Friday, May 18, 2012

Q & A with Poet, Andrew Shattuck McBride

At Kuntz and Company, one of our main goals is interaction and collaboration with community members in, and around Bellingham. When Bellingham Repertory Theater put on Phrasings in Word+Dance, we saw one opportunity that we had to really expose that collaboration and bring it to the forefront of what we are doing as a dance company.
One such collaboration was with our friend, Andrew McBride. Andrew is a poet who has been involved with Bellingham Repertory Theater's Phrasings, the company's sixth annual collaborative performance with the Chuckanut Sandstone Writers, for the past two years. In 2011 he read "Bug Juice," a poem by Joe Mackie, and this year he wrote a response to "Welcoming Clyde," Pam's film chronicling dancer Kate Stevenson's pregnancy. Pam is also a dancer with Bellingham Repertory Theater.

We got the opportunity to ask Andrew about his experience with Bellingham Repertory Theater, and his collaboration with Phrasings. 

Q: What was your impression of Phrasings this year?

Andrew: Phrasings was marvelous in 2012 – again! I think that the vision of Phrasings – and its fusion of dance, spoken word, poetry, visual arts, film and music – is brilliant. Phrasings is about the arts, community and inclusiveness. I admire the fact that the artists associated with Phrasings take risks.
In my opinion, risks enlarge artistic endeavor and enlarge our community conversation locally and regionally. This is important work.

Q: How do you think Dance and performance are received in Bellingham?

Andrew: I think that dance and performance, and the arts in general, are very well received in
Bellingham. The Bellingham community is very arts oriented, so dance and performance
are sought after, well received and enjoyed.

Q: What has been your favorite experience while working with Pam and the Phrasings performances?

Andrew: My favorite experience while working with Pam and Phrasings occurred last year. Joe Mackie
was scheduled to be out of town during Phrasings. Carla Shafer asked me if I would read
Joe’s poem “Bug Juice” in his absence, and I agreed.

Before he left, I met with Joe, and we discussed his poem. We moved into the rehearsal area
and Pam had each of us read the poem from the seating area. Pam made recommendations
even while obtaining our thoughts about the reading. Receiving advice from Joe and Pam – and
rehearsing – were keys to my success in reading Joe’s poem.

I admire Pam’s generosity, focus and attention to detail. I also admire the dedication of everyone
involved with Phrasings.

Q: What about Phrasings inspires you to write? What inspired your response to "Welcoming Clyde?"

Andrew: Everything I experience and witness – including Phrasings – inspires my writing. As a writer,
I am constantly thinking about pieces I’m working on. I’m continuously gathering ideas and
material for rework of older pieces and for writing new pieces.

Two literary groups I’m a member of meet monthly in The Firehouse. I enjoy watching dancers
practicing while our meetings are ongoing. The practices usually enhance our meetings!

When Carla Shafer invited me to write a response to a video which would be shown at
Phrasings, I said “yes” even before I saw the video. Knowing that a handful of poets
including Carla, Jim Milstead, and Shannon Laws would be writing poems in response
to “Welcoming Clyde” also took some of the pressure off!

“Welcoming Clyde” is a beautiful film. From the first time I viewed it I considered it
to be a loving gift from Pam and Kate and her family.

During April I participated in National Poetry Writing Month, and wrote over 30 poems
in 30 days. As I continued watching the film and continued thinking about “Welcoming
Clyde” the beautiful images found their way into an initial poem I titled “Life’s longing
for itself” after Kahlil Gibran.

Later I wrote a second poem, “Welcome, Clyde!” as my ‘official’ poem for Phrasings.

Q: Why do you continue to participate in Phrasings?

Andrew: For me, Phrasings is one of the premier events of the Bellingham artistic season each year.
With its variety of dance, spoken word, poetry, visual arts, film and music, Phrasings
is a remarkable fusion of artistic effort. It is also very professional and executed exceptionally
well year to year. This year’s performance (I attended Sunday) was seamless.

Some of my favorite poets have had poems choreographed for Phrasings. As a writer, I like
having my poem(s) considered by Phrasings choreographers for staging. So, I’ll continue
sending in my work for consideration!


We would like to thank Andrew for contributing his work to Phrasings in Word+Dance and we hope to foster this relationship in the future, along with other community members.

Andrew Shattuck McBride is a writer and editor. He has a short story published in
WhatcomWrites!, and poems published or forthcoming in Platte Valley Review, Caesura,
Magnapoets, The Bellingham Herald, and Clover, A Literary Rag. His poem “Grace”
won a merit award in the 2012 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest. He is a Board member
of poetrynight.

1 comment:

  1. Phrasings is a wonderful event. Words and dance. How can you miss? And Andy not only has a way with words, but has a wonderful voice when he reads. Congrats!

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