Has Been
Hello my name is Kamotion and I'm a Rogue Has Been.
Hello, Kamotion.
Has Been.
I just awoke from this crazy dream about hanging out with all of my Fresno Rogue friends, some faces were familiar and some were not. It is opening night of Rogue 2008 and they are stoked and running high on adrenaline and absinthe.
Then I opened my eyes and realized that I am sad. One reason is because I really want to be there in reality with them and then more painfully, I realized I feel like an unappreciated Has Been. If I had been there this year would anyone even remember who I was and what my contribution to this event is/was? Am I an egoist because I want some recognition? No, I am human and need some closure and need to know that my work was valued, that may behind the scenes efforts actually mattered. I am damn proud of the work that I put in. I put in my share of late nights getting press releases distributed around the country.
The performers get glory, audience members get entertainment and escape. Perhaps everyone gets to learn something new and grow and stretch in their craft or truth each year. Today I would like to acknowledge the behind the scenes people who really make it work.
Volunteers work really hard during the two weeks of the Rogue. There are the front of the house box office people and the tech crew but there is most importantly a core group of people who work extremely hard all year long, also as volunteers. The sacrifices to family, finances and personal time are challenging. These HARD CORE Rogue Performance Festival Volunteers give so much of their talents and are not recognized. I believe they need some glory, because honey, they ain't gettin' rich and buyin' drinks with umbrellas in exotic locations while Raul well...you get the point.
The Rogue always has an awards ceremony on closing night and I would like to add the "HARD CORE Recognition Award" to the mix. Imagine it, each year there could be a special HAS BEEN induction and then a roster of every single HARD CORE member past and present get their names read so that no-one ever forgets them. I personally, would like to stand on stage and hear some applause and feel some of that love and acknowledgement at an induction. I would like to meet some of my predecessors and hang with some old friends. Kind of like the "Old Gaffers Club" of course there would be scotch and absinthe.
I imagine it like this -
My acceptance speech. I'll try to keep it in the two minute mark but I will ignore the music cue to commercial.
Thank you for this award. A LIFE-TIME ROGUE PASS is most generous and I will wear 'this stinking badge' with pride each year I am able to come out and visit. It is nice to be recognized by the people you work so closely with, serve and admire.
Many of you may not know this fact, the HARD CORE does not get any financial gain from their labors and the HARD CORE truly does work year round. I can guarantee you that planning for next year has already begun.
For the past 10 days the public has enjoyed a smorgasbord of entertainment. I would like to take this moment to acknowledge and celebrate the realization of a dream of the original group of Rogue Performance Festival visionaries and who I will call the ORIGINAL HARD CORE.
These last 10 days the artists got to share their talents for music, story telling, dance and visual expression with the largest viewing audience in Rogue history and making the Rogue Performance Festival the largest Performance Festival on the West Coast.
I am a second generation HARD CORE member but, have been with the Rogue Performance Festival since the beginning. I began humbly as an audience member. I had recently relocated to Fresno and as a then single person, was looking for "things to do." The next year I was in the festival as a performer with the Ananka Dance Company, Directed by Ely Buffin. I fell in love with Da Rogue, Marcel Nunis and the rest of the crew. I saw how much energy they had and I was drawn to the collective pioneering spirit of making things happen.
The third year I was invited to be a core member and use my talent for networking and publicity to get the word out. The fourth year I was assimilated into the HARD CORE was dubbed the PR Goddess as my official working title and consumed many coffees and scotches over planning meetings. By this time my personal life had become enmeshed with Rogue. I met my life partner through my affiliation with the Rogue. He has the special distinction of being "the audience member that got shot." Pandermonium is the name of the play, written and directed by Marcel Nunis and performed at Rogue Festivals number One and Two. Our youngest child is the product of a Rogue Romance and Spawn of the Rogue is now three and a half years old. The HARD CORE is so good at organizing they organized an entire Ambush Wedding so that they could make an honest woman out of me. It was planned in 15 minutes over a scotch and executed in three days complete with entertainment and cake. You can see the photos in the archives of the Rogue Performance Festival. My face is a mix of emotions because that wedding was also a good-bye party. I returned the year after that after re-locating to the East Coast to see a thriving festival and watch the 3rd and 4th generations of HARD CORE grow. It feels good to see the festival thrive because so many people have embraced it.
The HARD CORE has the privilege of working and meeting amazing talent from many different disciplines. We look at the talent pool each year and wink to each other, "Watch this one, they'll be a 'We knew them when'."
Each year The Rogue Performance Festival has had the honor of having names in the Rogue Maps of artists who are on the cusp of making it BIG. Terra Naomi for one example knocked the socks off the HARD CORE the year she performed. In a nutshell; She will be known in the history books because of her pioneering spirit in the music business. She used the leveling medium of the world wide web and YouTube to reach her audience. Her audience grew so much that she garnered national recognition and a recording contract.
I had my full circle Rogue HARD CORE HAS BEEN experience one day while watching my morning local news. "Please welcome Terra Naomi...." Wow, there is Terra Naomi sitting in the interviewees chair at the number one New York City Television News Station. I sipped my coffee that morning with a nostalgic smile and was reminded of the HARD CORE conversation of a long gone year. "Yep, we knew she would make it. Congratulations Naomi."
And in a word that is what the Rogue Performance Festival is about. It's spirit is the pioneer spirit. The spirit of people who adventure and will not be oppressed. The resiliency of the human spirit and it's need to be expressed. Someone once said that the artist is the voice of the collective conscience. The Rogue Performance Festival HARD CORE are champions of free speech and ensuring that that dialogue between artist and the collective continues.
Fresno is the frontier and the Rogue Performance Festival is the wild west.
Thank you fellow HARD CORE and the many countless volunteers who come out faithfully to serve this community. I am honored to have debated with you, served with you and created with you.
Thank you to the artists who believe in this vision and keep the inspiration flowing. Thank you to the audience who show that the arts ARE good for business. And thank you to the businesses who support the arts faithfully each year.
To the future HARD CORE I would like to say, When you meet a HAS BEEN offer them a drink a conversation and a wink and a nod.
Hugs and Kisses from the XPRGoddess.
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