Body Talks (1/2)
I feel like I’m currently running for a train I’ll never manage to catch! I’ve started to work on Body Talks nearly 3 weeks ago and in all logic I should have started to blog about it around the same time. But, I always pushed it back. I guess the simple reason of why I took so long to start the blog is because I’m not used to talk about my work. As much as I feel like to share thoughts about my work sometimes through my other profiles on Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, I find the prospective of it to be a daunting experience. So I usually end up being all cryptic about it as only close friends seem to be able to read between the lines and get what I meant. Therefore writing this blog is going to be quite challenging, hoping though it’d be as exciting I think it could be.
There’s no particular reason why I chose today to start blogging about body Talks. It actually came naturally. Today feels like I need a break from the whole project and so it made sense to me to reflect on it for a moment. Perhaps it’ll help easing the pressure I’ve put on myself. Indeed, I’m not pleased with how the project is turning right now, feeling quite frustrated about it and not really enjoying working on it so far. First I don’t seem being able to give a clear explanation of what the project is actually about while I’ve got a clear picture of it in my mind. I met a performer yesterday who is potentially getting involved in the project and trying to give him an idea of what the project is about in a few points was such a mission! I rambled myself through it, confusing on various occasions the young man! He eventually got the general idea but it doesn’t give me much hope in the future to make this new adventure a creatively fulfilling and successful experience…
This is not my first moment of doubts. Even though I liked the idea of working on a new project, as I was applying to the Albany to be part of the Director’s Lab season I’ve never fully been enthusiastic about the idea. Initially I took this opportunity to test new ideas of making work and so to find out what sort of audience my work attracts and where does it sits within the various scenes I’m connected to. However deep down I thought it might be too soon and the break I was in should have lasted a bit longer. Then, I was a bit frown by the space they offered me. Their Lab season is hosted in their Performance Studio space but they also opened it to the Red Room. In their virtual tour, the Red Room looked much more spacious, its shape much more inspirational for the ideas I put forward in my application than the Studio space – your regular theatre Black box with wooden floor! The reality of the space was miles away from the cyber alternative look it projected – it is basically a standard meeting room which happens to have some rigged lights, black curtains and a tech spot with a triangular shape. After viewing the Red Room, my first reaction was to reject the Albany’s offer. However I quickly saw it as an interesting challenge as to find a way to define this piece in relation to the space it will evolve in. And since then ideas have been flying!!!
