giovedì 10 gennaio 2008
a mathematician at home
I'm back in Seattle. It was a long day of travel, though I got a good nap across the Pacific. I'm headed to sleep, but I'm hoping to see everyone in Seattle soon.
mercoledì 9 gennaio 2008
heading home
Just a quick one, since it's pretty late, and I'm getting on a plane soon.
The performance went pretty well! I walked away happy, anyway. It will be interesting, and possibly frightening, to see the video. However, it worked out all right, and while it wasn't a work of genius, and it was clear there more work was necessary to fully develop all the ideas, the audience responded well, and we did things about as well as we ever had. Even better, the cast was happy, and I think that the process of making this piece has been very rewarding for them.
Now there's a break, and they'll restart in a month, rework what we have. The actual premiere is in April. I'm basically not involved anymore, except possibly as an advisor at a distance.
Looking forward to being back in Seattle and seeing all my friends! I feel like I've been away a long time.
The performance went pretty well! I walked away happy, anyway. It will be interesting, and possibly frightening, to see the video. However, it worked out all right, and while it wasn't a work of genius, and it was clear there more work was necessary to fully develop all the ideas, the audience responded well, and we did things about as well as we ever had. Even better, the cast was happy, and I think that the process of making this piece has been very rewarding for them.
Now there's a break, and they'll restart in a month, rework what we have. The actual premiere is in April. I'm basically not involved anymore, except possibly as an advisor at a distance.
Looking forward to being back in Seattle and seeing all my friends! I feel like I've been away a long time.
lunedì 7 gennaio 2008
our minor disasters
It was a trying day. One of our cast members called us on the way to rehearsal. She threw out her back, and as of this evening it was final: she can't perform.
Hofan is stepping in to understudy her role. This puts us in a difficult position. The piece, as a piece, is in a precarious position. It needs our full attention to have a chance of getting it truly performance ready by Wednesday, and many of the things we have tried or are continuing to try aren't working yet. The date is coming too quickly, and we need a new perspective. Now both Hofan and I are in the piece, so there's no real outside eye. We need to make our performances work and also get the structure of the overall piece ready. It doesn't look good.
We're becoming less ambitious by the moment. We're eliminating all the transitions from the piece, and planning to perform it now as a series of 5-7 minutes short pieces. Some will work and some won't is my prediction. Many could if we could figure out how to push them. Some may succeed if we and the cast can perform them correctly. Unfortunately, it's still not clear how to make it all fit. My dreams of creating a piece of genius are falling away for the moment--I just want to put on a competent showing of a work in progress. I doubt any of it--even what works--will translate to video.
It's a little dispiriting. We're trying to keep it all together. The piece probably needs two or three more weeks for us to get everything together, to explore again, to bring it in again. But we don't have it. We'll just have to do the best with what we have.
Hofan is stepping in to understudy her role. This puts us in a difficult position. The piece, as a piece, is in a precarious position. It needs our full attention to have a chance of getting it truly performance ready by Wednesday, and many of the things we have tried or are continuing to try aren't working yet. The date is coming too quickly, and we need a new perspective. Now both Hofan and I are in the piece, so there's no real outside eye. We need to make our performances work and also get the structure of the overall piece ready. It doesn't look good.
We're becoming less ambitious by the moment. We're eliminating all the transitions from the piece, and planning to perform it now as a series of 5-7 minutes short pieces. Some will work and some won't is my prediction. Many could if we could figure out how to push them. Some may succeed if we and the cast can perform them correctly. Unfortunately, it's still not clear how to make it all fit. My dreams of creating a piece of genius are falling away for the moment--I just want to put on a competent showing of a work in progress. I doubt any of it--even what works--will translate to video.
It's a little dispiriting. We're trying to keep it all together. The piece probably needs two or three more weeks for us to get everything together, to explore again, to bring it in again. But we don't have it. We'll just have to do the best with what we have.
sabato 5 gennaio 2008
the piece congeals
More and more, it looks like we actually have a piece on our hands. At some level, it's out of our control. We taught the cast the techniques we wanted them to know and generated ideas and content with them through improvisation and other exercises, and based on their strengths and interests, stuff comes out, and we make sense of it. It's surprising to me how subtle the piece is. I don't know if it will read over video at all. I'm also not sure if it will "work," at some level. On the other hand, I enjoy watching it (we'll do a run through on Monday, and hopefully have all the pieces completely together by then or Tuesday. We have a practice scheduled for Wednesday day, too, before the evening performance). I find it both funny and affecting. And though there are parts that are clearly influenced (or derivative) from other performances, I don't think I've ever seen anything exactly like what we are doing. Maybe it's the smallness of the piece--our actors are at their best when they do very subtle things. Anyway, I'm excited to see how it all turns out.
We have a day off (our last) tomorrow. Today is my last Saturday.
We have a day off (our last) tomorrow. Today is my last Saturday.
giovedì 3 gennaio 2008
Boar
Just as we reached the front gate of Hofan's complex, we heard a rustling and saw a shape in the woods. I assumed dog at first, but it was, in fact, an enormous wild boar. I've never seen one before, but it was pretty cool. Still, we hustled inside as fast as we could. It ran in the other direction.
