Here, There and Everywhere: Second solo done...almost...

Matthew has almost finished his contribution, using Pearl's costume elements/accessories - kokoshnik, peplum, leg flares and sleeves - and Bill's "cusp" music edits. The process has been revealing, on many levels.

Having always prided myself on my ability to pick up movement quickly and retain it (as well as any and all manipulations, permutations, compilations), the first revelation was how addled I now become if we go beyond a certain amount of changes to combinations. Also, Steinvor seemed to work in more-or-less small movement "bites" and worked/cleaned each one before moving on. After the first day, she also built the solo from beginning to end. In that way, she made decisions progressively and the sequence was clear from the outset. Matthew, on the other hand, generated longer swaths of movement and then had me do the phrases in at least four different ways. So, I learned a new movement phrase Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning that in the afternoon I did 1) full out; 2) without the arm movements; 3) repeated with different orientation; 4) - if there was any floor work - without the floor work. Then, Wednesday afternoon, Bill arrived with the "cusp" music and Matthew started cutting out parts of each phrase. The order/sequencing also kept shifting. By 4:30, my brain was "fried" and I was sure I'd never remember any of the sequencing, nor which parts of any of the three phrases I was supposed to do, nor where I should be facing.

And now, today. The intimacy of making work has always struck me. Having had an evening for things to settle - both in my own mind and body and in Matthew's imagination - we warmed up separately in the studio, and then chatted about learning and rehearsal processes. I believe that one of the most delicious aspects of Here, There and Everywhere is the opportunity to have in-depth conversations with the people who have agreed to participate in this project. Our discussion today revolved around different needs in rehearsal: I am a predominantly kinesthetic learner (although, verbal prompts also help); Matthew seems to favor verbal description, partly because he often works with groups of dancers, rather than making solos. I wonder, too, how much of this has to do with our first experiences in dance classes. In any case, while some others absolutely love being told what to do while they are dancing, once I have assimilated a movement or a phrase, having another person talk me through what I am doing only disrupts my process. So, we reached a sort of compromise, with Matthew adapting to my preferred learning style and me incorporating his (very clear) descriptions of the movement.

Figuring out the joins/seams between the phrases was also important. For example, I return to the same corner of the space several times. How do I know what the next "scene" (Matthew's term) is? Bill helped with that for one occasion ("Your arms," he said), and Matthew with another ("Continue": just one word to say, "Continue turning the same direction"). Once the entire movement puzzle was organized, they talked about the music: when it comes in, when there is silence - and we ran the solo several times.

Sheila came in again today, watched and gave feedback. Once again, her comments were perceptive, generous and useful. She also took these photos!