Page 44 - radio strainer

Re-mangling
It is the day after our performance at the conference. I am heavily pregnant and relieved that I will not have to re-perform the arduous work of looping cables and placing lights. I am sitting in the sun
writing lists. This performance achieved exactly what we needed it to, it helped us realize the strengths and weakness of our work, it identified points of clarity and points of fog. Feedback from the audience highlighted the impact of The Hills and the Red Chair sequences. Key points in the improvised
choreography felt very strong in rehearsal and very weak in the theatre (perhaps due to a lack of
rehearsal time in the theatre). The choice to embed the dramaturgy of the work in the labour of its
construction feels right. We can work more on intensifying the dynamics as dancers loop cables in tight unison, point lights, move the amplifier. We dramatise the way light, sound, distance and proximity
creates affect and feeling states. We dramatise the artistic labour of the material practices through which we communicate. We make the mangle visible in our performance vocabulary.
We start to prepare for the next iteration of the work – a gallery installation composed of three video works, a sound installation, an artist book and a development of our choreography for a theatre in
Auckland. I begin scanning journals and going through video and photographic documenta- tion of
rehearsals and performances. The plan is to develop as much material as possible before our baby
arrives. I can feel her moving strongly in my belly.
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