Reminders

I got a CD of photos from Stir the other day. Just spent a very enjoying time looking through them. It's amazing that over a month later there are a number of individual moments captured that I can still remember experiencing - they have truly stuck in my mind.

I obviously have a few favourites, and unsurprisingly a fair number of them feature yours truly, but I'm again blown away by the quality of the photography - well done Adam! There's some serendipitous moments that made me laugh out loud, some carefully captured perspectives that made me notice things I never would have seen, and just some lovely expressions and shapes captured that I would never have got to see otherwise.

I really appreciate getting a copy of the photos and am keeping them close to hand as a reminder and inspiration for the future.

Time's flying

It's August already and I haven't even written anything about our time in July. Only a few weeks to go before we're putting it all together, performing it and then going our separate ways *sniff* *sniff*.

But before I start thinking about that (and crying) here's my little memories of July's research time.

• Rain. Rain. More rain. Thanks to Jan for lending me a waterproof (I really must get me one of those) and to Chester for putting the rows themselves under cover.
• On a related note, soaking my shoes on the first day and taking 3 days for them to dry out. Lesson learnt in that one.
• Getting to know some of the shopkeepers and locals. Shout out goes to the awesome sandwich shop at the bottom of Watergate who looked after us. We shall not mention the one at the top that was rude!
• The weirdness of the street suddenly coming back to life on Monday after the steady quietening of the pace from Friday to Sunday. It was like they'd invaded our space!
• Getting to make piles of bodies in odd shapes and fun places.
• Working with the Mulberry group who then got really creative.
• Working with Hayley and Briony who also got up to some crazy antics with us.
• Bollards!
• Telling a story in the stairwell to the solicitors.
• Getting all sorts of comments from passers by.
• Such as "mind my trousers"
• "They're on an organised acid trip"
• "I were like that last night"
• "Are you all right mate?"
  
• Finally finding my own version of the solo duets.
• Walking past Matthew Corbett's house (of Sooty fame)!
• Getting to know more of the group with a bit more late night chatting time
• Watching Ruth pull faces with a couple of lads she met
• Seeing how far over the street we dare lean - especially when the floor is sloping that way.
• Climbing up walls
• Hiding in corners & doorways, behind pillars, up stairways, on ramps, behind bins, under signs, next to bollards, and in plain sight.
  
• Running full pelt up the street to find a new hiding spot
• Getting asked to move occasionally, but usually being well received
• Discovering Honey Naan (plain Naan with honey poured over it - genius)
• Getting everyone to massage my shoulders (Yes, lets!)
• Rolling around in a big heap and enjoying every second of it.
• Using my in-built Tannoy system (i.e. big pair of lungs) to get people's attention up the street
• Trying not to scare the elderly too much
• Trying to scare the others as much as possible
• Walking round the corner and suddenly feeling like you'd walked out of a dance studio and into a public space again
• Finding smoothies made from chocolate bars!
• Parking out by Chester Zoo and having to fight the temptation to pull a 'sickie' and spend the day with the animals.
• Sleeping in Jan's car.
• Eating toast in Jan's car.
• Being massively grateful to Jan and her whole family who were brilliantly welcoming.
• The food at Jan's! Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom.
• Rolling around in dubious smells and puddles (though it has to be said that Watergate street is very clean).
• Banging my head on a wooden beam.
• Kazik banging his head on the only wooden beam with a "Caution Low Headroom" sign on it. (Or rather "aution ow Head oon")
• Flocking all over the place.
• Not caring that no-one was really watching us on Tuesday when having great fun by the Guildhall
• Getting noticed when we went and hid in the doorway to warm-up and quickly doing improv!
• Getting a tray of snacks from a very kind waitress for us to share.
• Reading that Stanley Palace is named after the Earl of Derby.
• Seeing the War Games set up on Tuesday evening. Tape measures out!
• Getting dressed up
• Feeling a bit left out because all the girls were having fun dressing each other
• Being told I couldn't wear Corrie's nightie (I think it so could have worked with a bit of effort)
• Slightly wrecking the nicer pair of shoes I'd brought because I'd soaked my others and spent 3 days dancing on the street in them (including jamming my foot between rocks for my solo).
• Being spotted by the same lady with two kids in my statue spot at two different times of the same day! She joked that I'd been there all day.
• Finding Karen curled up inside the shop window - genius!
• Having Clare do capoiera over my head.
• Picking up Corrie and Briony at the same time.
• Being dragged around by my jumper by Jacqueline in boss mode.
• Finding funky shapes and spaces with Kazik.
• Having excellent warm-ups in Stanley Palace when we all arrived feeling bleurgh.
• Watching Ads taking photos.
• Tracey leaving for the afternoon and Ruth not realising till the end of the day.
  
• Finding the spaces where we could relax and regroup without being in the way.
• Getting wound up, fed up, tired, wet, exhausted and still keeping going.
• Dashing around Chester trying to find exactly the right kind of nummy treat to keep me going for the rest of the afternoon.
• Sneaking off mid-morning to get my lunch order in quick. And then starting to eat it.
• The amazing Tardis of a trolley that contained everything we could ever need.
• Poor Jody dragging it all around with her.
• Starting to get an idea where all this is heading.
  

Half way

We're about halfway between the June and July meet ups and I thought (with a little nudge via Facebook) I'd come back here and see where my head was in Stir.

Some memories are certainly more vivid than others. Such as scaring a whole bunch of people by climbing onto a branch over the heads (hehehehe).

I do wonder what we'll be doing in July. I loved creating freezes in the different spaces - and Ruth running to go and stand in the far distance like one of those tiny pieces of detail you only notice the 100th time you look at a painting. In some it was the shapes that really made it. Circles, arches, straight lines. In others, the drama of the person(s), the imagined narrative. Some were more abstract, others dramatic. Thankfully the skin on my finger is now entirely healed after trying to hang from a concrete footbridge.

I've been mulling a little bit over some of the stuff that I struggled with more, however. It was strange to find myself struggling to connect to movement and ideas that everyone else seemed to be so engaged with. I'm not sure any one explanation will cover it, but various theories pop into my head as I think about it. Still, whatever happens I look forward to getting to see everyone again and start to play with the spaces.

To finish, I offer you two site specific videos that I think are awesome showing work by Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner: