News & Events

8 down and 2 more to go!

Writing from The Avignon Off Festival in the heart of Provence, France with 10 shows of PARADIS with 1 day off after the sixth.

Avignon is a messy, hot, creative burst of energy!

Tonight I would have performed the 9th show (but cancelled due to electricity failure 15 minutes before the show, power came back 40 minutes after) 1 more show to go tomorrow. I would have performed the full-length 55-minute PARADIS solo 14 times to the public since the Dancing on The Edge Festival at the Roundhouse's outdoor roundtable starting with my tech last July 9. The rigorous work and keeping my body in tune and fresh are challenges as I revitalize every repetitive movement into something new, deeper and meaningful. Each show forced me to value to be fully present beyond bodily pain and emotional stress.

Performing in Vancouver outdoors was rewarding: giving dance another chance in the public space away from the privacy of a private theatre.

The Avignon Off Festival offered 1000 shows daily mainly in theatre and 10% dance. I competed for audiences and marketing but participating and engaging the work at the festival would be a focal point of the experience.

In the last month I struggled to be a singular force. I feel the weight to get things rolling and aligned. I had to stay focus. People have their own agendas, values and issues and indeed they sometime assist or contradict to my own.

Listening and trusting, how to carry the progress and vision without fear?

I sigh with relief when a project is completed with little trouble. I am at awe that another production is conceived. At the end of each performance, perhaps a person is touched, moved, disturbed. Can that person leave with a question about the existence of creative expression? And if so, This I think is continuation, communication, a step, a hopeful progress.