The piece is, I think, back on track. We had a long discussion all morning with the cast about what could make the process more fun again, and what would help them. By the end, I think they felt they fully owned the piece again, and the afternoon was much lighter and more productive; I left feeling alert rather than run down. We still have lots of time in the studio before this thing goes on--more than a quarter of our overall rehearsal lies before us. Lots of magical things ahead, I hope.
One difficulty I hadn't anticipated at the beginning is that our cast is composed of actors, not dancers. It makes it harder to do the kind of full out dance I was imagining originally. There's much more gestural stuff. It's not a bad thing though, once I know what to expect.
Another annoyance: one of our cast has a minor back injury, which of course will linger forever, and he missed the whole cleansing morning session (getting X-rays, which were almost certainly unnecessary). He also missed the bonding while the piece was in its earlier stages. It's very hard to get him fully integrated. And his movement is limited to boot. It's tricky to work around. He has some nice ideas though, and I think he'll work out well enough. Definitely felt the drag when he joined us today at lunch, and we had to rehash a conversation that was finished to catch him up.
Still, the piece is going well. It's also all consuming. It's hard to see myself getting any substantial math done this last week. A good time for some review of the easy stuff, maybe.
The piece is, I think, back on track. We had a long discussion all morning with the cast about what could make the process more fun again, and what would help them. By the end, I think they felt they fully owned the piece again, and the afternoon was much lighter and more productive; I left feeling alert rather than run down. We still have lots of time in the studio before this thing goes on--more than a quarter of our overall rehearsal lies before us. Lots of magical things ahead, I hope.
One difficulty I hadn't anticipated at the beginning is that our cast is composed of actors, not dancers. It makes it harder to do the kind of full out dance I was imagining originally. There's much more gestural stuff. It's not a bad thing though, once I know what to expect.
Another annoyance: one of our cast has a minor back injury, which of course will linger forever, and he missed the whole cleansing morning session (getting X-rays, which were almost certainly unnecessary). He also missed the bonding while the piece was in its earlier stages. It's very hard to get him fully integrated. And his movement is limited to boot. It's tricky to work around. He has some nice ideas though, and I think he'll work out well enough. Definitely felt the drag when he joined us today at lunch, and we had to rehash a conversation that was finished to catch him up.
Still, the piece is going well. It's also all consuming. It's hard to see myself getting any substantial math done this last week. A good time for some review of the easy stuff, maybe.
mercoledì 2 gennaio 2008
having fun
Hofan and I realized that we weren't having fun anymore. Too much grunt work, feeling too trapped. We keep trying to shake off the structure that felt liberating before, and is now stifling.
Fundamentally, we need to talk to the cast and let this whole thing be fun and playful again. We need to let go of it a little more, direct less and let them improvise and devise more. This is tricky, as our showing is coming up in a week, and it will take a good chunk of that time to realize what we're imagining. But, we need to enjoy the work, and trust that the work will be better for it.
In other news, I just played, for the first time I can remember, a bingo in scrabble that touches two triple word scores.
Time now for bed.
Fundamentally, we need to talk to the cast and let this whole thing be fun and playful again. We need to let go of it a little more, direct less and let them improvise and devise more. This is tricky, as our showing is coming up in a week, and it will take a good chunk of that time to realize what we're imagining. But, we need to enjoy the work, and trust that the work will be better for it.
In other news, I just played, for the first time I can remember, a bingo in scrabble that touches two triple word scores.
Time now for bed.
martedì 1 gennaio 2008
the new year
It gives me a strange satisfaction to have reached 2008 before most of the world. I don't know why. In any case, everyone's here now.
We had a day off from dancing today, possibly our last. I slept in, and we hiked up the mountain near the house in the afternoon. There was a fire there a while ago, and the brush was low, though growing back quickly. Some of the trees survived it, their branches blackened. We walked through them and they drew in charcoal on my hands and shirt. It was a good hike. Nice to get a vantage point on the city, and also to be surrounded by trees.
Yesterday we went to a new year's party at Y Space, where we rehearse. It was a fun little event, with party games. I taught some tango again, and got to hear about the political machinations of the Levi company here.
Today I've been taking care of lots of little things I've been needing to do. Cleaning house. I need to write down some of the scripted parts that are still being formulated for the piece.
We had a day off from dancing today, possibly our last. I slept in, and we hiked up the mountain near the house in the afternoon. There was a fire there a while ago, and the brush was low, though growing back quickly. Some of the trees survived it, their branches blackened. We walked through them and they drew in charcoal on my hands and shirt. It was a good hike. Nice to get a vantage point on the city, and also to be surrounded by trees.
Yesterday we went to a new year's party at Y Space, where we rehearse. It was a fun little event, with party games. I taught some tango again, and got to hear about the political machinations of the Levi company here.
Today I've been taking care of lots of little things I've been needing to do. Cleaning house. I need to write down some of the scripted parts that are still being formulated for the piece.
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