OUR INSTRUMENTS HAVE NO WAY OF MEASURING THIS FEELING.

I’ve learned to scuba dive & now have my PADI Open Water & Advanced Open Water certs, which has allowed me to see the most incredible underwater worlds. I know, I know, most people do this when they’re twenty. Call me a late bloomer. I’m also likely to end up on the cutting room floor of Amy Schumer’s movie ‘Kinda Pregnant,’ though am technically a principal, & have continued to be on set for all sorts of great projects as an extra. A workshop in Minneapolis with many amazing queer artists was a great intro to a charming city, & I loved riding my bike around numerous lakes while working on the furtherance of TRACES, a piece based on the work of Sophie Calle that will be presented through the Walker Art Center in October. But sometimes all I really want to talk about is love & obsession, the most recent perfect avocado I ate, going to the archery range, biking, & yoga. [09 AUG 24]

THESE WORDS AREN’T GOING TO BE ANYTHING LIKE I WANT THEM TO BE. THESE WORDS AREN’T GOING TO SAY THE THINGS THAT CONVINCE YOU OF ANYTHING.

The ongoing casual IG Shakespeare project conceived during the pandemic is … ongoing, & in its fourth year. I’ve begun work in Williamsburg on a site specific work based on Sophie Calle, & a short but glittery reprisal of another work, both through Wax Factory. I’m playing Jonathan, who strolls around in a red suit and peach high heels attempting to spin doctor genocide while falling in love with various irretrievables. I’ve also logged many miles walking in circles for the SAG/AFTRA strike. Stronger together.. [01 AUG 23]

Hear what roaring the silence of all that burning coming abruptly to a stop leaves in your ears.

Welcome to my newly redesigned site, optimized for mobile. Necessity forced my hand when my previous hosting company moved the old one & it broke. This one is rather bare bones, & doesn’t have the beautiful individual feel of the previous one yet, nor, yet, all the links, reviews, & content. All those things trickling in as I have time & inclination. It’s quite simple and useful, though. Enjoy. [15 FEB 22]

PESTILENCE, PANDEMICS, & Plagues.

At the start of the pandemic I involved myself in the requisite Zoom script readings & virtual performances, but they soon became quite tiresome as a form stuck as it is between the live delicacy & immediate impulses of theater, & the perfectibility & immutable nature of film. I quickly jettisoned those types of performances. One online medium that has kept me grounded during these isolating times has been the Shakespeare Sonnet Sunday IG live that Sarah Eismann & I have been presenting weekly. Each Sunday we read & casually discuss one of the sonnets. We started at 154 & are working backwards. It’ll take us about three years, & I truly hope that pandemic is declared over by then. I’ve still found ways to escape into the woods & onto the mountain, to travel, & perform live. Had a great time in a show, PEEP, around Halloween with The Reformers, who I’ve worked with for 25 years. It was designed with the pandemic in mind - partially outside, & partially with audience members sequestered in individual booths peeping through small holes to see the action. I’ve found a lot of time for reading. &, after delays due to difficulties meeting up, my third book of poetry, Bending, was published by Scientists & Poets with no fanfare but much relief near the close of 2021. [31 OCT 21]

The Art of Peace.

A second book of poetry of mine, Moving Darker, was published this year. I've been on set for background tv/film work for the last few years, & quite enjoy it, even though the skill level that it requires compared to previous theatrical endeavors is that of a wooden post or a piece of bric-a-brac on a shelf. Being polite, patient, submissive, & paying good attention appear to be the main necessary qualities. I suppose that's acting within itself, for me. This year I hiked around the timberline of Wy'East on trail #600 with my brother & friends. The views were spectacular. Text me for an impressive photo of my feet because I did the majority of the three days in flip flops, & check out some of the peaceful mountain photos on my IG. [21 MAY 20]

The closer you get to Canada the more things that will eat your horse.

