This was a rough night. So hot the air conditioner couldnt keep the room cool. I had a hard time playing my song 'filled' without singing along. It sounded so clunky and simplistic at first. Only when I played it while singing the verses in my head was I able to add color and tone to the simple piano lines. Then when I heard it, I felt a sense of accomplishment allowing me to sing. When I play and sing at the same time, I have to stretch and overreach the words, but when I sang it to the recorded music, it felt lighter, less dramatic, less hyperdramatic. I liked singing that way..
Andrew outlined a draft of the piece, and it remains a mystery to me what this is 'about' or how it will fit together. He has this understated aesthetic that is fascinating to me I remember one of the first choreographic exercises "a phrase based on fighting with your body'. My face paralleled the contortions of my body. Andrew, speaking softly and without criticism in his voice told me not to use my face. I distinctly remember that it was not a suggestion, but a direction. That is how our rehearsals go often. He is the director and is always pleased with the work I'm doing while simultaneously giving cues of how to improve it. I think this has left me free to just create, recreate, and mostly learn.
I am happiest when we are dancing together, or when he leaves me to create a phrase or take on a challenge.
And I have been challenged both in piano playing and in the doorway dance. I have been put 'under duress' when he ups the ante. For example, we created a phrase based on some spacial or timing prompts (fall and rise slowly, turn, 4 steps, 3 sharp movements). Then do that phrase in the linear space of the doorframe. Then do it faster. Then sandwich an improv between the repetition of the choreographed piece.
I wonder how this will turn out...
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