Thoughts on the piece

Today I finished editing the sounds that we are going to use in our piece, without giving to much away it's all about emphasising the movement. I think this is what our piece is all about. We started out with the idea of having constraints within space, basically to move within a small space. This idea has developed and it has become more about our curiosity in clear and simple movement, the idea that less is more. Two bodies that move, on top of that they only have a path of light to move within. How will these two bodies cope with the constraint? What happens along the way and what happens when these two bodies meet? We have decided to set our piece as far down- stage as possible and this is not only because of the small movements but also because when doing that we place the audience in an awkward position leaving them with a sense of intrusivness, and we really wanted to play with that...


Thoughts on setting a mood with the colour of the light
I believe the colour of the light you use for a performance can make a big difference. Different colours set different moods. My idea for our piece is to use blue or white light. We want to emphasise the movement and I think that a cold and clear light could "help us". I don't know if this is possible or if it's is true but that's how I see it in my head.

 

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To stumble on to something...

http://www.ccap.se/vit_lycka/video.html

Because I like it (well I do) and because it makes me curious on how they made
the effects.

 

The "ahaa experience" or thoughts on not getting what you want (even if what you want is not what you want)

When I get an idea, concerning dance and choreography, it gets stuck and it's really hard for me to get rid of it. I need to explore that idea, see what it looks like, play with it.

Working with the last exercise me and my partner was faced with the fact that what we wanted was not possible to do. We changed it in the last minute and, and this is my own opinion, it didn't look anything like I imagined it. This incident left me with a sense of dejection.

Going on next assessment I have a clear thought on what kind of light I prefer. I'm not saying this light will be the best or most suitable but I have an idea. I really need to explore it...

Is what we want always what we want? My dilemma is this: when you have an idea, you really want to go with it and I think that you should try your main idea before doing anything else. This is because or else you might end up stuck to the conclusion that the grass is greener on the other side as well as ending up loosing a brilliant idea. But, and I really think this is a big but (even though it doesn't seem like it after I've been all grumpy during the light sessions), ending up with the fact that you can't execute your idea might actually bring life to something much better or should I say more suitable.

Simon says: when you get more experience it's easier to find more ways around your restrictions ( no it's not an exact quote but kind of... ). This is crucial: I think to actually get that experience you need to have been able to get your will
through, see if it works or not and then put that in to your rugsack of experiences. My conclusion is that I think that working with restriction and using the resources you got, being resourceful, is a good way to broaden your imagination.

(download)

Photos from inside a shower

 

Reflections from inside a shower

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Stage is set, three shower cubicles and a tap running. Two persons standing stiff in the shower. Light goes off, the sound from the running water changes. One shower reacts to the tap. Sound disappear. Someone starts to move desperately, is she trying to get out? Anxiety, fear, flickering light. The room changes once again, knockings, someone is trying to seek contact.

 

I felt really good with our main idea of this project. I really wanted to explore the shower theme. Why? He asked. My answer is why not, even though I know that answer is banned. My curiosity took the best of me as we decided to go for the table lamps. What happens if you bring the table lamps in to the shower, or more accurately a small confined space. For me it didn't feel like we where in a shower actually. I saw the choosen space more as an odd and small space rather than a shower. We started to explore the light in this space and it gave us a clear feeling of people looking in to something they should not be part of. Theese two girl struggling with their emotions in this confined space. Anxiety, fear and listlessness. When we found this feeling we started to work and we also wanted to involve the spectators. My first thought on doing that was to bring the light on to them, making them feel watched. As a spectator myself I always find that a bit uncomfortable because when you are a spectator you never expect someone to “shine a light” on you, it's almost as if you start to apologize for watching.

I think a good way to start reflecting on your work is to decide what worked and not worked according to your purpose. Please notice that I don't mean like or dislike. To make things easier I'll put this in list form.

 

Worked well

  • The space

    in terms of reflecting a sense of discomfort, this small and confined space dressed in white tiles works well. It gives a cold and exposed feeling.

