Creation

So, it's safe to say this week has been extremely busy! Monday and Tuesday were our free creation days for us to finally get together as a group and find out what everyones ideas were. It was great to finally express how we all felt about this unique environment we've been staying in and what images we wanted to explore and expand. As to be expected, everyone came up with fantastic ideas which we all agreed should have a place within our final showcase, although this has been difficult and required a lot of compromise. As we discussed further we discovered that some people wanted to work with a few others and some on solo pieces. What we have managed to put together is a selection of all our ideas which show the wide range of our creative talents as a group.

I loved the images we captured of the trees breaking through a physical concrete border which had been placed around them and I really wanted to work on developing these images into a physical solo piece. I also had the idea to include paint into my piece and this is an idea I am working on in order for it to be part of my final performance. 

I always like to do some research myself when choreographing any physical movement as it helps me focus on the intensions behind the choreography. I looked into the cycle of a tree and the length of time each step takes. I also like to work with many different images, and although the ones I took myself were the original inspiration I found several more to accompany these.

I loved this image of a tree growing into the shape of it's environment, the idea that it has accepted it's fate to be trapped by a border surrounding it. It knows it will never be free so has chosen to bloom in the small domain that it has been allowed. This image is the opposite to the nature which grows in Rio Grande do Sol, as the trees here have broken free from their border and grow organically. This mirrors the feeling in both Rivera and Livramento, as cities take no notice of the border which has been placed between them. Everyone comes and goes freely in this place as it feels natural and works for this environment. I am looking forward to the showcase coming together as we have all worked hard to develop our ideas.

Other than working hard every day, we have had a quite a bit of fun as always. On Wednesday night Flavia's brother Marcelio invited us to his house for a huge BBQ, and when I say huge I mean 17kg of meat! Now, i'm not the biggest fan of beef but it was all delicious and it was nice to sing some songs while others played the guitar till the wee hours of the morning! 

Yesterday, we had a tour of a local vineyard, had a wine tasting, then a free lunch! Also, not the biggest fan of wine, but I really enjoyed getting out to the country and walking in the sun. It's been great getting to try lot's of new experiences with the group. 

Today we worked more on the final showcase and you can tell the group is very tired, but i'm sure with an early night tonight and the excitement of tomorrow the showcase will be a great success! We have already attached a lot of attention for local shop owners who have been watching as this week has progressed. This week really has been packed, but i'm looking forward to our final performance, and getting to enjoy a few days before we need to make the VERY long journey back to Edinburgh!

Fingers crossed all goes well!

L

Exchanges

This week has been another week packed full with workshops and tasks! And a running theme has definitely been exchanges. With each other, the public, and local groups here in Rio Grande Do Sol. 

On Monday afternoon we made our way to the park where Flavia told us to go a walk on our own in both Rivera and Livramento for half an hour and to make eye contact with as many people as possible. Afterwards we were each to write about our experiences for half an hour. I enjoyed getting the chance to wander around on my own and explore both sides of the border. In my time exploring  I witnessed a boy around 14 being arrested by 3 police officers, a street performer getting ready to begin a performance and some business men and women making their way to a meeting in very expensive looking suits...on scooters. After we explored each side of the border on our own we were put into pairs and one was to be blindfolded and led around a part of the city for half an hour and then swap. This was very interesting as every sense suddenly became heightened. I was most worried about crossing the roads when I was leading as I'm still not great with the direction of the traffic! We all enjoyed this task and took different things from it.

On Tuesday after we had a workshop session in the morning where we worked with images and outfits, we were split into groups and sent off to explore the borderline. My group travelled south and found some amazing views and potential site specific spaces. Our group travelled up this huge dirt track and when we got to the top we could see the borderlines dotted along this huge ridge. On one side Rivera which actually looked like a town as opposed to the first impressions we got from the brand new casino and duty free shops. On the other side Livramento which looked like a city with a skyline as tall buildings cut into the clear blue sky. As we travelled further up the hill we walked along the ridge getting to see both sides of the city, it was green for miles and miles!  

