British Dance Edition 2012
Saturday, 28 January, 2012 | Comments | Make A Comment
British Dance Edition 2012 is on next weekend and I am so excited because as from Thursday I am now working on it. YAASSSSSS!! So excited! When I heard it was going to be in London I had set myself a goal to be involved but then realised that there was no way as I didn't have enough experience/expertise to apply for any of the jobs going so I am just ecstatic to be brought in as an assistant to the festival aka the amazing Kate Scanlan and Francesca Moseley.
It is going to be amazing but really hectic. There are 300 delegates and about 50+ companies involved. I have had to hang up all my other alias' shoes for the week and replace them with BDE shoes. I don't mind much.
It is weird when you get gigs like this because they are already in full swing and you are brought in right at the end to help carry them through. I am trying to swot as much as I can but when the weekend comes I will probably have to blag my way through and look like I know what is going on- hopefully I will by then- fingers crossed.....
I am looking forward to meeting everyone involved and seeing some of the shows although to be honest I am not sure if I will get to see any of them as I am not sure what I will be doing or need to be doing. I really want to see Candoco on the main stage at Sadler's and I am dying to see Hofesh's new show...... you know what- All my faves are playing- Charles Linehan, Lost Dog, NIgel Charnock...... I want to see them all.... I will let you know how I get on.
S x
The Art of Waiting
Monday, 16 January, 2012 | Comments | Make A Comment
'Hey Sarah, how are you?' *gives 2 kisses on cheek*
'Hey yeah Im good. ya know keeping busy *gives a friendly little punch on the shoulder*
and here it comes the dreaded...'So what you up to?' (friggin hate that question)
'Well my next big project is not till April, and so at the moment I am creating a new piece on Cando2 for Refresh which is exciting and doing bits of teaching and admin at The Place along with looking for other performing work."
I have now rehearsed this sentence down to a T. But the truth is I am pretty busy and there are things I am not saying because Im not getting paid now for them- for example I am doing TONS of planning for Inside Dance (Britain's only online Contemporary dance TV show), which I have created with Lucy Field. I am also working on Weirdy Beardies and I am working on You Me Bum Bum Train. So I am crazy busy but because they aren't exactly pay as you go gigs it doesn't register with me to mention them. However from this day forth I shall.
Aside to that it does feel quite good though that I can say 'oh yes I have something coming up'..... but now its the wait that I need to make feel exciting and find more things to do....
It is an art and an art that all of us freelancers need to be good at.
S x
All Aboard The Bum Bum Train
Tuesday, 10 January, 2012 | Comments | Make A Comment
In December I found myself with a bit more spare time than I had anticipated so I decided to give it all to the amazing production that is You Me Bum Bum Train.
I first came across the train in 2010 when I saw an ad on a casting website looking for performers. I wasn't able to get involved then so when the call came out this time I was all over it. On paper it sounds amazing but in real 3D life it is is incomprehensibly insanely amazing. Everyday I can not believe my eyes that this is real. I am so glad I had time to be able to really immerse myself in the experience. I have learnt a whole load of new creative skills and met tons of amazing people.
I wish I could have been a passenger but I am so happy to have been part of the cast and production team. To be part of this show is something I can be proud of *grabs tissue*.
There is a bit of controversy surrounding the show in terms of the fact that no one (apart from the carpenters) gets paid but I feel that everyone who gets involved does so out of their own free will, so it is a choice. There are no contracts, no-one forcing anyone to come in at a certain time and to be honest if I decided to stop going tomorrow they would respect that. I totally understand why people get quite angry about it as in previous blogs I have been outraged at ever being asked to do things for free. For some reason though this is different. Maybe because it is not in the dance world, so it feels a bit new? Maybe it is because not even the Artistic Directors or Producer is being paid so we are all even stevens? ( BTW The producer Jo Gross is the shizzle. I do not know how she has done it on the budget she had. So AMAZING). Or maybe it is because a lot of the people who are involved are pretty shiz hot at what they do and are quite respected in their own fields but yet are SO dedicated to the train? They make me want to work hard and the whole experience worthwhile.
I am not stupid though, there are certain roles/tasks that I won't do and I justify the reason being that I am giving up my own time so I want to get the most out of that and build on skills that I am lacking. So I have set rules in my head about what I will and won't do for free. I suppose this is probably not fully in keeping with the YMBBT ethos but I don't......care.... (Aaah I sound hideous).
