Week 2, Day 3 (very early...)

Up with the birds today (the dawn chorus started at 4:00 am!). Two days of work with Matthew Hawkins, with Bill in briefly on Monday to see what we had so far, and Mr. Pearl arriving with costume elements yesterday. Reviewing Steinvor's solo each day, too.

We have had marvelous conversations about ballet history, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Merce Cunningham and John Cage, family histories, and food! Today, we'll hear Bill's edited "cusp" music (beginnings and endings, only), and probably some Tchaikovsky (a recording of Iolantha, and Matthew humming bits of The Nutcracker, especially "Les Mirletons"). We'll also continue working with the costume accessories (Matthew had requested a kokoshnik, a peplum and leg flares, and Pearl added sleeves). At some point before Friday, Matthew and I will have a more formal conversation (to tape or not to tape?) about "here, there and everywhere," and how/why he requested the costume elements.

What a privilege to be working with this collection of nine artists! Their integrity and sense of purpose is impressive, and they are all so inquisitive and generous. I have not done anyone else's choreography since Ian Spink made ZARaBandA for me in 2006 - and then, shortly after, Ian and I worked on his 26 Solos video project. So, this is a time of discovery, play and concentration - especially mental: this entire process is really flexing my memory "muscles"! Also, I might propose a movement or ask a question to clarify how to do something, but I do not make the final decision about anything. I am enjoying the shift in responsibility from choreographer to dancer, and relishing the possibility of seeing how the others use the notions I tossed out to them - here, there and everywhere, and displacement/dislocation - to create work.

And my "postcards"? In process. Percolating. Brewing in my mind. Glimmers, only, at the moment. Maybe I'll have something by Friday, for the first sharing at Dance Base...