"I always retain the capacity to laugh at my own serious intentions, even while those intentions remain serious."
This was something we were regularly reminded of while working with Matthias. I really like this idea, as it reminds me to enjoy what I'm doing and have fun, instead of concentrating on getting it perfect.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Influx - Voice Tasks
Here are the some of the 'tasks' in our piece that involved using our voices...
1. "Round the Chimneys!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
2. Groans - We had to groan while crawling under a shelf.
3. "Spritely!
Tightly!
Slightly!
Nightly!
Sightly!
Brightly!
Rightly!
Politely!" - We had to complete this sequence of words 4 times by saying a word each, getting faster.
4. Describe an object for the audience to guess while performing 'turntable'.
5. "Over the Rooftops!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
6. Tongue Twisters - We were each given a tongue twister from the list below and had to challenge each other with them.
"Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry"
"Eleven Benevolent Elephants"
"Six Sleek Swans Swam Swiftly Southwards"
"She sifted thistles through her thistle sifter"
"Which wristwatches are swiss wristwaches"
"Plain bun. Plum bun. Bun without Plum"
7. "Here" and "There" - A sequence of movement, adding different sequences of the words layered on top
1. "Round the Chimneys!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
2. Groans - We had to groan while crawling under a shelf.
3. "Spritely!
Tightly!
Slightly!
Nightly!
Sightly!
Brightly!
Rightly!
Politely!" - We had to complete this sequence of words 4 times by saying a word each, getting faster.
4. Describe an object for the audience to guess while performing 'turntable'.
5. "Over the Rooftops!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
6. Tongue Twisters - We were each given a tongue twister from the list below and had to challenge each other with them.
"Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry"
"Eleven Benevolent Elephants"
"Six Sleek Swans Swam Swiftly Southwards"
"She sifted thistles through her thistle sifter"
"Which wristwatches are swiss wristwaches"
"Plain bun. Plum bun. Bun without Plum"
7. "Here" and "There" - A sequence of movement, adding different sequences of the words layered on top
Performance Week - Done!
Our Performance Projects module is rapidly coming to an end now with just our Vivas to go. It has been such an intense, full on term but it has been so much fun. It really allows us, as students, to get in insight to working in a professional company.
I've loved being part of Influx! We were a very varied company but all very enthusiastic about our work. I have to credit our company manager because she really has been amazing!
As I've previously mentioned, our piece was called 'Walking Piece' and involved the performers moving in a loop around the edges of the Lanchester Gallery negotiating tasks along the way. Some of the tasks required us to use our voice. This is something I haven't really experienced before. The thought of it was quite daunting at first especially because at times, the performance space would be silent apart from your voice. The good thing about this piece was that the some of the tasks were so complicated, I began focusing on doing it correctly and completely forgot about the speaking. I would definitely like to do more work like this in the future. I will post some of the voice tasks later, it will be good to look back at this blog in months to come and see if I can still remember them.
The performance week was a tough week for us all. It was the week we had all been working so hard towards. Unfortunately, I was only able to participate in 2 of the 5 performances due to being very unwell. I was so disappointed but at the same time I was grateful that I had managed to perform twice and that I had a great company to be there to support me and make sure Influx still gave a brilliant performance. It would be great to hear what others thought of our piece as it was so different?
I'm not sure whether I'm sad or glad that I'll never have to repeated the words 'here' and 'there' again! But I do know that I have loved every minute of this module and I'm really going to miss being a part of Influx. I'd like to say a BIG thank you to everyone involved especially the other company members, Matthias Sperling and Katye Coe.
I've loved being part of Influx! We were a very varied company but all very enthusiastic about our work. I have to credit our company manager because she really has been amazing!
As I've previously mentioned, our piece was called 'Walking Piece' and involved the performers moving in a loop around the edges of the Lanchester Gallery negotiating tasks along the way. Some of the tasks required us to use our voice. This is something I haven't really experienced before. The thought of it was quite daunting at first especially because at times, the performance space would be silent apart from your voice. The good thing about this piece was that the some of the tasks were so complicated, I began focusing on doing it correctly and completely forgot about the speaking. I would definitely like to do more work like this in the future. I will post some of the voice tasks later, it will be good to look back at this blog in months to come and see if I can still remember them.
The performance week was a tough week for us all. It was the week we had all been working so hard towards. Unfortunately, I was only able to participate in 2 of the 5 performances due to being very unwell. I was so disappointed but at the same time I was grateful that I had managed to perform twice and that I had a great company to be there to support me and make sure Influx still gave a brilliant performance. It would be great to hear what others thought of our piece as it was so different?
I'm not sure whether I'm sad or glad that I'll never have to repeated the words 'here' and 'there' again! But I do know that I have loved every minute of this module and I'm really going to miss being a part of Influx. I'd like to say a BIG thank you to everyone involved especially the other company members, Matthias Sperling and Katye Coe.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Performance Projects
Things have got so crazy recently, Performance Projects have really kicked in and we're all very busy.
