Creation 21/22 weekend
I must admit, when I first got this award, to receive mentoring for a year in cross genre work, I felt slightly uncomfortable. I had imposter syndrome. This feeling continued as I arrived at my first day to meet my fellow recipients this weekend.
From the first exercise …being asked to introduce yourself …as a sandwich (!!), I felt completely out of my depth. What was I doing here? How did a classical violist fit into this world? So early on I realised there was only one thing for it, dive straight in, embrace the terror and have fun!
I can’t begin to quantify what I took away from this weekend (but I will try!)
It was as if a light was turned on and a new door was opened at the same time. I can’t remember if I have ever felt so creatively free and stimulated. As classical musicians, we very rarely, if ever, find ourselves sat in a room with colleagues, with time and space, being invited to explore our inspirations, desires and loves with each other, to boldly create with no judgement.
At this point, I must introduce the two incredible women who were leading us on this journey.
Jo Mangan, is Artistic Director/CEO of The Performance Corporation, and was Director of Carlow Arts Festival. Her work has won plaudits and awards internationally and nationally including a number of Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards. She is doing revolutionary work with virtual reality in the arts.
Dina Abu Hamdan is an interdisciplinary artist, artistic director, producer. She believes that the important thing is to give voice to the people, give them joy and empowerment. This will create a new thinking of their place. Dina is director of the Haya Cultural Center and the Amman Contemporary Dance Festival in Jordan.
Together, Jo and Dina allowed us space to think, set challenging exercises to gently push us off our comfortable cliffs and guided us as we set off on new, uneven paths.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all 9 of these fabulous and diverse artists: Rachel Ní Bhraonáin, Alessandra Azevedo, Alan Howley, Elena Lalucat, Bridget Ní Dhuinn, Laia Santanach, Mark Buckeridge, Polina Shapkina, Emma Finegan. Alison Clarke was at her sister’s wedding, so I look forward to getting to know her when we spend a week at the Tyrone Guthrie centre in February.
One of my favourite tasks was to spend 40 minutes in complete silence with someone I hadn’t even said hello to yet (Elena Lalucat) walking around Dublin, taking photos of what interested us…paying attention to interesting edges and looking closely at things. We had to find a way of communicating what we were doing and interested in. Obviously, this felt intensely uncomfortable for a few minutes, but it was actually amazing how quickly we slipped into a comfortable rhythm, allowing one another to explore what we were finding interesting. It was a very mindful experience to scrutinise a small area of the city for such a length of time. You can see a few of my photos here.
*These are the streets around Dance Ireland in Dublin.
By the end of the 2nd day, I found myself paired with the source of energy and strength that is Alessandra Azevedo, she in full Brazilian dance garb, me playing a piece for solo viola by Thea Musgrave (Light at the end of the tunnel) …. both of us trying to match the others movements and tension. Gradually our confidence built, and we started to move off the tracks, I suddenly found myself improvising in the style of the Musgrave, moving, watching, always being aware of others joining our dance, Alessandra drew in Rachel and Emma and we became storytellers, guided at times by Dina, to push further, to be braver…….
I can’t wait to see what we do in February!
