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.