Janice Martin is resourceful.
When daily 10-hour practice sessions at the University of Indiana caused tendonitis, she focused on vocals, dance and the Alexander Technique for mind-body balance.
That got her thinking.
“I wanted to forge my own way in the world by combining my skills,” said Martin. “It was a natural progression to want to combine movements and violins.”
It all came together after she saw “O” and fell in love with Cirque du Soleil.
“I had this incredible emotional reaction to the aerials and thought, well, if I invent a new way, maybe I can involve the violin somehow. The violin is sort of my Siddhartha. It's the thing that flows through my life and everything else kind of flits around that.”
But in order to take her virtuoso violin playing aerial, Martin first had to conquer her paralyzing fear of heights.
She did that during boot camp in the Army and now she performs violin on hoops, silks and other apparatuses as she soars above the stage and astonished audiences.
During “Deck the Halls” on Saturday, Martin will perform the Nutcracker Suite on silks and combine with Gulf Coast Symphony on other seasonal favorites.
“I'm doing a hoop act, which I've put together with Hanukkah songs. We open with kind of a Klezmer Hanukkah celebration, and I am the spinning dreidel on my hoop.”
Martin’s performance is not merely entertaining. She aspires to be inspirational.
“My responsibility as an artist really is to do something and show people something that they might not have thought of before, discover things you never thought were possible, and makes you think much more outside the box in your own life. It's an inspiration that is beyond just the momentary pleasure of seeing a show. It's important as artists to be communicating this to others.”
“Deck the Halls” is at the Barbara B. Mann at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 13th.
MORE INFORMATION:
The Alexander Technique
After developing tendonitis in college, Martin decided to take charge of her recovery.
“I decided that I would nurse myself back to health,” she recounted. “My options were surgery, but I didn't want to do that, so I chose the arduous task of figuring out what was wrong and stumbled on Alexander Technique, which is a lot about balancing the body.”
The Alexander Technique is a 100-year-old educational method used worldwide by people to gain improved mobility, posture, performance and focus with attendant relief of pain, tension and stress.
The Alexander process identifies the inefficient habits of movement and patterns of accumulated tension that interfere with a person’s ability to move in conformity with the body’s anti-gravity design. It is not a series of passive treatments or exercises, but rather a reeducation of the mind and body that empowers the user to take charge of their learning and healing process. Lessons leave one feeling lighter, freer, and more grounded by establishing a new balance in the body that releases unnecessary tension. It can be applied to sitting, lying down, standing, walking, lifting and other daily activities.
In addition to Martin, the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Moshe Feldenkrais (author of “Awareness through Movement”), many prominent people have endorsed the Technique, including actors Paul Newman, Jeremy Irons, Joel Gray, Mary Steenbergen, Julie Andrews, Patrick Stewart, Kevin Kline, Joanne Woodward, John Cleese, Alan Rickman, John Houseman, Robin Williams, James Earl Jones, Christopher Reeve, Judi Dench, Ben Kingsley, William Hurt, Keanu Reeves, Hillary Swank. Heath Leger, Pierce Brosnan and Juliette Binoche, along with musicians Paul McCartney and Sting.
Fear of heights
It’s Mary Poppins’ fault.
“I wanted to be Mary Poppins,” Martin said. “So I jumped off the very high balcony and sprained my arm.”
Other height-related mishaps followed.
The result, “this petrifying fear of heights.”
It was both debilitating and embarrassing.
While other kids were climbing trees and monkey bars, Martin sat on the sidelines. She was the “scaredy cat.”
“It became a thing and I was more than a little embarrassed by it,” Martin acknowledged.
One of her worst experiences happened in France.
“I was with an orchestra. We went to France and climbed this tower. Part of the way up, I just froze. This paralyzing fear just washed over me and I couldn't move. I'd walk down a few steps and feel fine, and then I'd go back up and same thing. It was really weird. It's like my body knew. It didn't want to go any higher.”
Martin tried to push through her fears without success until she joined the Army.
“When I graduated from Juilliard, I had a whole bunch of student loans that had to be paid back somehow,” she recalled. “One day, I stumbled on a sign that said something about a student loan repayment program, Inquire Within. I looked up and saw I was standing in front of a U.S. Army Recruitment Center, and I was like, ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Martin continued on her way.
“I walked down the block and I was like, ‘you know what? It doesn't hurt to find out. Maybe they have violins.’”
So, she turned around and inquired within.
