Clan

Elma Kris never fails to impress with her authoritative presence. Patrick Thaiday, especially in the blanket sequence, is powerful in his dancing and his ability to create a sense of character. The veteran performer Sidney Saltner has lost none of his attack and commitment. Deborah Brown and Jhuny-Boy Borja dance the pivotal blanket duet with engrossing intensity.

(from The Sydney Morning Herald)

Oooh! How exciting! Sounds like a good show!

DB had the car window open, the wind through her hair, as we flew down Warringah Road, to the sounds of Opus III's It's a Fine Day. A couple of hours earlier I was thrashing her around in her blanket. All was forgiven on the trip back home from Glen Street for Clan.

After all the troubles I've had with his body over the last year (even the last couple of weeks) I'ves finally gone and done the program that I was originally supposed to do prior to my calf injury. Because of the back sprain, I hadn't had much of a chance to really flesh out my characters in the program. The mechanics were generally fine but the next level of performance was missing right up until opening night where, apparently, I was well on the way to finding it again. Welcome back Jhuny.

We had an excellent reception on Opening Night but, after a school's show and more teching prior to opening, we were all pretty exhausted. Was still exhausted today and, for me, it wasn't as sharp tonight. For instance, in String I did my solo with my fly undone. Not to mention the kicking of the wing (which, in this program, is a hard timber frame) in Power.

Tomorrow the pressure's on. Got friends in the audience and JPB is coming too. I'm not nervous.

See you at Glen Street.

Had a pretty eventful week. My back that I sprained last week hasn't given me too many problems but that's because I've had quite alot of treatment on it (and getting a back rub about every second day isn't something that I'm going to complain about much...) What's been frustrating is that rehearsal director is erring on the side of caution and not pushing me in rehearsals much, which is bad because I really do need the practise! And if my back fails now, it'd probably be better to know sooner than later. On the plus side, wow have I got a great team to support me and my ageing body, I think I'm getting great treatment from the two guys that I'm seeing, my osteo and my masseur. They've been indispensible. Got one more massage before the opening of clan which at this moment, according to the Countdown block on this page, is only two days, twenty hours, 52 minutes and two seconds away!

I had a massage on the Tuesday and the guy that I see is in Woolloomooloo. Great. The place is jam-packed with people saying hello to Mary, I've never seen so many people down there. Afterwards I had to go back to the Opera House to see a show at 7:30 which, of course, happened to be the time when the OTHER Queen was docking. Cabbed it but Macquarie Street was jam-packed with cars and people. Made it to the show just in time, though I guess it didn't help that I was busy taking photos.

Snuck into The Studio late for David Hoyle's SOS, while he was busy bitching about the two Queens and encouraging us to take matters into our own hands and blow them up. Ooops! I had my camera hanging off my neck and hoped that he wouldn't ask me to show him the pictures that I'd taken. Brilliant show by the way, he urged us to "kill, if necessary" people like John Howard and the gay clones, to blow up those big floating bits of metal the Queens, to level the Pyramids of Egypt (he much preferred the modern Sydney Opera House, which he was thankful to be performing in). We the people of Australia that, apparently, waited for the pedestrian crossing lights to turn green, had to be wary of being complacent because life here is so easy, that the most we have to worry about is kids on skateboards knocking us down on the street. Singing is his forte but there was, er, contemporary dance and abstract painting in there for good measure.

[On the Friday, David and two other guys got gay-bashed in North Hyde park by a group of ten guys. Bloody appalling. But, with only one more show to do for this season (and it might be a bit morbid to say this but) it would have been intriguing to see his last show, to hear what he had to say about it. Apparently he didn't dwell too much on it though.]

On the same idea of Australians being too complacent, we went and saw The Gates of Egypt. Could barely keep my eyes open for the first twenty minutes though less because of the show and more because I was pretty tired. But the show itself was pretty ordinary anyway. Yes, we the people that wait for the lights to turn green and only need to worry about wayward skateboarders must not become apathetic citizens of the world but... I just don't know. I'm supposed to care more about what's going on in the world, yes, but I certainly couldn't care all that much for the play.

