Welcome to Porto2009.

This is the begining of our journey on the road of Porto2009. And the blog will give us the opportunity as a group to reflect on the work in which we have done within the sessions. We will keep you posted regarding the process we are making along the way.....

Enjoy.

Yesterday

Yesterday
Jasmin Vardimon Company

Friday 15 May 2009

Last Blog<--- Antoinette McCook

It’s evident that the piece of performance was dependent on the built up on relationships, how they form break and blossom. The relationships were catalysts for individual expression and with each rehearsal and run characters became more involved within the liminal space, revealing more about themselves and there journey within Porto. A key example of this would be Amy James and I at the beginning of Porto, our characters were very reserved and perceived as the lonely character. There was minimal expression or urgency for communication. However, it is interesting to note that all internal feelings have been expressed through the body to attract further communication. Since the beginning the characters have developed immensely and it is hard to image that these characters have become ones of great expression. This communality, complimented the piece as it echoed the idea of being trapped in a place, the apprehension of trying to escape(or in this case communicate). This as well as the group as a company, reinforced the idea of people standing alone on a personal journey, but once they are forced together they are forced to share all, transforming into a community. Of course there were those that didn’t conform to the conventions of Porto, such as Blake for example, his character wasn't internal in fact it didn’t the very opposite, Blake's character showed a lot of expression but the language wasn't meant to be understood. Blake's characters almost had a rebellious conformity, in the sense that he communicated, but the communication was used more as a weapon, for those to be fearful of. Which of course would endower no one to interact with him, this was the case for majority of the piece, but as always in every community abnormality attracts someone.


I was hard to separate the movement that was done in the studio compared to what was expected in the Arena. The studio became a recognisable place, one that made those comfortable and once the piece was to ‘live’ in the Arena an unfamiliar place, it had different affects for some. Some really inhabited the environment taking risk and used it as an apparatus to explore and push themselves to their limits. Although one the other hand, it became a obstacle for others, one that made them stick within their conventions which they were demonstrating within the studio. It does seem that from an outside perspective, the company as a whole ensemble, really absorbed the space, using corners and height to add an edge and burst of energy to the piece. The Arena became the new home for Porto which breathed new life and experiences for the piece. Performers often found new things about themselves and others that they didn’t discover before. Resulting in new ideas relationship to evoke. As much as this can be a exciting experience, it can also but those at risk of making too many developments, ones that are not necessarily true to the character, loosing the richness and individuality of the character. In contrast to this, the new space also offered Porto the opportunity to become 'new' again, to have the same apprehension it first had when Porto began. Almost re -leaving (whether conscious or not,) the performers of an mundane environment, forcing them not to become mechanical in performance. On a profession note, it made the process become more real, and less like a task set to do for the classroom, it steered the company into gear, preparing them for a professional way of working. This allowed those to experience the amount of effort and dedication that is needed to run a performance. Overall there are possibly more pros then cons when thinking about the space Porto inhabited by allowing a change it unleashed chaos that was strangely productive. "Chaos is a necessary aspect of devising, not at least because truly creative makes us of chance"
(Callery,D 2001)

The shows were very productive and it was evident as a performer within the piece, that the piece evolved with every rehearsal as well as the showcases. The first performance felt very rewarding, the energy was so intense that is was clear people were attempting to show their skills. For me it was a chance to show my development and experience within Porto. It became more than just a task for University, or a part that I played within a piece of theatre, from that moment on, my character became someone I had to live and really step into the shoes, skin, joys and pains in order to communicate a clear understanding to the audience of the characters purpose. The drive was that the performance had no speech, so my body was my mouth for that time I was on stage which meant accuracy was important in convey meaning to the audience. My character came to life out of no where, for her it was just one moment with David and Gina playing with the Bible and necklace that stimulated her to become apart of the moving community. Since the 'R' and 'S' part she hadn't reached her climax within Porto but 'V' and 'P' is when her vocabulary grew within Porto. The experience has been much like a rollercoaster when thinking about the character and I and it really seems more like an achievement that she was able to feel comfortable in expressing herself. Porto wasn't somewhere she wished to dwell but there had to be a compromise of what she wanted and what the whole ensemble wanted to achieve once this was balanced she was able to lay herself down to audience. I was completely emotionally attached to the first show and found myself crying coming away and wondering what is was I was crying about. It was from this performance, and even the way in which we were trained to warm up,(pushing that extra bit more) taught me that the performances ahead would have to be better than the last, regardless of how well the performance went. It was this encouragement that I used in order to fuel my energy throughout all the performances. For me I thought the second performance wasn’t as good as the first, but the delivery of the performance was much smoother. Performers grasp the space, timing and engagement a lot more than the first time. I had moved on since the first performance, throwing m self onto people in the hope they would catch me, climbing frames, within the space, and tumbling down the stairs. These risks didn’t shock or make me in doubt at the time, it wasn’t until I came off stage I realised the reality of it. I felt pleased that I was disengaged from my character once I had left the stage. The last performance really left an impact on the set it self, it was almost as if we the company wanted to leave its mark within Porto.

Callery,D.Through the Body.(Nick Hern Books;2001)pp164

Antoinette Mccook

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