Pretty Pictures

I am not sure what this has to do with our piece, but it can
have to do with the "blossoming of friendships" of the characters.
So these are from when I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival at
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Why can't they blossom for longer than
a few weeks out of the year??

Let me know how rehearsal went!

this is just a test post to see if we got Google Analytics going :)

looking at the parts we're made of

Behold: google image results for "inwards." I thought these visuals could help us for the "feet" section, and the (prospective) introspective section that leads into it. The sign: a picture of solitude and the simplicity of that sentiment; the graph: a picture of seemingly neverending spiraling inwards and the complexity of endlessly turning inwards upon oneself; and the ice: a picture of the beauty of sameness--all of these crystals reaching out of themselves and towards one another--a desire to grow both outwards and inwards simultaneously. Point being: there are so many different ways to express a turning inwards and the quality of introspection and self-examination.

gchat this morning

Kate: hey how was your day off? Sent at 10:01 AM on Wednesday me: great. well, heather was stuck on the subway so she didnt teach. Kate: aww me: but i took joe poulsons class and i'm in love with him. it was awesome. Kate: cool! yeah subways were a fucking mess yesterday i waited for 45 minutes in the morning for a subway car that i could actually fit on to me: we basically did a ton of improv and worked on duets and trios. it was fun. ew. that sucks i'm glad i didnt have problems Kate: that sounds awesome i think im going to take ballet at peridance today ...want to come?!?!?! its an advanced beginner class at 7 me: i can't. i have to go sit on a baby. Kate: GROSS me: i know. i only do it b/c they pay me. Kate: naw, babies are awesome, i am just scared of them i go for cats because you can drop them every which way me: good point. sorry my boss just walked in.... brb Sent at 10:17 AM on Wednesday me: sorry. work got crazy for a bit. Kate: oh god, i just ate a donut WHY me: probably the same reason i really wanted one yesterday. Kate: god dammit it was good me: i couldnt get my hands on one. but i'm kind of glad.... what kind? Kate: straight up glazed me: mmm Kate: and an iced coffee from dunkin donuts it was a killer combo but now i feel like im going to die me: hahaha you're gonna crash in a little while. today is the second big day. i have to tell the exec director today... blah. i hate having to quit twice. Kate: oh yeah i thought today was the day why cant your boss just tell the big boss me: i dont know. she said i should. Kate: that seems cruel and unusual me: probably she thinks he might be able to convince me to stay. not gonna happen. Kate: wow that would really suck if he thought it was like...up for discussion Sent at 10:47 AM on Wednesday me: i'm pretty sure that is what is going to happen. i'm worried that i'll get frustrated and angry and say something.... mean. it would make things super-duper-awkward for the next couple of weeks Kate: i mean, if youre quitting youre quitting, all you have to do is hold your ground...that would be totally preposterous if they tried to change your mind.all they can do is require two weeks, but beyond that, you can do whatever you want!! Sent at 10:50 AM on Wednesday Kate: this office seems kind of crazy Sent at 10:52 AM on Wednesday me: it is kind of weird. i'm so glad that this will all be over soon. i was looking at pics from college on facebook the other day and it all seems so surreal. life in general seems weird lately. Kate: woah, college yeah we are doing some great stuff though and youre going to be doing even greater stuff so soon me: yeah, i'm really excited about everything! things can change so fast... i love the stuff we are working on. Sent at 10:58 AM on Wednesday Kate: yeah i do too. i still feel like we need to "get moving," though. i think we're still doubting ourselves somewhat, and thats responsible for our hesitance. but we are good and should be confident Sent at 11:01 AM on Wednesday me: definitely. it will help to have more studio time also. maybe we should start just moving/improving to warm up as soon as we get in... just to get in the mindset Kate: yeah DEFINITELY we should act like we are in a dance company, and then we will actually be in a dance company ...of sorts me: of thumbs. Kate: yes exactly me: in all seriousness though i think that we made good progress with the moving last weekend Kate: yeah definitely me: the bench and then the foot-hand-grab thing are looking good. Kate: yeah really, i love watching what we do and coaching and taking notes. ooh AND i am definitely getting the camera tonight, me and bro are meeting for dinner me: yay! that will be soooo good for us. oh, we should see about space on monday. Sent at 