We had our first rehearsals in not too-perfect weather this week, though I'm happy to say things are changing as I sit here in the artist's residency office of the Marion Davies Guest House. Though right now the sun is shining brilliantly, the other night Louie and I showed up to play in the spaces and we wore layers of clothing, hoods and hats to keep warm!
We played around the sculpture ("Shadow") and on the ground/basement floor entryway of the Guest House. The movement experience was chilling to watch as Louie negotiated his weight on the steps to the basement doorway and around the sculpture. One of the other great realizations we had was about the scale of what we could do around the artwork.
Given that the Beach House Complex is several acres long, most of what I've been doing refers to that grand scale. Audiences walking around will watch what we do from several feet (if not yards) away. So, the visible movement needs to reach folks at that distance from the performer. So, bigger is almost better! ;)
Different from making work for the concert stage, which I often fill with nuance and detail, the movement choices I make here have to incorporate those elements from a longer viewing range. Nevertheless, the work we're doing around "Shadow" will be seen by people just feet away from the dancer . . . which means the viewer can almost feel the energy of smaller scale action. And,just as significantly, the audio accompaniment can include more complex sounds, aka words!
So, Louie and I talked about having other live performers talk about the site and its history while he dances . . . maybe we can collect anecdotes and recollections from folks who worked here back in the day and present them with the movement.
Cool! Let's see where we go with that idea!
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