In June, I had a book of my poems, Eugene & Company, published. This is my most recent, & first published collection, dedicated to my late Oma, who started the Eugene Symphony in her living room decades & decades ago, & spent her life building a strong community of family & friends in Eugene. It was odd how this opportunity fell into my lap. My next collection, Moving Darker, should be out soonish. Next up in the performance world is an immersive, site specific piece FOUND, with talented cohorts from previous projects and grad school. More on that soon. Until then, enjoy this sexy shot from a recent evening project with Wax Factory. [31 AUG 19]

Now that the living outnumber the dead.

This last year brought much extra work in film and TV now that I'm SAG/AFTRA. I have an IMDb page, which makes me feel like a 'real' actor in a commercial sort of way. The work is fun, & I love being on set, but I'm not even the spear carrier, I'm the spear - extra work doesn't have much to do with acting as far as I can tell. I imagine I'll be a bit bored with it in a year or two. What a difference from creating original works, memorizing pages of scenes & monologue, & minutes of movement, song, or other action. [18 SEP 18]

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

This last year was tumultuous & exciting. It required some grit. There's something I like about this website's slow continuity, with yearly posts, written in classic old code. After a year on the west coast, I returned to NYC with one over the shoulder bag & a pair of boots. I immediately got a PO Box, a membership at a yoga studio, & started looking for an apartment. I had planned for about two months of couch surfing, pet, & apartment sitting with many friends. Following the maxim 'guests, like fish, begin to stink after three days,' I did my best to stay nowhere longer than that, unless it was an animal care or housesitting situation. Finally after four long months, I found a place in Brooklyn again. Not as nice as my Bushwick home, but with charm. Performances & rehearsals were happening the whole time - a solo performance at Dixon place, some shorts at Manhattan Rep, a full length play called Magic, headed by an energetic & fun group of theater people. A series of short videos. Poems. Personally, I had a sense of freefall, space, & determination. [22 MAY 17]

I am from there. I am from here. I am not there and I am not here. I have two names, which meet and part, and I have two languages. I forget which of them I dream in.

I've been in exile & at home simultaneously for nearly a year now. What brought me to the West coast again, after giving up my beautiful apartment, & my supporting, solid jobs, never materialized, was only a false dream. Dramatic, I know. So instead of starting a family & being in love, this last summer I've biked ~2000 miles of Oregon & Washington roads & trails. Highlights included two mountains (PDX to Timberline, PDX to the highest point on South side of Mt. St. Helens), the discovery of an old blocked off logging road, hauling my bike over fences, an icy rim ride of Crater Lake, 128 miles to Eugene in a day to visit my grandmother, & numerous highway 30 trips to Multnomah falls, Oneata Gorge, & Bridge of the Gods. Sauvie Island & around became a regular afternoon jaunt, I made it out to Tillamook & down to Florence, all while wearing flip-flops. The beauty of Silver Falls Park, the fun of sleeping wherever I ended up in a borrowed bivy sac, finding food by eating apples & pears off of trees, & carrying bags of nuts & containers of hummus helped mitigate the stupidity & heartbreak I feel. This summer was one of finding tiny personal victories & joys, & I'm grateful to my family & friends for their love & support. I've performed with my decades long collaboration pals The Reformers, co-created a new adaptation of Peter Handke's Offending the Audience with my company Liminal, jumped into a movement piece presented at Imago’s space last minute, appeared at Cabaret Boris & Natasha, + performed in a monthly late night show here in PDX called The Late Now. Currently I'm working on a project called Note to Self. Really fun, and working with people I haven't worked with in years. As a sidebar, there's a link to my Instagram account below, which includes everyday photos from theater, travel, & bike rides. [22 APR 16]

The Innerworld of the Outerworld of the Innerworld.

All the rumors about Macbeth being cursed seemed to come true: I was cast fourth string in a six person Macbeth, then ended up as director, then the majority of the cast quit five days before opening. With just those few days, the show was transformed into a two women, one stage manager and rotating cast of guest VO artists reading the remaining roles. Sarah and I each performed 1/3 of the text on our own. It was a feat, and quite an experience. We received some accolades from various bloggers, but audience attendance was dismal, aside from my amazing friends. I love them all immensely. I'm currently in PDX for at least a year, and have Liminal and Reformers projects on the horizon. [15 JUL 15]

Love in Public.