11:06 AM on Wednesday Kate: yeah im going to email kristina right now. hey triskelion is available monday starting at 8:15 me: oh, hey i just emailed. Kate: what time do they "close"? me: oops. i dont know. Kate: ok i didnt. me: did you call triskelion? Kate: no, i am just looking at the sched now. do you get these availability updates? Sent at 11:08 AM on Wednesday me: no Kate: k i just forwarded it to you, and will do so until the end of time me: thanks! Kate: wow we should really jump on some of these dates woah check out the small print--looks like it NEVER closes "Most off peak hours 10pm on (and at discounted rates between 11pm and 9am) are available, please inquire" me: woah! Kate: WOAH!!! we could go like in the middle of the night!!! awesomiiiieeeee me: we could do marathon rehearsals! Kate: beep bop!!! i feel like a robot that is short circuiting wait so me: hahaha Kate: days that say that, for example, only 4-5:30 pm is available--does that mean that the whole night is taken up, or just the "peak" hours that is impossible that the whole night would be taken me: i think just the peak hours though it wouldnt surprise me if some ppl stayed later Sent at 11:16 AM on Wednesday Kate: ok well lets definitely take monday the 23rd from 8:15 on ok this is confusing me, i think ill just call them a little later me: sounds good. i need to take a look at my schedule for may b/c obv. it will be changing. Sent at 11:19 AM on Wednesday Kate: woah it says that off peak hours are only $5 me: ahhh!!!!! Kate: reading things thoroughly is cool!!! me: i'm dying. DYING. to get in there now! need. to. move. Kate: i lov rehearsing late at night it feels totally secret and awesome me: me too. and i find myself being very productive. like anything goes. Kate: yeah totally me: okay. i can totally do mondays in may, too. Kate: ok. i would say as far as super late nights go, one day during the week would be fine, if we wanted to go til like midnight or even 1...and/or maybe a weekend night, although those are precious me: agreed. weekend nights get tough to do in general... lots of conflicts. Kate: yeah totes Sent at 11:26 AM on Wednesday me: are we doing saturday this weekend? Sent at 11:27 AM on Wednesday Kate: i would love to, but i actually have to get together with my brother and patrick during the day to record some songs for one of p's classes--but triskelion says its available from 7 pm on--we could maybe to 7-9 or something?? Sent at 11:29 AM on Wednesday me: i have tickets to a dance thing that night so that wont work for me. but if we are doing a sunday/monday thing its not a big deal Kate: oh yes, rue true, rather me: do you think it would be a good idea to try and get another hour on sunday? or just stay as long as we dont get kicked out for another hour? i feel like sometimes 2 gets really short... Kate: yeah, its true because it takes us like half an hour to really get started Sent at 11:33 AM on Wednesday Kate: so yeah i totally agree me: it would give us more time to work on setting things after we try a bunch of ideas out. i'm gonna think more about the section between the bench and the foot-grab Sent at 11:35 AM on Wednesday me: when we first start looking at our feet its interesting b/c all of a sudden we arent really relating to each other and are almost just figuring ourselves out. might be good to expand. Kate: yeah, i think we should extend that looking at our own feet section before we slide in to each other me: in joe's class we were working on maintaining a sense of self and integrity/clarity in our movement within a larger group. like 3 solos within a trio. Kate: yeah thats awesome do you think that should be the quality of the foot thing? or the floor section before that i kind of think the foot thing is nice when we are so involved with lifting and doing and body parts that we kind of forget that we ourselves are people but that kind of allows us to join together in this wierd simbiotic way becayse we are just like...one organism Sent at 11:39 AM on Wednesday me: i like that about it too. i think it would be interesting to try an find a similar quality in the very beginning of that when we are still only looking at our own feet. Kate: but then we get to the point where we all kind of naturally break off from each other, and we can be like...snapped back into reality, and maybe at that point we could really explore the "three solos" idea me: yeah! Kate: and really go all out and like explode!! me: can we have glitter fall from the ceiling? Kate: yes no but really...we can contrast it with the planned out, super involved and sort of turned-inwards quality of the foot section, and make it really outwards and awesome and dancey and glittery Sent at 11:45 AM on Wednesday me: oh! remember how we had talked at one point about there being a part that was really big w/ everyone kind of screaming "look at me! this is me!!!" Kate: yeah!! me: this can be that too. Sent at 