The preparations for the shooting of the movie are slowly getting finalised. Currently, I have enough choreographic material to work with which is a huge relief (I always worry about getting stuck and not having enough to work with). Now I’m in the process of evaluating what I’ve. I’m taking a close look at every movement and trying out alternative ways of doing it. That will help me to be confident about the movement I end up choosing in the end. Then I will take an even closer look on the chosen material and spend some even more time on refining it and looking at it from many different perspectives. The transitions between movements and connective parts between segments of the choreography are also being analysed closely. This final stage of creating a choreogrpahy: observing the movement in detail and refining every edge of it for me is simultaneously the most interesting and enjoyable.
One of the main things I was deciding on before I even started to physically create the piece was how much of it will be choreographed and how much will be improvised. In my pre-covid practice I was focusing mainly on real time improvisation with live music – specifically working in duo setting with a musician. It’s something I’m very passionate about and I meant to focus on that further for the rest of 2020. However circumstances decided otherwise and overnight the opportunities to dance to live music has become sparse. Thanks to Covid I started focusing more on making choreographies to assimilate my practice to what it has become now. In the terms of this project it also made the most sense to create a choreography. It not only felt like it would be the easiest way to communicate with the videographer about capturing the movement but also seemed the most efficient way to connect certain moods and feelings with particular movements. Sometimes when improvising I take myself on a journey which can go pretty much any direction. Meanwhile, for this project I wanted to have an almost clear vision. There’s still loads of fog but it should clear out by the time the film is finished.
On the film I will be working with a Galway based filmmaker Andrew Thomas. I decided to contact Andrew after seeing his movies ‘Adieu to love‘ and ‘Cultúr‘. I find his work very unique and thought provoking. I wanted to work with someone who will be willing to bring a piece of themselves into the project. Andrew has definitely been fulfilling this criteria and I’m curious about how his artistic expression will influence the movie.
I’m getting excited about the shooting and the editing process. However my worry is the weather. Shooting outside in Ireland is quite challenging. I’m hoping we’ll get lucky and manage to get a decent day for it.
Meanwhile I’m going to have to bottle up the excitement I’m feeling while writing this to save it for later so I can feed off it when working on the project. Looking forward to sharing the movie with you!