This summer was all about the parks of NYC and performing Shakespeare. I played 11 characters as part of a 6 person ensemble for Manhattan Shakespeare Project's Romeo and Juliet. During one performance, a teen happened across the performance in St. Nicholas' Park, right at the moment when Tybalt dies. He thought it was real, & joined the scene, losing his mind while demanding to know why nobody was helping me & people were just standing around. One actor was quietly, and ineffectively explaining that it was a play, then the scene ended and I popped up to standing and told him myself that, 'hey, I'm alright, it's just a play.' The other repetitively bizarre moments happened at Sunset Park, with a group of older Asian women who had some sort of dance session right next to where we were performing. The joys of performing outside in an uncontrolled environment. In PDX later in the summer, I performed in a piece my friend Sean wrote called The Turn, which was based on Henry James 'The Turn of the Screw,' and Kubrick's 'The Shining.' The producing company, The Reformers, is a core group I've worked with for two decades, and I sure do love them. We had mixed reviews. Back in NYC, I did a tribute dance piece with text from Beckett called Turn, some images and clips can be found on the gallery page eventually. Otherwise, it's been the usual rash of small projects: readings, short runs, one offs. [04 SEPT 14]

Never Doubt that I Love.

Not sure what's next on the horizon, but I've been part of a few projects that have been personally & artistically worthwhile, including some somewhat regular training sessions + two pieces with a group of friends from Columbia. Over the last two years, we developed & performed Europa & The Whistling Mortician. The Whistling Mortician performed on three separate occasions, with different casts -aside from Jon, Casey, & myself who were in all three, went on a couple short tours, & I'm hoping we'll take both of them to Europe soon. I'm a satellite member of the producing company, Cloud of Fools, but it's been great to have ensemble roles with other people who value collaboration & the realm of the physical. That seems strangely difficult for me to find in NYC, IDK why. Speaking of ensemble, I just stumbled upon this classic Liminal gem from 2001 while updating. Enjoy the graphics from the news station at the beginning, but most importantly, my hair, lipstick, & the absolute commitment of the group. [25 DEC 13]

Accumulate a Record of Action & Thought Becomes Transparent.

Working on helping realize the vision of my classmate Jon Froehlich & other Columbia people with The Whistling Mortician. Lots of biomechanics work, creating our own etude. Back in Schapiro. In fact, it seems I've been here at Columbia often working on tiny projects, short projects, projects with new artists. Apparently I am a turd, because it hasn't turned into anything bigger or with a longer run. I'm about crazy with the fact that the last real run I had was Heist. How long ago was that? Eons. On a more positive note, the film, Junction, that I worked on as a driver, PA, & an extra is doing well. What a wonderful group of people, super friendly & fun to work with. Occupy has also provided some performance opportunity, new, interesting friends, & even a way to talk about the crushing penury in which I sometimes live thanks to the albatross of debt around my neck. I'm also still making movement videos of 2-20 minutes a shot. Not sure what I'll do with them, but they are accumulating. Hard drive is getting full. [02 JUN 12]

Snow Falls When It Falls.

I became obsessed with the notion that objects & those without voices have stories, but they're often only made up of the memories of the people or things that mirror them - the stories that others might tell about those objects. Truth is locked away inside. I wanted to see if truth could be pointed to if enough false memories were compiled. My old friend Georgie & I made these improvised videos of false memories while I was visiting, & the idea expanded to a larger film project of False Memories at Watermill which unfortunately isn't available to link, but is in more languages, & features other people besides myself. Then a long term interest with microgestures spawned this part of a tiny dance. Later, I discovered there's a guy in Japan doing the same thing, but by stimulating his facial nerves with electrodes timed to music. Synchronicity. [11 JUL 11]

Getting Up in the AM & Other Endeavors.

