Artist Laureate helps residents ponder life with movement

Victoria Marks called on Culver City residents to ponder a simple concept: what "being between” spaces and ideas in life means.

Marks, Culver City’s Artist Laureate, led a community event titled “Conversations with Words and Movement,” a series of sessions welcoming anyone 16 years or older to join her every Sunday in February from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Culver West Alexander Park Recreation Center. More than 15 people gathered this past Sunday in the hours before the Super Bowl to try out movement exercises centered around the concept of being in a between state.

Victoria Marks is a multidisciplinary artist, having choreographed movement on both stage and film with an emphasis on community and the relationship between people. Marks’ notable past works, such as the award-winning dance film Outside In, have highlighted the movement of mixed-ability dancers and have continued to influence her work as a professor at UCLA as the Chair of the university’s Disability Studies major. 

In addition, Marks has developed “Action Conversations,” a method of creating dialogue between diverse groups through movement and conversations to address social themes. These projects have included teens, older women, veterans, and artists.

She continues to pursue these conversations as the Artist Laureate of Culver City, supported by Culver City, its Cultural Affairs Committee, and Culver City’s Arts Foundation. 

This past Sunday’s theme was “Being Between,” which translated into exercises focusing on the space and relationships between people. Accompanied by musician Tom Zehnder on the guitar, community members followed Marks’ direction.

One such activity included walking around the room and pausing intermittently, creating a greater spatial awareness between each of the participants. As these community members continued to explore the room and notice their distance from each other, Marks called out suggestions, adding more complexity to the exercise.

“Try walking into the space between people,” she added. When that resulted in a chaotic mass of people in the middle of the room, Marks adjusted. 

“Let’s pause and walk. That way people can find the space to walk through.”

Throughout the afternoon, Marks displayed flexibility in leading her exercises. As community members added their own ideas to the movement, she followed along. When one attendee held their arms out and linked hands with another, Marks and others took the opportunity to duck underneath their arms, continuing the flow of people moving between each other.

After each exercise, Marks invited the participants to come together in a circle and share their thoughts. Tom Zehnder, who was improvising the music as the group was led through each experience, had some of his thoughts about the conversations.

“Here I was with you [the participants] because I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Zehnder said about one of the exercises with the group freely moving about with no plan in mind. “What was my goal? Just to be.”

In another moment of reflection, the participants were asked to write a list of what they were between — prompting a range of answers.

“I am in transformation,” one participant shared, “Between my old self and my new self.” 

Other answers were more literal. “I am between this current activity, and meeting my mom at Costco,” another community member answered.

As the attendees continued the activities, from standing still with eyes closed to mirroring the movements of a partner, Marks led a conversation rooted in philosophy and secular spirituality. She referenced quotes like philosopher Martin Buber’s “I and Thou” in talking about engaging with one another rather than measuring a person by their usefulness.

“I was thinking about these different philosophical frames, like Octavia Butler — her last line [in The Parable of the Sower] is ‘God is Change,’” Marks added. “Well, I’m not a religious person, but if I had to use the word God, I’d be very comfortable [saying] God is change.”

Change, according to Marks, has become a prevalent concern in Culver City. Her talks with people in the community have highlighted how big developments like the establishment of the Culver Steps downtown and large corporations like Amazon moving in have led to rapid change.

“I thought these movement experiences would help us understand that the only truth is change — that we are always between,” said Marks. “It’s a falsehood of our imagination that we are static in any way.”

Finding a way to address this truth, Marks hopes, will make a difference in the community. 

“I hope that people leave with more grace internally than when they arrived,” Marks said. “In these difficult times, we can reach across to each other.”

Marks will continue Conversations with Words and Movement on February 15 and 22 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Culver West Alexander Park Recreation Center. 

Violinist Emer Kinsella will accompany the conversation on February 15. Tom Zehnder will return on February 22.

To learn more about future conversations, visit the official page.