“I remember [the recruiting officer’s] name tag. It said Lord on it. His name was Robin Lord. I asked him if they had violins in the Army and he kind of laughed. He said, ‘Oh, I don't think so but let me go check.’ When he came back, he said not only do they have violins, but there's a job opening and they have auditions next week. ‘If you can send in a demo, they might invite you to the to the audition.’”
Martin had just completed a violin competition and happened to have a demo tape and resume with her.
“So, I was like, okay, here you go.”
Not only did Martin get an invitation, but the Army also bought her a train ticket to go to Washington for the audition.
“So, I did the audition. I got the job. And then I was like, ‘oh no, now what?’”
She discussed the opportunity with her teacher and mentor at Julliard, Dorothy DeLay, who encouraged her to join the Army. She also arranged for Martin to continue lessons at Julliard on her days off and provided opportunities for Martin to continue to perform at Juilliard and participate in international competitions.
“It ended up being an incredible opportunity,” said Martin. “But I had to go to basic training just like everyone else.”
Suffice it to say that Julliard did not prepare Martin for basic training.
“I couldn't even do a push up at the time,” Martin admitted, adding with a chuckle. “I got myself to a good strength and I ended up being the fastest runner in my company I was so scared.”
Her pivotal moment came, however, on the confidence course.
“I had to climb a 30-foot ladder,” Martin explained. “It's like a tree trunk ladder. You have to climb up the ladder and then you hoist your legs over this rope and slide to the ground. It doesn’t sound all that terrible, but when you're afraid of heights and you're also wearing a helmet and heavy water bottles and heavy boots and all the things that you've got to wear, it’s terrifying.”
Halfway up the ladder, she froze.
“I just had that paralyzing fear wash over me. I couldn't go any higher. The drill sergeant was yelling down to me ‘Martin, move it.’ But I still couldn’t move, so he finally came down to my level and got in my face. He’s like, ‘Martin, I said, move it.’ That got me to the top. I remember just thinking that I was going to die, and somehow, with the more encouraging words from my friendly drill instructor, I threw my legs up and I slid down to the ground.”
It turned out to be a life-changing experience.
“I was so very scared that I didn't believe that I could do it,” Martin related. “And when I realized that you can feel the fear but do it anyway, it just made me realize how many more opportunities and how many other things that we can do. I obviously try not to take stupid risks, but now I know that you can overcome your fears. It just takes discipline to fight your fears. So, in a way, becoming an aerialist was part of my trajectory of working on just overcoming fears, and then I fell in love with it.”
While Martin has conquered her fears, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still experience them. She often performs 20 or more feet above the stage and swings from side to side, soaring over the orchestra and conductor at varying heights.
“I've learned how to just not look down,” she noted. “And, actually, adding the violin really helps. I don't really have time to be anxious. It’s an excellent diversion. It really takes your mind off of how high up you are when you're focusing on and looking at the violin.”
Martin decided to share her experiences with children and repeats this and other stories in a children’s book she titled “How I Learned to Fly.”
Signed copies will be available for purchase at the Barbara B. Mann during “Deck the Halls."
Martin also performs on piano
Although she is a virtuoso on violin, that’s not Martin’s only instrument. During “Deck the Halls,” she will also perform on piano.
“One of the apparatuses I use during my performance is an aerial moon,” Martin noted. “I am excited about this piece because I took ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and integrated ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ into the melody. And then I stand up and I play it on piano, and then I'll go up and do contortion types of things on the aerial moon up in the air, where I’ll also play violin and sing. Then I finish up on the piano again at the end.”
Carol of the Bells
Martin is also looking forward to performing “Carol of the Bells” during “Deck the Halls.”
“It's also my own arrangement,” Martin observed. “I start off on violin, get the violins all going in a round of “Carol of the Bells,” and then I play a medley on top, starting with “What Child is This?” before going into “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and finishing up with the whole orchestra playing. It's an exciting finish.”
While Martin performs several solos, there are also several songs that she performs in tandem with Gulf Coast Symphony. The interplay between solos and collaborative pieces evolved during discussions between Martin and Gulf Coast Symphony Artistic Director and conductor Andrew Kurtz.
“Andrew has been really gracious in letting me have a lot of input,” Martin said. “So, we flip back and forth, and when I need a costume or a rigging change, the orchestra does the orchestra only number. It has a nice flow. There’s a really dynamic end to the first act and the Irish dancers are also going to do their own number.”
More information
“Aerial violinist performing at ‘Deck the Halls’ show”; and
“Aerial silks emerge as fitness option with performance art appeal.”
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
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To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.
