Piece by Piece company

Of pictures and solos and wanted dancers...

2011-11-02T21:18:00.001Z

For the past 6-7 months I have been working on a solo. The opportunity to do so came about accidentally - I had intended to create a piece for at least 3-4 dancers but was too busy with work to go and find them! I am now in the 3rd stage of development, having completed two 7-day residencies in April and August at Clarence Mews.

Space @ Clarence Mews

The starting point for this solo was Nicosia in Dark and White, a fantastic book of incredible images.

In the meantime, my day job ended and I have now started a masters programme in choreography, which has been fantastically exciting! I now have the opportunity to develop more non-solo work so I'm on the look-out for dancers yet again!

Brief I.O.U. note.

2011-10-26T23:28:00.002+01:00

I am well aware that this blog is falling behind. Stuck in the past. Dated!!! I hate it when I go to people's sites and they're out of date, and all the information is from months ago, or even years! So yes, this is an IOU to the blog, to say that I will update in the next few days with exciting news of all the fun stuff I've been up to.

Despina
x

Mid-residency news

2011-04-14T17:06:00.002+01:00

So the residency is not quite turning out as I had originally imagined it would. For starters, I have been working solo for the majority of time. That is to be expected, I guess, given the last minute nature of my call for dancers. But it is progressing well. And I do seem to be devising a sort of long term plan for this as yet unnamed piece so yay me!

Poster

2011-04-02T13:51:00.000+01:00

New year, new project

2011-03-24T22:32:00.001Z

A collection of incredible images has inspired my new project. The general theme is abandonment, to leave or be left behind.

I am looking for dancers of all ages, genders, sizes. Some contemporary dance training and a willingness to participate actively in the creative process are necessary. You need to be available from Sunday 10th to 17th April every day (about 4 hours a day, mostly afternoon and early evening excluding Monday 11th). The piece will be developed in Hackney, London in the space of a week, culminating in a studio performance. There might be possibilities for future performances.

Please send an email to piecebypiecedance@ymail.com by the end of Saturday 9th April with a short paragraph about yourself and your previous dance experience. Feel free to also email any questions you may have. Do make sure you include a mobile number so I can text you the address of where we will be working.

As we are not funded, sadly there is no money - even for travel expenses. However it will be a great opportunity for gaining further dance/performance experience and working in a truly fantastic space for a week!

The next stage - quick! Before I hit 31!!!

2010-07-22T18:39:00.003+01:00

Piece By Piece company choreographer Despina Mavrou is looking for female dancers for the next stage in development of her latest piece, "The Big Three... oh"

About the piece:
Having recently turned 30, I decided to create a piece about some of the issues that started creeping up - perceptions of age, combined with issues of unfulfilled career potential, insecure housing, the dreaded biological clock and the way all these things affect women in particular (see previous posts for more info). As a first stage, I developed movement material alongside text and worked during a 10 week residency at Clarence Mews with actress Rachel Drew to present the work in June 2010. The next stage will concentrate on developing ways to communicate the ideas behind the piece solely through movement.

About the dancers:

Some contemporary dance training and a willingness to participate actively in the creative process (including using your own thoughts, stresses, experiences or anecdotes to create movement) is necessary.
It would be a plus if you are around late 20s or early 30s, although other perspectives that come with different ages (younger or older) would also be welcome!
You need to be available from 2nd to 8th August every day (about 4 hours a day, mostly afternoon and early evening).
The piece will be developed in Hackney, London in the space of a week, culminating in a studio performance. There might be possibilities for future performances.

Please send an email to the address below by the end of Sunday 1st August with a short paragraph about yourself and your previous dance experience – no need to send whole CVs! Also feel free to bombard me with any questions you might have, no matter how trivial (as long as they relate to this project). Make sure you include a mobile number so I can text you the address of where we will be working.

As we are not funded, sadly there is no money - even for travel expenses. However it will be a great opportunity for gaining further dance/performance experience and working in a truly fantastic space for a week!

Email: piecebypiecedance@ymail.com

The Big Three... oh.

2010-05-29T18:10:00.003+01:00

Work is under way to bring all the ideas I've had, along with your stories, thoughts and general input, onto the stage. I have been rehearsing with Rachel Drew as part of a ten week creative residency at Space@Clarence Mews, and we have already come up with a structure for the piece. Here's the blurb for it:

"Perceptions of age, combined with issues of unfulfilled career potential, insecure housing, the dreaded biological clock and the way all these things affect women in particular invade the stage while Despina and soon-to-be-thirty Rachel try to make their way through life's hiccups to get to that mythical place of happiness/ stability/ accomplishment (delete as preferred). Will they make it? Does this place exist, or is the whole project one big circular argument?"

30 part deux

2010-04-03T11:04:00.000+01:00

Following a good response from people regarding the previous post (30), I have further formulated a plan on what I want this piece to be about.

It seems to me that there are issues regarding and pressures put upon women's lives in a way that is not the case when it comes to men's lives. Of course this isn't exclusive to women aged 30, but it's still a milestone age and therefore some of the issues and pressures arise or become more prominent when a woman hits this age.

So here's what I'm asking: can you write one sentence (or more if you want) giving your thoughts or opinion on what an issue or kind of pressure might be? Even if you're not sure, just a few words on what you think could possibly may be an issue will do!

X d
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

30

2010-01-29T20:55:00.005Z

Some of you may be aware that last September I turned thirty. "So what?", you may ask. "Big deal". Well, that's what I thought until it happened. It's just a number and it shouldn't affect me really. But it did. So I decided to deal with it by turning it into a positive thing, i.e. create a piece about it. Here's what I'm asking of you, dear friends, family and colleagues:

Have you recently turned thirty? What difference did it make in how you see yourself or how you see the world around you? What did you expect before turning thirty and to what extend were your expectations met? How much do you think conventional ideas about youth and age have affected you in relation to being thirty?

