![]() This could really annoy anyone who likes their lists consecutively constructed. But I’m leaping ahead to our first lab after reading week to keep this blog current. After the Action Lab #1 lizard boy experiment I decided to return to “skin” reassured by Joseph at LADA that autobiographical work was often a mark of Live Art. I had a chance to rehearse in FADS for a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoon and been able to mess around with what I could use as a set. At our check in (circle time but not quite) I admitted to being super anxious on the tube despite getting a seat. It had been frustrating because the success of my morning’s performance depended on being relaxed at the start. Luckily Dee led a great warm up that shook the heebi-jeebies out. The text/script/score I was working from: Hello This piece is called ‘recharging’. I need to move a couple of things before I start - I might ask for help with that in a moment. When I’ve dimmed the house lights I’m going to sing a couple of songs, show you a film and finish with a couple more songs. It’s lovely having a relatively intimate space. And an audience of friends. You will be familiar with the first song - however possibly not with the story behind it. My mum ran a nursery (play-centre) back in the days when regulations were a little looser. She would have twenty or more toddlers in her sole care. She loved small children, me less so. At naptime she would sing them to sleep. You get to close your eyes if you wish but you don’t have to. The film I would prefer you to have eyes open for. [house lights down] single spot Twinkle Frére Jacques Ain’t Necessarily So Film plays [This is the split screen film version of the piece ‘skin’ with live audio including the poem ‘skinless’] While the film plays I climb on the cabinet in front of the large TV screen and very slowly, over the 3 minute 30 sec duration of the film, I fold down into a semi-foetal position in front of the screen. When the drilling sound starts near the end of the film my breath becomes ragged and this is the only discernable movement. I then freeze when the drill stops. The screen goes from black to a single shot of the lighting rig and the audio is one verse of the syncopated version of ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’. End [I had thought after the recorded version of twinkle I might sing it again live and then segue into ‘Summertime’. But I didn’t. It felt better to unfold off the top of the cabinet and just say thanks.] …………………… I want to see if I can post this with the set photos embedded in the word doc, the construction of this website is as steep a learning curve as accepting that autobiographical work is OK! [I couldn't, but hey the drag and drop function for images seems to be OK] Will write about how the performance went in the next blog post. If I am feeling extremely brave I may even post a video of the split screen film.
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The ghost in the machine stole my post! The universe is telling me to be bold and try again anyway.
Looking back so much of what went on in our first session haunted me – in good ways and less happy-making: “No without an explanation.” “Don’t show all your teeth.” Great advice, but can I follow it? And why did I choose all male inspiration? Some of the other inspirational performances like ‘Boogie Wonderland’from Happy Feet made me grin, while Leonard Cohen’s How to Read Poetryis just brilliant and I will keep coming back to it to remind me not to posture! Felt a bit out of touch with the Avengers:Endgame reference. Decide it is natural to feel freaked out. Week 1 (26 Sep 2019)
The scarily accomplished Deborah Pearson started our first session with a check in, establishing a reassuring familiarity for me – both in our practice together and in the studio (FADS). A safe space to work already set up in the first few minutes. We shared some of our favourite inspirational things – writing key words on slips of paper and then choosing someone else’s to hear why it inspired. I still have the scraps of paper, there is a bizarre safety for me in keeping artefacts. I was slightly ashamed that I had unconsciously chosen three very male performances, Harvey Andrews ‘Unaccompanied’, the haka in Burnham and a dance duo from the States whose names I still can’t recall. This led later to me re-watching Nina Simone live. I want her courage as well as her talent. Her inspiration will have to be enough. The words that jump from my notes are revealing: shame, trust, archbitch of the universe, the grey lizard of doom and 'do the scary shit'. After working on our own personal manifestos we created one together (see SCRAPBOOK) and closed our session with a check out. Deb seemed much less scary, even if I was left worrying about showing my teeth. In the afternoon in SLP (student led practice) I had a chance to direct the other performance lab rats in preparation for a performance they would do in front of Selina Thompson. We started to connect as a group - but I did feel like everyone's eccentric great aunt. |
Viv HarrisNotes from FADS sessions Archives
January 2020
QMUL Perf Lab
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