A couple of weeks ago, Influx had our intensive with our choreographer, Matthias Sperling. It was a hectic week, where we were set a variety of tasks including creating evolving walks, learning tongue twisters, singing songs as well as lots of stuff. Eventually, Matthias pulled together all the little elements to create our piece. The basic concept is, our company is split in half each peforming the piece after eachother. We travelling around the edges of the gallery twice performing different tasks at each 'station'.
Some of the tasks in our piece really involve involve using your brain. We really have to think about our movement. Something that required a lot of time and effort was working on the 'clock faces'. We had to rearrange the numbers 1 to 12, three times. My number sequences are the following:
A) 4, 5, 7, 2, 8, 11, 3, 9, 12, 1, 6, 10
B) 3, 6, 9, 12, 10, 7, 2, 5, 11, 8, 4
C) 2, 7 ,9, 5, 11, 8, 3, 4, 12, 10, 6, 1
We then had to imagine a clock face on the floor and step to each number in our sequence to create a phrase.
I'm really enoying this module but its a lot of hard work. We have our performances next week and then its all over.
A couple of weeks ago, Influx had our intensive with our choreographer, Matthias Sperling. It was a hectic week, where we were set a variety of tasks including creating evolving walks, learning tongue twisters, singing songs as well as lots of stuff. Eventually, Matthias pulled together all the little elements to create our piece. The basic concept is, our company is split in half each peforming the piece after eachother. We travelling around the edges of the gallery twice performing different tasks at each 'station'.
Some of the tasks in our piece really involve involve using your brain. We really have to think about our movement. Something that required a lot of time and effort was working on the 'clock faces'. We had to rearrange the numbers 1 to 12, three times. My number sequences are the following:
A) 4, 5, 7, 2, 8, 11, 3, 9, 12, 1, 6, 10
B) 3, 6, 9, 12, 10, 7, 2, 5, 11, 8, 4
C) 2, 7 ,9, 5, 11, 8, 3, 4, 12, 10, 6, 1
We then had to imagine a clock face on the floor and step to each number in our sequence to create a phrase.
I'm really enoying this module but its a lot of hard work. We have our performances next week and then its all over.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Influx Rehearsal 1
This afternoon, we had our first company rehearsal. Although only 5 of us turned up, it was still a productive session.
The day before, we found out that Matthias had changed the whole idea about the piece and the superhero theme went out the window. We are now working on something called 'Walking Piece'. The basic idea is that we will be walking in a continuous loop around the edges of the Lanchester Gallery space. There may be some obstacles in our way and will be talking as well.
Earlier, we tried out the idea of walking around the edge of the space talking and trying to maintain an equal distance between each dancer. I found it really difficult. It may seem easy just walking and talking, but trust me, it isn't. The first time we did it, there was mainly silence and nervous giggles, but this felt really natural and a genuine reaction to what we were doing. The second time, we decided to talk about our weekends, and although it was easier to talk (because we actually had something to talk about), I found it quite forced. It felt like we were in our own little worlds not acknowledging the other company members.
It was interesting because Jenni sat out the first time and watched as an audience member and she said that it made her feel quite uncomfortable. As if we were all sharing some kind of private joke that she wasn't part of. This is definitely something to consider as we continue with this piece.
We spent some time at the end of the session writing in our company journal. We have another rehearsal tomorrow so hopefully, there will be more of us there and we'll have a different experience.
The day before, we found out that Matthias had changed the whole idea about the piece and the superhero theme went out the window. We are now working on something called 'Walking Piece'. The basic idea is that we will be walking in a continuous loop around the edges of the Lanchester Gallery space. There may be some obstacles in our way and will be talking as well.
Earlier, we tried out the idea of walking around the edge of the space talking and trying to maintain an equal distance between each dancer. I found it really difficult. It may seem easy just walking and talking, but trust me, it isn't. The first time we did it, there was mainly silence and nervous giggles, but this felt really natural and a genuine reaction to what we were doing. The second time, we decided to talk about our weekends, and although it was easier to talk (because we actually had something to talk about), I found it quite forced. It felt like we were in our own little worlds not acknowledging the other company members.
It was interesting because Jenni sat out the first time and watched as an audience member and she said that it made her feel quite uncomfortable. As if we were all sharing some kind of private joke that she wasn't part of. This is definitely something to consider as we continue with this piece.
We spent some time at the end of the session writing in our company journal. We have another rehearsal tomorrow so hopefully, there will be more of us there and we'll have a different experience.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Influx - Red Disaster
This is my red disaster.
A volcano is about to erupt when a plane full of people is flying right over the top of it.
Influx - Orange Disaster
This is my orange disaster.
A car has broken down on a train track. The doors won't open and the train is approaching.
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