Day 2: First day of rehearsals

We embark on the first day of rehearsals, high on excitement, the dancers meet each other, meet the choreographers, and together, we embark on eight processes.

Each process vastly different from the get-go as choreographers explore their ‘creative flowers’. As choreographers nurture their ‘plants’, I wonder what the garden will look like on the 10^th of July, but more importantly, what roots might have taken, and in what direction.

Choreographer Wang Ru-Ping finishes rehearsal wide-smiled, and tells us “we’ve been sweating, but it’s good sweat”. But what is good sweat? I believe Ru-Ping to be talking about the trade-off between sweat and work.

As you enter each studio you find a different sound. The choreographers curate the yìjìng (意境) — mentioned in the introductory post — the dancers respond, with their background, their luggage, their soil. The yìjìng is amplified.

Electrifying energy is palpable in choreographer Cheng Yongping’s rehearsal as precision in movement and enthusiastic energy allow for an impressively efficient transmission. Despite the language barrier with one of the London dancers, he is not left behind — and is in fact enveloped by the group. Everyone in the group becomes native to this yìjìng. Their new language of communication.

Clapping and cheering is the atmosphere we walk into when entering Nayaw Fangas rehearsal hosted by Ifen. Dancers present improvised solos to music of their choice, using this as a form of introduction to each other, creating a supportive yìjìng from which to begin.

In Ma Nan’s rehearsal dancers quietly work in pairs towards perfecting material that is set. In this room yìjìng appears in bubbles, that surround and encompass the pairs. Each bubble with their sharp focus on a different movement, but all bubbles creating an eco-system of calm support.

Léa Tirabasso’s laughing prompts create a vibrant yìjìng full of personality, where all dancers take ownership of their choices. The outsider becomes spellbound, becomes a part of this flowing vignette. As you see the dancers process to make choices the viewer plays catch-up figuring out what is the secret that the dancers hold.

Another moment of vibrancy with a more chaotic tint washes over Wing Fai Tsang’s rehearsal. As the dancers speak in languages they don’t know, laughter emerges. A cacophony of unregistered sounds builds up in the room as dancers try to understand each other. Somehow, over time, and with the help of the echo in the room the chaos starts to sound like a choir.

Pik Yim Yu brings umbrellas to her rehearsal, and as the dancers attempt to bring them to life, and incorporate their rhythm, cadence and space to their bodies the focus becomes precision. The yìjìng that overtakes the room exudes concentration and careful consideration of both the dancer’s kinesphere and wider space where it becomes almost addictive to observe repetition grazing obsession.

The yìjìng in Wang Ru-Ping’s rehearsal has kind undertones, as dancers are encouraged to share their experiences and thoughts. Space both physical and phonological is created for the individuals, as dancers explore their physicalities alongside their voices, amplifying the experience of the body, maximising availabilities and possibilities.

FUBUNATION rehearsals are silent, as the dancers work individually in small movement tasks. The yìjìng of this room can only be described as dipping the toes in water, as both Waddah Sinada, and the dancers try to understand each other, find a common ground, and collect in a yìjìng that speaks as a group.

Written by Adriana Garcia Pinilla — Documenter