Managed to get back to the practical work for the project tonight after having left it since August due to other work commitments. Through exploring working creatively with different folk songs I have built up a small repetoire of work which have then become a basis for further research and exploration. I plan to use this work when I meet with Sian in January as a kind of starting point to our work so I wanted to get back into the studio to recap and rehearse the choreography.
I worried that, as I havent physically worked on this choreography for a few months (although have been thinking about it) it would be lost. But although much of it had stayed with me, I felt the need to re-work some of it. I think the practical work is evolving the more I am reading, researching and thinking. I can see this being a danger while I am creating work on myself. When choreographing on others, I know that there is a point where I've passed the work on to the dancers and unless I find that it doesnt work visually, it doesn't really alter that much during the rehearsal process. The process for this project seems to be linked alot more closely to my own personal, emotional response to the themes of the song I am working with. So then, the more I think about, research and get deeper into the text, the more I learn about it. Then my response to it develops which then means the creative work changes!! I have to find a way to deal with this especially if I am using this process to create work otherwise it will never feel finished!!
IHave no idea if this makes any sense at all and feels abit deep but it is something interesting to think further about!!
What you are writing about getting deeper and deeper into the work is really interesting. I feel that I need to go there first on all levels, at the same time as the dancers, so that I can make the right decisions.
ReplyDeleteI think work is never finished but goes through cycles of being stable and then unstable as it move into new ground again.
You could keep on remaking the same work forever!
This is what spurs me on I suppose.
All the best
Alexis Stevens
(visual artist and choreographer)
Thanks for your comment Alexis. I agree with what you say. Its interesting as I feel there is a point as a choreographer/director that you let go of the work a little as you pass it on to your dancers. Its made me question more what my dancer's think and feel about the work as the creative/rehearsal process goes on. Its made me realise I don't question them enough about their own experiences with the work! Working on my own body, I'm constantly questioning and experimenting because I'm physically within the work.
ReplyDeleteMaking work on myself is a new thing for me so I guess that's why I'm finding these questions now! You're right - work is never really 'finished' - it can always go that bit further or there will always be things you wished you did differently on reflection.
I've learned - through the good advice of Rosie! - to relax with the creative process and to let it change.
Anyway thanks again.
Catherine