remember about the moments we'd rather forget. I remember a magnificent sun, and white steps [holds up left hand] that [flattens hand and waves it in emphasis] glistened like magical porcelain. [wiggles fingers in a soft fist shape] Maybe I remember these things in order to forget the feeling of my heart being crushed. I loved Katherine with all my heart. And I had never known a thrill like running up the steps in front of that courthouse with my arm around her. She was so excited that when I placed my hand on her chest, next to that red flower she insisted on wearing, I could feel her heart [opens hand, facing out] pounding [hand returns to soft fist] through the faded lace of her grandmother's wedding dress. We were [swallows] halfway up the steps when the long line of couples waiting in the sun began to turn and walk away.

Okay, question for you

[turns toward 3rd Speaker] Mm-hmm.

Does anything get really loud or really soft from that?

[shakes head]

--or is, it's generally that.

It's somewhere in there, yeah.

Okay. [turns to David]

[nods, looking in Gesel's direction] Uh-huh.

[turns back to stereo] Um, then I guess we can start.

Um, Gesel, that first sent-”uh, start that one off really kind of informally. Just-

Funny how it's-”

Funny how it's the little things. Yeah.

[nodding] Okay.

Kinda matter of fact.

Do you have something I could stand on?

Um.

Is the mic too high for you?

Is the mic too high? I can lower the mic.

Oh, okay. If I could have it lowered a little bit that would be great.

I just saw the [points to something at eye-level] thing--

Yes.

Okay.

Oh, yeah. I better be quiet.

(laughter)

Gah-lee! [sound of paper rattling offscreen]

(laughter)

Yeah, we might have to have you-”well, yeah, just sit real still.

Yeah.

[laughter]

It's just like in kindergarten. Alright.

Okay. Um. We're rolling. So, uh, start when you're ready.

Funny how it's the little things we remember about the moments we'd rather forget. I remember a [raises right hand toward the lower right corner of the clipboard] magnificent [forms a soft fist] sun. And, and white steps [fans out fingers] that glistened like magical porcelain. [wiggles fingers in emphasis, then spreads her hand.] Maybe I remember these things [flips hand upward, then gently shakes her hand repeatedly towards her chest] in order to forget the feeling of my heart being crushed. [waving hand up and down] I loved Katherine with all my heart and I had never [lifts voice, raises hand slightly] known [drops her hand] a thrill like [spreads her hand and pounds the air for emphasis] running up the steps in front of that courthouse with my arm around her. She was so excited that when I placed my hand on her chest, next to that red flower she insisted on wearing, I could feel her heart pounding through the faded lace of her grandmother's wedding dress. We were halfway up the steps when the long line of couples waiting in the sun began to turn and walk away. I do not know how to describe a look [nods head in emphasis] of utter devastation. The stoop of the shoulders, the tremble of the fingers, the reflection in the eyes of a heart the does not know if the next beat is worth taking. But that is what I saw in those couples. And right then and there, we knew. The weddings had been stopped. And that ours was, once again, forbidden. I don't know how long we stood there, unable to move, before Katherine managed to put her head on my shoulder. Then I remember the feel of her tears as they [inhales] rolled down my breast leaving tracks over my heart before they splattered onto those magical steps that no longer wished our feet to be there. Eventually, we made it home. We got drunk on a bottle of wine, listened to Nat King Cole. As I fell asleep in Katherine's arms, with her palm stroking my face, I wasn't thinking about the [pauses] politics of it. Or the biology of it. Or the right and wrong of it. No, I was too crushed for any of that to matter. That night, all I could think was, but I just wanted to love her. I fell asleep and dreamed about slaves jumping the broom to marry. But I suppose I was really dreaming about just how far this hatred could go.

Okay. That's it.

That was kind of a-

-off the syllables a bit.

Mm-hmm.

And just go for a more natural flow. The tone of it is natural, but now we want to get the flow of it. And I think that's part of it, that if they--

(unintelligible)

"We knew the wedding had been stopped, and that ours was once again forbidden." It's also getting a sense of the sentence that the word is in. But that was getting there. Yeah, I think it could even have just a tiny bit more energy but not be any faster.

[nodding]

Yeah. We don't wanna give you too many more things to think of. (laughs)

Let's do it. Take two. Whoops. Rolling.

