I started writing this post a week ago- and it’s been such a full stretch I forgot to finish:
Tomorrow I start rehearsals for a show I’m incredibly excited about. I’m choreographing Hidden Fields with an incredible set of collaborators. And I shall be choreographing a la Crutches. Oh yes. Leg in the air, crutches alongside and a very large dose of sheer dogged determination!
On Thursday I was draw back into these thoughts:
I’m listening to the deep breathing of the five inspirational dancers we’re working with on Hidden Fields, breathing deeply as they work through a yoga warm up. And I’m excited and nervous about the day to come.
You see- I’m currently on crutches,(because I always like a challenge) and am having to remember to breathe very time I panic about how differently that means I have to approach choreographing this show.
The funniest thing is that in the simplest way- breathing is all we need to do.
This project has been an incredible stimulation. There’s always another dancer in the room there on the projection that fills your vision. There’s a score composed by your movement, but like life, never fully in your control. And a new language to be discovered, where the finesse of the individual movement is in many ways less influential than the interaction with the each other, and space.
There are reflections of 16th century dance, of childhood memories and watching magnolia blossom fall in this new contemporary language and augmented dance space.
And such a collaborative iterative practise (between technology, composers, visual artists, scientist and dancers) has changed my approach to creating work totally. One step at a time, hand in hand. But I shouldn’t be surprised by that- as that’s the dS through and through.