The process has been a good lesson for my ego and my only quibble about the experience would have been lack of communication at times, and actually whilst saying that I think my quibbling says more about me than the team at YMBBT. I have learnt to have more patience. Being involved in such a huge production, and maybe it was the 'being one of many', was hard to get used to. I am not sure exactly what it was but at the beginning of the run I had a few moments and had to tell myself off for having impure negative thoughts (why I oughtttaaa)! haha.
The show is running to the 19th of January 2012. So if you fancy getting involved do get in touch by emailing [email protected] and I look forward to seeing you down there. You will not be disappointed.
S x
Re Fresh 2012
Tuesday, 3 January, 2012 | Comments | Make A Comment
At the moment I am creating a new piece on Cando2 for ReFresh. It is so nice to be invited back to work with the youth company.
Just incase some of you don't know what ReFresh is I shall tell you: It is a youth dance platform run by Sadler's Wells London Youth Dance and The Place. Six youth companies get selected and they each choose music at random out of a hat. The pieces of music are selected by 6 established choreographers. This year's choreographers who chose music for the youth companies are Kate Prince, Richard Alston, Mark Baldwin, Frauke Requardt, Tom Roden and Russell Maliphant. The best part of the process is that the choreographers get mentored by the one and only Kerry Nicholls.
Cando2 were given Kate Prince of Zoonation! Yes pop and hip hop! Her choice was the one I was hoping not to get only because it is something that I would never normally choose. It has been a great challenge so far but I think I am getting my head around the idea now. (We had an intensive just before Christmas and I am just editing our video blog which I shall share with you all.)
What I found interesting was how I was trying so hard to not be literal with the words of the songs. Alas you cant ignore them, so we have just gone with it. What I am battling with now is trying to keep an objective eye because the potential for cheesiness is so high. I am trying to find ways of either avoiding it or how I can go with it but still try and save some integrity..... hahaha watch this space is all I can say
Serendipity
Monday, 31 October, 2011 | Comments | Make A Comment
... is the name of the piece I performed last night by Animated State Dance Theatre Company at the Imagine Festival in Waterford, Ireland.
I spent all September here in Ireland working with choreographer Libby Seward. The piece was a duet performed by Eoin Lynch and myself. It was a fun experience to say the least. the show was bonkers- bubble wrap sex, euclidean space, shoes, fishing, gnomes, phones, dog walking, lots of talking and generally jumping around like a pair of weirdos. Perfection.
One thing that was special about last night was that most of my family came to watch, including my nieces and my sister's husbands who have never seen me dance before. Exciting times. I think they were suitably amused and weirded out in equal measure.
The show was, as the title suggests, about serendipitous happenings. (I personally hate the title, but who am I to say that?) We worked for the first week on different images that Libby brought to the table and then she structured it together. It was a weird process in the sense that the tasks felt quite disjointed and Eoin and myself had to trust Libby with our everything and just ride this crazy train of a process. Which I know is not new to any process but this one felt quite risky at times hahaha!
It is sometimes hard as a performer to give this trust and to really go with the choreographer/director and trust that your integrity with still still be intact when the show goes up. In this instance there was always a dialogue so I knew I was safe and there was always a door open to dialogue with Libby if needed.
Hopefully we will get to develop and perform the piece again in the future. Fingers crossed for that. This is my second time working with ASDTC and it is nice to come back to familiar territory and work with Libby and Eoin again.
S x
Im a Weird Beard and Proud
Tuesday, 5 July, 2011 | Comments | Make A Comment
I had my first performance with The Weirdy Beardies at the weekend at Winchester Hat Fair and I absolutey LOVED it. There is something about performing in this kind of context, having the audience right in your face that has really opened something new with me. I enjoyed playing to what they want, testing out what looked like they didnt want and having the satisifaction of winning them over. It is immense. Don't get me wrong there were plenty of times that we didnt win them over, but thats just funny and immense in a different way. The kind of nervousness I feel when doing this street theatre kind of performance is very different to the feeling I get in a theatre. It is odd because, in a way, you are more exposed as there is no on and off untill you get back to the holding room. It is exhausting. Burn baby burn.
The range of reactions from the audience is so diverse. Some absolutely love it and act like they are finally getting to express their inner performer that has been repressd for so many years and others want us to get as far away form them as possible. It is the 'Safety Factor' that you get from being in the theatre. The invisible but very present performer/audience line that some people never want to be crossed or merged. Most are pretty happy to watch but as soon as we get close they start to snarl. So it is interesting as most of the time you play to those that are watching and seem to be loving but sometimes, you get close and all of a sudden they look petrified or angry. As a performer we need to make sure that the audience know that we know we are the biggest idiots, not them. This rule led me to do some WEIRD stuff.... so funny.