We actually found the first and last border posts of this particular section, and behind one of them a man who was napping under the sun, not to sure if he'd had a few drinks as well. But he was polite enough asking us where we were from. As we carried on we seen the poverty of Rivera which I hadn't experienced yet although of course I knew it would be present somewhere. There were loads of little shacks and even a shop where we stopped to get a cold drink. We revisited this site on Wednesday and put together some images we had been working with into a site specific location and the other group did the same. They took us to a location they found on the North of the
borderline and did a very short piece to show us an idea that they had. I hope that we will revisit these places next week and perhaps develop our ideas into the final showcase performance on Saturday.

On Wednesday afternoon we headed back to the rehearsal space to meet the dancers of Os Fronteiros who are based in Rio Grande Do Sol. We spent the afternoon learning some of their dances which was great fun! I learnt the male part for one of the dances which was similar to tap dancing so it was safe to say I loved it! They small group that came to work with us showed us a few different dances that they had won awards for at various competitions and festivals. In the evening the whole company came along to our Ceilidh where we taught them loads of scottish dances. They were all very energetic and seemed to enjoy learning some new steps! It was nice to get to dance with people who were eager and able to pick things up pretty quickly.

I really enjoyed meeting all the dance group and even though many of us didn't speak the same language we managed to enjoy the cultural exchange! They invited us to a fundraiser they were having on Friday night which was great fun. It was live music and a meal. It was nice to see the dancers again and get some photos with them. Many of them turned up to our barter we had yesterday as well which was nice of them. It was good to get them involved with some theatre games and meet new people from different backgrounds.

 On Thursday we worked with Tanise from P Com P again, and actually got to go out into the streets to do some performance as it didn't rain! It was great to see the publics reaction to our 'Balloon Orchestra'. Which is exactly what your thinking, as a group we had balloons, a conductor, a bass section, a string section, and a plucking section. We actually made the money back for the balloons! Of course this was just a scratch for us to gauge the reactions of people and determine what locations work well for performances. It was great fun to actually get out and do some performances. On Friday we worked with Michelle Korz again and he also took us out to do some performance work with objects we had collected since we'd been here. Again, it was a good experience to see the publics reaction to street performance as it's something that really does not happen here at all. It gave me a lot to think about in regards to where I would like to perform and how I'd like the audience to be involved if at all. The barter yesterday was much more successful than last weeks. More people were there which was great as it meant all the games we wanted to do worked better! Everyone enjoyed the day and it was great to share different things including poems and songs!

So, another week down, and one and a bit to go! This week will be hard work but I can't wait to share our ideas for the showcase and get down to working together. I think the end result will be a mix of group performances and solo pieces which I am looking forward to working on! One of the highlights of this week was definitely getting to wear a gaucho hat and dance the male part on Thursday night! Great fun, and met loads of new people!

L

 

Weekend Adventures

As first weekends in Brazil go, ours was pretty eventful. It was nice to not get up with an alarm on Saturday and spend the morning in the sun with the others. As we had the barter in the afternoon the group had to work together to create something to show. The barter was going to be our first chance to meet some local people who were interested in the project, we would share a small performance and the catch for those watching would be that they would also have to share something. It could be anything from a poem to a song, nothing to long so it was very informal. We spent the morning in the back garden by the pool discussing ideas and creating our piece. A lot of us used some small pieces that we had created throughout the week, it was nice to revisit these ideas and see ways to change them or incorporate them with each others. I liked the piece I had created and know that I could develop it much further if I was going to use it.
The group that showed up was only small, and quite shy to begin with but after a few group songs with Gwen's squeezebox we had won them over. We spent the afternoon dancing to songs and learning some traditional folk dances whilst Gwen taught some scottish dances in return. We performed our piece which went well considering we had only just finished putting it together when it had been time to leave. One of the students was brave enough to play some songs on his recorder for us. The afternoon passed by quickly and it was nice to relax and enjoy everyones company. 

