LIFE IN LOCKDOWN: SATURDAY.
Life in Lockdown is a blog series initiated by Greenwich Dance which features community and professional artists close to the organisation sharing how they are staying creative during these isolating times.
John Darvell – Director, Choreographer, Educationalist and Community Dance Practitioner
SATURDAY.
Weekend, yeah! Mind, I now have no concept of days or weekends anymore. My husband is in London, our first break from each other in over 4 months due to Covid-19 rules, to be left alone (with dogs) and an opportunity to kick back and relax.
Relax? Erm, difficult. So, I’ll do some planning instead.
In the early 80s an annoyingly addictive craze appeared, the Rubik’s Cube. I remember hours spent trying to get the colours back together and think I only ever managed 3 sides, rubbish. Well today I’m back at the computer with my own personal Rubik’s Cube: a gestation of three in development works – two new pieces and one reimagined past work ‘And They Have Escaped’ – to get them greenlit and become reality. It feels like this shouldn’t be too taxing so much thought had been put into them before Covid-19.
Innovation with technology – tick; a wooden figured puzzle which unfolds to reveal multi art forms in an educational durational piece; our own skin as a performance space using projection mapping; and, iBeacons and location-sensitive video content. Social commentary – tick; talking about dependency on mobile phones; the importance of touch; and, men’s mental health in a digital era. Participation – big tick; all the projects bring together professionals, community and young people in its creation. Partners and funds – well let’s skip over that, it was all early stage.
Yes, then that big elephant in the room, the pandemic! It wiped our landscape clean. Imagining creating work and presenting it in a socially distanced world takes some getting your head around. Well, one thing the Rubik’s Cube didn’t anticipate back then was with a bit of force we could dismantle it and put it back together all solved! And, I’ve started today doing just that with the work I want to be made. I’ve spent the day putting how we did things before to one side. I’ve taken on a persona of an innocent who’s only ever lived in this ‘new norm’ and approached these pieces afresh. It’s not been easy, however, I can see some hope as pieces slowly reform in new ways.
I’m a stubborn man at times. This disease is not going stop me making work, not now I have the drive back too. I’ll get those pieces lined up one way or another.
So, readers if you have a stalled project, my advice, bash it into pieces and put it back together fit for our new world.
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