Sushi Performance and Visual Art and the Patricia Rincon Dance Collective will present three days of dance, theatre and vaudeville performance art at the NTC Promenade beginning Friday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m.
Dubbed the Myth Project, the performance addresses some underlying social themes imbedded in the nation’s collective consciousness using dance, theatre, circus and vaudeville-style pieces.
The Myth Project specifically looks at ancient and modern military narratives, or myths, that shape the attitudes of contemporary society, said Liam Clancy, co-director of the project.
With the relevancy of and heightened sensitivity to the war in Iraq, Clancy and the other performers are sure to take the subject seriously.
“Yes, it will talk about the war but not tread on treacherous ground. We don’t want to be flippant about it. We are not treating it lightly,” Clancy said.
Clancy, who served in the Navy, said it’s exciting to perform at a location once used to train military personnel that is now training artists. He said the piece is, at least in part, a reflection of his own experiences dealing with archetypical and seeming diametrically opposed figures: the warrior and the artist.
The Myth Project is not, however, your typical commentary on an increasingly unpopular war. It is a well-researched performance piece drawing on the experiences of soldiers who have served and continue to serve the United States, said Clancy. The work draws primarily on two texts. Here, Bullet by Brian Turner and Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, And the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops And Their Families edited by Andrew Carroll.

The former is a poetry book written by an Iraq war veteran that has received accolades for its harrowing first person accounts, via poetic prose, of conditions on the front lines. The latter text, Operation Homecoming, documents real stories told by soldiers and their families through journal entries, letters and correspondence.
Together, these two books provided the starting point for the Myth Project, which uses them to ask pertinent questions about the attitudes toward war and being a soldier, said co-director Patricia Rincon.
Rincon heads the Patricia Rincon Dance Collective and is also a professor of dance at the University of California, San Diego.

For Rincon, the subject matter of the project also holds a special place in her heart. A few years ago, Rincon lost a young friend to the war in Iraq. Rincon said the Myth Project unites the fantasy and romanticism of war with its harsh reality, reflecting on how a soldier transcends normalcy through self-sacrifice and is reborn into warrior and hero.
“To me, myth is about heroes “¦ mythical characters like cowboys who saved the day,” Rincon said.
“Our question is: In the end do we have to? Is that the only way to get to the more heroic parts of ourselves through this warrior mentality?” Clancy said.
The hour-long performance will dissect many questions about war at the NTC Promenade, 2875 Dewey Road, Friday, Oct. 20 through Sunday, Oct. 22, at 6 p.m. This is the only chance for audiences to see The Myth Project in San Diego, as it will head south to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, after the NTC showcase.
“It’s important we share our views. In a great democracy free speech is important,” Rincon said. “[I hope] what the audience will take away from this is a sense of reflection and a sense of question about where we are today.”