Working with Nat and the Amazing Result
Having quality time to work with Nat has been a revelation - thank you, Torbay Culture for the awarding of the Great Place Scheme Professional Development Bursaries.
Three small tightly rolled pieces of white paper, secured with white string bows and laying on a shiny wooden surface
Nathalie Palin was definitely the master proof-reader behind You, Me and My Voice's successful ACE application - and many more to come. As reflected before, YMMV was not only beautiful, elegant and bold but a huge achievement and a concept that will guide my artistic voice throughout our amazing world of theatre! Having the chance to put ACE next to my piece and to have people talk about the magical connection of YMMV has very much propelled my 'career' (I put it in quote marks because it's really a journey, exploration, series of experiments, playful interactions and creativity - the word career just seems a little one-dimensional!)
Now, having the opportunity to work with Nat, be it over Zoom, is not only super useful and challenging but fun and inspiring! I do think even at uni, my practice hadn't been questioned or probed just as much as a meeting with Nat!
We fit a lot into our Zoom chats and although my concentration wanes as I get anxious about whether I can do this, by the end of every check-in, the sparkle is back and I can't wait to put into practice all the advice and suggestions!
Through three or four sessions and a couple of hairy application deadline moments (have some very exciting news on the bursary front I can't wait to share with everyone), I am learning so much about my practice and where I want to put my energy. I think I'm really developing language and dialogue to describe my work and why it is worth pursuing. Through these online catch ups, there's a chance to put all wacky and wonderful ideas on the virtual table, unpick where they belong in my overall trajectory and focus on what matters to me and my practice.
Three to five years planning is terrifying for most artists at the best of times, and now with both our creative worlds and society on lockdown planning for the future is very foggy. However, with Nat's gentle but probing guidance, it has given me tools and thinking (and the confidence) to turn on a couple of headlights and to imagine where I want my practice to be. Relatively simple things like getting ideas out my head and creating Word documents with creative projects begin to bring stories to life. Then, the real imagination kicks in and you can start to find connections within your creative ideas that help to describe where you're going and how you're going to get there.
Keeping a record of everyone you have networked with - from fellow artists to strategically placed friends and allies in organisations, maps out all the support you actually have. When you come to think of it, there are hundreds of people that are interested in your work and want to support you: it is just a matter of knowing the right time to reach out to them!
Hugh in grey trousers and jumper hanging in a green sling. He is relaxed, possibly sleeping, with his legs lazily resting on a wheelchair with one arm hanging outside the sling. He's in the bedroom with pictures on the wall and coat hanging in the background which are blurred.
Let me get in quickly here - the photo above does not represent a productive meeting with Nat but me getting creative as a result of a successful bursary which Nat helped to secure!
I'll be doing a great deal of hanging around. Literally, metaphorically, emotionally and playfully. When the Northcott announced their 'THE TIME IS NOW' commission, we scrambled to apply. It's fantastic seeing so many organisation supporting artists and communities through this difficult and isolated time. The Northcott bursary was specifically about making work that can engage local communities in art and culture. They were open to all kinds of interesting ideas and art forms; so long as the respective projects were going to really think about diversity and how to get people involved. Now a lot of this collaboration has to happen through digital means and that opens opportunities but also a lot of challenges.
After reading the Northcott offer we were thinking in depth about how we can adapt our performance practice to create work that would thrive online. At the heart of our work are people and faces and relationships and the connectivity between the audience/artist. That would never be the same online but the concept of hanging around, of being in suspension and waiting resonated through the whole company. There's a good amount of material to explore - I think it's something we all share at the moment whether it's: waiting for lockdown to ease or waiting to know whether we can go back to work or when to visit neighbours or just some positive information. That concept flourished into an application (proof-read, edited and smartened up by Nat) for Northcott and it is amazing that they are supporting it.
So during the last couple of weeks we have been getting stuck in there! Steve is working on musical score, playing with suspended chords; Sophie is hanging upside down, back to front and every which way; Jen has been demonstrating, that for some, this lock down has meant a speed up and I have been hanging in my sling! The film material coming back is really interesting and the editing stage is going to throw up some exciting ways of sharing this idea of limbo.
We are also meeting virtually over Zoom for devising sessions. These are naturally not the same. It's really challenging bouncing energy off each other and just to play with ideas when you're stuck indoors and not transformed within a creative workshop space. Communication isn't ideal either - Zoom is full of glitches, sound distortion and bugs. Although we are able to share ideas over Zoom, it will never replace the spirit and essence of a physical devising session.
Our practice has been really challenged and stretched - and so has our energy (and to some extent our passion). However, it is a great feeling that we can create together, even if it is very much a compromised process. I'm sure that our creative output will be unique, wacky, playful and meaningful. It is going to form part of our offer, an invitation to everyone to 'co create' with us, and that is an exciting notion. I hope our hanging around film will inspire people to share their responses to the stimulus of suspension. Whether it be a new hobby to pass the time or physically hanging upside down (safely) somewhere, it'll be great if our project sparks the creative flame within the community.
There's a load more coming out on social media about #LifeInSuspension #HangingAround! There will soon be build-up to the launch of our film and then there will be a chance for all of you to send in your responses to make a community film . Be part of a unique documentation and subversion of this feeling of suspension. Please do follow our Facebook and Twitter pages to be the first to know about how to get involved and there'll be more on this Wordpress site!