I would like to encourage everyone to please comment on how they received, perceived, enjoyed, interpreted the work on Thursday.
Any ideas for possible development and improvement would be greatly appreciated. Highlight any strengths/weaknesses.
Your comments are most valuable and will influence the development the work for the next performance.
Feel free to throw tomatoes. I can take it.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Crits and Comments
Steve and I were really proud of our performers and the production on Thursday evening. I think that the work was a success, and I received some very positive feedback.
It is true that the work may not have appealed to everyone, true, there were some flaws, but of course there is always room for development and improvement.
I had a chat with Ms. R yesterday. She said that the work was good and that she enjoyed it, but mentioned ways in which I could improve it for my exam in October. She noted the following;
Rehearsals will start up again next Monday 6 September. I juggled with the idea of having a completely new cast to see how the work would take on a new character.. perhaps only young children or ladies and gentleman over 45yrs like Kontakthof(over65) or a mixture.. that along with the party theme would build a metaphor around childhood, aging, birthdays...
But since I only have 1 month before my exam and quite a bit to extend and develop, I have decided to keep the original cast, with perhaps minor additions. Also I will keep to my initial impulse which was to explore the theme of alienation and intimacy.
I have some good ideas for more duets around this theme. Similar to the 'cake duet' where one person is talking while the other, who is supposedly listening, is actually more interested with manipulation the talking person's body in some or another way. The 'cake duet' showed how something intimate like feeding someone cake eventually became a way of suffocating them.
I want to try one duet where one person is talking about something while the other is constantly lifting, twisting and turning them up-side-down. At various intervals the lifting person repeats 'I can't hear you', 'Can't hear you'.
Another duet idea is for one person to be talking while the other tries to catch hold of that persons hand. It's quite playful at first, but then it's just mean because the 'catcher' never get's hold of the other persons hand as they continue talking about whatever it is they are talking about. This could be cool with one short and one really tall person.
The 'it's not her head' trio from the UNCG version as well as the mocking and Wesley's awkward moments could also find a place somewhere.
All these little vignettes express through dialogue and movement ways in which human interaction can be superficial and often quite alienating..
But I don't want to be all doom and gloom..
"Humour is also a way of saying something serious" (T. S. Elliot)
I like the way in which each performer is shown as a unique individual. They wear clothes from their own wardrobes, speak about things that are relevant to them and present themselves as themselves.. and their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. This is where the humour comes from, no one is over-the-top trying to be funny. In the 'Celebrate' section especially this comes through, but throughout the piece, the performers reveal certain whims and vulnerabilities that are in themselves charming and endearing.
Perhaps the jumping castle section needs more development. I think that the Radiohead song is too short to contain all the images off the balloon section and the jumping castle metaphore. I am really happy with the way in which the ballon section developed from an improvisation structure: "Walk forwards, you may stop, you may turn at 90 degrees. There are 5 balloons they are passed between people when the stop near each other. If you have a balloon you may walk forwards, stop, turn 90 degrees, pass it to someone else, or do a small section of the 'balloon dance' phrase. The order and duration of the events are your choice."
I plan to develop more action and movement related to the jumping castle and make it a different section. What I need to figure out now is a good transition as well as suitable sound/music
I also have an idea to use a piece of opera music (maybe German) for another dance section. It will be quite minimal... and funny...in a sad sort of way. Perhaps a series of solos or a group of solos isolated by lighting specials.
It is true that the work may not have appealed to everyone, true, there were some flaws, but of course there is always room for development and improvement.
I had a chat with Ms. R yesterday. She said that the work was good and that she enjoyed it, but mentioned ways in which I could improve it for my exam in October. She noted the following;
- The voices in the traffic section should be louder.
- Individual characters ans relationships could be more developed.
- The gold hangings should fly out after 'Celebrate'.
- The title 'So long....' is too in-house
- The section with the jumping castle and balloons was too cluttered - the jumping castle activity distracted from the movement, and especially from the various solos - perhaps split them up into two sections.
- There must be more of my own choreographic style and movement vocabulary
Rehearsals will start up again next Monday 6 September. I juggled with the idea of having a completely new cast to see how the work would take on a new character.. perhaps only young children or ladies and gentleman over 45yrs like Kontakthof(over65) or a mixture.. that along with the party theme would build a metaphor around childhood, aging, birthdays...
But since I only have 1 month before my exam and quite a bit to extend and develop, I have decided to keep the original cast, with perhaps minor additions. Also I will keep to my initial impulse which was to explore the theme of alienation and intimacy.
I have some good ideas for more duets around this theme. Similar to the 'cake duet' where one person is talking while the other, who is supposedly listening, is actually more interested with manipulation the talking person's body in some or another way. The 'cake duet' showed how something intimate like feeding someone cake eventually became a way of suffocating them.
I want to try one duet where one person is talking about something while the other is constantly lifting, twisting and turning them up-side-down. At various intervals the lifting person repeats 'I can't hear you', 'Can't hear you'.
Another duet idea is for one person to be talking while the other tries to catch hold of that persons hand. It's quite playful at first, but then it's just mean because the 'catcher' never get's hold of the other persons hand as they continue talking about whatever it is they are talking about. This could be cool with one short and one really tall person.
The 'it's not her head' trio from the UNCG version as well as the mocking and Wesley's awkward moments could also find a place somewhere.
All these little vignettes express through dialogue and movement ways in which human interaction can be superficial and often quite alienating..
But I don't want to be all doom and gloom..
"Humour is also a way of saying something serious" (T. S. Elliot)
I like the way in which each performer is shown as a unique individual. They wear clothes from their own wardrobes, speak about things that are relevant to them and present themselves as themselves.. and their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. This is where the humour comes from, no one is over-the-top trying to be funny. In the 'Celebrate' section especially this comes through, but throughout the piece, the performers reveal certain whims and vulnerabilities that are in themselves charming and endearing.
Perhaps the jumping castle section needs more development. I think that the Radiohead song is too short to contain all the images off the balloon section and the jumping castle metaphore. I am really happy with the way in which the ballon section developed from an improvisation structure: "Walk forwards, you may stop, you may turn at 90 degrees. There are 5 balloons they are passed between people when the stop near each other. If you have a balloon you may walk forwards, stop, turn 90 degrees, pass it to someone else, or do a small section of the 'balloon dance' phrase. The order and duration of the events are your choice."
I plan to develop more action and movement related to the jumping castle and make it a different section. What I need to figure out now is a good transition as well as suitable sound/music
I also have an idea to use a piece of opera music (maybe German) for another dance section. It will be quite minimal... and funny...in a sad sort of way. Perhaps a series of solos or a group of solos isolated by lighting specials.
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