Though this week we did have a chance to show how much we do care about what's going on in the world, with the arrival of Dick Cheney. "Kill, if necessary" is what we were told by David Hoyle and, I'm telling you, if I had a rocket launcher I would have shot down a couple of helicopters. They were giving me the shits. On the Friday morning the noise from the helicopters over the harbour was disrupting the meditative mood of our morning yoga class. Sounded like we were in a war zone (sorry for the hyperbole). 350 Anti-war protesters clashed with the police as they marched down George Street, disrupting traffic but apparently it's okay for ONE person (the US Vice-President, yes, but still just the ONE person) to cause road closures through the city. Put him in an unmarked car and make him wait in traffic like the rest of us, I reckon.

Last night we had a cocktail party, which was modestly attended but there was good food and, with less people arriving than expected, there was more alcohol to go around. Wasn't feeling too well the day after.

And finally, my parents called me up about the website I'm doing for their shop (Johnny's Electronics). The layout is pretty much finished and all I need is content. Dad asked if I had a couple of spare weeks to fly up and take photos for the site. AS IF! Have you seen our Bangarra schedule? Besides, there's nothing stopping him from taking the pictures himself and emailing them to me...

And now it's next week. Gotta go to bed now.

I was ready to take on the world and kick arse in the show that calf-injury took away only to have my back go. One minute I'm feeling back in the swing of things, the next I've my feet up and I'm lying on the floor with a heat pack on my back. Not happy.

All I know is that I felt a bit of a *twang* in the middle left of my back. Wasn't doing anything in particular, with a partner who weights nothing at all. A bit like when the calf went. At least it doesn't feel as serious as last time, it just feels like I've got a stiff back, but I need the practise!

I've got the chance to get a back rub and crack (though doctor is not too keen on the latter...). And I've had a bit of extra time to fiddle with this site's layout (though I haven't uploaded much of the changes yet, still experimenting). It's not all bad news. Yet...

Tags Bangarra, dance, injury.

(Haven't done a dance update in a while so here goes...)

It's now our fifth week of rehearsals at Bangarra in 2007, with about three weeks to go until we open Clan in Glen Street. The Christmas celebrations are stubbornly clinging to my stomach in the form of extra kilograms but at least I feel like a dancer again, it took awhile but I'm back. And inspired from the awesome program of dance we had in Sydney for the festival. We're spending more time on EK's new work for True Stories, though, while we have guest artist traditional dancer in residence. I don't see that there'll be much of a problem remounting Clan in the three weeks, though, because we have found time within EK's schedule to rehearse most of the show. Can't wait, too, I'll finally be able to perform all the roles I had in this program pre-injury so look out!

We've gotten alot of work done for EK as well and its all starting to get a bit of a flow (well, at least the first half anyway). It's a strongly traditional work, based on sacred objects from Murray Island in the Torres Straits, and the work-load is beginning to show in my legs: I have THUNDER THIGHS!!! Well it's good to have big legs anyway, culturally speaking, so I don't mind...

Tags: Dance, Bangarra, rehearsal.

(according to Arts On Tour NSW) A few statistics about the Clan/Spirit tour 2006:

• 6 states and territories (actually, 7: all but South Australia)
• 8 coach transfers
• 13 Taragos
• 14 venues (of all shapes and sizes)
• 22 performances (is that all?)
• 33 flights (how many frequent flyer points?)
• 66 days on the road (it seemed longer)
• 290 motel rooms (how many stars?)
• 300 cabcharges

And, tomorrow, it all comes to an end (but not before blowing a few more cabcharges!). Gathering, The Australian Ballet and the injury seemed like a long time ago. But with only (???) a UK tour in Sept/Oct, it seems like its all coming to an end for 2006 even though its only August. Its even strange when we've just picked up a new program which is starting to hit its stride here in Ballarat, and now we have to go back into rehearsal mode again.

Tonight we were at the historic Her Majesty's Theatre in Ballarat. It has a mean rake and, with so many stairs and corridors, it feels more like a rabbit warren. There has been sign of "tour fatigue" at this venue, not helped by the extra-large full moon yesterday, but it'll be good to spend an extended time at home.