Here's part of That Hour of the Morning, a recent short span movement piece that I did with a few other women - the main creator, Leila, is a choreographer based in France. One of my long term Liminal Performance Group collaborators, Georgia, organized the ensemble work, we added a new Spanish friend, Isabelle, who I brought in from a production of Jean Genet's The Screens at Columbia, & an old friend from PDX & African dance lover, Kim, completed the mix. It was great fun at a tiny, packed venue at 14th Street's Theaterlab. New project coming up with Red Handle, the same people I worked on iph.then with in 2006 & 2007. This next piece will be a mashup based on Medea, called MEDEA & medea/for medea. Currently looking for a chorus. [22 OCT 10]

It May Not be a Problem When I Notice the Way Things Shift.

Indonesia was an amazing experience - three months of gamelan, classic temple & rural Javanese dance styles, language study, batik fabric processing, time in the palace with royalty (the Prince can DANCE), & it all cumulated in a broadcast performance for 5000 live audience members & who knows how many people watching on TV. In between classes, I wrote poetry, worked out & danced more, swam, & made friends with people from all over - my art house had participants from Fiji, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Solomon Islands, Australia, US, Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines, & Austria. We travelled to Bali as a group, climbed Mt. Agung, explored caves, & generally had an amazing time learning about Indonesia. What an extraordinary program - I'd recommend it to anybody. The people we met were gracious, generous, & talented. Very grateful. Now I'm homeless & looking for a job & place to live while taking Bikram yoga classes to stay strong & healthy. [22 OCT 09]

Onwards to Indonesia.

I'll be in Indonesia for three months of theater, dance & language study, sponsored by the US & Indonesian Embassies. Looking forward to it very much.

Watermill project photos coming soon. [25 JUL 09]

Been a Long Time Been a Long Time Been a Long Lonely Time.

Heist was in the making for a number of months, from early unfinished readings to the making of foam vulvas, wearing of big boots, building of bombs, practicing an Irish brogue, & performing a stabbing & a shooting. Check out the website & sweet music for our Heist. iph.then, which premiered at Ontological, also spawned a new company, redhandle. Check out photos of yours truly, the production, press & other productions based on Greek classics. Upcoming: Watermill residency for secret project. Shh...! [22 AUG 08]

A Still Life is A Beautiful Life.

Liminal, under the sure guidance of recent Chicago Art Institute grad Bryan Markovitz directs Still Life at PSC 2007 JAW festival. Though I'm in New York working on Suzan-Lori Parks with Vortex at Sanford Meiser's old space & The Public, I've contributed some concept choreography to the mix. I'll be in Portland in August for PNWN 5th Richard Foreman Mini-Festival & for purposes of relaxing & hanging out with family, friends &...trees! Collaborators around the world have translated these simple, interpretable instructions into many languages that are available for download. Many thanks to these contributors: Alison/Chinese, Lukasz/Polish, Carsten?German, Dan/Spanish, Panos/Greek, Suman/Nepali, and Pavol/Slovakian, have all given their skills in another language. If you want to add your native tongue, or take the instructions & make your own physical arrangement, do so, & then send me photos or a video here: ab2353 (at symbol) columbia.edu or to Facebook under AMANDA BOEKELHEIDE. Speaking of choreography, check out this 'prison dance'. How Fromex is that? On other fronts, iph.then is still in development and will be performed in its final iteration at the New York Richard Forman festival the end of August / beginning of September. That's the formal shell...if you know me, you know the dirt: pathetic struggles with poverty, distaste for war, feelings of helplessness. [23 JUL 07]

Colleagues, Comrades, Cohorts, & Conspirators.

