Arthaus: Devising - a master class in memory

 Arthaus: Day ten - Memory

So, who has a good memory?

I've got a pretty good short-term memory. I can remember plenty of things if I set my heart to it. Especially if they had logic. I was particularly good at playing Simon Says when I was younger. God - turning 30, the phrase 'when I was younger' seems to have more weight. I was so good at copying people! I loved that. You could say I loved learning, and I learnt best by copying. I would spend so much of my 20s copying and learning from everyone around me. Serving people's ideas. And as I grew, and as the fucks I gave slowly went out of the window, I began to realize I should take only what I cared about. And slowly, my memory became hazier. But movement is still my forte. So even though Shura's piece was 20 minutes into the distant past, and there had been plenty of movement in the space since then, I could still recall. She had Estella's fire movements, Poppy's on-the-back opening movement and karate movements 'ha! ha!', and Dilreen's slapping the ground movements.

Can I say then, that your memory of Estella's and Poppy's piece is different from my memory? But did we not all see it together? Why is it different?

Poppy stood up: 'I've got a good memory'.

Ariel said: 'Good. Now do your movements.'

What a trickster.

It was the rest of us that got up into the space to repeat Estella's, Poppy's and Dilreen's movements back to them. Shura then took her favorite movements and placed them in the space. We repeated it back to her. As director, she wanted a duet, so Intza and Sam went up. Her direction was for Intza to perform as though the audience was on the other side. This played out very nicely. After that, Lucy got up to show her memory of the original trio, and we repeated it back to her. As director (with Mathilde for a supporting eye), she picked 4 people. Her direction was for us to pick one person to make eye contact with. This played out less nicely, because the missing of eye contact was even more evident. We did incorporate contact improv though, which was a nice recall to this morning's warm up.

Now, one person, who remember's Shura piece, to give his/her interpretation.

And so I did.

Were you also in Lucy's world? Do it again.

And so I did. Lucy remembered more fighting from Dilreen's piece. She also had Poppy's on-the-back opening and karate movements, Estella's fire movements, and Dilreen's balancing and martial arts movements. Who could forget the slight contact improv that was done?

Now use elements from both worlds. Combine them. And while you're doing it, remember moving slowly at the beginning of this class? And picking up something and leaving it elsewhere? Do a piece combining both worlds, and at some point, when you're inspired, pick something up and see what happens.

It shatters.

I walked around the space, integrating all the movements and randomizing them, and picked a point of departure - ah! this space looks cold - I will start here. Transposing Poppy's on-the-back karate movements to on my knees. Slow down. Turning around the space with Poppy's opening movements. Breathe. Finding the spot where contact improv happened with Estella's fire. Turning, turning with my partner, then blowing it up to a cartwheel. Next up, Dilreen's martial arts. From ground up to a balanced kick, then hitting the floor. Yes, I saw the bowl even as I reached for it slowly. As I grabbed it, I noted the strength in my arms, and the bowl broke into a million pieces before my eyes. Desolate, I grabbed at the falling debris which slowly turned into sand. Looking at it, I flipped - Poppy's move - and settled into an Estella's pose (child's pose). The music gathered. I burst into flames. Good.

I always grab for what I want so passionately. Perhaps that's why things / people run away from me? They're afraid of the speed / power at which I go to them. What is a life without passion?

Sam, Shura, Poppy and Lucy went up after me to repeat movements from my piece back to me. Poppy was intrigued by the bowl shattering move. Lucy was interested in Karate. Sam and Shura picked up on slow movements, which was intriguing since I'd thought my movements were anything but slow. Perhaps they liked my balancing moves. Perhaps they were doing the counter to my moves. Perhaps I was slower this time. I still don't know how I move. And Sam - what a dear - went from slowly lifting one knee up and balancing, to spinning with wild abandon, to distraught-ly picking up shattered pieces. That kid has more talent than everyone in the class combined. And the piece was beautiful.

Once you begin a movement, the audience remembers, and you can begin recalling the next. We can say that the last piece had bits of the memory of Eugene, who in turn had bits of Shura and Lucy, who had bits of Estella, Poppy and Dilreen pieces. Is this a good record of what happened? At the next rehearsal, when someone else recreates the last piece, will that memory suffice? 

In collaborative storytelling, we moved away from the platform, which was a shame because I intensely liked the confines. But we did use something akin to Ariel's approach - we brought our own lines, and made them into some art form (drawings, choreo, movements) and essentialized them into movements. Having done that, we shared it with each other and showed our memory of the sharing. Diana, with her ever bright director's eyes, had a moment of 'AHA', and strung all the various pieces together. In fact, in the final piece, we had Mathilde's separating semi-circles and lullaby, Poppy's washing movements, Diana's whispering and stomping of the masses, my rubberband and lake shattering movements.

And that is, of course, how the wall shatters and how people break into a million pieces, breathe together and fall to the ground.

Published on

7/28/19 10:36 PM