Poetry at Pecha Kucha Maastricht

Susan kick starts Pecha Kucha evening in Maastricht, Saturday, February 20, 2010, at AINSI Performance Theater. Photo © Bert Janssen

On Saturday evening, February 20, 2010, encouraged by my dear friend Sueli Brodin, newly appointed to Maastricht's Pecha Kucha working board, I stepped from behind the curtains of grief and back upon a stage. Many Pecha Kucha performers must conquer a number of fears - performance anxiety is a well-known obstacle. But for me that was not the case, I have been a performer, at ease in front of audiences, for years. Rather, my courage in taking up the gauntlet was about being in the spotlight without my greatest fan being in the audience. Seeing Martijn's wide and loving smile always lit me into 'being'. The challenge was in fact to heed my own words - to take up the mantle of intentional transition - to move forward from my loss and continue to evolve and to make a difference for humanity.

Click here to watch Susan's Performance

In this poetic homage to change, I weave my own poetry with established theories of human development hoping to inspire the audience to consider their extra ordinary qualities to embark on self-transformation. The poems are: The Tendrils, Contradictory Me, Cat Struttin', and the long final piece, ExtraOrdinary.

Photo © Bert Janssen

R to L: Sueli Brodin, (Crossroads), Martijn Kagenaar (Zuiderlicht), one of the talented technicians, Nathalie Dirks, Maastricht University and Pierre Buijs (Creovate) confer behind the complex console used to stream each of the 12 slide shows and to record the entire evening's performances. PKN Maastricht is known to be one of the most professionally managed within the PKN family of cities - now approaching almost 300 spots around the globe!!

Photo © Bert Janssen

PKN Maastricht has been playing to sold out audiences since its inception, January 20, 2009

Photo © Bert Janssen

At AINSI Performance Centre the audiences can reach over 350.

Photo © Bert Janssen

PKN Maastricht features one intermission and an after party with music and dancing.

20x20 What is PechaKucha?

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.