She has always seen the world in two dimensions. Her eyes fail to converge on a single point, giving her a flattened, coffee-table book perspective on the world. Perhaps this is part of what has driven Meredith Monk to look beyond the limits of basic sensory perception.
During her 30-plus years as a composer-singer-filmmaker-choreographer-dancer-director, Monk has created over 100 works, including 17 compact discs, 15 operas and musical theater works and 14 films. She has received dozens of awards and fellowships. Still, she dismisses these accomplishments.
"So what? The only reason for doing it is that you might have the joy of that kind of discovery on a day-to-day level. The only reason for doing it is really that you love it," Monk said.
Several folks apparently see the love Monk has for her craft, and they have rewarded her handsomely. Monk has been the recipient of the MacArthur "Genius Award," two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Brandeis Creative Arts Award, three Obies, two Villager Awards, a Bessie Award, the 1986 National Music Theatre Award, 16 ASCAP awards for Musical Composition and the 1992 Dance Magazine Award, making her one of the most decorated performance artists in America today, not that she's counting.
Instead, Monk focuses on refuting the boundaries between artistic disciplines. "Every artist has this one story that they tell over and over again," Monk said. Hers has to do with seeing through things.
This is precisely the motivation behind "A Celebration Service," which made its debut in 1996 and will be performed this evening in Rollins Chapel. Conceived as a non-sectarian religious service, "Celebration" combines readings from eight religious texts spanning two millennia, nine vocal compositions and movement. The poetry, chanting and dancing are all deliberately simple, working together to achieve some elemental form of communication which transcends cultural and language barriers.
Monk's other latest project, the CD "Volcano Songs," continues her process of self-revelation. It has been called the tightest, most revealing glimpse into the artist's life yet. It deviates from her previous releases by capturing a startling intimacy that is apparent from the album's opening majestic mufflings of irregular breathing patterns and is carried throughout the disk.
This intensified identification, coupled with a sense of playfulness that has only blossomed over time, should make Monk's performance highly entertaining if not entirely understandable to the entire audience.
Monk's performances are famous for requiring adaption. Coughs, hiccups, screeches and bizarre vocal ramblings are incorporated into her shows to a sometimes bewildering, sometimes brilliant effect. At the very least, you will definitely have an opinion about this when it is all over.
Joining Monk will be nine cast members, four of which are Dartmouth undergrads: Julia Marx '99, Maria Snowblanket Calvi '00, Katie O'Connor '99 and Bente Berg Shoen '02.
Meredith Monk's "A Celebration Service" will be performed at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
