Hello all, just a quick blog from me this morning as I observe the company rehearse their second piece “Five Dances”. As Megan and Mike revisit their solo material, Lucille embraces the musically driven material that was created before she began working with the company! A  very brave task of learning the repertoire from a video with help from Sue and company dancers. The score provides depth and direction as they skim across the studio accordingly.

Day 2 of my second week with FFIN and I have been fortunate enough to take part in all the tasks that have been set by Gary and learnt all the taught material that has later been fragmented by him. I definitely feel like the word “placement” has been taken to another level! Beginning my day with company class, followed by a cheeky coffee & using the remainder of the day to select and refine set sequences has given me a small taster into what I would like to be doing once getting my degree from Laban. Some very beautiful things happening in the studio here in Abertillery, so I hope you can all come and watch the double bill that will be going on tour as of next month, starting in the Bonnie Bird Theatre, Laban.

Caio for now. Catrin. x

Last day of week 1 has been and gone and what a week it has been. Once again can’t emphasize enough how much the company is enjoying working with Gary.

Today was spent consolidating all the material that we have learnt and created this week. It’s amazing how much material has been generated in such a short space of time and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how Gary will manipulate this to create the structure of the piece.

Already we have been exploring some interesting ideas with duets that we have created and also solo material with what will be some pretty funky lighting.

One thing that I know everyone is working hard on is not over performing the movement. This is something that Gary is very keen for us to explore as ‘performing’ the movement gives it a very different quality. Lots to work on here.

Also this week we welcomed Paul Trask to the studio who has taken some lovely shots of the company in rehearsals and Steve Denton who will be designing our costumes.

The week was finished with our end of week meeting a lovely glass of red wine! Can’t wait for Monday to come to get back into the studio.

Megan

Wow what a week this is turning into! Feeling very inspired and so grateful to be working with Gary. All the dancers are being pushed physically and mentally.

This morning we worked on material that we have created throughout the week paying special attention to the intricate details of the phrases. Followed by an afternoon of duet making. These duets consisted of short little nuggets of movement before exploding away from one another. Very exciting stuff to create and rehearse.

It is such an amazing experience working with somebody of Gary’s calibre and listening to his stories and thoughts is challenging us to approach movement differently and we are constantly looking for new things!

The day flies by so quickly that it doesn’t even feel like hard work…..apart from the sore bodies and tired brains!

megan

Wow, watch and learn – mastery and art.  Started duets today with a vengeance, and they are gorgeous.  Working with 2 different strands in the duet material has been intensely interesting, both understated and full out and seeing and experiencing the contrast.  Filmed some of the work which will be ready to see over the next few days, the company very excited to meet the composer of the score – Ronen Kozokaro who will be coming in to the studio next week to finalise the sound.

This method of working should be the norm, but for most of us companies it’s a luxury.  Such a treat to collaborate in the true sense.  The atmosphere in the studio is electric.

sue lewis

A great start to what augers to be a stunning piece of work for the company.  The dancers settled in well with learning new material today, by the end of the day a lot of new material generated ready to be manipulated and shaped.  Working the material to a variety of music composed by Ronen Kozokaro for Gary, was an exceptional pleasure.  We are indeed fortunate to have 2 pieces of music especially written for our double bill this season.

A bit of a brain fry today, but well worth the effort.  Watch out for the company dancers blogs this week and some sneaky peaks of the material so far.

Join in our blogs, interact and have a say –  we look forward to hearing from you

It all started with a really interesting conversation between myself and Alice Ridding, the content producer of the Institute of Advanced Broadcasting Wales back last June.  We chatted about the company and its development since 2008 and how the company work has now become known as “one of the best modern day exports to come out of Blaenau Gwent” (South Wales Argus)
As a result of subsequent chats, the company is to be the focus of a documentary film which will also feature company dancer Megan Griffiths

We will be filming in the studio from February through to our Connections tour which opens on March 7th at The Bonnie Bird Theatre, Laban.

We’ll keep you informed of course, our company dancers will be blogging on this page throughout the process

sue lewis