By WILLIAM MUNOZ
“Metercraeft” is an Old English word that described the art of verse and poetry. The term intersects with the metrical foot concept and the 1660’s term “poetry of the foot” which described dance as poetry in motion. Crafting metrical rhythm is where dance and poetry meet.
Josh Wagner and Alyssa Rae Hands came together to create Meter Craeft an audio-visual performance competition that combines dance, film, and poetry. The mission is the celebration of art and community, and to offer opportunities for creative collaborative performance in Montana. The MeterCraeft competition took place during the Missoula Fringe Festival August 13-17, 2014.
Besides being a competition, Meter Craeft was also a charitable event–a drive is to raise funding and awareness to support small art venues in Missoula (including VonCommon, a Missoula art collective and Bare Bait Dance Company, a local Missoula dance company whose mission is to make contemporary dance more accessible to both the Missoula community as well as rural Montana communities which are largely under served in the performing arts).
100% of the proceeds (less production expenses) were donated to self-funded local galleries and studios. One of the difficulties facing any artist is finding a space to display or perform their art. Large venues are too costly for the artist just starting out, whereas the smaller venues experience financial struggles associated with any small business startup. The effort of Meter Craeft to play a part in fundraising for smaller venues is both commendable and appreciated. Local artist, of which this writer is one, deeply appreciate this kind of support.