This weekend in Winchester we were camping. Not so glamourous, I know, but a hell of a lot of fun. We ate our meals with other performers in a Big Top tent. I was having a ball plus it was my birthday on Saturday so nothing was going to bring me down. The only thing I hate is the packing up- so boring.
Anyway, I look forward to my next bearding session next weekend in Bracknell. Check out this promotion video for Parklife:
Cocteau Voices Week 1
Tuesday, 17 May, 2011 | Comments | Make A Comment
First week of working with Aletta is over and what a week it has been! Half way through day 1 after the set had been delivered, set up, we had met the ROH2 team and took part in the creative mornings session that I fully realised where I was, who I would be spending the next 8 weeks with, how bloody amazing it is going to be and how hard a job it will be to find my place within it all.
So here is the picture that I needed to fit into: Very established choreograher, stage manager with a deputy satge manager about when needed too, 5 amazing respected dancers, an amazingly designed set, beautifully composed (but full on) music and a well known lighting designer, oh and did I mention it is being produced by ROH2? I know I was asked to do this so that confidence love bug I talked about in an earlier blog needs to be injected but when there is already a functioning system going on around me I knew instantly that my role, although was there and was needed, was was mine to create. I took this as an exciting prospect although a little unexpected. Then again, I haven't done this before on this scale so why would I have known what to expect.....
The first week in any process is always hard but I think I have found my rhythm now. I think I know where I will be helpful and the areas I need to sit back and observe more. I can tell that I am going to grow so much in this process. Watching how Aletta 'works' the studio is like magic. She has such a big heart and creates an amazing bubble for the team to live and work in. Lucky us.
S x
Confidence Love Bug
Saturday, 14 May, 2011 | Comments | Make A Comment
It is becoming increasingly more clear that no matter how successful or how many jobs you get you never actually reach a point of self satisfaction. This may sound like such a ludicrously simple and easy concept to not have believed before so sorry if I offend you by my naivety. Being around artists, either assisting or dancing with, of whom I would consider as top notch totty of the dance world I realise that the same mentality you find during college times still feeds the same scenarios eg. The sharings of a creative task you always think yours is the worst one or comparing yourself during costume fittings.
During the creation of beardies it took me a while to really believe I deserved to be there. I had to keep reminding myself I auditioned, I got the job therefore they want me. It is hard though to really know your worth when there always seems to be millions more better dancers out there.
Why do we do it to ourselves?
When I was training in Scotland I used to finish every exercise and every piece of material with a shake of my head and looking at the floor I would apologise and say that was so shit. It was like I felt bad for them to have had to witness what I had just presented. It wasn't until during a rehearsal that a girl from the class above said if you keep saying things are shit then everyone will just keep thinking you are shit- which I took as a well earned "aka it's boring listening to you moan".
Anyway if I could find a way to create sone kind of confidence love bug that I could inject in to all dancers I would. But till then let's keep killing ourselves to get to the top.
Cheers
S x
Interview with James Wilton
Wednesday, 13 April, 2011 | Comments | Make A Comment
After graduating in 2009, James has received the Blueprint Bursary, won Sadlers Wells Global Dance Contest along, choreographed on Scottish Dance Theatre, been awarded Arts Council money amongst other things. I interview him over the phone whilst he is in Leeds choreographing on NSCD's third year about the excitement that is surrounding him and how it feels to be very much in the spotlight so soon into his career.
S: After winning Sadlers Well's Global Dance Contest you are very much hot property, how do you feel about the hype that is surrounding you right now?
J: The hype? It was kind of weird. I think mainly because when I entered the competition I didn't think I would get shortlisted as the audio quality was so awful [on entry video]. Then I got shortlisted and I didn't think I would win because I had seen how other people had pushed the whole facebook thing, encouraging their friends to vote. Looking at the views that each entry was getting I was just assuming that nobody outside of my friends and family were voting so I didn't think I could win.
So when I did, it was mental. Suddenly people knew who I was without me knowing them.
S: Some people argue that a name can become more famous than their work. Does it bother you that people could now just think 'that's James Wilton he must be good', without actually seeing your work? Would that bother you?
J: It seems you can get to a point where your name is so big that you can't really do any wrong. So I want to avoid that to be honest with you.
I want people to have seen my work before they talk about me. Once people start to know about you it does feel sometimes, that they want a piece only because it is something new and rep companies are always after that next big thing. In my opinion some companies just stick with the safe bets where as others do take more of a chance.
