25th July, Not Alone.

Today I really thought I’d feel alone and a little bit lost after all the excitement that the past three weeks gave me. But it was not so.

First I visited my good friends at the lake, Big Tom, Cathy and the Badminton team, who fed me a delicious meal of dumpling soup and Oolong tea. Then Big Tom took me to an orchard green house where he has his own plot, it was the wrong season for all the flowers to be out, but we still found a few quite beautiful examples (Tom promises to take a photo for me in the peak season, I can imagine the place looking amazing!)

The team! 11 of them came to the show, some for the first time and loved it!

Then I went for a Taiwanese massage before some more tea and my flight back home. On the plane I slept like a baby………..I was exhausted!

So surprisingly, I managed to avoid the lonely feeling one can get upon reaching the end of such an amazing experience.

My time here in Taiwan has been fuller than I can describe in one page, so I will summarise and touch upon the main points of interest.

This experience has not just been an opportunity to showcase myself and my work, it’s also been a learning experience, a definite opportunity to network and find more work (and I did a lot of that!), and a chance to learn a lot about a new culture. Of course, I knew this before I arrived, but had no idea how MUCH more I would learn from this experience.

One of the criteria for this project was to be prepared to create a 10 minute work on non English speaking dancers, but each choreographer did so much more than that; we made lifelong relationships with non English speaking dancers, other choreographers, artists, administrators, facilitators and all of Kaohsiung!  And know that most of what you say to your dancers in the first two weeks DOSE get "Lost in Translation"!

If I had the opportunity to partake in this project again, I would without hesitation! In fact all of the choreographers made a pact to re-apply every year to keep it just for ourselves (of course we’d have to re name it the “2011-IYCP for under 50’s”).  Seriously, I recommend this opportunity to all Australian choreographers, but be warned, it’s not for the faint hearted! People are more friendly here than anywhere else I’ve been to in the world, so if you don’t like friendly people who like to share Oolong tea, home cooked food, and talk………………..don’t go! It would be a waste of time, because, for me the meeting and sharing with new people was the most important part of this trip!

Criteria wise, I did manage to make a new short work, which I was very pleased about! For me this work is a great starting point for something bigger, I hope. Also I was forced to make adjustments to my practice, not just because of the language barrier, but also because of the time constraints and the way dancers are used to working (practice, practice, perfect!:)). I didn't have the luxury of time to play and develop a collaborative language like the one I've developed here, with dancers that I work with all time. But these adjustments mean more confidence for me in knowing that I will be able to deal with similar circumstances, that I'm sure I will come across in the future.

The Q&A Forum, with Translation by Ya-Chin

Photo by Rossy Siong

Photos with the Principle of Tsoying Senior High School, Executive Dir. of Chin-Lin Foundation for the Arts and Culture Wang Yunyu and Secretry General of Tso's Dance Association Miss Chou (Both of whom are Directors of the 'International Young Choreographers Project")

Photo by Rossy Siong

Gifts for the amazing Ya-Chin and Miss Chou!

My Fabulous dancers!

Photo by Yi-Jie

But this experience is not about heading over to produce a kick ass work! If I went over with that attitude, it might have worked, but I would have missed out on so much of the people, plus I think I would have been stressed out and miserable the whole time!

Go there knowing what you want to create for sure! But be adaptable, flexible and sensitive to their cultural needs also. Enjoy the twists and turns of working in a very foreign environment (it won't be what you're used to). Be open and always share your knowledge and experiences with the other choreographers (or just share a beer) the sooner you do that the sooner everyone relaxes and that whole (inner) expectation to be successful is out the window and the three week experience becomes an awesome adventure!

Thank you WDA 2011- International Young Choreographers Project!  I had the best time ever! I will miss you all very much!

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Photo by Triple C!

24th July, It's over :(

For once, I am lost for words...................just really really sad it's over.

I have one more day here and fly out in the evening. I will make the most of tomorrow I think.

Body and mind on shut down, heaps to think about..............plenty of time to do that on the plane.

stay tuned for my round up.

but for now, far well and goodnight Taiwan!

Zx

23rd July, Chookas!

It's Opening Night!

I’ve had a chance to see all the works  yesterday, and I can guarantee it’s not going to be one of those boring long winded showcases that we often have to sit through!

Chookas everyone!

22nd July, Miss you already :(

Gezzz it’s nearly over, all this work for only two shows! What a shame, I want to do the show again!

I’m gonna miss this place. People are so unbelievably nice here; people spontaneously invite you for tea at the lake (I must go back Monday morning, entry is free before 6am and that’s when it most alive) and when it’s raining, strangers insist on sharing their umbrella with you as you wait at a bus stop or go to walk across the street. The door man at the hostel shares his cigarettes with me and there is a cute old dog that passes by where I smoke at night for a wee chat, I’ll miss her too.

But most of all I’ll miss these guys! My champions!

Thanks Taiwan! Thanks World Dance Alliance 2011-International Young Choreographers Project! Thanks Miss Chou, Thanks Ya-Chin and most of all thanks Li Yen, Pei Ing, Hsing-Miao, Yi-Ting, Yi-Echen, Ming Shan, Yi-Jie, Michun and Li-Wei!!! You Rock!

21st July, we finished the work!

Hooray! I took my own advice from yesterday and simplified the final game this afternoon. And it was still too long, so in the tech run this evening, I simplified it even more and finished right on time!! Given that we were  two dancers missing tonight (performing for the schools sponsors)  it might change a bit tomorrow, but we have another 3hr rehearsal to resolve this. I don’t care; my dancers have put up with my Nancy behavior over the last two days and still pulled together. Nice job! They ROCK!

After the run they asked me if they could shout and muck around a bit more in each of the games, I said ‘Hell Yeah!”

Oh yeah! And it was Angela's Birthday today

Music By Ryadan Jeavons
Cinematography By Kuan Ling Tsai

20th July, Nancy Day!

Today I had my Nancy day!

 I’m trying to  create a third and final game for my work, and the dancers told me it was too hard! So I got a little bit shitty, called a 10 minute break and ducked around the back of the school for a ciggy……maybe I left it a little bit late to start something new (we have our first plotting tomorrow, but we have till Saturday for the performances) . As I see it, this project is an opportunity to create a completely new work, in an unfamiliar environment, so I’m OK if I fail. But I won’t, because the first two games are finished and look great! So, to try something completely different is fun for me…………..however, I’m learning that most of the dancers are really young (18years) and have never been allowed to fail, all they want to do is “practice, practice, perfect!” (I think that’s normal in every culture, not just TaiwanJ) All I want to do is “play, play, create”.

So I had my 10 minutes to think, went back inside, had a small talk with them, tried explained my reasoning and tried to apologise. I think they were on the same wave length because they drew this wee picture on the floor while I was away.

Last week the dancers saved me from embarrassment when I walked into rehearsal with this tee shirt that I bought at the night markets on.

It says something like “I’m afraid of my wife” (I won’t show you what it says on the shoulder it’s really rude!)

So I think it’s only fair that I cut the dancers a little slack and find a way to make the third game a little simpler so they have time to “practice, practice, perfect!” it's only fair.

19th July, It’s all coming together!

I have almost finished my work…………And thanks to Kenny (the lighting designer) the sound operator now has Q-Lab!! Ryadan has sent me the final version of the music and I have almost finished the final game (hehe). Three more rehearsals!

And now I am soaking wet from having to ride in the Taiwan rain to buy more props!

This is the Taipei national theater (Right and Left) This pic dose no justice. It dwarfs the Opera House!

Pic from the other direction, a Memorial Monument to a famous General.