Is thirty a distant memory? How do you remember behaving when you first passed the threshold of thirty? What advice would you give me or anyone else turning thirty? Does being older really make you wiser? If yes, how?

Are you so young that thirty seems ages away? Have you set yourself goals to achieve by the time you turn thirty? What are they? What's your understanding of age? How do you view people who are thirty and over?

Same deal as always, you can post anonymously if you want. Stories and anecdotes are especially welcome, as are thoughts, ideas and all sorts of philosophical ramblings.

xxx
Despina

Beddiquette

2009-07-30T13:16:00.003+01:00

"Piece By Piece’s Beddiquette is a playful adventure into the journey of sleep. Opening with the skilled portrayal of the waking of a ‘not a morning person’, Steven Murphy’s movement captures that precious state between sleep and slumber. Completing the sequence on the floor, the mix of isolated body movement blended with elegant extension, suggests the disgruntled emergence from sleep. Creative use of props; a duvet, and comical detailing combine to achieve an encompassing insight into the world of sleep."Catherine Hooper

Click To Play

New project - please contribute!

2009-04-16T21:01:00.003+01:00

The days are getting longer and the temperature has risen to above hibernation levels, so I thought it's time to make a new piece! It's hopefully for this July, but it all depends on the input of friends and colleagues.

So here's the deal: The starting point is bed etiquette. I would love honest anecdotes, habits, funny or serious, pleasant or unpleasant experiences etc. From the mundane to the downright crazy, anything you have will be most useful. As always, honesty is the key. You can contribute anonymously (unless you're dying to tell me who you are) by posting a comment to this blog.

Thank you all for reading and for contributing.

x Despina

2009-03-14T22:06:00.002Z

Sometimes a twitter update just isn't enough. It just isn't. So here's the rant...

Places on dance degree courses are limited. People audition, and some get rejected. Some people who are really passionate might get rejected, because there are not enough places for them - and perhaps there happened to be others, better trained, maybe a bit more coherent or articulate in their personal statements or interviews, or with better A Level results, who got on the course instead. Then what?

How can someone with a dance degree not love dance? Why did they waste three years? Why not just study retail management or something, if that's all you aspire to? I get that not everyone is gonna make a career out of dance - it's a tough world, the one we enhabit. But come on! Do something with yourself! There are so many skills, so much broad knowledge we've gained from our course - apply it to better yourself! Oh, but hang on... you didn't do the same course as me, did you? Mine was one of classes and rehearsals, sweat and hard work, fun and laughs, creativity and inspiration, menthol fags and vending machine snacks. In the studio until 9pm Monday to Friday, 5pm on weekends - maybe 5:30 if the security guard felt generous! Yours was one of minimum input, let's sit this one out cos my little finger aches, if I sweat my make up might run!

I'll make one thing clear. This is not about people who have had to take on work that is unrelated to dance because of lack of dance opportunities. Or because of family obligations, or because of life demanding that they do. It's about those who waste perfectly good space on limited courses, when they don't really wanna be there, don't love it, don't work and sometimes make others' grades drop through failing to pull their weight in group work.

Rant over. Thanks for reading, comments and/or disagreements most welcome!

D

time and other pressures....

2008-09-14T11:16:00.005+01:00

... mean that a blog is at the bottom of a very long list of things to do! However, I feel there should be a brief update as to what we did with the information we asked you to provide. So here goes:

We have (pretty much) put together a piece called "How Far Are You Willing To Go?" - it's a short dance theatre piece that will be performed as part of Cloud Dance Festival: Dream On on Sunday 28th September at Chisenhale Dance Space. The company now consists of 6 performers, Meaghan Brister, Iris Calheiros, Berit Kuennecke, Despina Mavrou, Paula So Man Siu and Emily Waits. We are using music by my dear friend Sudha, whose work inspired the piece's title as well as its tempo.

Following the performance, we will probably be taking a break for a while. I am about to start a PGCE (teacher training), which is pretty much a full-time thing X2 for a year. But Piece By Piece will be back sooner or later, so don't you worry!

Thanks for reading, now go to the Cloud Dance Festival website and buy your tickets!

xxx
Despina

in the name of beauty...

2008-07-14T11:00:00.006+01:00

Welcome to this, the first post on our blog! Primary reason for starting it? Other interactive sites (I won't name any names, you and I know what they are) don't allow for anonymous comments. Why, you ask, would we want that? Read on...

Piece By Piece Company (aka Berit and Despina, plus various other lovely people) are back in action! We're in the beginning stages of creating a new piece (unnamed as yet) and we need your help! Here's the deal:

As women, we have various habits - or rituals - that we go through daily, or regularly in the name of beauty (or health and fitness, or losing weight etc.) Some are generally widespread, e.g. plucking eyebrows, putting on make up, or shaving legs/bikini line, and some are less so (does anyone remember the Sex and the City episode when Charlotte wanted privacy so she could look at her pores through the magnifier?).

What we'd like is to hear from all you women out there about what your rituals are. Sincerity is key - hence the option to stay anonymous. We would like anything from a couple of sentences to a paragraph, and just keep it simple and descriptive (e.g. "Every morning before breakfast I run 6 times up and down the stairs, and then drink 5 glasses of water. I then have 20g of bran flakes with 175ml of milk and two and a quarter strawberries.")

Men are welcome to contribute, either by sharing an outsider's observation of such rituals or by pointing women from family, friends or colleagues to this blog.

We will keep you updated on the progress of the piece!

xxx
Despina