A constant thread that runs along this project is the idea of support. From the very beginning, by agreeing to do this project, our three dads (brave souls!) were lending us their support in an unspoken way by turning up on day one of rehearsals with open minds.
Now, one and a half years later, Helena, Rosie and I are beginning to flesh out exactly how we will work with an extended cast of community members. Our ideas around this aspect of the emerging performance are constantly shifting, destabilising and re-forming. The process can range from joyous and eureka-filled, to uncertain and testing. The three of us are used to this in the studio but inviting adults, teenagers and children in to this soup of delights and pitfalls is a risk for both ourselves and our new cast members.
How can a group with new members in it handle risk? Maybe like an ever-expanding family handles the risky arrival of a newborn or of a difficult, long-distance aunt? When handled with care and with support, a risky situation can trigger new ways of behaving and welcoming. Supporting risk can often (but not always) pave the way for new possibilities and deeper levels of interaction with one another. To bring it back to the rehearsal studio, these qualities are what can enable and strengthen a group.
During our most recent workshop, we asked father-figures and children to share with us a song they like dancing to and a song that they wanted their father-figure or child (be they absent or present) to hear. We sat in a circle next to Rosie’s laptop and one by one, everyone in the group played their track and spoke of their connection to it. The group’s music tastes were discovered and so too were pieces of their personal histories. People talked in their own time, speaking loudly, speaking softly, jumping up and delivering their story directly to the circle, or preferring to sit in their seat and talk mostly to themselves. A very touching atmosphere of quiet nodding, vibe-ing, tapping feet, pulsing fingers washed over and connected us.
As the outside facilitator (Rosie, Helena and I didn’t share our tracks although we have realised that we could have) I witnessed (both in my body and my seeing) everyone’s generosity which I believe could only have been permitted to emerge because underneath it all, ran the gentle undercurrents of care and support.
Here is the playlist of songs from that session:
Karl
- “Peace Piece” by Bill Evans
- “Jump Around” by House of Pain
Kim
- “I just called to say I love you” by Stevie Wonder
- “Jump Around” by House of Pain
Ella
- “Changes” by Faul & Wadad
- “Down by the river” by Morgan Heritage
Claude
- “Queen Magasty” by Denis Brown
- “No woman no cry” by Bob Marley
Andrea
- “Calling Captain Nemo” by Return of the Panters
- “Groove is in the heart” by Deee-Lite
Danni
- “Wichita Linesman by Glen Campbell
- “End Credits” by Chase & Status & Plan B
Cleo
- “Mess Around” by Ray Charles
Lakeisha
- “Silhouettes” by Dennis Brown
- “This is how we do it” by Montel Jordan
Jinne and Olivia
1. “He had it coming” from Chicago The Musical and The Glee version too!
2014
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