After the barter our plan had been to walk into town as a Candombe group (which is a Uruguayan carnival music group) were parading from a square in Uruguay into the centre of the city. But unfortunately, we got distracted by a really cheap bakery and a beer stall so we didn't make it down. 

In the evening Tanise had invited all of us to her house for a party. A lot of the kids that are part of her theatre group were there and after all the delicious food had been devoured the evening turned into a barter itself with the kids performing dance routines and us learning some of the moves. Andy, our film making expert, had prepared a surprise performance which we were all really interested to see. Turns out he's pretty bendy and can do some weird tricks with his arms! But he was very entertaining, so much so that as soon as he had completed his final trick of escaping from a straight jacket, all the kids were trying to copy what he had done. The evening was great fun and everyone enjoyed themselves.

On Sunday I spent most of the day sitting in the sun reading my book before we all set off for the lake. It was about a 15min drive and when we got there it was so busy with people enjoying the sun and drinking mate (a drink which is only found in the south of brazil and Uruguay,it's like a strong tea) i'm going to learn how to make it properly and let you all try it when I get home! The lake was beautiful, man made, but beautiful. It was so nice to enjoy the sun and wander along the edge of the lake, Jesse found a tarantula in the grass which was huge! The edge of the lake had loads of lily pads with little white flowers on them which were cute, here is some photos of where we spent the afternoon.

In the evening we went to a huge duty free shop in Uruguay as there was a Brazilian pipe band from Rio playing who have played at the Edinburgh Tattoo before! It was pretty surreal standing listening to scottish music being played on bagpipes in a Uruguayan store by a Brazilian pipe band! We had a quick coffee while we waited for the main performance to start which was in the car park and afterwards walked home to have dinner. The sky was beautiful and we could see the Southern Cross, which is a star constellation which can only be seen in this part of the world. 

After a busy weekend we were still very keen to get started with this weeks adventures! 

Looking forward to what else is in store!


L

Workshops & Rain

So, Wednesday was the day of our first official workshop! It was great to get into the rehearsal space and see where we'd be working for the next few weeks. It's only 5minutes from the house, so not far at all to get to. After all the information we had been given at the beginning of the week, I was really looking forward to doing some creative work 

At the beginning of the workshop Flavia asked us to imagine the whole floor as a world map. We were to place a chair to represent the place where we were born. All of us then took a ball of wool and tied the loose end to our birthplace, we then went on a tour of the world re-visiting all the countries we'd ever been to, and placing a chair in those we lived in. If we met someone else in a country we would exchange stories about that place. It was fascinating to see how far people had travelled and hear stories from so many different places. This was the end result of our exercise!

After we had exchanged stories, our next task was to choose one that spoke to us most, had a powerful image or just stuck in our heads and retell it in our own way. I choose Gwens story of how her and a friend walked from France into Spain and spent a night in a little hostel at the top of the Pyrenees mountains. I told the story as if I was a worker in the hostel waiting for people to come by. I created some movement to go along with the text which I wrote, something which I have used before and enjoy experimenting with, and it's something I may revisit. 

Our next workshop was with Tanise Carrali who's company is based in Livramento and is called Cia. P com P de Teatro. She was focusing on street performance and for the first half of the session we spoke about her company and how street theatre is perceived in this particular environment. I was surprised to hear her tell us that street performers are regularly hit or receive a lot of abuse from the public. Some people have had buckets of water thrown on them and some have been physically hurt when trying to perform. I found this shocking, as having spent a lot of time in Glasgow, I have regularly seen street performances and of course sometimes you get people who shout things but mostly if the public aren't interested they just walk past. I guess it made me appreciate my society more, as if i ever wanted to do a street performance I don't think my worries would include being physically abused by passing people. However, after we broke for lunch, we had a terrible thunderstorm, and as our original plan was to go out into the street, this was unfortunately cancelled. So instead, Tanise decided to teach us some traditional dances, and thats how we spent our afternoon! Here is a picture that Tanise uploaded to her company Facebook page. 

