By Pauly
Many great artists have experienced ridicule and judgment from their peers and colleagues for depicting things considered to be outside the accepted norm. My belief is that each of us needs to understand one thing: Art is Art. People shouldn’t be condemned for their artistic view… they should be commended. While celebrating our differences remains important, we should also strive to foster environments that allow us to blend our cultural differences. Today’s feature artists, the Wandering Marionettes, have embodied this concept at its very essence. Fusing together a fantasy world full of dark eeriness, playful circus themes, and rounded off with a foundation of hip-hop dance, they invite you into their alternate reality. What’s Your Strive wants you to awake in this new reality with us as we meet the Wandering Marionettes.
Prologue: The city has a shadow. Not an underside, but an Otherside. A Shadowground crisscrossed by phantom alleyways that twist between the no-longer, the never-ever and the farthest reaches of your imaginings. The dwellers here are myths and legends, only real to dreamers, only found when lost. Only in such a place can broken toys come to life. Only in such a place do marionettes come to wander… We are the Wandering Marionettes, a Los Angeles based dance, circus and performance art troupe blending circus-freak and Goth-punk aesthetics with hip-hop moves and attitude, creating a truly unique, dark and mysterious glamour certain to mesmerize and inspire.
Pauly:
Marionette 1: Follow your passion and trust your instincts. We all have the knowledge we need to create whatever we want in our lives. Whatever you may not remember/know you will discover if you trust yourself and follow your passions.
Marionette 2: If you strive, you might fail. If you don’t, you already have.
Marionette 3: Keep putting yourself out there and expanding your circles. Always be open to the people and activities around you – you never know what path they may lead you down.
Marionette 4: “It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again”.
Marionette 5: Clarity of vision and the fortitude to see it through will most assuredly help you realize your goals.
Marionette 6: To hell with the naysayers.
Pauly: Where are you from?
Marionettes: Most of the Wandering Marionettes reside in Los Angeles, with a small contingent in Northern California.
Pauly: How did you get started?
Marionettes: In 2005 Krystal Bell, the creator and director of the Wandering Marionettes, performed a simple yet eerily captivating performance art piece at the infamous Burning Man festival. After that the concept began to organically birth itself by luring in more members. These members were “pedestrians” at the time that had modest backgrounds in performance. During the summer of 2006, after months of intense training and rehearsing, the Wandering Marionettes performed their first 15-member hip-hop inspired dance piece at Burning Man in the Cirque Berzerk show. After the Wandering Marionette explosion in 2006 the troupe chose to continue their growth and push to create a professional and unique performance art troupe. In mid 2007 the troupe became its own entity, continuing to work diligently to hone, mature, and expand their craft, creating an eerie band of characters that dwelled in the limitless landscape of the imagination.
Pauly: What steps are you taking to achieve your goals?
Marionettes: The Wandering Marionettes achieve their goals through the determination and teamwork of our close-knit family. A powerhouse production team steers the ship from behind the scenes continuously reaching out to events, festivals, and communities. Recently the Wandering Marionettes have launched their monthly residency, a major goal achieved, in which the concept is to bring the Marionette world to life. By offering our diverse audiences a unique and otherworldly experience, we submerge them in an alternate reality. Our main plan of attack is to reach out to as many audiences as we can, imbuing them with the awareness of their own limitless potential.
Pauly: With everybody trying to make it into the entertainment business, what do you do to separate yourself from the crowd?
Marionettes: The Marionette crew possesses years of practice in a variety of arts including dance, choreography, theater, modeling, costume design, set design, music composition and storytelling as well as circus skills such as juggling, stilting and adagio hand balancing. Along with a monthly residency and a home in our sinister sister circus, Cirque Berzerk, the Wandering Marionettes’ integral belief of creating powerful and quality performances help us stand out in a crowd. Our obvious love of a monochrome color palette and strict belief in hiding all skin also makes it easy to find us in a world full of color.
Pauly: What are you currently working on?
Marionettes: Currently the Wandering Marionettes are working on our monthly event the Kabinet Theatre as well as a project to unite the LA performance community. Our prop master/set designer has begun a series of new designs that will be unveiled within the next few months and new characters are to be introduced into our monthly events. We strive to design unique and one-of-a-kind merchandise each month for our events and online store, with all items designed and created by our own troupe mates. Of course we are constantly focused on refining our arsenal of performances, training in mask work, and working towards performing alongside artists we admire.
Pauly: Do you feel that your art form is a way to express yourself, or a way of life?
Marionettes: The Wandering Marionettes offer a different outlet for each performer; it has been both a way of life and a form of expression. For most of us this art form is a way of life. As we began to develop our characters we each realized that these characters embodied characteristics of our habits, our uncharted psyches, and ourselves. Through working more and more with our characters, our performances became an outlet in which to express our characters, our “other selves.”
Pauly: What’s your resume?
Marionettes: We have performed in a wide variety of venues, from clubs, to theaters, to circus tents, to outdoor festivals. We also have experience producing our own events. Some of our clients have included: Cirque Du Soliel, Cirque Berzerk, Paramount Studios, Universal Studios, The Standard Hotel (Hollywood), DNA Lounge (SF), Loose Goose Wine Festival, Health And Harmony, The Do Lab, Labyrinth of Jareth, Sun God Festival (SD), Electric Daisy Carnival (LA), Malediction Society (LA), Club Circus (LA), Crash Mansion (LA), AC Club (LA) and Burning Man.
Pauly: Do you have a contract, or are you currently shopping around?
Marionettes: As of now the Wandering Marionettes do not have a contract and are open to whatever opportunities arise.
Pauly: What’s your opinion of the current entertainment scene?
Marionettes: The entertainment industry has seen many ups and downs, dead ends and timeless creations. Now it would seem that the industry of entertainment is shifting towards creations of substance. We no longer need to be restricted by socially accepted guidelines, rules, and stages in order to create. Now we are moving off the stage and into the audiences, bringing our fans along for the ride. The industry wants to be touched, inspired, and transported just like our audiences.
Pauly: Any other upcoming projects you’d like to mention?
Marionettes: Upcoming Events
November 13th Hello Kitty’s Bats and Cats Ball
http://bubblepunch.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/hello-kittys-bats-and-cats-masquerade/
November 14th Korrupt Kulture
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167990686917&ref=nf
November 19th Kabinet Theatre
Mid November filming a music video with a local artist.
Current project – supporting a united front for the LA underground performance scene.
Pauly: Well much success Marionettes, keep striving!
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The Wandering Marionettes skillfully mix hip hop w/creepy gothic undertones… I love the style.