11:49 AM on Wednesday me: and it will give the whole trio a new dynamic to explore. Kate: yeah definitely, and in the grand scheme of the piece it could lead really easily into the "trying to get people together" part, where everyone is flying around excitedly doing their own movements me: and that is what comes next. cant wait to work on this Sent at 11:53 AM on Wednesday Kate: i know me neither. whats happening on thursday? we dont have any place to rehearse, huh me: no. we could do someone's house again... or we could try triskelion if we want to do a later evening thing... but it looks like someone might be in there Sent at 11:56 AM on Wednesday me: what do you think about the section after the bench but before the rest of this? Kate: yeah, it does seem like that. hmm. Sent at 11:57 AM on Wednesday Kate: well, i like it. i think it could be longer, i think we could develop some more moments of unison and seperation, and i think we could develop the foot thing (before we get together for feet) more--maybe start with becoming involved with a particular body part (i start examining my hip, you yur knee, etc) and then slowly we all end up examining our foot, and then get together? Sent at 12:00 PM on Wednesday me: ooh. i like that. like all of a sudden we become really engaged in the parts that make us up. maybe we could explore more than one. Kate: yeah definitely me: and yeah, the unison vs. separation is so great to watch. i love how certain things work together (me sitting and your legs shooting up, etc.) but we could bring that out more Kate: yeah totally--so that culminates with us getting together and examining each other, each others feet--and then seperate and sort of go in the opposite direction, exploring the space around us rather than our own parts me: and find ways to exagerrate when we are not together. Kate: yeah totally, i like that. we should tape and watch me: and who we are in relation to each other and our world, too Sent at 12:04 PM on Wednesday Kate: yeeeayyyyyy Sent at 12:05 PM on Wednesday me: taping it would be very useful. we should try that this weekend/monday Kate: ok im writing to ttriskelion now, asking for monday the 23rd starting at 8 15 is that cool? Sent at 12:12 PM on Wednesday Kate: TOO LATE I JUST SENT IT Sent at 12:13 PM on Wednesday me: hahaha sounds good Sent at 12:17 PM on Wednesday Kate: we should post this convo on the blog because it has some good ideas in it Sent at 12:19 PM on Wednesday me: definitely. it'll be easier than catching each other up later Sent at 12:21 PM on Wednesday me: then we can spend more time dancing. are we doing costumes on sunday? Kate: yeah, lets just dance around in costumes all day me: i'll bring more clothes and stuff this time. Sent at 12:26 PM on Wednesday me: also we should mess w/ the music again Kate: yeah, unfortuntaeyl i left my ipod at kristinas. why do i keep putting shit in random places me: too many pockets! that sucks though. Sent at 12:30 PM on Wednesday Kate has taken this chat off the record Learn more Cancel Kate: yeah, i'll talk to my brother about music tonight too--he has a ton of stuff that might work. i just want something kind of awkward and expressive but understated and with lots of unusual texture me: talking helps with that, too. if we still want to do that Sent at 12:34 PM on Wednesday me: i'm still in favor of somehow layering a few diff songs or at least using a few of them.... that could also help w/ it not feeling like we are dancing to a song Kate: yeah definitely im going to be recording with brian (my bro) this saturday during the day, and i'm sure he'd love to record some conversational stuff with me. we like to improv and stuff. we will definitely try some talking stuff and see if we can layer it with music etc. i might have something to show you guys on sunday@ Sent at 12:37 PM on Wednesday me: awesome! the more we have to mess around with the better Kate: This chat is no longer off the record Kate: ok cool im glad we are agreed about the music. i know we can procure something awesome me: then we can finish that application! its all becoming a lot more real... weird! Sent at 12:44 PM on Wednesday Kate: super cool. now all i have to do is get in shape me: you can do it! (and if you arent dead on saturday morning you should still come to class w/ me) Kate: ok ok YES me: :0 Sent at 12:49 PM on Wednesday me: i felt really good on tuesday after yoga on monday. forgot how good it is for you... Kate: yeah really. thats why i usually end up going to yoga when im planning on going to ballet i just always start thinking about how bad it is for the joints etc jumping and being stiff and all that--and because my technique sucks its even worse for me but yoga can be so nurturing me: yeah, you have to be super strong to do ballet and not hurt yourself Kate: hmm it would be nice to do yoga and pilates Sent at 12:53 PM on Wednesday me: what is the name of the happy pilates place?

