Jerwood Bank 2007

Each portrait is becoming an individual exploration, distinct from all the others.

It’s now the job of each person to try and develop their physical train of thought, and it’s our job to assist in this.

It’s fasinating to watch each portrait become more itself….

We set a few improvisations to deal with certain problems.

eg. In pairs. One person was the point of focus for the other. A stands in the space so B can direct their movement to them. A can choose to stand close or far away. A can also choose to change their position in the space.

This allows B to explore the idea of presentation and being seen, and how this may change their movement material.

Our second showing, I was less nervous. I went second… I usually wait to be the last one to show my material. I really enjoined this sharing. I didn t expect such a rich afternoon. My portrait has changed since I last showed it . The tasks and the feed back Sarah and Deb gave me open up new windows, new possibilities to devop the portrait. I forced myself to use the text as a structure to push myself with speed and to give a different tone and shape to the material I had. The time restriction and the search of an alter ego the expressive legs (as Sue suggested) represented all useful elements to play with. It s still a long way to go and the project it s getting to an end. It would be nice if we could have an extra week to work on it!!!

In our particular portrait investigation, how do we allow our layers of humaness to support the aspects of character we wish to illuminate .If we have these choices at our fingertips we can allow them to flicker and surface revealing a much richer understanding.

Read more >

Read more >

We are now encouraging the dancers not to go back to the long piece of material as it was at the first feedback session.

On Friday we asked them to look more closely at the opposite or contrasting material and see if it could develop.

On Monday we suggested finding 2,3,or even 4 smaller chunks of material of 1 or 2 minutes, with different drives.

Could one be an edited version of the existing material?

Could another be an exploration of just one or two movements?

Could there be a study of any underlying rhythm and speed in the material, eg. Can you physically whisper something very quickly?

The second feedback session on Tuesday 4th was much easier and led to good discussion…..

…yes! the sharing today was refreshing and very useful ! I enjoyed watching the evolution of other people’s work, listening to other’s thought process, listening to doubts, questions and suggestions.

Seeing each other during this last week has helped me a lot: I felt inspired and pushed to be braver in my own choices. There is a great sense of willingness to help and support each other’s development! I really felt supported and understood THANK YOU ALL!!! =)

I feel we are all on the same track even though our material seems so different. It is precious to notice and admire differences, allowing them to coexist. It is so enriching! 

Yesterday and today I have been working in the small studio: I needed some space to be loud and messy and … bold!  It felt very liberating to disturb my material, put it in the washing machine, make it turn and twitch and swing and shake. I don’t know how much of it I will keep but it felt like a part of me that has been silent has come out! … and as Rohanna said: it is just about realising that the cage has always been open! how funny is it: we look for freedom of expression but we create our own boundaries…to break! funny humans!!

I’ve really enjoyed the showings.  The last week has been one small step in my material,  but one huge leap in my head. Suddenly I’ve realised the door to the cage has always been open.  The alter ego has really pushed the material and allowed for more range.  Suddenly there are so many possibilities and things I’d like to try, but so little time left! It’s great to see everyone else’s material and how it has changed between the two showings. 

marks the second thingamee/sharing/showing/landmark… what do we call these things? after an alarmingly unclear monday, for various reasons, ranging from ‘just a funny day’ to ‘just a funny knee’ to ‘oh, my sacrum is having an identity crisis’… er – tuesday was remarkably different (for which i am grateful; nothing like a bad day to make the next day brighter). the sharing today was very different also – both in atmosphere and because it wasn’t the first one… maybe also the tube strike, who knows? the material we brought was certainly changed. it is hard to know from your own perspective, i know i would hesitate to say i can see the forest for all the trees, however, i can say that it was really amazing to see the shift in everyone else’s material. so much more real somehow. not that we were imagining what we were doing before; more palpable maybe? was really caught up in these little threads that we brought forward today… i hesitate in front of the cursor… how to put this? i felt much more engaged, in that sort of effortless way, when you get carried by what is unfolding before you. mmph! a very satisfying afternoon.

Susanna filmed on the 4th September.
Duration: 39 seconds

Roberta filmed on the 4th September.
Duration: 38 seconds

Rohanna filmed on the 4th September.
Duration: 33 seconds

Hilary filmed on the 4th September.
Duration: 33 seconds

Jennifer-Lynn filmed on the 4th September.
Duration: 34 seconds

Jia-Yu filmed on the 4th September.
Duration: 57 seconds

Since last Thursday we’ve had tasks that take me outside of my frame and it feels really good. These new adventures have also shifted my main focus away from choreographic devices and into awareness in performance craft (don’t know if that’s right way to put it). After all the turning and twisting of one original move, I quite enjoyed editing the material from the last showing this afternoon, though more work’s still needed before tomorrow’s showing.