A Week at the Shed with Frank and Bill

What an adventure! I had seen one piece by Frank McConnell five years ago: parallel/parallels. The work was performed on Dance Base's Edinburgh Festival Fringe program. The same summer, I created Homing/In, which was also performed at Dance Base. Something clicked then. Christine Devaney, who will work with me next week, was Associate Choreographer for and performed in parallel/parallels.

This week, Frank, Bill and I worked at The Shed, a Nissen hut owned by John McGeoch, Artistic Director of Arts in Motion (http://artsinmotion.co.uk/artsinmotion/). Inside are a large black box studio, an additional work space in back, an office for administrative work, storage space, a small kitchen and rest rooms.

The Shed

Across the road

Outside the front door

Frank and I had seen each others' work and have had very friendly chats - but, unlike Steinvor or Matthew, whom I have known since the 1980s, we hardly know each other. So, we took time to talk and just be in the space together. We did our own warm-ups, worked for an hour or so, had coffee (and sweet snacks), worked another hour, had an hour lunch break, worked for three hours - some days with another break for tea ... another rhythm from the two weeks in Edinburgh.

The array of teas and mugs at The Shed

We quickly discovered that the ways we organize movement, the ways we understand coordination, are very different. Frank initiates from his upper torso and arms; he is extremely light on his feet. I might start movements in my arms or torso, but I have a grounded feeling in my legs, feet and pelvis. While working from the spiral as the basis for movement, he tends to be homologous in his use. I favor oppositional movement. So, it was a very challenging and at times confounding few days, until I was able to integrate this different way of moving into my muscles and brain.
The Shed itself was a very different environment from Dance Base, from the studios at Missouri State University, or any other studio space I have used. The floor is not sprung. There is a cushion under the Marley/lino covering that makes it possible to dance in the space without injuring joints, muscles, or ligaments; however, the cushioning dampens my usual ability to push against the floor and feel that effort resonating through my body. Also, the space is totally black, and the lighting is "daylight" florescent bulbs - a huge contrast to Dance Base's studio 4's natural lighting, white walls and mirror.

Frank in the studio

Given all these factors, the enormity of creating a solo in one week became even more apparent than it had been with Matthew and Steinvor. Frank started by teaching me a sequence of movements traveling through space, to acquaint himself with how I learn and move - and to acquaint me with his style (this sequence is not included in the choreography). Then, we talked. Then, I learned some more movement. We talked again. We had lunch. I felt as though I wasn't doing anything. It was all very pleasant, but hard to remember. At the end of the day, I was very tired. And, strangely, I don't know if anything we did that day is in the solo.
Frank had the idea of using some music from another piece, and some dancing from another piece. Here and there, then and now, present and away. On Tuesday, while waiting for an answer about those elements, he gave Bill and me instructions, so that we would generate some material. My instructions were to make 4 steps (how one defines "step" is, of course, open for discussion), 3 hops, 2 jumps and 1 spin. Bill's instructions were similar, but related to music. Thus, we each had a ground (a term from the pibroch, a Scottish bagpipes musical form); using our ground, we then created an extended phrase by stretching some of the movement and taking it farther into space and time, and Bill also developed one small part of his ground. Then, Frank shadowed me while I danced my extended phrase, creating what he calls a tracing. My extended phrase and his tracing are included in the solo. He also made another phrase which he taught me the second day.
On Wednesday, we started assembling the various movement pieces, and Bill continued working on the music he was generating. The other composer's music could not be used because no one has the file (!). Frank was intrigued by the number of places I have lived. I had sent him a list a couple of months ago, and he wanted to use it. Bill recorded me saying the street names, and then added effects (echo, reverberation, etc). Frank found an adorable pink suitcase that I might carry around. I asked if I should bring my own suitcase, which has wheels. We seemed to have a lot of disparate elements ... how would they fit together?

 

On Thursday, the movement finally started to settle in my body and mind. Saying the place names. Using my suitcase. Putting objects inside it and taking them out: Matthew's costume (in its yellow silk "hobo bag"), Steinvor's globe (in its box), two cell phones (one used "here"; the other, "there"), my notebook (which will be replaced by my map of Paris), a one-quart plastic bag and a universal electrical outlet adapter. Practicing walking backwards very slowly. Looking around because I am lost, or have forgotten what I'm supposed to be doing, or because I feel out of place. Organizing all the parts, practicing it...and then the showing/sharing! Three very attentive viewers with LOTS of thoughts. Brilliant! The difference between theatre and dance: do they go together (does it matter?); what about timing (mine was off!), rhythm, space, intention...? This was a really productive day. But, we still weren't sure about the sequence, nor how the solo would end.
Friday, Frank shuffled everything we had, inserted other things, asked me to say three words to describe a few places I have lived to define dynamic qualities for certain sequences of movement. He also added this poem from Knots, by R.D. Laing:
http://www.thepositivemind.com/tpm/poetry/RDlaing.htm
which Bill recorded. First, he had me speak into the upright piano and then sitting on the couch.
Frank had me say the last line from Steinvor's solo in French, the new ending for his part of Here, There and Everywhere.
Things fell into place. The solo feels good. The journey it represents seems clear to me now, and I hope the audience will have the same impression. The process of making this third solo was as generous and intelligent as what either Steinvor or Matthew did, but so very different from both of those solos. I am looking forward to seeing Chris Devaney next week...and to working with/in yet another way of understanding dance and dancing.

Extra added attraction of working at The Shed: b-boy spinning toys!

The Shed b-boy toys in action (give it a second or two to load):