S: I think for example Hofesh a couple of years ago- it seemed like he was making work on so many companies, and I thought artistically that must be tough going
J: That is ultimately what I want to avoid. I don't want to get to a point where I am just churning things out. I want to always be at a place where I am excited and energised about what I am doing. I am still exploring and I am young and don't have to keep repeating a certain formula to keep people happy. I want to keep experimenting. For example, I am working with students at NSCD and I am not doing anything with them that I have done before, and I think there is a tendancy for some choreographers to do that but there are only so many ideas you can come up with.
I want to avoid always starting at the same point because I know it works or because that is what the director is wanting. To some extent there will be an expectation, but I don't want people to already know what the piece is going to look like before they book. There should still be an element of surprise.
S: You use a lot of music that has lyrics. Is this a secret ploy to appear different and slightly trendy?
J: It is not like they are saying it for any justified reason or because it hasn't been done before. I try to use it intelligently. I go on what I like and what I can stand listening to hundreds of times and use music that I would listen to on my ipod walking down the road.
S: So do you use the lyrics in the songs to help people relate to your piece?
J: Lyrics have to be making sense even if the connection is only making sense in my mind. In what ever I do I don't try to preach a message. Apart from Drift the duet I made for SDT. The lyrics made sense to the movement, but apart from that no I don't use the lyrics to create movement. The music helps me when I am choreographing as I think that whatever I was experiencing at the time when listening to it, feeds subconsciously into what I am creating.
So there you have it. I enjoyed talking to James and how he is unashamedly still quite young within the industry and is still figuring out why he is where he is. Whilst his voice and confidence within his work is very clear already I hope he as open as he says he is and keeps his humble head held high.
Work Glorious Work
Monday, 4 April, 2011 | Comments | Make A Comment
I just found out I will be assisting Aletta Collins on her next project at the ROH2. Her new commission with be part of a double bill, one half will be an opera directed by Tom Cairns called Les Voix Humaine and her dance piece is called Duet for One Voice with a new score by Scott Walker. Both pieces are inspired by the plays of Jean Cocteau.
Now wait till you hear who the dancers are.... Lorena Randi (aaaahhh), Conor Doyle (aaaaaahhh), Omar Gordon (who has danced for everyone but I just came across him recently in Protein's LOL) and then two newbies to me: Daniel Hay-Gordon and Hyekyoung Kim. I worked with Aletta last year for The Place's 40th Anniversary show 'This is The Place'. I am so excited and completely terrified at the same time.
So far this year things are going alright. However there is that underlying fact that this is just a smooth patch and it won't last forever. Freelance is a bitch for that. Never knowing what is around the corner. I suppose although it is scary, it doesnt always have to be a negative thing. I wonder if I will be talking this positively about it when my situation changes. This job fits right around the Weirdy Beardies and the project with JoonDance in Wales during the summer.
My role at Candoco has also taken another turn. Currently I am Youth Dance Manager, which seems like a very grand title for the amount of work I do- teach 2 classes a week and then 2 days admin a month. However they recently asked me if I would take on a 3 day a week position (1 day office 2 days teaching). How great is that? I hear you say- some stability but not too much commitment. Perfect.
Well, it freaked me out so much that I turned it down. Well.... I first of all accepted, then a few panic attacks later, caused by the thought of 'What does this mean for me as dancer?', I said no. I enjoy my varied freelance life and we all know 3 days supposedly turns into full time, so I was not going to go there. I am a dancer and don't want to be put into the education bracket, and we all fear that bracket. It's the horrible bracket that people apparently go in because they cant get any performing work. I know that sounds really bad but it is what people think. I know that it is not as straightforward as that and I really do know it. Most artists teach. Teachers are artists too and I would rather teach than be behind a bar on my feet till all hours of the night. I am lucky I can teach. I know I may have to go back to bar work eventually but I am staying away for as long as I can.
Anyway after I said no thankyou because of reasons explained above, they turned around to me and offered me the same position but in a different package that I could not turn down. I would be stupid to. It would mean that I would still be able to do all other work that I was offered- how amazing? I do love the work I do with Candoco but I suppose I don't want it to wholly define me. I want to be known as a performer first and foremost and then other things can come after that. If I had been a dancer in the company first and then became YDM then that would be different but I haven't accomplished that goal just yet.
I am really surprised about how much being offered this (amazing) job made me completely freak out. Now in hindsight I know its about how I see myself and how I let myself be seen. I think it was also due to the fact that I am starting to get more and more paid performing work and I suppose I dont want to then get tied to something and let people down. However being associated to Candoco is amazing. I get to choreograph and be creative working with amazing people all the time. And it only takes up part of my freelance life. Its not a bad bar job after all.
S x