Kate is offline. Messages you send will be delivered when Kate comes online.

For obvious reasons...

Just thought I'd try and revive the blog with this picture from the NYTimes review of some play that reminded me of our project.

baby makes three

I was trying to think of ways to begin working on The Trio after rehearsal on sunday. I think that rather than trying to decide "who" we are going to be--which can be limiting later on--we should just have a general idea/feeling about our character. I'd like it if we each came in with our own short phrase. It doesnt have to be what your person is like all the time, just something that you like and want to work with. We could share them and maybe pick one to start with.

So person A would do their phrase, and person B would then find a way to get over to them (it could be your phrase, or based on someone else's movement, totally improvised, etc.) Then person A and person B would take turns interacting. You know that thing where someone does a move and then someone else adds a move until you have a long phrase? Kind of like that except you're making a duet so its all about how you react to what the other person does. We did this in one of my comp classes and it worked out pretty well.

The good thing is that it is totally open to anything. You can touch or dance close or be far apart, etc. The main thing is that you are aware of each other. And because you can talk, we could try new things or more interactive things.

So maybe since it will just be 2 of us on sunday we can try to do this and see what happens? We just have to remember to keep going back so we remember it.

Also, since a big part of The Trio is about interacting, we don't have to worry too much about concepts or meaning as we do this. Once we have the movement down we can go back and analyze it when we go back into it to add the third person.

If you have other ideas please post. I just remembered this and thought it could be a very productive exercise because in a way it simulates getting to know another person. You never really know what the other person is going to do in response to your movement so the directions the dance takes are new you learn as you go.

Sound good?




p.s. dont read into the title.

videos!!

video
This is my friend Jo's senior thesis so far. I thought it was interesting since we were talking about relationships. They perform in late March, maybe we can go? The class this year is pretty good and I know a bunch of ppl in it.

video And Kate and I watched this one last time when we were discussing the use of props, chairs, etc.

March tentative rehearsal schedule

Just so we can start getting an idea of how often we are meeting etc in the coming month... These are the times we are already planning on making. Probably we should add the weekday evenings in.

3/5--Monday--MG & KP--talking/planning
3/8--Thursday--??? not sure if we are meeting yet, but I thought I'd put it on here
3/11--Sunday-- ??? again, I think we should plan on doing an evening thing....
3/18--Sunday--1-5pm MG, KP, KW at ChezBushwick--need to confirm space
3/25--Sunday--12-3pm MG, KP at Triskelion
3/31--Saturday--12-3pm KP, KW, MG(half) at Triskelion

I think we should also stick to the plan to have another time during the week (monday or thursday evening?) to talk, maybe some evening studio time, too. It's okay if only two can make it sometimes and we can fill each other in. And doing the "homework" could be really helpful too.

Yesterday we were trying to set up some sort of deadline.... does early July sound doable? I leave in late July and that would give us 4 months.

Yikes!

chalk, twister, and fulfilling THE MOMENT

so! obviously melina and i met last night, and there was wine. we sort of came to the realization that the UNISION PHRASE should be funny, quirky, synchopated and kinda performancey. It should take the audience surprise with it's start inasmuch as one person starts, another comes in, another, another two, and all of a sudden the whole group is doing it. this should not be a "ready, OK!" cheerleader kinda thing. everyone gets into the groove of the night in their own way.

