Performing Lines WA

This is a guest post from choreographer Danielle Micich documenting the final stages of creative development for her upcoming show SHIVER. These posts document Week 1 & 2 of the creative process behind SHIVER, and will continue to until the staging of the production in November.

Week 1 & 2 Final Stage Creative Development Photos: Danielle Micich

WEEK ONE
Monday

• -The plan is to start slow and re-introduce everyone back into the project. Hello to Leanne and Jacqui.
• - The CIA Space is great, except Jacqui keeps running into the walls with her big phrases.
• - Jac made her Goodbye phrase today.
• - I then threw her straight up onto the treadmill to get her used to running on it without hand rails. She can already hit top speed on that thing.
• - Leanne started to break down and question her story. The plan is for her to deliver text live. Some crazy idea I got when I when to Sydney and did the Cultivate Lab at Force Majeure.

Cultivate Lab 2011 (Sydney)

Tuesday

• - I have spent time now with everyone individually going through the whole work and then making a start on the key movement phrases.
• - Leanne has many variations of phrases, thank god for documentation otherwise who could remember all that material.
• - Lew is quite a natural groover and it nice seeing him push himself. He knows it’s only going to get more embarrassing as the days go on.

Final Stage Creative Development Pictured: Lewis Kilpatrick Photo: Danielle Micich

Wednesday

• - Everyone has had a go on the conveyor and thanks to The Chapel Space we now have some safety mats to catch our falls.
• - Marslen Chiropractic have come on board to support the project help maintain the dancers bodies.
• - We created some really nice duets thanks to the good work of Jacob Lehrer and Paea Leach from a previous development.

Stage 2 Development (2009) The Chapel Space
Pictured: Paea Leach, Jacob Lehrer and Jacqui Claus Photo: Sarah Rowbottam

Thursday

• - Jac really pumped out the variations today and we started a beautiful duet that was originally created by Jacob Lehrer and Jo Pollitt.

Stage 2 Development (2009) The Chapel Space
Pictured: Jacob Lehrer and Jo Pollitt Photo: Sarah Rowbottam

Final Stage Development Pictured: Jacqui Claus and Lewis Kilpatrick Photo: Danielle Micich

Friday

• - I threw Lewis in the deep in this week taking him right out of his comfort zone and getting him dancing right down to just wearing undies.
• - Leanne has a huge task of trying to get her head around a very demanding monologue but she is already sounding great.
• - I’m not keeping track of how much we are generating but that will be next’s week mission.
• - Time to start thinking about the photo shoot soon.

WEEK TWO

Monday

• - First up- Warm up discussion. How will the company warm up together with everyone needing different things. Leanne voted for partner massage to start the day, Jacqui needed to move so I lead a follow me warm up, a few yoga and Pilates exercises are thrown in and anything else goes each day. It’s the first time the three work together and it’s a nice dynamic.
• - Started on some more demanding material called wak’n slap for Jac’s session. I think Jac has just bruised her hand by slamming it on the floor. It takes 100 to make it realist but rehearsal to not make it dangerous..

Tuesday

• - Mixed up two versions of Jac’s touch and grab phrase to make a nice combo and also started the awkward duet with Jac and Lew.
• - Started trying a improv based around “things to look for”.
• - The list kept getting more and more complex but I dont think that was helping me choreographically. Back to the drawing board.

Final Stage Development Pictured: Lewis Kilpatrick, Leanne Mason and Jacqui Claus Photo: Danielle Micich

Wednesday

• - Meeting with Sarah at Performing Lines WA and lots of emails. A day out of the studio.
• - Lewis went to his first treatment at Marslen Chiropractic’s and was totally amazed how instant he felt a difference Greg had made to his body.

Thursday

• - Leanne’s Birthday and Jac made an awesome cake to share before we started rehearsals.
• - We raised the Treadmill off the floor which was a big move today. Much better in this position visually and choreographically. We also trailed the height of the conveyor to see what was effective and what the motor could handle in preparation for the Set Design Review.
• - Thanks to Lin, Barbara, & Anna we had a very good discussion about the set, it’s purpose and it’s design.
• - It’s funny how quickly you can come to an agreement when many heads start thinking and sure enough we all came up with a collective solution.
• - Lin has generously put his hand up to draw up these designs.
• - Poor Lew just seems to be having the girls hurl themselves all week at him; he must be looking forward to Gerard joining the company soon.
• - Been location hunting with Ashley de Prazer looking for the right place for each story to be photographed. Sarah is on the hunt for empty swimming pools and we might have found one.

Pool hunting in Mount Lawley Photo: Ashley de Prazer

Friday

• - Today we are going to run what we have made at the end of the day for Humphrey Bower (Dramaturge) and guests Wendy Blacklock and Fen Gorden from Performing Lines (Sydney).
• - I have just calculated that we have put together 30 mins of material. In theory half the show.
• - On Sunday the plan is to meet with Humphrey and talk through the run. Very interested in what he has to say.
• - Big chunks of movement with not much connecting material.
• - One thing is for sure Leanne is very good at delivering text, so that will stay.

Final Stage Creative Development Pictured: Lewis Kilpatrick and Jacqui Claus Photo: Danielle Micich

Post written by Danielle Micich (Dank) Choreographer for SHIVER.

This project has been assisted by STRUT co-production funding through the Future Moves initiative.

So considering it was my idea to have a blog on this website to begin with, I thought four months of writing draft posts without pressing the ‘publish’ button was enough warm up time.

As a communications manager, you can only presume that most of my days are spent writing about shows and talking about artists, using facebook for ‘work reasons only’ and making lunch meetings for ‘networking purposes only’. Yes, most of the time you are right. But for the purposes of making this post an interesting read I’m going to let you know some of the things I do which don’t include being behind a computer screen.

When offered the chance to step outside my humble office nestled in what was Country Arts WA’s board room and into a rehearsal space, I take it – usually with a camera around my neck.

Last week the creative team for Domestic Bliss was at CIA studios causing all kinds of raucous in a make-shift lounge room for their first creative development.

Walking into the space I was met by bruised knees (or in Rhiannon’s case – knees, legs and arms), costumes thrown on the floor and the scent of two weeks’ worth of making things happen. Ah – it was good.

Domestic Bliss is the story of two people desperately in love who are having a fully dysfunctional weekend. Set in a replica of a suburban lounge room, an agoraphobic man and a claustrophobic woman are being pulled apart by a figment of their imagination and lip syncing narrator (whose quirky voice is still permeating through my head).

Although I watched most of the rehearsal through my lens, from what I saw – they were up to something pretty cool. The choreography literally drove performers up the walls, on-top of sink benches and inside cupboards.

It is a work I’m defiantly looking forward to talking up in the future.

Domestic Bliss is choreographed by Chrissie Parrott with music composition by Jonathan Mustard; Performers Rhiannon Newton, Jonathan Buckels, Stefan Karlsson and Marty Moon; and Dramaturg Julia Moody.

Sarah Rowbottam, Communications Manager, Performing Lines WA