Woah! This week saw the start of our Research and Development period for the IN-SITE Public Realm Commission! And what a start it was! Despite illness flying around I am so proud of The Collective for their dynamic response to this project!

When starting a new creation in the past I have an idea as to what I want to achieve in the first day or research. This time was different…I felt as though I couldn’t put this research into a formulated plan of action. I embarked upon this R&D process with a wealth of rich and inspirational research that Nicola had already begun to creatively explore in her own work. I wanted to take an open and fluid approach to my research with the dancers to fit the experimental and organic way that myself and Nicola had been researching throughout the project. Embracing a more spontaneous approach was a new experience for me as someone who usually likes to make a plan of action!

Monday began with company class where we were joined by students form West Kent College. We then moved onto creative work inspired by the character of Bluebell that Nicola discovered in her research. Bluebell would often carry lots of bags around with her along with a variety of wired and wonderful objects. Using this as our inspiration, we experimented with object manipulation. After lunch, Nicola arrived to talk the dancers through her research in more detail. She also gave us some HUGE blue dresses. The rest of the afternoon was spent finding ways to work with these unique dresses. Some beautiful floor work was developed using the material to carve interesting shapes in space.

Tuesday was due to be our first day on site at Sun Pier. Unfortunately we were faced with extremely high winds, making it difficult to work outside. A solution was offered to us by Laura and Louise from FrancisKnight who suggested we work in a near by office block where space is available. From the 9th floor of the block there is a brilliant view of Sun Pier. For the rest of the day we focused on character work, thinking about Bluebell’s eccentric personality and her quirky habits.

Wednesday, we were back at West Kent College! We began developing new material that can travel the length of the pier in a dynamic way. In the afternoon we were joined by James Williams (who will be creating the film), Janette Williams (who will be creating the sound score) and also the wonderful Nicola. It was brilliant to have all the collaborators together to talk about the project in more depth and bounce ideas around. Collaboration is a fantastic experience when you are lucky enough to be working with people whose work you respect and admire. The rest of the day was spent really developing, in depth, our character solos to create rich and interesting ideas.

Thursday was the day we all got sun burnt! A gloriously sunny day on the pier resulted in several red faces! We spent the morning experimenting with existing material in-situ. The afternoon was spent experimenting with hanging the dresses in various ways. These garments are obscure and abstract and are completely new for us to be working with. Therefore it is important that we invest time in working out unique ways to incorporate them into the work.

Friday began with a discussion about the direction of the work between myself, Nicola and the dancers. This was a really useful discussion to have at this point as it helped to clarify what we do and don’t want from the work. We then filmed the material so far from the cafe to give an alternative ‘wide-shot’ perspective. In the afternoon we developed duets, each of which took a different dynamic but both of them were brilliant.

So far the project has been really varied and exciting! The team is looking forward to seeing what the 2nd week will offer up…