Technorati Tags: Bangarra, Tour, clan, spirit, statistics, Ballarat, Victoria, Her Majesty's Theatre

Tomorrow will be our last performance of Clan and though we get a ten day breather, its not the end as we have to pick up another show and take that on tour.

Its a shame that its ending, though. Apparently Lismore was just about our best performance of the show, helped greatly by an extremely appreciative audience. Everything is running pretty smoothly and, because I've been swinging in and out of various roles, and because we've had short doses of the big smoke on this extensive tour, I'm not really sick of it yet. In fact, it has been quite eventful: I've recovered from an injury, launched this site, taken up crochet...

And there's still alot to look forward to: wine-tasting in Hobart, JPB and I's first year anniversary, and a tour to the UK with a possible first-time trip to Paris for our week break. Exciting!

In about six hours from now I have to get in a cab to the airport to fly to Brisbane from Cairns only to get into a bus for a three hour trip to Lismore. Can't really keep us down in one place at the moment. Then again, we're dancers - we're constantly on the move.

Tags: Dance, Bangarra, Photos, Contemporary Dance, Performance, move,Rations, Unaipon.

I've had a surprisingly good time here in Rockhampton. The last time the company came here, we arrived at night, performed the next day and caught a bus to Gladstone. While this visit is almost as brief, we arrived early enough on Thursday to prepare a late afternoon barbecue. The motel is so cute, we've practically taken all of the rooms and us mob on the ground floor have rooms that open out onto the lawn. We could keep our doors open and randomly wander in and out of each others' rooms. I was getting quite alot of traffic because I have broadband in my room, but I also have the smallest room, it's like an afterthought, as if the motel owners had some spare space and decided to put in a bed and a toilet... Not that I really need the space and, besides, we're only here for two nights.

I like it here, it feels like we're on camp or something. Or maybe at uni, like we're staying on campus or something. And with all the learning that was going on that first night...

The Fitzroy River is just across the road from us and, at sunset, I wandered down to take some pretty pictures. The water was like a mirror and the boats were all resting, leaving the glassy surface undisturbed. The mozzies were a bitch though, huge, like the ones that we were suffering in Gladstone.

At the theatre the manager came to the Green Room to welcome us to Rocky. Awww, how nice! After the show he thanked us for our performance. That's what we like, us dancers, feeling welcomed! Elders from the Fitzroy Basin Elders Committee also came to the show and were particularly taken by the first half, they had their own experiences of mission life. Today was also the end of the NAIDOC week celebrations and they capped it off with a 2000 strong march. Unfortunate for us, we were indoors for the whole thing!

Technorati Tags: Bangarra, Rockhampton, Camp, Barbecue, Tour, Clan

A couple of doors down, TG was teaching SP. Across the lawn YB, having already sent E on her way, was busy learning how to play her harmonica. There was a spare hook and ball of wool lying around so I snatched them up and had a go. I had learnt how to do it years ago and after going through a quick refresher course, I was on my way.

First a loop. Then hook and pull. Hook and pull...

And from that first starting chain I began to crochet, though quite clumsily. Wasn't too sure what I was going to make, I just wanted to get the hang of it. Its funny how a relatively simple procedure can be so mesmerising: insert, hook and pull... but with one dancer in my room utilising the in-room broadband on my computer and random people still hanging around from the barbecue just outside my open door, the sound of harmonicas and televisions I was intensely focused on the task. My hands were hurting because I was still trying to get a grip on the technique and holding alot of tension in my fingers. But soon I had a few lines of crochet, neat and tidy. It was time to work out what I was actually doing. The starting chain wasn't very long but, with time, I could have made an thin scarf. But the wool wasn't mine and, besides, I don't think I'd have the patience. YB suggested I make an iPod sock; all I had to do was crochet a shorter rectangle and stitch them together. And so it became an iPod sock. The second rectangle ended up being a bit wonky but, oh well, not a bad start...

Technorati Tags: crochet, iPod, iPod sock