Racer Session #325 | Simon Henneman & Ashlyn Fletcher | May 22, 2016

This Sunday we're very excited to welcome guitarist Simon Henneman and dancer Ashlyn Elizabeth Fletcher to the Racer Sessions.  Simon is a longtime member of the Racer community, a multi-instrumentalist and prolific performer. Elizabeth Fletcher will have her debut performance at the Racer Sessions this Sunday, and working alongside Simon the two will present a new collaborative work. Read below for insight into Simon and Ashlyn's creative process:

"I’ve been thinking about the idea of the epic. Like in the Greek sense, a poem that encapsulates your whole life. What would that look like? Which life? Which me would that be? How would I communicate all the people I feel like I've been? Which brought me to thinking about the difference between my public self and the identity I have that lives in my community and how different that is from the internal me of who I am to myself. Secrets, in a way. 

Often there is a point improvising I feel like I am giving  too much away, leaving the intellectualized approach of putting things together and living in a heightened place of pure here and now, but it’s a feeling I get after it’s over and I come back to this world and way of being. Feeling like I just got more naked than naked in front of a crowded room. As uncomfortable as that aspect of it is it’s still worth it to get to that place of being. And that’s still what I always strive for in improvisation. Picturing a work that encompasses my entire life, I'd imagine it to look pretty extreme.  Attempting it could be challenging; I think of the word dramatic. As a dancer, I have many options to explore my past with my body. Whether it be literal, symbolic or abstract movement, the most important element is focus.

To project myself as others see me and as I see myself simultaneously can be tricky depending on my state of mind, but I must also remember my life.  To focus on my past just as much and my present, I must lose all sense of time. From birth, I am all of me all at once."

Presentation: Simon Henemann (Electric Guitar), Ashlyn Fletcher (Movement, Voice)

Improvisations:

1. Neil Welch (Tenor Sax), Austin Larkin (Violin), Daniel Webbon (Drums), Andrew Olmstead (Movement, Piano)

2. Chris Cole (Trumpet), Rubin Hohlbein (Trumpet), Aaron Otheim (Piano), Chris Icasiano (Drums), Kate O’Day (Movement), Karina Campbell (Movement), Maeve Haselton (Movement)

3. Janna Webbon (Violin), Luke Bergman (Bass), Tyler Martin (Trumpet), Mason Lynass (Drums), Allison Burke (Movement), Margaret Johnson (Movement)

4. Haley Freedlund (Trombone, Voice, Movement), Patrick Latham (Piano), Keeli McCarthy (Drums), Satchel Hennemann (Movement), Ashlyn Fletcher (Movement), Maeve Hazleton (Movement)

5. Austin Larkin (Drums), Andrew Olmstead (Piano), Satchel Hennemann (Guitar), Karina Campbell (Movement), Allison Burke (Movement)

6. Aaron Otheim (Piano), Chris Icasiano (Drums), Lucas Winter (Guitar), Luke Bergmann (Bass), Elijah Kirk (Movement)

7. Simon Heinemann (Guitar), Mason Lynass (Drums), Neil Welch (Tenor Sax)

8. Chris Cole (Trumpet), Keeli McCarthy (Drums), Mike Schultz (Bass), Tyler Martin (Piano)

9. Bryan Lineberry (Alto Sax), Rubin Hohlbein (Trumpet), Jimmy Q (Drums), Taylor ??? (Bass),??? (Piano)

10. Rubin Hohlbein (Trumpet), Daniel Webbon (Drums), Luke Bergman (Bass), Aaron Otheim (Piano), Max Strini(Clarinet)