Rosemary Shapes Tickle
Abundance
for one or more on-stage performers, and some of the people they love
Concept
This is a piece about love, in the broadest sense. It takes inspiration from Dance Like Your Dad by Hetain Patel, the short instructional manifesto for relationship anarchy by Andie Nordgren, and memories of watching a loved one knit on quiet afternoons.
Preparation and other considerations
Each on-stage performer records a video (with consent) of a loved one carrying out an activity that is both everyday and particular to that person: restringing a guitar, for example, or sketching, using a smartphone, lacing a boot, making small talk, cooking. The loved ones in question may be the other performers, if indeed the other performers are your loved ones.
Performers decide on a duration ahead of the performance (I suggest six to twelve minutes – but other durations can be chosen). Videos can be trimmed and/or stretched to the required duration: videos should have the same duration after editing, and ideally all videos should be played back at least a little slower than their original speed.
Performers can notate choreography/sound cues ahead of time to assist with the performance, though the sounds and actions themselves should be the focus. Timers can be used to keep track of cues if needed.
Videos can be projected without sound behind each performer, though the piece can be performed without video if preferred.
Players perform at the same time.
The sounds produced by the on-stage performers should be treated as the primary matter of the performance: as such, care must be taken to mic and amplify sound with enough care and fidelity that it can be conveyed to an audience effectively.
Performance
In time with the recording, with voice and/or sound-producing objects (synthesiser, paperclips, flute...), players recreate the sound of their loved one's activity from their respective videos. Do not use the same objects your loved one used; do not use voice to imitate voice. Sounds should be recreated in as much detail as possible: study the recording and rehearse, internalising mannerisms and quirks, rendering each lilt of the voice, each brush of a hand against an object, creak of a chair, laugh, and so on. Although you should attempt to recreate the sounds from the video, do not make any special effort to reenact any specific physical actions. Avoid the temptation to slip into pantomime.
Notice that the way your loved one moves through the world is fractally complex and unique. Acknowledge that you will lose something of them and add something of yourself in the act of performance; acknowledge that you will be unable to fully capture this complexity in your performance. Try as hard as you can, nonetheless.
© 2024 Rosemary Shapes Tickle