what else....we thought that we should take advantage of the relationships that we've already set out -- young lover,s three strangers, soloist loner, (and another group? maybe?) and have those relationships recur throughout the piece, giving the audience a sense of familiarity. we think its important to focus on the idea of a RELATIONSHIP as opposed to a CHARACTER because a relationship, by virtue of its very nature, lends itself to interaction, and while having a character is valuable and important for consistencys sake, one can become too focused on how they are supposed to be acting, it can become too literal, too theatrical, and we may forget that there are other people around to interact with. we exist here in this piece by virtue of our interactions, or the lack thereof, with the other partygoers. of course, the loner, the one awkward guy in the trio, and the young lady in love all do have characters, but it is through their relationships with others that the audience experiences that.

we should think about the MOMENT of culmination when everyone has finally arrived at the table. i see a languid, wierd get-together section with people making use of the props in unconventional ways: on top of, sitting at, and under the table; chairs overturned, people draping themselves over, dancing with the chairs; maybe people don't quite understand what theyre supposed to "do?" eventually, everyone is at their place. is everyone sitting correctly? are there people sitting on overturned chairs, is someone facing away from the table? does everyone "fix" their errors or is the culmination just sort of sloppy? i like the thought of someone slowly pushing away from the table with their feet.

more to come.....

oh yeah, lets name ourselves!

Using props in more interesting ways--
Twister:
-having it on top
-someone rolled in it
-moving it
-


Table:
-people under/over
-

Chairs:
-"duets" w/ chairs (in getting together scene)


Getting together part is more abstract and subtle. It can involve the props more. The moment of everyone being together is more of a surprise. (no longer follows a Marx brothers movies scene)

UNISION PHRASE

*SCOOT SCOOT HEEL TOE!

*flamingo tendu!
*rock out, rock out, rock out, and POSE! repeat.
*jumping!
*foot in mouth
*cheer moves

Character Building

So I think for our next rehearsal (which I will try to book tomorrow) we should come in with ideas about characters. Here are some questions to answer about your character:

1.Who are you?
2.Why are you here?
3.What are your feelings/emotions?
4.Where are you from?
5.When do you arrive at the party?


We can add to those questions. But from there we can build a character out of movement, and interact with each other without telling anyone else who/what/when/why/where. Maybe we can have special ticks that set us off... for example, someone touches my leg and I start smacking my knee.

I have some other game ideas, but I am a little in lala land hahaha.

idea for MURDER

hey! This just popped into my head as a way to incorporate the "murder" aspect into the piece.

maybe everyone lies down during the concluding section (maybe during the second version of the unison phrase?), not necessarily at the same time, but in the same general expanse of time (a minute?) and gets their body traced in chalk on the floor by another partygoer. they then get up and continue their business -- put on their coat, etc. maybe this body tracing is a way of transitioning from party mode into getting ready to leave? the memory of the person rermains...they were there, at this moment, on this night...but now, theyre gone. it's over.

at the end of the piece, everyone is gone from the stage, and only chalk outlines of their bodies remain.

structural outline cont'd

hey girls. great to meet last night. so here's what we came up with:

i can't figure out how to edit a post that I didn't write ( can we even do that?), so i'll just talk a little bit about the few changes we made last night to the first half of the piece.

*AUDIO IN TRIO -- during the Trio, instead of music we will go back to overhearing conversations of various partygoers. These can be anything, although it might be cool to somehow make it clear that these conversations are occurring contemporaneously with the dance. An argument -- "Why are you doing this HERE? Just please, please don't embarrass me"; hosts worrying about place cards, who should sit next to who, etc. They should be strained and awkward, expressing the underlying tensions of the night, the places where people are not connected, whether because they are estranged or simply strangers. The places where there is no conversation will be filled with silence, breath, and body sounds.
This will end abruptly, and we will mark the change with MUSIC being put on the stereo and the overheard conversations will stop. This will be a really nice transition into the "get together" section (trying to sit down).

*"GET TOGETHER" -- STRUCTURED IMPROV: The "get together" part can consist of structured improv -- dancers will have a few different options for "business" to do during this 2 minute (or less, i dont know how long things are) section: get up, walk off, sit down, go under the table, try to get someone else to go offstage with you, make a call on cell phone, shake out your napkin and lay it onyour lap, or someone elses lap...hahaha...etc.

