Lucy visits Belgium rehearsals
Administrator Lucy Lungley comments on her view of This is not a body
Just got back from Antwerp and I just had to write something about it. It was so great to be out with the rest of the company engrossed in the process, keeping a finger on the pulse. I’m so excited about the new work. There is a definite air of change that marks This is not a body as something with huge potential. There’s a special electricity in the studio, as everyone knows they are on the up, on their way to making an awesome piece. And everybody wants it to happen.
The dancers really impressed me. While I knew that they would be growing throughout this production period, I had not expected to see such measurable changes! It is clear they have made huge progress in their vocational development. They really are professional dancers now not graduates and it is unmistakeable in the work they are creating and in their bodies. They are physically changing by the week it seems, too. They have newly bulging muscles that now protrude more obviously than they did while the company was in Nottingham. Also their strength and stamina have increased dramatically. Watching them they have become athletes and they blast through the space with such an energy. I was really on the edge of my seat for the work in progress showings!
From that and the speed at which they are tackling the choreographic challenges, it’s also clear that the intensity of work they are being given by Filip has stepped up a gear or two since their graduate project. The choreography is also on another level. The subject matter has been honed in and refined. Already in the two weeks since I last saw it they have made several breakthroughs and now the work really exposes the essence of what Filip is trying to achieve. With room for another month’s process the material is rich in content and layers. The vocabulary is twisted and extraordinarily surreal in places, it seems so original compared to other pieces I’ve seen. Of course the Retina trademarks of vibrant articulated gestures and stunning partner work are there but these only add quality. The representation of the body within the movement vocabulary is questioned from the start and so far it is successful.
I also got to meet Dave Boyd and Brian Hartley our collaborators, both of whom are great people and bring positive attributes to the project. Dave seemed to be intersecting the rehearsals with a mixture of rhythmic explosions and humorous commentaries. Brian took much more of an observers position as he generated material at his desk and wandered the edges of the space with his camera, but his presence in the studio was still felt just as strongly. Brian’s results are amazing. So beautiful and so apt, they really moved me. He has a real talent for capturing the essence of the bodies in motion. And it is this essence, how you present it, go with it or against it and conceal it that I think Filip is working to rediscover through his choreography. And when the score was played alongside a rehearsal for the dancers to find new links within, the cohesion of all the elements got me out of my seat with a desire to move along with the pulse and the action! So, ‘wow’. I have come away with the opinion that all three art forms are combining beautifully. I can’t wait to see the final piece, its going to really affect its audience. I have this feeling it will penetrate into the flesh of its viewers, speaking to all of us on every level.
Keep up the good work team!
