Monday 25 July 2011

Over and out...not quite

Well my job here is done. We performed the show on Saturday. If i'm honest it was a bit ropey i'm afraid to say. The connection we had built up as dancers sharing the space was lost as soon as it was lights, camera, action. We had had a pretty good group dynamic over the two weeks. And on thursday i felt that we had finally found the connection while dancing that i was looking for. This to me was more important the spending time correcting what level the arm was supposed to be at when doing a particular move etc...The adrenalin, the heat and technical and human faults put the show out of balance towards the end. Another week rehearsing might have helped to eradicate the mistakes that were being repeated in the dance despite my efforts to tackle them. Also, teching and plotting a show in the daytime which is going to be performed at night in an open air space doesn't help. But, we were limited by time and money. A common story. Alex's tardiness stayed true to form as he arrived 2 hours late without any kind of explanation or apology. It must be a cultural thing i suppose. I realised during the end of the first week that Alex is a great freestyle dancer...very funky and good movement quality. As soon as you start to put restrictions on his dancing it just doesn't work. I must admit he tried very hard over the 2 weeks but his inability to adapt in this manner contributed somewhat to the ropiness. Again, a bit more time may have helped me iron this crease out a little better. In the end, Tomaz's music was quite complimentary. If we get to work together again then we have to spend more time in the studio together. Collaborating through rehearsal video and discussion is only ok up to a point imo. The space was VERY cool to perfrom in. Uma & Alex both danced very hard and performed well. I think there were factors out of my control and things i could have done better. Overall, It's been a tremendous experience working with these guys and creating a 30 min piece in 2 weeks in a foreign language. The general response was good. People enjoyed it and felt that it was different...which is kind of what i was going for.

Last day at the Caster Studio

(finally) arriving at the 800 Art Space


Tech team & Tomaz

Resourceful efforts at covering the window area for the evening's projection

Setting up through the day




Sunday was spent in a lateral recumbency for the duration of the day. I drifted in and out of sleep for most of the day, grateful for a decent wifi connection and the Letmewatchthis website :) So now i have a few days to kill i may well take up shanghai's most popular pass time...shopping. Time to put my bartering skills to the test once more. I will also try to get in a practice session with some bboys...something i haven't had the time or energy to do while working. If anything interesting happens i'll post it up. But for now R2M has been well and truly Shanghaied. I leave you with this very worthwhile piece of advice which greets you upon entering my hotel...


This is my drug...the universal language of Coffee & Croissants

xie xie!

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