A week to dig, explore, ask questions, find answers, ask questions again, find no answers, try, taste. 

A world has emerged, a world I cannot quite put my finger on, but an otherworldly world. 
Re-placing tension at the centre of the physicality, creating a structure to support the emotional journey, believing and trusting the work, its brutality, its power. 

​One thing at a time. 
Not one process is the same. 
​
If we started the week with these common words: Team work. Fearless. Enjoyment. 
I am ending it and looking forward to the next steps with these ones: Patience. Faith. Integrity. 

Pic: Romain Tissot back from when we were in Lyon at La Maison de la Danse, through our co-production with CCNR Rillieux-la-Pape

On Day 3, we connected with Laura Patay currently in France and unable to travel to London due to travel restrictions. We danced, improvised and explored together via screens, warmth and games.
Digital love. 

Matt Huxley the composer of the piece spent the day with us in the studio and a lot of magic happened.
A lot of magical thoughts and projections too. Things become to make more sense on a structural level, weirdly.
Every process seems to be very different and for that one, I seem to be drawn but the structure before all. 

At the end of Day 3, I received the news I had to self-isolate for 5 days. 
ACCEPTANCE 

Day 4 saw me on Zoom.

WHEN THERE IS AN INTERNET CONNECTION, THERE IS A WAY. 

That day, we explored notions of animality in humankind.. We explored, deeper, more and more.
To be continued... 

LAUGHS and SWEAT

What a week my friends, what a week. 
After diving into the world of the research, the everlasting surprising trials (well, isn’t it always the case anyway), we started to set. Yes, we SET a section. I call it the floor section, or we call it the frustration section aka. numbers and counts and directions.
 
We shared the work on Wednesday and thank you so much to those of you you came! 
Few of the words that came out after the sharing were:
Violent 
Uncomfortable
Monstrous
Impulsive
Glamorous 
Disturbing
Pulsating
Agitated
YES. All these, yes. 

We then shared our research during the workshop / shared practice (I never really know how to call a good old come-play-with-us session). Wonderful. Fresh energies, new energies, new group, wonders happened again, the trust, the catharsis, the throwing ourselves in it. 

We filmed. Danilo Moroni and us at cre8 Studio, 4 hours of filming the trailer and of being excited when watching bits of it through the tiny screen of Dani’s camera. 

We wrapped up. 3 weeks, 15 days that felt like one long day. A safe place, an open space, a fearless and generous energy reigning into the room. 

LAUGHS and SWEAT - the two best ingredients to create. 

Next stop for the Octopus: KLAP Maison pour la danse, Marseille. We will be sharing the section we have just made (work-in-progress) on Monday 1st October, 7pm, and it’s FREE. 

D Y S F UN C T I O N 

We improvised again. "Dysfunctionality" being at the centre of the piece, it could be/have been/is easy for us to get lost in the endless possibilities of what is dysfunctional, or even what it means. Our pot of physical options is full, B U T instead of getting carried away with some hyperactive and hyperdynamic improv.... we took time...

The air in the studio was S E R E N E, and by the end of the day, smelly. 

We are back at The Place for our 3rd and last week of the summer. This week is about testing the potential of a section. Or rather, the potential of three sections put together in one. 
Magic has happened again, and I am so GRATEFUL to be working with this wonderful, inspiring, generous and crazy bunch of artist. #luckyme 

There is only so much we can make in a week time. And trying out a new section is one of the things we made. It is hypnotic and mathematic. 

Some of the words that came up about this section during our sharing were "alien, beast, authentic, raw". 
​YES.
 
The seed of a duet between Ali and Jo was born this week, and we started setting Cat's beastly solo. 
Now it is all about when, how, why and where will those sections live exactly in the final version of the piece.

Thank you so much Dance-City for having us!

On Tuesday, we dove and dug the section that appeared on Monday. Overnight (Monday to Tuesday) it became an obsession and we HAD to develop it. To see its potential, its surprises, its effects and its stories... 

On Wednesday, we had time to dive again. I think this week, we are mainly focusing on one hybrid part. We're still approaching movement and improv under the scope of APOPTOSIS.

Some really great things came out of our improv today.
APOPTOSIS is a 5 step mechanisms and offers so many theatrical possibilities. 

So does cancer.
WTF.
​If someone had told me I would consider cancer as being an endless source of inspiration... I would have laughed my ovary out. 

YES. 
When you realize what you had in mind was not what was going to happen. When you try out something just to try and it all makes sense, you scream WOOHOO and YYYEEESSS and AGAIN? and you just want to dig and develop and dive into the idea... This why Tuesdays exist. To keep the magic going. 

Today we dove in this new idea - APOPTOSIS. Programmed cell death. Isn't that incredible that when a cell is defective, it commits suicide, it saves the whole body by self-destroying... Well, a cancer cell is a cell that had lost this ability to commit suicide. 
Does it try? This, we're not sure of and in the middle of rehearsal, we emailed Dr Eisinger to check our facts. 

ISN'T IT MIND BLOWING?

Nevertheless, cancer cells don't die. Or don't die just yet. They are ironically too full of life. Those beasts. 

Tomorrow for more. 
​

* C U R I O S I T Y  * E X P L O R A T I O N * G R A T I T U D E *
Week 1 - Session 3. Directions the piece takes on its own. 

You make a plan for it to be changed, a structure for it to be destroyed, a piece for it to surprise you. 

Well. This is what tonight, Friday night, is happening. Re-writting what I thought was going to be the words. 

On Thursday, we were taken on to the animal world by the wonderful and endlessly inspiring Gabrielle Moleta. We became hunting dogs and ostrich.. or we started to feel what it could feel like to start becoming them. Their size, senses, tempo, weight, smells, groove, essence. 

The truth of our responses. 

Today we improvised on and on and on and on. And 40 minutes before the end of the day: a scratch on paper. 

On Sunday, we are off to Newcastle… change of scenery.