* wow i just got a really funny idea for the "FINALLY' section. ok: so everyone finally sits down at the table. everyone has a napkin and, say, a glass of wine (this doesnt need to be real wine...it could be grape juice.) There is silence for a few moments, and then everyone picks of their glasses at the same time and CHUGS their glass of wine. when we are done, we wipe our moths with our sleeves and get up, slide out, whatever. I think that would really express the desire that people have to take the edge off during these kinds of interactions ,and also the desire to be occupied, to not look like they are just standing (or sitting) there, but that they are engaged with something. would that be funny? i think it would get a long laugh, and be totally appropriate.

ANYWAY!!!!!
* "BREAK" FROM "FINALLY" -- NEED TO EXPERIMENT! The "Finally" section (where everyone is finally at the table) is the same...but the "break" from it can be abrupt OR slow...we will have to see what works. One idea for a slow "break" is someone at the head of the table (it would probably be cool to see this in profile) sloowwwllyy pushes away from the table with their feet, causing everyone to melt out of their chairs in a different way, or maybe it gets fast then, or....the possibilities are endless. We've already had a "snap out of it" moment when the Trio ends, so maybe something more slow and/or complex would fit better here. Again, we should try out several possibilities.

Okay, onto the new stuff!

(continuing with Melina's numbering of events)
8. OUTSIDER SOLO : a solo would act as a really nice contrast to all of the social interaction that has been going on up until this point. Things to think about: who is this person? Why is it important to see them alone -- what makes them special?
*Lamenting a lost love that is at the party with another person?
*Socially awkward and self depricating?
*ANXIETY
During this solo, i think it might be nice to have the person be pretty much alone. It also might be cool to have people walking on and off intermittently, paying no attention to the person dancing. This is different than the LOVE duet, where people are onstage sometimes and are noticing the lovebirds. The SOLO dancer's plight can be heightened and made stronger by seeing people walk by and not pay any notice -- they are laughing, chatting, whatever. The soloist is troubled. It's gonna be great.

9. (This can be switched with 8) SOME OTHER SMALL GROUP: another type of social interaction, maybe with a larger group (4 or 5? or not). Think about what types of relationships you would like to see manifested on the stage. Work friends? Ex-lovers? family? kids, teens? endless possibilities.

THEN......

!!!!!TWISTER!!!!!
10. ok, we are playing twister. It will start as a real live, straight up twister game, with someone calling out and a bunch of people playing. Maybe not everyone, maybe some people standing around, watching, adding commentary. This interaction should showcase different types of comepetetive personalities; for example, the overly anal person calling out "right foot red" and trying to keep control...some are more casual about it than others. There are always those couple people that just want to play twister for the physical contact, there are those that want to showcase their twister-skill, etc. The twister game will last a couple (few?) minutes, slowwly degrading from a real, pedestrian game into something flowy, abstract, and full of contact. we should try to use the spinner and the twister dots as much as possible even in this degradation stage. Maybe the spinner person can keep spinning, but stop calling out, and the players just sort of all melt together and it evolves into this very sensual blob. a sensual blob. thats nice imagery.
We get out of this somehow. By melting out of it? E-z bake ding? someone brings over a cake? again, we have to thin kabout whether it should be a slow "break", or something abrupt. I have confidence that the appropriate transition will make itself apparent when we're moving.

11. UNISION PHRASE REPRISE: The unision phrase from the "start" of the party will come back, and again will reflect the current state of the evening. It will contain variations of the phrase (individuals will go off on their own phrase-tangents, but I also think that the phrase as a whole should change, should become more relaxed, bigger, more dancey etc.) People can try to dance with each other, fall over, forget that theyre supposed to be dancing, get really into it and do headrolls and stuff (haha). The wine has gotten into the partygoers, and it is noticeable.

12. TRIO RECONNECTS: The trio will encounter each other again, but they will reject the bond that they formed previously. They acknowledge that they shared a moment, but that moment is over. They are no longer willing to get personal, and regard each other ultimately as strangers, albeit with some hidden secrets. There should be a couple of other "wrap-up" interactions here: how have things changed through the course of the night? Is the "LOVE" couple in a fight now? Have things stayed the same? This section can be compared to the "morning" after the anniversary party...everyone is sheepish, sober, somber, and there is a sort of collective "walk of shame."

