STORY

The situation with the location of the site was an interesting one. In the events of which came first, the site or the story? the site came first. In researching the actual history behind the specific location of the intersection, I found little interest. Finding a story and creating a narrative proved a challenge. My focus was locating the particular spirit that lives within the initial discovery of Pasadena and the development of its culture, and to cull that from the site. However, in researching the site and even speaking to a local historian, there wasn't anything particularly remarkable regarding that specific area. It was purposed as a center for commercial endeavors, and had been developed for that since the 1800's.

In creating the performance, I wanted to follow with a specific agenda. Presently, there is an inclination for most cities to embrace the future and forget the former history, leaving many of its stories forgotten. The narrative of the performance was to draw deep into history of that area and to create an externalized chronicle of past events. It was important that the events I chose to perform were rich in history and could also be visually interesting to watch. Very little proved as such this location.

In looking back in the past, I've looked for the motivation that brought the earliest settlers, as well as the reasons why they stayed. In my research, it was the oranges and the capacity to source irrigation that first brought in people. It's ideas and rapid development of technologies that kept them in Pasadena, continuing to flourish in the region. While this may be over-simplified in just a few seconds, I'm hoping to embody the spirit of these notions in a way that is compelling and interesting. I admit that I may still need to find a way to address people to learn more about it, if they're interested. My ideas behind generating a couple small stories regarding Pasadena's history need to have a certain amount of familiarity that can hit a memory with the audience.

My research had deep wandering roots, beginning with documentation of my proposed site, and wandering to various websites and museums to cull source information and photos. I created a visual archive that were of random photos of Pasadena from the 1800s-1950s. I would tag each photo with a word or buzz phrase I felt suitably described the images. Then I would go back through each page and mark which words had similar or related themes. From these themes, I picked what I felt would be the strongest to portray visually. The two that attracted me the most were the transformation of Pasadena from desert to orange grove culture and the science and rocket community.

IMAGE ARCHIVE FOLDER

Dirt pile to Oasis

I've felt the irrigation inducing Pasadena's dry land into a cultivated paradise compelling. The transformation of dirt into tropical flora and fruity orange groves could be quite sensory. Will the fact that orange groves existed to create the city of Pasadena be enough of a trigger to have people understand they're witnessing a small retrospective glance at the land and how its transformed?

I'm intrigued by the idea of Pasadena's geology being a dry arid place that's been transformed through irrigation. There is an original caption for the first house built in Pasadena stating, "At that time there was not a tree or shrub to be seen nearer in the arroyo seco". This is an intriguing idea, that before the city was founded, it looked like a barren landscape. However, Pasadena boasts events like the Rose Parade to flaunt their good weather and rich vegetation in the form of orange groves and rose gardens. How did this dirt pile metamorphose into Paradise?

JPL, the history of rocketry, and the space race

With these photos, I drew the connection of science and exploration being a central part of Pasadena's history and community. I felt that this idea of movement, exploration, and future-forward thinking as an exciting idea on which to communicate through performance.I also wanted to introduce the notion of rockets, and the rocket tests made in the nearby Arroyo Seco is continually stimulating new ideas and the active science community in the area.

In doing my research and discovering the past, I'm finding remnants of old stories and seeking ways to materialize that in a new form, in my case, designed costumes and performance.