We have come to the end of the road… I can’t quite believe it after three years working on this piece it has come to an end… but it has been such a beautiful and rewarding three years.
Of course the reason it took this long is that being a not regularly funded company, we have had to grab short and fleeting moments over that time to create, generate material and c;ean the piece as well as work on dancers stamina, and be sensitive to the very personal topics we dealt with… but every singe moment has paid off1 On Thursday 12th July we performed a final version of Ladylike and I felt satisfied: I have honed the piece to wehre I want it to be, I have drilled the dancers, and I have finally prefected the costumes.
An evening with Ella Mesma took the form of my dream evening:
We had international DJ Selectorchico playing in the foyer,
We had jars full of jokes, hugs and very special discounts care of Sh! (Enter the code Mesma for a discount until August 30th)
We had Chicken Charades
We had artwork by Hugo Canuto
And we had a chicken themed installation in the foyer
And of course we had the show and a post show talk lead by the wonderful Patricia Stead.
Password: Ladylike
Thank you Newcastle and Dance City: What a wonderful audience, what a perfect place to hold our last performance, and what wonderful fotos Nicola Hunter captured of the night!
(Captured by Julia Testa of fotographer Nicola Hunter)
Quotes:
“I loved Ladylike! It resonated so much with me” Patricia Verity Suarez
“A thought provoking, captivating and powerful piece which had me thinking long after the performance was finished. Ladylike had me hooked from beginning to end”
“I loved it. I found the background notes unusually helpful, without telling me how to experience the show. I enjoyed the colour, lighting and the soundscape. There was such emotional power in the performances which was both moving and, at times, disturbing.This went far beyond ‘Dance’. And the ‘pre-performance’ in the foyer was a strong ‘taster’.”
“Very atmospheric and entertaining. High quality delivery by all of the dancers.”
4.17 ****
Over the course of this show, I have:
Learnt to stamp my feet and speak up: To ignore the shoulds and shouldnts and instead go with feelings and intuitions
Realised I am a skilled choreographer and grown my own way unaplogetically
Realised I have said everything I need to on this subject… thus feeling much less angry!
Realised how important it is to infiltrate: To make changes from the top down and to help pave the way for others
So what next?
Next… to continue paving the way for diaspora dance theatre, to begin my new piece: Foreign Bodies, to head to Africa for Papyllon, and to continue striving to pass on, elevate and celebrate these dance forms, those who came before me and those coming up next!