13. GOODBYE: during this confluding section, it might be really cool to have the conversations from the ARRIVAL section playing. The audience will perceive them in a different way, in light of all that has transpired over the course of the night. I think it would really bring the piece full circle. Again, this is not a mass exodus, but people trickle out, some help clean, some crash on the floor/table, under it, etc. It ends with overheard conversations, a fading light....wow i just got chills!!!


PLEASE VETO, REJECT, ADJUST, REVISE, AND ADD!

Sunday Recap

Sorry it took me a while to get to this... work was busy this week. Crazy!

So to recap: Katie and I met on Sunday at my place and looked at some videos, the blog, and listened to the MMDP Mix 2. We also talked a lot and came up with some cool ideas (we think) and decided to start outlining the piece. Here is the basic stuff we worked on... please edit it if I missed anything. And feel free to comment, veto, add, etc. Oh, and we also estimated how long we think each part will take but this is purely hypothetical and now that I'm looking at the numbers I'm not even sure it all makes sense.

Anyway...

1- Setting Up: 5 min.
One or two people setting up for the party (literally bringing in stuff for the set, etc.) Audio: pre-recorded conversations of guests coming to the party.

2- Arrival: 2 min.
Guests start to trickle in until all of a sudden it looks crowded. The first few can help finish setting up. Someone goes over to the sound system and turns the music on. People start moving/dancing (not social but more abstract). Use that movement to move into a structured phrase done in unison.

3- Unison Phrase: 2 min.
This phrase will be repeated later in the piece in different ways. In this case it will be in unison and very "clean". It breaks the ice and signifies the Start of this evening.

4- Love Duet: 3 min.
EasyBake dings at end of unison phrase and this breaks up the dance. The young lovers transition into their duet (which is very dancy, cheesy, attention grabbing, and big). Everyone else is doing a structured improv (choices: eat, drink, leave, or mingle?) Their dance is more gestural--but not sign-languagey--and maybe more pedestrian than the couple.

5- Trio: 5 min.
During the duet people gradually leave the stage, including the young lovers, and eventually only 3 people are left onstage though they are not interacting. The notice each other and its awkward (like in the Anniversary Party when Parker Posey gets left all alone in the house). This trio is about people learning how to interact with each other, forming relationships, and being honest. By then end they have all bared themselves to each other, maybe there is some weird tension/attraction, clearly they have all been a part of something very honest/personal. Tension is high when it ends with an interruption. Maybe an EasyBake ding? or Maybe someone else walks in on them.

6- Attempt to Sit: 1.5 min.
This is fast and hectic. Trying to get everyone to set down to dinner. Some people are trying to take control, others are not so much into it. They are never all at the table together. Chases, under-the-table stuff, couples trying to sneak off, etc. Things have started to fall apart and this is an attempt to do what they are "here to do".

7- Together: 30 seconds?
Finally everyone is together at the table but it is very quiet and awkward. Everyone is just kind of looking at each other not sure what to do. Very intense. Eventually someone leaves abruptly. (maybe leaves the party altogether, maybe to answer cell, maybe answers phone at the table "yeah. I was just leaving.", maybe gets up and goes w/o any reason)




That is as far as we got. Still to come: (1) a few more "relationship dances" including a dance that is clearly happening in another room while the rest of the party is going on. They won't necessarily be couples, but they are dances that do not involve everyone at the party. Ideas for this????
(2) Twister!! Someone brings out the game in an attempt to get the party back on track (like charades in the A.P.) spinner is very serious about it, turns into people just having fun?
(3) Return of the unison phrase but now as a looser dance, maybe not in unison. Possibly more soloey.
(4) Alcohol/drugs dance? later in the night? more social?

Also we don't know how it ends yet. And I feel like I must have forgotten a lot.

Please fill in the gaps!!

Quote

This is a quote from a recent dance review in the NYTimes that I thought was relevant. Maybe also kind of obvious, but good to keep in mind.

