Things are getting grey

Over the last month Igor and I have been editing, tightening and sharpening the dance piece. We came up with a system of names in order to communicate with the dancers who are predominantly unable to see us whilst moving due to the restrictions of the design.
We've had several problems with the fabric sticking to the dancers bodies,, but now thay are in costume, the satin finish of their unitards seems to solve the problem.
We made the decision to work with a system of grey colours for the big boxes. This made more sense than the white we had been rehearsing with, which had started to look like people under sheets. I also feel that t links better to the monumental aspect of our research inspiration. On a practical note, the grey fabric has helped to decrease the visibility of the dancers beneath, increasing the emphasis on the geometric forms.
The music is now pretty much set, and there are some final small amendments to be made to some of the design elements before the weekend when the technical rehearsals begin.

There are two performances. One on the 24 and one on the 25 March.
If you would like to see this you can. Tickets are free but need to be booked from The Place box office on 02071211100

Wednesday Rehearsal

The cube has now been washed and no longer smells of dancer...for the time being. On Wednesday we decided to go ahead and develop the geometric shapes that we had presented the day before. We explored some new possibilities as well as perfecting some of the other 'moves'.

We have also started naming and cataloging some of the positions in order to ease communication. Wednesday was the first day that Igor and I climbed inside the cube with the dancers to get an internal perspective. (It gets very warm very fast.) Dominick suggested that I make a few amendments to some of the seams in order to make a few things easier inside there. I have now also marked the corners with colours in order for the dancers to locate the four corners more easily and to also to distinguish which ones are opposites.

Presentation and Feedback.

Yesterday was our second of three presentations to the entire year group taking part in the dance/design collaboration. The cube, which is now smelling of Anne, Charlie and Dominick, is in the washing machine as we speak. Lets hope it doesn't shrink too much/fall apart.

Yesterday's feedback seemed much more helpful than last due to the fact there was much more to talk about and the project seems to be in a place that Igor and I feel much better about.

We showed our fabric structure being manipulated by the dancers inside. They presented the various ways it can be used. These different movements seemed to be speaking a few different languages. One being of a seemingly formless object transforming into a geometric shape. The second language was one of human presence under the white fabric. This became more about escape and release than about the geometry of the entire structure. Then there was something about scale, which i have not entirely managed to get my head around yet. A classic image for many, was seeing Anne stomping and being swallowed by the cube.

There are several design things i have been thinking about. Colour. I chose the white fabric just because I thought it was the cheapest and would inevitably change, but it seems like it has been serving us well in that it's strong and the dancers are now used to it. We'll need to think about who the dancers are in relation to the fabric cube and therefore what will there costumes be. Are they a part of it, or separate from it? We have no intention of keeping this thing white for the sake of it. Maybe some dye-room fun is on its way!

iceberg/monument

Wrapped Monuments

There's something potentially quite embarrassing about referencing the usual Christo images to your own work, but a visual link seems too difficult to ignore. There's not too much to be said, but I hope that the same juxtaposition these images show can also be expressed in our rehearsals. The third image is also quite interesting as we begin to think bout using giant card structures. It's placement and life-like quality seem to be the point of interest here.

Monument Rehearsal

Malcolm Miles describes monuments as elements ‘produced within a dominant framework of values.’ (1997, p.58) He goes on to describe them as statues standing for a stability, which conceal international contradictions, ‘the monument becoming a device of social control less brutish and costly than an armed force’. Art, Space and the city: public art and urban futures


























Last week Igor and I decided to make a new turn in our research for the piece. Still based on perceptions, and working on the idea of two spaces, we have been looking at monuments. What they stand for, how they are perceived and their permanent nature is what is of interest to us.

Friday's rehearsal saw the introduction of a 'monument'. Our monument is able to be shaped and manipulated by the human body. We asked our dancers to use this giant cube to communicate different ideas.

Here's some of the pictures.