In the percussion studio...

It's been an interesting process to rework the music for the group piece as a piano and percussion composition. My new friends Seung Ri Wu and Yu Ci Kong (seen above) did a short demonstration  of the new section we are adding. It was exciting to listen to the wildness in it,as compared to the softer tones of the percussion used in the first two sections. Those have more of a layered effect of the percussive instruments, but this new part has quite a different rhythm and energy and I like the contrast. It is a little bit of a challenge to ensure the overall blend and yet variation in parts of the music score;. and having suitable transitions is also crucial to make the juxtaposition work. They are both great performers and musicians though, so I look forward to the live performance. It is a new experience for  me as a choreographer to coach and prepare the dancers for live music. I think it's going to be great!

Seven weeks...

We are seven weeks to the final production...some happy developments in the last month have been to connect with a locally based lighting designer, a videographer and  to make progress with the live music percussion and piano arrangements. The rehearsal time I had during the holidays was limited but I used it in workshop sessions to help the dancers understand different aspects of performance quality, doing improvisation and drama-based methods at first and then applying what those results on the actual choreography. I also had the time and pleasure of doing a lot of personal research and reading, including watching more performances from the point of view of a choreography student, rather than only an audience member. In particular I enjoyed a talk by choreographer/singer/director Barack Marshall at a pre-performance discussion of his work 'Rooster', at The National Theatre (Taipei) last weekend. I was greatly encouraged by his personal story and liked how his performance shared his Israeli-American heritage as a cultural expression within a dance-theatre style of choreography...I delighted in his use of gestural movement danced in patterns that gave a delicacy and intricacy to the way those dancers' bodies communicated and spoke...it reminded me of paintings I saw when I was in Caesarea, Israel. Perhaps later on I will experiment more with dance theatre, it's a medium of powerful expression. 

Seven weeks...I hope for regular attendance by the dancers and enough margin before the final to finish all changes in choreography. We run now, bolder, faster, stronger. This will be my first international concert. I'm excited.