Funny how it's the little things we remember about the moments we'd rather forget. I remember a magnificent sun and white steps that glistened like magical porcelain. Maybe I remember these things in order to forget the feeling of my heart being crushed. I loved Katherine with all my heart. And I had never known a thrill like running up the steps in front of that courthouse with my arm around her. She was so excited that when I placed my hand on her chest, next to that red flower she insisted on wearing, I could feel her heart, pounding, through the faded lace of her grandmother's wedding dress. We were halfway up the steps when the long line of couples waiting in the sun began to turn and walk away. I do not know how to describe a look of utter devastation. The stoop of the shoulders, the tremble of the fingers, the reflection in the eyes of a heart that does not know if the next beat is worth taking. But that is what I saw in those couples. And right then and there, we knew. The weddings had been stopped. And that ours was, once again, forbidden. I don't know how long we stood there, unable to move, before Katherine managed to put her head on my shoulder. Then I remember the feel of her tears as they rolled down my breast, leaving tracks over my heart. Before they splattered onto those magical steps that no longer wished our feet to be there. Eventually, we made it home. We got drunk on a bottle of wine, listened to Nat King Cole. As I fell asleep in Katherine's arms, with her palm stroking my face, I wasn't thinking about the politics of it, or the biology of it, or the right and wrong of it. I was too crushed for any of that to matter. That night, all I could think was, but I just wanted to love her. I fell asleep and dreamed about slaves jumping the broom to marry. But I suppose I was really dreaming about just how far this hatred could go.

The end.

I know. You wanna switch her legs?

I think so.

Cause I'm gonna go for whatever leg is closest to me.

Yeah. Uh-huh. Okay, that's good.

See, I'm going to end up pulling myself to her.

Yeah. [crosstalk] One more time.

One more time. You wanna stop further away from her.

Oh, to reach her foot.

Yeah. Uh-huh.

Like here?

A little bit closer so you can get the ankle.

Uh-huh. And now from there is it possible to drag her?

And then take [crosstalk] yeah, uh-huh.

The more you can pull her towards you. Can you stop yourself with your feet in the floor? Taisha, are you okay?

Yeah, I'm great.

(laughter)

You want me to go back to my original position?

Ah, no.

I'm not really—

Grab her a little bit higher and see if that helps.

Actually, can you go back to your original position?

Yeah.

Oh, it's the bent leg.

Once she gets there it's like-”there's almost like an angle(??).

(unintelligible)

The original position had the other leg?

Oh, no. I just meant I had already pulled her once so she was-”

Okay.

(unintelligible)

You know what? Yeah, that's good.

Although, try- we'll figure out how to get the bent leg but switch the bend. Because then what you want to be able to do is-

You can grab her ankle, and her knee—(unintelligible)

I think visually it wants to be the upstage leg that's bent.

You want me sliding, Marcus?

We're gonna have to add a little drama for the desperation. (laughs) I'm thinking of making it more physically harder than it is. And then that's a good estimate of when you put your head on her chest. And then, boom, boom.

(unintelligible) (laughter)

Yeah. Uh-huh.

That's good. Okay.

(unintelligible)

Can you hold like you're hanging at the very beginning?

Oh, we see that clearly, yeah.

Okay.

Alright. Ready?

Mm-hmm.

Okay, and sound goes in black.

Grab.

Lights are fading up.

Lights fading up on Taisha slowly.

Program text appears on the recording of performance, Jumping the Broom (2005). Choreography by David Roussève. Text by David Roussève. Music by Nat King Cole Trio "If Yesterday Could Only Be Tomorrow. Recorded voices include David Roussève and Gesel Mason. Lighting Desing by Cheles Rhynes. Performed by Gesel Mason

Program text appears on the recording of performance, "Jumping the Broom (2005). Choreography by David Rousseve. Text by David Rousseve. Music by Nat King Cole Trio "If Yesterday Could Only Be Tomorrow." Recorded voices include David Rousseve and Gesel Mason. Lighting Desing by Cheles Rhynes. Performed by Gesel Mason"

Onstage, Gesel weakly cries, "I just wanted to love her."

Gesel repeats, "I just wanted to love her."

Gesel repeats, "I just wanted to love her."