20.08.2009

transit

Highlights, images and thoughts from Transit VI. (this list is necessarily subjective and also not entirely representative, because there were some excellent things which I missed out on seeing; either due to us arriving in the middle of the festival, jet-lag, being completely overloaded, preparing for our performance or a combination of all four!)

~ the tour around Odin Theatre with Ana Woolf. Odin (I think this is right) began in the mid 60s with one primary building in which there is the White Room, a foyer, a room full of videos of Odin's work and the work of other interesting theatre practitioners, a kitchen, a music room, a workshop and a series of bedrooms upstairs. And then other wings and building were added as needed: two more large workshop/theatre spaces, the Black and Red rooms; more kitchens, bedrooms, laundry, library, storage etc. etc. Everywhere we went and looked there were posters, theatrical artefacts, masks of all descriptions, photographs, books, models of sets. It is a vast, rich, full world. There were even apple trees, plum trees and roses. Just wonderous.

~ the snow show, '79 Fjord by Teatret Om, from Denmark. It was our first night. We had arrived in Holstebro at about 6.30pm after that crazy drive with Liz and LLoyd, put our bags down, eaten a bit of dinner and then were bustled into a huge igloo shaped theatre space in which Teatret Om performed this really interesting (and apparently quite famous in those parts) story of the Danish Expedition to north-east Greenland in 1907. The story was told with great humour, using masks, puppets, shadow work and lots of movement. It was evocative and interesting and the masks were fabulous. I'm pretty sure they were made by Deborah Hunt, who is a really terrific puppeteer and puppet-maker and teacher who was there at Transit.

~ indeed another highlight was a showing of a workshop which some of the participants did with Deborah and Parvarthy Baul, (Parvarthy's own show Bengali Women in Baul Songs, which was songs acompanied by her playing ...was also fantastic. She transported me into a gentle, playful, spiritual, timeless world of 'stories from the village.' ) The workshop showing involved members of the group each doing a short demonstration of their puppet in its world, then a song, then the puppets dancing to the song, and then finally a beautiful sequence where all the members of the group had different bits of one puppet on long sticks and at a certain point all the parts came together and made the one puppet, so you had ten or so people all concentrating on the creation of this one little creature. The concentration, dedication and intensity was mesmerising. There is something so compelling about good puppeteering... I think it is partly this quality of deep, devoted attention, and also that the puppeteer is transformed, they have left themselves (and their ego) behind. As it happens here in London I have just seen a wonderful show called War Horse which is a National Theatre production, and it tells the story of the First World War from the perspective of a horse. Each horse was puppeteered by up to three puppeteers, and it is remarkable work. This quite unexpected contact with puppets and puppeteering has been really serendipitous because now I feel even more inspired and excited about the upcoming adventure of taking A Quarelling Pair to New York.

~ the journey through the forest and the heathland to the sea. We were all transported, about 80 of us, in two buses to the edge of the woods. Commanded and controlled by an over-abundance of instructions we went on an over-long walk stopping now and again to see another episode in Teatro Natura's show Danzo Danzo. The work wasn't really my thing, and there were a number of other rather problematic issues, but the opportunity to walk through all that fabulous nature was brilliant. .

~ talking and meeting various actors, performers, directors, academics and teachers. Sharing ideas, asking questions, getting a sense of what people are doing out there in other parts of the world.

~ being confronted with the issue of getting old in art. This thinking was with me before I left Melbourne and indeed was really provoked by seeing two films in the Melbourne Film Festival: a documentary about Louise Bougeoise and also a recent film by Agnes Varda about Agnes Varda called The Beachjes of Agnes, which is a really great piece of work. So, I have been thinking about what it means to get old in your art, how does it manifest? Particularly for women artists, whose work is so often on a perifery. What are the difficulties of this age and what are the advantages? It seems to me that issues of handing on knowledge and experience were very potent at Transit, as well as the need to keep oneself available, alive and, most importantly, in the present. This is crucial. If the body stagnates and the connection of the body to the world goes stale, then the work, too, fades.

~ doing one of the morning trainings with Cristina Castrillo. Cristina is a very interesting teacher and performer. It was great to do the training, to work and move in a room with others and to consider the notion of being ready, like a cat, for anything...to do and receive whatever may happen.

~ getting out one morning and having a run along some of the fabulous bike paths which they have even in a small town like Holstebro. It had rained during the night but was a sunny morning and everything glistened and gleamed and there were vibrant greens everywhere...including a poor, sweet, green frog which lay still on the path as I jogged past.

~ an adaptation of hansel and gretel, called h.g. byTrickster Teatro of Switzerland. A very elaborate and wonderfully handled installation into which we entered one by one. Scary, beautiful, great soundscape.

~ the work of a company called Fase 3 from Brazil, who are working with older women performers.

~ a piece directed by Jill Greenhalgh called The Acts-Vigia which was a totally beautiful choreographed work with no language about the incidence of young women being brutalised and often murdered near the Mexican border. I loved this piece.

~ bumping in and re-making and performing Care Instructions. More to say here, but basically it was an incredibly stressful and difficult day, but with the help of two marvellous technicians, Hans and Angelo, we made our laundry, our world of washing, and then performed and could make the piece sing. It was hard, but very satisfying.

So much fabulous stuff, so much food for thought and discussion and work. So many connections. I feel very fortunate and grateful to have been a part of it, to have had this intense, incredible experience.