Namedy flyer 2This week saw the company return to Germany which is definitely one of the highlights of the tour for myself.
It was so lovely to return to Namedy and perform once again in the Spiegelsaal.
Catrin, Effie and myself set off from London St Pancras (after a false start where Catrin and I bought the wrong tickets) and met the rest of the company in Dover. Setting sail across the channel, sadly without a re enactment of The Little Mermaid but with a cheeky g&t.
Arriving in France we began our journey to Germany. We arrived at midnight feeling very tired and slightly squashed. We were all quick to sample some German beer and headed straight to bed.
Tuesday morning saw us taking company class led by Mike and we were joined by two young dancers Manon and Jessie from Holland who were also performing in the programme in a piece by Ben Craft.
We were straight into rehearsal for Axiom Tangent, Gary Lambert’s group piece for us.
I have spent time with Catrin in the studio teaching her the structure of the piece but this was the first time that we have been able to fully rehearse the complicated lifts that happen throughout. To say the pressure was on is to put it mildly. We had to get used to lifting one another again as we have not worked like this together since we were younger and adjusting how we used our weights provided some challenges for us.
Our performances at Namedy happen in the round. This involves the audience being on all sides so there is never a ‘true front’. This type of performance setting provides many challenges. As you have the audience in 360° there is no hiding, especially when they are in such close proximity to you.
As there is no ‘front’ we spent a long time rehearsing all three pieces of the ‘Inspired’ bill readjusting the facings and the placings of both the material and the dancers. It’s quite an exciting thing to do as you have to rewire the brain’s way of thinking of the piece and it takes a little bit of time for it to settle into something you recognise, a bit like washing your favourite pair of jeans- they take a while to get comfy again.
I especially enjoyed reworking ‘Degrees of Freedom’ in this space. The fluorescent lights which normally light the piece from the back of the stage were this time placed on the floor around me, providing little areas which dictated where the material would be performed. I was free to play with the directions of the material and kept it quite free and unset which is very in keeping with sections of the piece. This has been a big challenge for the brain because my usual markers of where material begins and ends has shifted dramatically, especially when the movement becomes faster. Trying to keep the pace of it and decide which way I want to do the material has kept me on my toes…quite literally.
I’m looking forward to performing over the next two evenings and seeing how the pieces develop.
Thanks for reading
Meg