The Homestretch
So, when Julie and I put this class together, we designed it whereby the program would be very intensive with class meetings at the beginning—in which you would learn abut the city broadly, and be introduced to more specific topics that may or not relate directly to your particular research—and perhaps more importantly leading you to people who shared stories, knowledge, and became colleagues.
We have arrived at the latter part of the program.
It is now your turn to synthesize all you have seen/heard/learned and express some of this in your final projects.
Is it possible to represent everything we have done as a group and you have done on your own? Of course not. Do we expect you to? Of course not.
What is it you represent from the research?
It is up to you to decide of what you have discovered to put forward in the Final Composition. As you work as a group, make sure to include elements of your research that represent your acquired knowledge.
How do you represent the research?
You can do this via embodying people whom you have met along the way (see the previous discussion about character). You can present a specific person speaking words s/he spoke, or present a person (character) whose text is a composite of what several people said.
Think back to our work doing character walks, prior compositions, and the workshop with Janka.
What are the connections/threads/links we have seen in the program? Here are a few…
Process over Product
What our neuroscientist and dancer (Rhys) have in common: They both described, in discussing (making) their own work, how they go from having an idea—the idea to do something—to seeing what’ll happen when they do it. In both cases, they mentioned the outcome being something completely separate from the decision to make, and from the making itself.
Both were discussing process over product. They kind of don’t care if it is “good”. They want it to be thorough, well-thought through and defendable, but “good”? It doesn’t seem to matter. With the release of pursuing a decided outcome, magical discoveries (or pedestrian discoveries) have room to arrive.
Fearlessness in making choices
In regard to the Maria Magdelena, I thought of something Janka mentioned. She said the primary way the director took liberties with the script were the moments between the scenes in which we saw the Klara’s inner thoughts/dreams/hauntings. Only this director could have put this version on stage—“violating” the original text. She chose what was an artistic impulse and ran with it. She probably wasn’t worried about it being “good”. Whether the audience likes it or not, it was the director’s take on what was going on internally with our heroine. Whether or not we agree with it, we saw it and were forced to have an opinion about it.
Passion about one’s work
It is clear by looking at these people, they love what they do and it feeds them in ways that keep them youthful.
Your Compositions have been stronger each time we do them. I’m encouraging you to think about how these professionals think and create, and to understand, no matter the discipline, that process is the same.
Final Projects
In preparation for the Final Compositions, here’s what you’ll need to do when for next week:
Wednesday
*Present a complete 15 minute composition. I’ll work with you on staging these and working through them thoroughly
Thursday
*Staging them in the space and running through them.
Friday
*Performance! We’ll ask you to be at the space at 4 to help set it up.
Here are the original guidelines (with a few things added):
Your performances will be 15 minutes in length. You will need to include the following elements:
*5 movements/acts
*A section of speaking in German
*Speaking of at least two other languages
*2 consecutive minutes of silence
*2 consecutive minutes of life in Berlin
*Music from an unexpected source
*Direct-address to the audience
*Simultaneous speaking
*A clear beginning and ending
*At least one moment in which every person is featured
*Use of the space—extreme closeness and extreme distances
*2 different styles of music
*Present yourself as at least one character you have come across
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