Dancing in their Footsteps Success!

The play went really well today so a big congratulations to the entire cast. There were moments where I felt like it wasn’t going to go well (for example, when I was asked to find a very specific type of coat for one of the scenes yesterday) but luckily all of the problems seemed to dissolve. My Nan stayed at my house last night so she could get to the play today without so much trouble; however i think I underestimated how difficult it would be to get my Nan to mine. There were a lot of steps that I didn’t realise were there. We had a fun evening though, and luckily it was sunny so my Nan didn’t have to see how dismal our flat looks when it’s not sunny.

On arrival to the theatre in the morning I was apprehensive about the stage, it had a capacity of 290 i think and we were told it would be full up. We had also been told that we would be on a very large dance stage; in my worst imagination i had thoughts of having to run back and forth across the stage to place chairs and falling over. Chairs’ obviously not being the most important issue- but it was in my Job description, so I had the right to be cautious. Also, this stage meant that it would be impossible for me and Olivia to sit off stage- A professional theatre as opposed to a little studio downstairs. My Nan enjoyed the thought of performing on an international dance stage though; we had stories all Saturday and Sunday when she met up with the other older people about how in the old days they had been all over the world to perform in big theatres. Once John Major came to see them! I think there was a little disappointment last year that they wouldn’t be acting in the main theatre.

The Laban building was incredible- apparently designed by the same person that designed the Tate Modern- the closer you walked towards the building the more it started to blend into the skyline and the foreground was covered in strangely shaped hills that dance students were running up and down gracefully, the surface of the building seems to be covered in a strangely coloured blue/green plastic that is almost lenticula when you look at it. Malcolm said that it was nicknamed Teletubby land, but this was something else, definitely worth a look if you are around Deptford.

But yes, the play went really well, all of the que’s were followed correctly and despite not being able to view it from the front there was defiantly a lot more energy in the performance than had been in any rehearsals. I think the audience really enjoyed it too- there was an astounding amount of laughter coming from the audience- even at points where we didn’t anticipate it. The was also a lot of applause after our bad manners scene; mainly because Jean- one of our older actresses had to pogo with a lot of teens for about 5 minutes straight!

we have been told that the performance will be repeated in the near future at our regular place in Blackheath (The Bakehouse Theatre) I can't wait to see everyone again. I am definately going to miss rehursals on a saturday morning now it's all over.

Dancing in their footsteps tomorrow!

The intergenerational production of ‘Dancing in Their Footsteps’  will be taking place tomorrow at the Leban Theatre at Creekside in Deptford. Please come along, the play is part of the ‘Age to Age’, Lewisham’s first intergenerational festival and it is free. It is a very light hearted play about the reminiscences of the cast; from young to old- it also has an eclectic soundtrack!

Cheers!

Last Rehersal & Art

It was our las rehersal today for Dancing in thier footsteps- and to be honest it went swimmingly well- we ran through twice with no problems at all- which is either really good (which it would seem) or really bad (in my negativity i imagine that because it went so well, people are not going to rehearse) also, i found out that it is bad luck to read the last line of a play in a performance. To be honest, that is quite rediculas, otherwise how would anyone ever be able to practise thier lines? I think Malcolm was relieved about the rehurseal today as Saturdays had gone a little belly up- one of the main characters couldn't make it and i had to stand in whilst doing the chairs at the same time. Its fine when Olivia is there- as a trained actress, she has the ability to read a script and not laugh after every line. Its a shambles when i do it.

After rehursal i went off to meet Joe for our second gallery trip of the week. We laughed about finally turning into real art students that actually enjoy going to gallerys in our spare time. We headed up to The White Cube in Masons Yard for a nice private view 'New order'- with promises of free Peroni. the exhibition was ok. I found a couple of pieces of work a little too overdone for the sensitive issues that they were talking about. For example, one artist had constructed sculptures out of furniature- to symbolise the 'silent witness' it is to what happens in war ridden or chaotic places. I liked the idea and the cupboards were aesthetically nice, but it did seem like they had only been constructed horizontally so they would fit in a space. I could be wrong, but the craftmanship, i feel, over-shadowed the point that the artist was trying to make. One piece i found interesting was Miroslaw Balka's 'Kategorie',  a large cold concerete tunnel, subtley lit, and as you trvelled through you had to avoid delicate threads hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel, slowley revolving. as you walked through you felt concerned that you would break the thread and as it reached the floor it gradually dissapeared to the floor. Each thread was a different colour- each one symbolising the different uniforms prisoners in the Polish concentration camps. It reminded me a lot of the cold schitzophrenic structure of the Berlin Jewish Museum which makes you feel physically sick through navigation of space, but in a way  this piece removed  you from the sickening realities of the holocaust and made you think more specifically about the individuals that would have been victimised. Most definately the highlight of the show.

The second trip we made this evening was up to Bethnal Green to the Vyner street galleries. Being 'First Thursday' night, it was absolutely packed in every space down Vyner Street- and the specific exhibition which we came to see (Structure) was bursting by the seams. Structure is an exhibition that is being held at the moment by a couple of 2nd year BA students from Havering college. It is quite impressive  of the students from the course to get a venue like this, just for an ordinary show(Not to sound patronising, but it is a lot easier for 2nd year students based in London to find a space in london, than those based in a college outside), and they managed to get a big following down as well.  I like to keep up to date with what the college are getting up to- the foundation i was on at Havering was great and the Tutors there are very keen for the BA to come up to the same standard, and baring in mind that it is only in its fourth year, i think it is certainly making its way in the art world.

The show itself was what i was expecting, to be honest, a lot of print and paintings and a couple of videos. The space itself was broken up quite nicely but as there were so many people i found it difficult to look at work in any detail. I think the best work in this show was a painting of a building, it was a high rise concerete block but the centre image was surrounded by gold leaf which gace the painting a really uplifting feel. Unfortunately i couldn't get close enough to see who had painted it or a title even- but this is the one that i found most interesting. There was also a video that was rather creepy with a child whispering on it. Sadley i think my attention was drawn to it because it reminded me of an episode of Dr Who where a child keeps whispering 'are you my mummy' whilst its head has been merged to a gas mask- but anyway, yes, this did keep my attention for a while.

Outside there was some performance art going on, not really my cup of tea. A friend described it as a performance that was supposed to be amusing, the performers covered in sheets and/or newspapers chanting and ringing bells. I personally thought it was more embaressing than funny and a bit boreing to watch, and as they walked towards a car that was trying to drive down the road the performers seemed to become very confrontational, inching the car back as they walked towards it. The driver obviously didn't know what was going on and was worried about running into them. The performers on the other hand i think wanted to make a statement for statements sake. The crowds were a little too much for me, maybe i'm getting old, but people are just becoming ruder and ruder, and no one has any spacial awareness. I think i'm starting to get more and more claustraphobic around people. I may need to sort myself out before i stop leaving the house!