R&D Insights week 1: The Incredible Presence of a Remarkable Absence
The artistic team share their thoughts during week one of research and development for The Incredible Presence of a Remarkable Absence.
“ Arrived at the Creation Space, The Point, Eastleigh.... Coming back together a month after our initial R&D is exciting, the team feels charged with creativity and possibly too many ideas to get through in 8 hours! Abi has drawn out the rhythmic detail in our vocabulary... Exhausting my brain... Closely followed by body! The phrasing feels exciting and fresh though... so really worth it. Already I can feel us really grasping the personalities that came out in our R&D and it feels that we are already finding greater dimensions...”
“Week one is over, and what we have achieved has been breath-taking. It is fantastic to work with such a talented quartet of dancers who are able to respond to our ideas with intelligence and honesty.
Abi has done a fantastic job of shaping and contextualising movement into coherent characters and narratives, and I am already excited to see how the end result will look.
I had a fairly slow start in the sound department, having spent the first two days in the depths of my laptop attempting to fix whatever it was that stopped my sound card from working. At least I had the time to think artistically about how the piece will sound, as I watched the dance develop. When I began to put out some ideas, things came together quickly and there were some ‘magic moments’ when a guitar part framed an improvisation or two.
The weekend gives us all some time to digest ideas, and I look forward to picking up where we left off when we return on Monday morning. ”
“ …you can never underestimate the direction that improvisation can throw you into. Sad, happy, uncontrollable, unpredictable, desirable, vulnerable, angry, the list goes on. But the result of this, answered some questions, that I’m not sure we asked.?!?
Class was just what the body needed, release technique to free up some space in the joints... It’s really refreshing to be in the space with such diverse and capable dancers, it’s a great challenge and opportunity to be learning all the time. A break then we prepare to remember what material we produced yesterday. This way, that way, what way? Is how the phrase feels at the moment, but full of interesting characters and emotions!
In the last hour of the day, and we look at text for all of our characters. This medium of the work has become a strong interest of mine, I have found it a great challenge and thoughtful process to work with text and movement around a play I know little about. Every time I deliver or hear the rest of the cast with text, I feel I learn something new about my character, his relationships, the process and the play. ”
“I am taking this opportunity to thank Laura Heda for coming to The Point this morning to deliver our most energetic morning yet. Lila “street” dance, has yet to be branded but we have had our first taster from an expert in the field! I highly recommend you check out www.seriousshapesdancecompany.co.uk... a real treat! Abi ”
Photo credit: Cover image and all photos Sam Taylor. Dancers: Carrie Whitaker, Joe Darby, Kai Downham & Aya Kobayashi
