INTERVIEW WITH CHOREOGRAPHER TIM MATEER

Tim Mateer was 20 years old when he moved to Austin, in 1979 under the guise of attending the University of Texas to study theatre. As it turned out his continuing education took a more practicable path. To make school more affordable, he would wait a year and secure residency. During that year he became involved in the local community theatre scene and fell in with some recent graduates of the UT directing program who were proteges of Dr. Francis Hodge. These Hodgen Directors became his mentors and changed his life. Suddenly he was deeply involved in creating incredible performances. He became a founding member of Big State Productions, started a punk rock band, and studied contact improvisation with Darla Johnson with whom he would form the Migration Performance Group.

Returning to school at age 64 is part of his practice of curiosity. It’s an opportunity to create new rituals for himself and the arts community as a whole. 

His piece in the Choreographers Showcase is titled 'The Veil is Thin When the Shovel Spins', it comes directly out of one of these new rituals. For over a year now he has been spinning/turning a shovel as a meditative practice.  This activity has allowed him easy access to the creative flow, allowing him to enter a waking dream state where he watched his piece grow and unfold. 'The Veil is Thin When the Shovel Spins', plays with the idea of Mars' energy being active and expansive while the energy of the Moon is receptive. In our mythical world gardening has become a hidden martial art much like the Hula, or Capoeira and shovels can become musical instruments.