24/08/11-

Started with a fantastic company class led by independent dance artist Aaron Vickers!

The class concentrated on the company moving as one. I felt it was important to have Aaron there as he pushed all dancers especially myself both technically in class and as a director! The movement he used helped open up the movement vocabulary of all tue dancers!

We worked on bringing the beginning of the piece together! This was quite slow but it's important to build the work gradually and needed to start the process now!

We need to develop all the material in length and with all our characters! This was started at the end of the day with Aaron helping to propel this forward!

Claire and myself need to talk about both the structure of the work and of tomorrows rehearsal!

Might need a bucket of tiger balm tomorrow!

Location:Spring arts centre

23/08/11-let's get creating

Great day...

Recapped all material from previous R&D so we had separate phrases of movements again! Surprising how the material came back quite easily!

Worked on new material, the girls developed a fantastic hair manipulation phrase! I'm enjoying how everyone is getting into The character, flow and energy of the work.

We started on developing characters, writing monologues and developing group movement around it! It's interesting how certain characters monologues lend themselves to more literal movement and some more abstract! Is the literal movement only there because it's the easy way out?

Lyle made an interesting point that not all dancers need be in all the work? How would this change the rhythm of the work?

Looking forward to tomorrow with Aaron Vickers coming in to teach company class and to push me further as a dancer! It will also be great to have an outside eye for the work as dancing and directing can definitely be quite frustrating!

Location:The spring arts centre

22/08/11 photoshoot

Day one of the process and started with a photo shoot! A bit of a backward place to start as a lot of the material hasn't been touched since January and with a new dancer! The day was long but got some lovely shots, looking forward to seeing them edited (especially the sunburn) and seeing the publicity poster!

Interesting day, changed my particular view on the way the piece should be, a little worried about how many segments to te work we have and how we will puzzle them together!

Very tired but looking forward to tomorrow to get the momentum going!!!!

Great start.....


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Location:The Spring Art Centre

Shaking it up like a packet of salt and shake crisps...

Performance yesterday went really well! The company had a new energy and performed the material the best they ever had! This was helped with the presence of the second year students. There was a buzz in the room and the hall was alive!

Because the company did so well, we decided to change things up a little! I have been thinking how to do this and have a bag of tricks with me! So if you have seen "The Pursuit of Perfection" already come again tonight as of all goes to plan things will be shaken up!!

Looking forward to warm up!!!!!




Jamie jAM jAR

Energy up/ pace down

First performance of the week for the first years at Nescot! The company did really well dealing with situations that would only arise in a site specfic piece of work. It was magical when half way through everyone in Bourne Hall was captivated, all for different reasons!

The company dealt with situations well, dodging a baby here, diving round a man on crutches there with perfect professionalism!

Certain points came up in the reflection afterwards; the main point was that it still felt like a rehearsal! This is a obstacle that I thought we would have to face; it's hard for even the most professional to perform to an audience that aren't primarily there to be your audience!we spoke about finding the moment and seizing and being in it! The more you fake that moment the less you are going to appear engaged!

Another point was the timing of music versus real time of action! This is the part that STRESSES me out most! Not because the performers are doing anything wrong but the timing and editing music is a weaknesses and it always ends up cross my fingers and hope for the best! This is my target guys.....

It's a hard task to keep the energy up in a work without quickening the tempo of the action content!

This is where the skills we learnt at the start of the term come to play! Using the rhthyms of our body ( impulse, impact etc) and the effort actions ( glide, dab, slash etc) will help the group breath as one! We need to learn to apply what we discover in workshops and ensure they are carried through to performance!

Overall........ With room to improve...... But bloody good start!!


Jamie jAM jAR

Moment of performance

As first day of the performances at Bourne Hall looms, I have certain questions that I want the dancers to reflect upon; the first is the feeling that the performance conjures? This is hard to put into words, yet it's important to fully know that feeling, both before & after the performance!
The second looks at moments of being in the moment! Being in the moment can be scary sometimes I want the dancers to ask themselves " was I really in it? Or was I faking it?"
Lastly, did I enjoy it? What parts did I not enjoy? And how can I learn to enjoy these parts?

I hope that by reflecting on these points that they develop a holistic enjoyment of the performance of the piece!






Jamie jAM jAR

Test

Test


Jamie jAM jAR

Thank god my cake is still on my tray!!

First full run through... Every element went well!! Nearly knocked a womans cake off her tray but surely insurance will cover that...??? Very proud!!





Jamie jAM jAR

Bored hall

So I'm on my way to the third day of pre-production week at Bourne Hall with 1st year performing arts students! This is my second year at Nescot and it's great to have a group/ I'm going to call them a company of students/ I'm going to call them performers, who are open and enthusiastic to try new things!

We have been working on this material for a couple of months now for a few hours a week! The unit the performance is helping them to complete is site specific! This has been a challenge for us all!

This is the first time I have choreographed/ directed a site specific piece of work, I'm greatfull that by working with Helen Parlor last summer, i gained certain tools to use to construct the rehearsal structure! I prepared myself for the worst, I understood that material created in the studio might become something completely different when it is transferred to the specific site (thank God the performers supported me with this and were patient with me as I continually said "actually do it here..... No... Maybe here??.... Can you learn this bit in thirty seconds and do it at the same time here?!), I also understood that with health and safety regulations certain parts of the work would be enhanced if we still lived in the 1930s!( I hate being a "NO" man when the performers are willing to jump from great heights and attempt to stand on a platform that admittedly looks like if a feather fell onto it, the platform would collapse!!!)! But what I was not prepared for was the constant brickwall that was forced upon us by the venue! The same venue that agreed to us working and performing in the building, the same venue that expressed their excitement towards the project!

From the cafe lady to the receptionist, it appears that hving some vibrant life in the building, inconviniences their day!

Why though?

The performers are creating a buzz in the building, the performance will bring parents and friends into a building that appears to be used only by the two ends of the circle of life... The beginning and the end!

What ignites a raging roaring anger within me, is that the age range of the performers (16-18) are often the ones that are stereotyped to be wastes of space, no good! But when they are committed to a project, passionate about their college course and show upmost respect to those around them, they are still put down!

It's ironic that the work "Pursuit of Perfection" is about how we as humans develop in life. Constiently seeking perfection, but with the hurdles placed before us, it asks the question "Do we ever reach that?" judging by certain people we have encountered over the past few days no matter how much you mature, how old you become, your still pursueing it!

So in light of this discovery, Im glad I can jump resonably high to get over the hurdles!

Anyway rant over!

If your free come and see The Pursuit of Perfection at Bourne Hall Epsom next week!!





Jamie jAM jAR

Location:Epsom