     

  • The idea of having table lamps in a confined space.

    the table lamps has a bright white light that builds on this vulnerable feeling. The light reflects well on the tiles. Table lamps are easy to click on and off and gives the performer a change to decide when it's on and off. The table lamps are also easy to move around which makes it easy to choose where the source of light comes from.

     

  • The different reaction from the two girls in the same situation

    our idea of working on different emotions on being shut in to this space was accurately shown. Stress contra apathy.

 

Worked less well

  • The light

    this is one of my biggest critic on this piece. I feel we got too “attached” to the space we choosed and to the movement and structure of our piece which resulted in us thinking less about the light source and how to use it in the best way. Afterwards I felt we should have let “the light lead the way”. I'm sure that we could have allowed ourselfs to experiment more with angels, reflections and making an atmosphere with the light rather than with words and movement.

     

  • The sound atmosphere

    we wanted to experiment with different sounds. We worked with the effect of water running and also with spoken words. I think the water effect worked out good but I'm, like Simon, less certain about the monologue part of the piece. I'm not sure if it's because it was to short and not effect full enough. I really like the idea however. We choosed to have Rebecka speaking Swedish to add to the uncertainty of the spectators and perhaps we could have made it longer and with a bit more intensity.

     

To connect this post to my last one I'd like to share a big secret with my readers. I'm a bit of a coward. I'm cautious with trying new ideas and I fear unsafe grounds. I need to start taking more risks and try to “do right by doing wrong”. Because as everyone know, and this might be the oldest and most worn out kliché, wrong might acctually be right. So to answer your question Simon I have to say that to extend my creativity I have to explore new ideas and walk unsafe grounds.

 

 

 

Am I the resourceful choreographer?

For me a resourceful choreographer is to be smart in choosing your resources. Everything has a meaning (or does it?), from the clothes you wear to the shape of the table your might be using. Do we expect the expected or do we expect the unexpected?

I find myself a bit nervous to be honest. This is really interesting but a challenge since I've never done this before. I've been experimenting with light and clothes and as I choreograph something I do end up with an idea of what I want but it's all very basic and perhaps a bit expected.

To start this blog up I would like to share my thoughts on our first session. Walking out of the theatre door I was struck by the fact that time had passed so quick. Anyway on our first Friday we worked on getting to know each other by a simple (or so I thought) exercise. We pared up and had to tell the other person about our favourite film and dance work. My partner told me her favourite film was finding Nemo because it made her laugh and I guess she could identify with the characters which she found very funny. Her favourite dance piece was a ballet piece about a human falling in love with a mannequin. She fell for the bright colours and the way the choreographer used the costume, apparently there were dancers dressed as puddles.

I told her about a Swedish film I really love (Såsom i himmelen). It portrays several people in a small Swedish town. I like it because it has a sense of belonging to it. This town has a choir which is the foundation of the story. This choir has to deal with a lot of setbacks but works through it all by being there for each other. This film has won a lot of prices and had a huge in pack on people around Sweden. I guess it's the Swedish socialism portrayed.

Thinking of this exercise has giving me a deeper understanding for it and as usual I find myself wanting to tell my partner other things about the film. I understand that it's more to having a favourite film then just enjoying watching it, perhaps it tells me more about myself then I think.

Moving on we tried different light sources and how to use them in different ways. Me, Rebecka and Catherine settled for the data projector. It had a lovely blue light and a framing feel to it. It depends on total darkness around it but when achieving that it's pretty neat. Because of the obvious square the light made it was easy getting stuck in framing different body parts and I feel we could have extended our creativity.

Other groups were using a TV- monitor, table lamps, fresnels and a OH- projector. It was interesting to see the qualities, colours and feels to the different light sources. Looking at each others work there were several things that caught my attention. First of all I think everyone was really creative in using the different light sources. The task was to be still when light was on and only to move when it was dark. One group played with this using a small beam of light and moving the body parts outside of the beam of light, clever. Another group played with the sound coming from the light source.

It's important to understand that the light is a way to express, for example, a feeling but I think it's also depending on the “actor”. You could look at it as being an enhancer. It´s easy to fall in to obvious choices, what happens when you do the unexpected to the expected?

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