Competitive Me in rehearsal

Merv and Nick working their socks of and sweating it out.

On reflection.............

Following Monday's night performance of 'Competitive Me' I was left with one of the most restless nights sleep since the first few weeks following my son's birth! On reflection my bad sleep was because I was very,very,very excited. Something magic happened. On first meeting Merv & Nick (over 4 years ago) I had witnessed the competitive nature of their relationship........what could be more blindingly obvious, massively attractive and 'juicy' as putting these two men together in a studio, in a gym setting, drop in a few seeds to get the process going and off they go - making a dance piece about the desire to take center stage and be the 'best you could possibly be'. Community dance always refers to the dancer 'owning their work' - 'owning the dance'. I genuinely feel they 'owned it' all the way...............................every studio process is unique, distinct, particular but this pushed all three of us in a new direction and we all said it felt great.

From washing line to Washington

It’s probably an aerial cliché but it feels as though I am only just coming back to earth after an amazing time in the US performing TAKE and Sugar at the truly American-ly ENORMOUS Kennedy Center as part of the VSA festival. Echoing the comments made by Sal and Rachel below, it was such a huge buzz and, after overcoming the technical hitches and glitches in the run-up to going, we were truly rewarded with plain sailing (flying?) Stateside. Had a really good, easy-going time travelling and room sharing with Sal (who has possibly the most-admired shoulder bag in the world). Have a few striking memories of the performace day – the life-size photo of the eminent Mark Morris glaring at us from the wall of the Kennedy Center staff canteen a little intimidating pre-performance; a surreal moment on our initial slow descent, looking up the long and high-ceilinged, red-carpeted concourse of the Kennedy center with the chandeliers looming higher than us; a million miles away from the more familiar scene in the Worcestershire barn, with the pigs snuffling curiously outside. I enjoyed the gasp and exclamation of surprise from someone in the front row when I jumped off the stage over their head, one of the new perks of performing on a high stage. Likewise the duet with Rose, hanging off the edge of the stage, balancing precariously (not always successfully!) on one foot. Finally, the amazing shadow backstage (that the audience couldn’t see) of Sal swinging in and out of sight, high up in her chair at the end of Sugar, raising her arms.

Now the bloomers are back on the washing line, ready for Cardiff…. It will be both good and strange to be back on the rig… the two versions (with and without rig) have quite a different flavour for us, so we’re dredging our movement memories to restore the other version… Excited about performing again, but as always, don’t want it to end. In the meantime, I’ll be savouring the anticipation…

last moments in USA

Sally and I on the way home...
looking forward to...
our beds and...
sharing our experiences with friends and family...
celebrating...
and the next performance in Cardiff on the 28th June.

VSA conference

Friday morning at the very Grand Hyatt Hotel
10th floor room
basement conference
we gave a presentation on Dance Transformation
international audience
positive responses, keen interest

VSA Festival performance

after an epic month of preparation
a terrible time working our way through the bureaucracy of US immigration
pack and repacking all the kit
we made it...
a fantastic time
such a warm reception from all the VSA staff
a technical crew to die for at the Kennedy Centre
hard work
huge buzz