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

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

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

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 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.

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We welcome 2 new dancers to the company – Lucille Teppa and Effie Ward, and we have Catrin Lewis on work placement from Trinity Laban, so lots of new energy coming into the company.

Mark Read, our production manager is busy contacting venues with our technical requirement, and Matt production assistant, is tidying up our touring equipment into our new dedicated storage space in Abertillery.  We have recently been given some extra portable flooring to use for our community projects which is good news.

We also start our holiday dance club scheme on Monday in Abertillery, providing free holiday dance classes and workshops to children.  They will be undertaking 4 intensive days in the studio with a sharing for parents and friends on the last day.

Finally this weekend, we will be shortlisting the Easter Intensive applications and selecting from them a group of dancers who will work with us in April to create a new work for public performance.

Immensely proud of all of our achievements and those still to come.  We hope to see you at one of our shows in the coming months

sue lewis

We are very much looking forward to working with our young people next week during the school half term.

The dance faktry will be providing children in the community with free dance clubs during the day during their holiday.  During the day, the children will be able to purchase healthy packed lunches, provided by volunteers from the community – Laima Jones, Dawn Williams and Joanne Beynon.

The clubs will take place at Ebenezer Chapel in Abertillery.  The places are now fully booked, but if you would like your child to be put on a reserve list, please let us know and we’ll see how we can accommodate.  Info@ffindance.co.uk

Take a look at how you can support the company

A brilliant new TV channel for Blaenau Gwent, FFIN DANCE will be featuring later this year