Dear All,
Today's was a significant session and one which clearly demonstrated to the ensemble where we are at and how far we have come in 6 weeks. It was also an important session in terms of progressing the ensemble's identity further. New liaisons emerged and bonds were created. Also significant, was the progress of the emotional narrative of the piece.
We would like you then to respond to the following questions:
1. Discuss the importance of the open play section at the beginning of the session before we went on to create new material. What opportunities did this throw up? Was it useful?
2. What was it like to visualise the opening from the audience's perspective? Discuss briefly how your perception of Porto has changed/moved on from your starting perceptions of the concept.
3. Do you see the development of any traces of narrative in Porto through the material we have now? Discuss with reasons for your answer.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
Royona
Bahok, Akram Khan Dance Company
Exploring Liminality
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3 comments:
1. The play session today for me was very significant. It allowed me to re visit all the techniques we has learned in semester one. I was quite shocked at how little of the palette did not automatically come back to me. It allowed me to discover who my character wants to interact with, as I probably wouldn’t have communicated with anybody. I felt uneasy when anyone tried making contact with me, however there were only a few who I felt like I wanted to build a relationship with. Through the play I found a natural connection with Gavin and would like to further this in Porto. As I didn’t actually get to communicate much with him within the Porto community today, after the play I think there, is good opportunity for narrative there.
I also found a connection and friendship with Rian, which then transferred into Porto. My character felt comfortable with these people and I don’t believe she will comfortable with many others. So that is the main focus for me. However when Amy’s character kept falling asleep on me I didn’t want her there so I just kept moving her, which again could develop into something more.
2. I see the vision for Porto now. Before I didn’t really know what it would be in any aspect , but I can imagine what the audience will see. No one knows what the rest of Porto will be like yet, but the structure of the beginning immediately sets the tone for the piece. I think the Prodigy music is perfect. I don’t think we could find a better track for what we are doing. I can imagine the impact that will have on the audience, combined with our movements and the lighting. However I think that piece of music had an impact on a lot of the group. I heard it and new it was the right piece. It makes you want to move with even more emotion, and it made me feel even more brash and aggressive.
3.Like I said in question one, the play has brought out potential narratives for my character. I could see a narrative progress for myself and Gavin, or myself and Rian. I can imagine having contact with Amy as a repetitive sequence, but not having contact with her through choice. I am interested to see what these narratives will become , and any emerges with any other characters.
1.
Today’s play session was useful for a number of reasons.
After creating large amounts of work as an ensemble it was interesting to see how each group member was going to react to being allowed to have control of how they act with people who they potentially haven’t met in Porto.
Today’s session allowed my character to develop with very defined characteristics, for example my character was usually a lonely quiet person but the more he moves through Porto the more he wants to make friends with people and explore boundaries which lie within, the play session allowed this to happen and was also key for re visiting physical movements which we added to our pallet during semester 1.
2.
To visualise the opening for Porto was very interesting to hear the music and visualise the stage or working environment as it is.
The music fits nicely and the voice over works incredibly well therefore it should be kept.
My perception of how Porto is going to look has changed once again, one comment which made me think about this was when Paul stated that there was going to be a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, this gave Porto a whole new visualisation inside my head, something very creepy such as a graveyard or a dark unknown realm.
3.
I have clearly begun to see where Porto is going, or how I imagine it to pan out but things can change right until the rehearsal week or even after that. The material we have now is incredibly interesting, with the addition of Nicola and Blake, Porto becomes to question what is going to happen in weeks to come and it will be exciting to see how the narrative might change or stay the same. Because characters are developing even more each week the narrative might and could well change accordingly but we have to ride the wave and see where each week takes us with something new brought to the table each time.
1. The play session at the beginning of today's session enabled the cast to develop themselves as both individual characters and the ensemble through spontaneous interactions. It allowed the freedom to work with characters we may not necessarily work with in the context of Porto and to see how this altered our perception of who our character was and how they would react to specific characters. I found myself working with people who fueled my curiosity and my need to play whilst maintaining my character's embedded emotions toward specific characters: Maternal protection towards Nicola, playful flirting and physical attraction to Mikey and actual deep emotion and emotional longing to Luke. I discovered that I am weary of Jay and his intentions towards Nicola, particularly as at one point he literally took her away from me which left me feeling quite distraught and angry. I also discovered that in Alex I found someone who appears to be quite similar to my character. We played a little within this session and developed a relationship by where I was intrigued by him and felt comfortable to be myself, though a little reserved with emotion. We developed a playful relationship that had never existed before this session.
Overall the play session was very important for developing the growth of the company as individuals and an ensemble and for maintaining the sense that we are one company, not a lot of performers working on the same piece but a collective striving towards something collaboratively.
2.Initially I was a little deterred when we began to create Porto as I could see how Fractal was created and I experienced Fractal as an audience member and left feeling a little disorientated but also disappointed. I felt that the cast did not have 100% commitment to the piece and I didn't particularly read any real emotion from the characters. I did not want the audience of Porto to leave our performances with that same feeling. After the visualisation task I realised that the vision of Porto is clear and that our group are committed to getting the most out of this experience, which in turn is making our piece a marvelous thing to watch. The focus of the group and the level at which Paul and Royona can work together to put so many ideas together as one are truly inspiring. My perception of Porto has changed from apprehensive to motivated and proud.
3.I think Paul's opening narrative works perfectly with Porto as it stands at present. For my character I can see narrative but only with Luke. I don't feel that I would commit myself to give that much to any other character yet. With Nicola I do feel a strong connection but I feel it's more of an altruistic connection. I want to be there for her and not impose my own purpose within the piece on her. With Luke my character feels a strong emotional connection but it is a different level. She feels comfortable with him and he is slowly but surely making her feel more stable in herself. Mikey blurs this stability by whisking her away and alters the relationship she has with Luke but it is purely physical with Mikey. She doesn't mind showing off and appearing confident- if anything she wants the attention- but it is Luke who could potentially create a narrative with my character.
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