The rain!

Our final workshop today was with Michel Croz who had asked us to prepare a poem and bring along an object. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn't get to use the poem, but we did speak about our object giving everyone some more information about why we chose it and what is meant to us. Originally, the object was to keep in touch with the themes of border, threat and seduction but when most of us spoke about it, there was a story behind how we got the object. We were then sent out into the park to gather images which we will be using next week Friday to create a group piece. While we were there, I finally got a picture of both blowing in the wind!

I really enjoyed this first week of workshops and learnt a lot in a short space of time. It was great to get everyones creative juices flowing and I am looking forward to working within the group more and more. I still can't believe we have been here almost a week already!

L

First Impressions.

Oi!

(Hi in Portuguese)

After being here a few days it's safe to say my brain has been overloaded with amazing images, sights and a lot of information. I am glad to say that with today being our 1st workshop our pace has slowed a little which is nice, as it's now giving me a chance to actually take in everything i've seen so far.

I am not only trying to adjust to the time difference here but I am also still trying to get my head around the unbelievable uniqueness of this place! The fact that I have already crossed over to Uruguay numerous times freely is pretty unbelievable.

We have already had a tour of Livramento, which is in Brazil, and Rivera which is in Uruguay. Both were so interesting and full of amazing details about each area. Our first task was to go out as a group to gather images which had stuck with us or that we found to be powerful. Of course, when seeing these two places I could not help but try and compare them and try to find the differences between the two. It was obvious that despite having many differences, there are a huge amount of similarities. 

An image which a lot of us agreed was very powerful was a market area which is separated by the border, this image shows the Rivera market stalls on the left, which are in little huts which each seller pays the government to use and trade from. On the right hand side are the Brazilian markets which are very traditional and the gap between the two is where the Uruguayan markets used to be. Seeing both of these environments side by side was amazing and the image is so stark which makes is so clear to see the differences with both. 

The square which the Brazilian stalls are in is very old and unfortunately has not been preserved. Another image which stayed with me was this one of a statue which a seller has tied his tent to in order to keep it up. I found this to speak a lot about the value of the Livramento history to the people who live there. Perhaps because the government have not shown much interest in preserving the history of this place means that the people do not understand that they should be fighting to keep as much of their history as possible. 

I am looking forward to learning more about this unique place and using this information to create something which will hopefully speak to people on both sides of the border.

L

Into the unknown

As all the belongings I think i'll need for nearly a month away from home are squashed into my case I can honestly say I am a perfect mix of excitement and nervousness. Being a recent graduate, this opportunity is one that I will cherish and will use to help me develop my creative skills along with giving me a chance to learn from others. I am excited to work with people who have different creative backgrounds to my own and also to work in an environment where those skills will cross over. I have always enjoyed meeting new people and in this project I will not only get that opportunity, but I will also get to live along side them and work together to create the final piece. I know that this short time together will be extremely productive and I have no doubts that we will all work well creatively. I am also very excited to learn about this unique place where I will be spending my time. I have done some of my own research about the history between Brazil and Uruguay but nothing will compare to actually being there and experiencing it for myself, as well and getting the chance to learn about it from someone who has grew up in this interesting environment.

I know I have been given a real opportunity to bring my creative skills and use them in a professional environment. My previous experiences throughout University, College and outside projects have given me the confidence to believe in my own creativeness and imagination. I am using this opportunity to learn from others who have more experience and in turn will help me to grow as a creator and performer. I am willing to put in every effort in order to get as much as I can from this rare oppertunity.

I feel extremely lucky to have been chosen to attend this residency and I am looking forward to everything it has to offer me. 


L