i'd rather be at home

i'd rather be at home - Parts 1/2/3

i started to work on the remounting of i’d rather be at home in December 2020 and is currently ongoing.

[in continuing a work, i attempt to bring forward the artists who helped develop the previous iterations. in this case, Will Hamilton has been able to move into the stage of creation with this work. along with him, i cast Hayley Ng (Hamilton-based), Alten Wilmot (Unwrap Theatre, Kitchener-Waterloo), and i will be dancing again. Vennie Tu joined the project to create music. no, i was not going back to using the classical music the work was originally set to (see previous post), so a new sound score was necessary.]

in revisiting i’d rather be at home, i first wanted to have a deeper understanding of what this work was about and why i am interested in making it (holy shit...am i answering grant questions for fun now?). the work refers to ‘home’ as a place (physical, mental, or imagined, found or yet to be discovered,) where we (all people) have the chance to be honest. to see ourselves with clarity and to admit our deepest fears, if only here, only for a moment.

i only admitted i am absolutely in love with fantasy less than a year ago. i’m not sure what i was doing before that...trying to be a serious artist but always using LOTR references when trying to describe an emotional state to collaborating artists. embracing the desire to delve into fantasy, i also know that the work i make has roots in the human experience. in my experience. and then there is movement. for the remounting of this work, i decided to talk about the piece with the performers in this way:

PART 1 >>> reality/real-world character+connection

zoom rehearsal dec 29.2020

in the video above i’m describing both the physical direction/design of the space layered with the “real world” experience. i found in this process, figuring out what this is for each character provided a strong base to begin to explore and abstract from, especially since all of the solos are crafted improvisations.

following Will’s solo, and now knowing the world he exists in, his thought process, and experience of the world around him. next, we layered on movement that stems from his narrative and grows out from what is ‘realistic’ to a larger expression.

PART 2 >>> MOVEMENT

zoom rehearsal dec 29.2020

[^^^ just dance on zoom they say. i mean it worked for our purposes, but seriously, stfu.]

Part 3 >>> Fantasy

in creating the solos during this remount, the element of fantasy came to me just before the second rehearsal with each performer (i worked with each performer for two 1.5hrs on zoom individually to create their solos). i’m not sure how exactly, but i think by having the initial information and movement established, my imagination was available and began to contribute other elements of what could be.

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REFLECTION
in deciding to write about creative process i realized that this means writing about what is happening, while it is happening. i think in the past i told myself i would write about the creative process of a piece “when i had more time” aka, not actually in process anymore. but then, it is just summary. the creation is done and the writing serves no purpose for me, but exists as a product for people (or no one, let’s be real) to consume. well luckily i don’t seem to have enough motivation to create that product.

two ideas to move ahead with:

  • reality // movement // fantasy character cards for each performer + solo arcs

  • fantasy character…images/profiles? …something here

i'd rather be at home - HISTORY

i’d rather be at home has an odd history that i continue to recover in tandem with further creation. imma hop around. stay with me.

i’d rather be at home was first created AND NAMED during the spring of 2019 (aka NOT covid related, although it is totally understandable if this title infuriates you). the piece was originally made for a show titled Terpsichordia produced by City of Lakes Music Society at the Sheridan Auditorium in Sudbury, Ontario. living in Toronto at the time, i contracted Hannah Pilon, Will Hamilton (both dancers originally from Sudbury), and Rachel Facchini (a Sudbury enthusiast) to dance with me in the original work.

Will, Hannah, and Rachel (L>R) cooperatively trialing all of the ideas i think are brilliant <3

Will, Hannah, and Rachel (L>R) cooperatively trialing all of the ideas i think are brilliant <3

personally funded, the piece came together in handful of rehearsals. at this time the work was really about the elements of our world that can be demanding and exhausting. the dance was accompanied by live music, which as we all know, is awesome. however, choreographer’s of Terpsichordia needed to pick classical music for the musicians to learn. as someone who does not listen to classical music, at all, this was tough and occupied a huge portion of my energy in the creative process. at that time i’d rather be at home was not concise or clear on its intent. and although i knew there were elements within the work i was still curious about, i did not have any idea that i would be revisiting this work so quickly.

flash forward to the fall of 2020 when an opportunity to show a work comes up. earlier that fall, i had submitted an application to a socially distanced site-specific festival (that i didn’t get, you know how it is), where i reworked the concepts and ideas of i’d rather be at home into a new structure. point is, i had already thought a lot about how i would approach this work if i was to remount it, and so i was ready with ideas when the opportunity did come.

so now, i’m working on it. the process started in December 2020 and continues today.

this past week, as i continue to work on i’d rather be at home (more on this shortly), i realized, i have made it before. in my fourth year of university, i created a work titled Knowledge that explored insecurities and fears.

A HUGE THANK YOU to the cast of Knowledge: Margaret Bailey, Adela Bezemer-Cleverley, Katie Kovach, and Nagisa Nakabayashi <3