The final 'work in progress' showing in Viljandi

On July 17th our residency in Viljandi came to an end. We presented our work to the audience, and had another feedback session.

During the feedback session the audience tried to convince us to keep working site-specifically and not to transfer the performance to a black box. We were flattered, but as agreements have been made and everything is organised for the autumn, we can’t change our plans. However, it made us think about possible future projects...

Mari formulated the aim of the residency in an interesting way. She said that we used this week as a working method to gain the basis for the material we will be working with in the autumn. There’s a great difference between working in a neutral studio space with a company, and letting them loose in an exciting venue. Thus, our ideas were developed in many ways in a more fertile ground. We worked with the space, but at the heart of our process were our ideas about kitchen and eating. Of course, the starting point of our topic is a very rich one, allowing us to come up with a world of ideas. The next step is to narrow it down, and we are well on our way to specifying our topic and starting to work on a full-length dance production.

Not only the rehearsal days, but also both of the showings were useful for the company. Running everything in the correct order, the dancers gained a much deeper understanding of their characters. The audience’s reactions and the reality of the performance situation made some new connections to appear which we will continue working with.

From now until the end of August we are on a break. Then the process continues, and so do the reflections in this blog. For now we wish you a great time for the rest of the summer, and you’ll hear from us back here in the autumn!