I just got back to New York after a month in Kentucky at the Humana Festival, & LA working & visiting various people I love. Humana festival is a fantastic workshop. Many new plays, and a great group of people. Keep an eye of for Naomi Iizuka's play Strike-Slip, directed by Chay Yew. The cast is top notch. I functioned as the DA & also did some work with the Apprentice company - a series of interesting short plays. On other fronts, iph.then has its third EPISODE at Ontological on the 31st, I've been working with SouthWing, some folks I met out at Watermill this summer through Bob (Bob's VOOM portraits are gorgeous, by the way. Check them out if you get a chance - Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr, a jaguar, a Sumo wrestler, Steve Buscemi, a porcupine, William Pope L., Winona Rider, & more all exist suspended, jewel-like, in Warhol inspired video loops). I recently went to LA & jumped out of an airplane. Most fun I've had in ages. Other random notes: here are my Fromex manifestos or Terrorist's Alphabet if you want to read some bizarre writings. [19 MAR 07]

Deviants are Sacrificed to Increase Group Solidarity.

I hope readers know that my titles are often from literature or sources, & consider it a good game to search for the authors & references. So. PLAY is going well, reviews here and here. The iph.then project I'm working on is going to be part of the Richard Foreman INCUBATOR short form. The pages and pages of manifestos I wrote this summer will be put to good use. Working for Bob is constantly interesting - a chance to see him draw at his desk, hear stories about working in theater, Opera and Hollywood, to be in contact with the work, & meet various celebs. The people in my life continue to do amazing things. [15 nov 06]

Every Moment is a New & Shocking Valuation of All We Have Been.

Working for Robert Wilson, performing some more Beckett - Play was picked up for another run downtown through ghostcrab. Have an NPR reading coming up soon for a great playwright, Nick Mwaluko more info to follow as the airing date approaches. Living in NYC continues to amaze me. My book, Making A Physical Actor, is in a holding pattern, as I'm not working with an ensemble on this type of work at the moment. I've branched off into Fromex 6, a performance project with many contradictory manifestos and gross throbbing meat icons [coming soon], and will be heading out to Art Institute of Chicago to work with Bryan on one of his school projects in December. Theater work seems fragmentary. [19 OCT 06]

An End to it All, that All, an End, Ended. Ending. Begin Again.

So much since the last update - Beckett's centennial had a full moon on the 13th of April, I worked on another production of Krapp's Last Tape, which performed at Symphony Space & currently am at work on Play, & Catastrophe which will go up at The Chocolate Factory at the end of the month. My MFA is nearly completed, only the LA Showcase remains. This summer I'll be in Vermont at Hall Farm finishing writing on my book, Making A Physical Actor. Liminal feels in limbo, but John B., David A., & I are singing away on Theory of Love. As if love weren't difficult enough in practice. [05 MAY 06]

Resolution.

For those of you that were following the saga, the office of equal opportunity helped regain $10,000 of the loan money, & then left it up to each individual donor to reacquisition or redonate their funds as they saw fit. We're performing all three shows at CSC in January. My parents have graciously agreed to leave their donation in the school's possession, and thanks to damali ayo's smart idea, we've decided to earmark it as a scholarship for a non-white, female student with demonstrated economic need in their first or second year in order to throw a little something at vast institutionalized racism, sexism and classism. [25 NOV 05]

Waiting...Waiting...

Scratch that last entry about the 25K. Who knows what is happening with Columbia now. We're waiting...yet still rehearsing... [17 OCT 05]

New = Working

This page is up and working, thank you Dr. Saxe. Latest news on the Columbia U. saga: after countless hours of meetings with faculty and various school services, they will return the 25K that the class scrambled to commandeer from various sources in only 21 days. What a relief. I swore that I signed up to go to school here to learn more about acting, not fundraising. Thank god & country the office of equal opportunity & Title IX agrees. [06 OCT 05]

So Excoriating it's Hilarious.

The review of Lion in the Streets, by Variety. Oh my. [13 SEP 05]

Juggling, CP and Feisty Romanians.

Lion in the Streets opened on Thursday. I juggle four fantastic characters, one of which has CP. If you google 'Amanda Boekelheide' the only other person that shares my name is a 17 year old girl with CP. Strange coincidences. We've already had one rather decent review online, check it out here. Come see the show, especially on Wednesday when the NY times will be in the audience reviewing. Columbia's classes have started back up, & feisty Romanian Niky Wolcz's biomechanics training kicks our asses. How does he do that? [10 SEP 05]

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