"Live performance doesn't have to be lively or full of action or emotionally layered. It doesn't have to be anything in particular. But it must, in its own fashion, contain enough of an authentic world — any world — to keep those watching it from receding into their own worlds, where an endless supply of mundane distractions awaits."

I think that things like the Easybake Oven, controlling the music, etc. that we talked about are good ways to make the performance seem real. We have to be careful not to just remind people of 'that party last year where that thing happened' and keep them engaged in what is happening onstage.

I'm sure we'll get to all this eventually.

Pointing fingers

One thing that came up in The Anniversary Party last night that I forgot to mention was how people often judge each other over the things they themselves are insecure about. The two mothers talking about breastfeeding is one example, but it happens to different degrees and in many different scenarios.

Going along with that is the issue of placing the blame and pointing fingers. And also gossiping, back-stabbing, excluding ppl from a group, etc.

Just stuff to think about...

some hammy inspiration: let's themify!

hahaha!

lots of juicy stuff here.

I like the image of the outlined body. It could be part of the set in an abstract way, by playing on the murder mystery theme but not really talking or giving any answer if and when a murder happened.

http://www.invitationtomurder.com/classicdiningmoments.htm

MUSIC/AUDIO

I've been thinking a lot about music--it can add so much to the sentiment of a section: sadness, confusion, cohesion, or the exact opposite. I'm going to be jotting down the name and artist of everysong I come across that inspires me with regard to this piece.
Jens Lekman: Maple Leaves
This song is about a guy who is totally in love with the girl he's singing to, but keeps misinterpreting everything she says and thinks. The hook of the song is "You said we were just make-believe.....but I thought you said maple leaves." I'll bring a mix cd tonight with other stuff I can't remember.

I think this song has a really special sentiment, one I would like to see expressed in the piece, and that I think watching "the anniversary party" will reinforce. Strong emotions, misdirected, the ways in which people will never understand each other, and the ways they all try to cover it up.

small talk, empty conversation, knowing looks, totally misfired knowing looks; long, deep, sordid, craggy histories, and the degrees to which everybody knows/doesn't know about them. The dynamics of relationships can be so rich and varied here. how to express it??


Also in terms of audio, I think using found sounds would be great -- clinking, talking, mingling, etc. But also sounds that wouldn't be present at a dinner party, but have to do with a night like that. For example, cars on the road, maybe a pre-recorded conversation that took place in a car between two people on the way to the party...something about "I can't wait to try that frisee salad she's been working on" or "you'd better not make me sit next to that boorish idiot this time"......or even farther back in time...two people are having a stifled and angry duet, for example, and the audio becomes a conversation they once had as young lovers, naive and hopeful.

Speaking of food...

YouTube wouldn't let me post this video but you can click on that link to get to it. I'm not actually a huge fan of it, I just thought that the foot-in-mouth thing was kind of interesting.

Underneath

I really like the image of kids playing under the table. My brother and I used to do this a lot when we were little and build forts down there, etc.

We don't have to pretend to be kids or anything that literal but I think it would be cool to use the space underneath. And if we have a sheet/table-cloth at some point we could play around w/ silouhettes and shadows! I saw this done in a really cool way recently.

Props/Stagecraft

Ideas for Props and Stagecraft

-Table (I already asked my boyfriend if he could construct something, he does architecture, and has some great ideas)
-chairs (also could be constructed)
-dinnerware
-easy bake oven (love this idea)

*I was thinking about what materials could be used for the table and chairs. Cardboard, thin wood, glass, etc.

Word Game

Lets post words that remind us of a dinner party! ANYTHING that comes to mind.

1. Napkins


2. Spork


3. Linen


4. hats


5. wine

Pictures

Ideas

Please feel free to add to the idea's and post blogs, images, poems etc.

-Table
-Chairs
-dinnerware
-Interaction with audience: 1) Easy Bake Oven on stage, audience member cooks something for us while we dance or wait. 2) Feeding audience food-handing out food on toothpicks.
-Costumes: old school 1800's Renoir painting-type costumes. Pastels, florals, fancy hats. A remake of that era, dresses not as long.... maybe knee length.
-Props: can be used, un-used.