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"James Dean of Contemporary Dance"
to Perform in Benefit for SAME
That's what a critic at the Las Angeles Times calls Tim Miller who will perform Some Golden States as a
benefit for the Southeastern Arts, Media and Education Project (SAME) on Wednesday, October 5th.
Michael Kearns (remember him from Dream Man and Jerker ?) says of Miller, "Initially, I was seduced by
a photo of him. Audaciously prone on a naked mattress beneath the Hollywood sign; he was bare-chested, in
profile, and coming on strong. Beyond the deliberate sexiness of the shot, I got a real sense of the man-slash-
boy in the picture. (A) He was gay. (B) He was an artist (Q He was accessible."
Miller was in town a couple of weeks ago promoting his upcoming performance of Some Golden States. I
spent the better part of a day with him, talking, interviewing, introducing. Kearns is right on. Tim is one bright
sexy, talented, funny man. And both the man and his performance of Some Golden States are totally
accessible.
Miller is a performance artist That's not an easy genre to define. Miller calls it a coalescing of different
media-movement music, visuals, spoken text Unlike a play, text may not always be the most important part
of the perfoimance. Spaulding Gray's brilliant Swimming to Cambodia is a good example.
Some Golden States, like Swimming, is basically autobiographical: Whittier, California ban, working class
white boy discovers his sexuality, loses his innocence. Moves to San Francisoo, finds the movement and loses
his innocence. Moves to New York, becomes an artist and loses his innocence. Becomes famous, wins
awards and loses his innocence. Returns to California, sees his hometown destroyed by an earthquake, and
loses his innocence. Gel the picture?
Think of our hero as sort of a "homo Candide."
But unlike Voltaire's hero, Miller and his slightly rearranged performance alter ego temper their optimism
with a strong cerebral sensibility. Kearns calls him "rather like a character out of a Chekhov play." OK, but I
doubt that any character Chekov created ever displayed the kind of explosive energy that Miller does in
States. The Village Voice describes it as "the energy of a rock band in one body." The music for States, more
Windham Hill than Iron Maiden, was composed by Miller's lover, writer Douglas Sadownick.
Another critic says Miller is,"... like a cross between Pee Wee Herman and game show contestant. Other
times he vamps like an erotic stripteaser." Big Top Pee Wee and Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire are tops on
Tim's movie list this season. Did Kearns say a character from Checkov ? Sounds more like Woody Allen,
sons neurosis, to me.
Atlanta is the first non-costal city in America to see Some Golden States. And audiences at the Wednesday,
October 5 performance and reception, which is a benefit for SAME, will doubtless be the first of many
Atlantan's to be entertained, challenged and aroused by Miller. The 8:30pm performance will be held at Seven
Stages Collective Theater, 1105 Euclid Avenue. Tickets are $10 and can be ordered by calling 584-2104; they
are also available at Charis Books and More, 419 Moreland Avenue in Little 5 Points.
MORE Productions will present additional performances, Thursday-Sunday October 6-9 and 13-16 at
8:30pm. Call 524-3399 fa reservations for those performances.
-Gary Kaupman
Tim Miller: "Like a cross between Pee Wee Herman and a game show
contestant" when he's not vamping like an "erotic stripteaser."