REHEARSAL 10 - 28/05/2024

This rehearsal was a bit tricky as it was the last one until the day of the performance and I needed more studio space. We ended up working through some things in the hallway before half an hour in Studio 3 and then half an hour in Studio 6. Despite the small spaces and the location changes, we made the most out of it and worked as productively as possible, trying out costumes as well. When we were in the hallway we read through the notes from Lucía and I talked through my narrative thoughts with them to clarify storytelling.

I wanted to spend this rehearsal combing through the piece song-by-song, clarifying details and implementing Lucía's feedback from last week. One of her pieces of feedback was to take more time in establishing their relationship at the start of the first song before it changes to the second. This was tricky as the choreography I had set fit perfectly to the end of the first song. So, I asked Sophie if it was okay to go over the 12-minute maximum of the brief to add 20 seconds of just the two of them breathing in silence at the start and end of the piece. She said this was fine as it wasn't me adding more choreography or pushing the limits of the contribution to fit more in. This addition added an establishing moment for them to just be in their starting position and set their relationship out through breath. I also liked this because of one of my starting points was the idea that there are only a few constants in life that go alongside the self; heartbeats and breath. The heartbeats have come into play within the music and the second song, and the breath is in play within the choreography and movement quality, but it's effective in being the first and only thing you see on stage at the start. We also changed a bit of the opening sequence to be more grounded into the floor and in closer contact with more breath-driving movement.

Video of First Song After Development:

We then worked on the second song, changing some directions of movement to fill the space more, adding transitional movements, and re-incorporating breath into each movement whilst being in tune with the 'heartbeat' of the music. In between Tilly's Train of Thought Duet and them doing their Kneeling Solos back to back, I added another moment in one of the leaning positions to retain that motif. This adds a contrast of them sharing weight from one to the other slowly and evenly in comparison to in the end dragging sequence where it's a quick flip from Tilly holding Emily's weight to vice versa. We also clarified the movement qualities within their solos and the other's replication of their solos to maintain their individual movement qualities. 

Video of Second Song After Development:

We then looked at the third song and went over the order, how they're using the space on stage, and clarifying how exactly Emily is making Tilly do her solo as we wanted it to look less like she despised Tilly for being tired and more like she's trying to help her. We also added in the new ending of Tilly slowly making her way back to the end position through the repetition of moving closer to Emily which I think has more of an emotional pull to it and calls back to the prompt of the two of them being magnetised together before rejoining in the breathing from the start. This makes the piece feel more cyclical which also ties back to those original solos they made and the prompt of them being cyclical and able to repeat.

Video of Third Song After Development:

Because of this rehearsal being in smaller spaces, we couldn't test out proper timings and use of space so we are going to meet again just before our tech rehearsal to work that out in Studio 1. I think this will give me and the dancers time to digest the movement and figure out if there are any last-minute notes as well as give us extra reassurance on the day that we can go into tech efficiently and prepared.