Urgent search for dancers

As part of the Benchmark project, I will be creating a short piece to be performed as part of ResTec, an evening of dance to raise awareness of AIDS and HIV. For this piece I will need some dancers who are prepared to work fairly quickly and collaboratively. A background in contemporary dance styles is necessary.

Dancers will need to be available for the following dates and times:

Research, creation and rehearsal:
October 17th (10-1pm), 24th (10-1pm), 28th (2-5pm), 29th (10-1pm), 31st (10-1pm)
November 7th (10-1pm), 14th & 21st (time TBC), 28th (10-1pm)

Pre-performance sharing:
Wednesday 16th November OR Thursday 17th November (TBC) (5:30-8:30pm)

Tech and Dress:
Monday 28th and/or Tuesday 29th November (time TBC)

Performance:
Tuesday 29th November (matinee and evening)

Most rehearsals will take place at Space@Clarence Mews. The performance is at Stratford Circus.

Travel expenses within London will be covered and there is an additional (modest) fee available - this will be agreed and finalised upon selection.

If you are interested, please email me at piecebypiecedance@gmail.com with a short introduction of yourself and your availability as soon as possible, preferably before Sunday 16th October.

Despina
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Benchmark

I have been lucky enough to be invited to be part of Benchmark 2016 - 2017, an artist development project supported by NewVIc and Arts Council England. The project will culminate in performances at Stratford Circus Arts Centre (29th November, part of ResTec) and NewVIc (January/February 2017 at the launch of the new theatre).

I am using this opportunity to re-launch Piece by Piece. Although never completely gone, there have been periods when the company has been dormant recently - for many reasons - as well as a recent focus on solo work. But this changes now! For the aforementioned performances, I am creating a short group piece for which I require dancers. This post outlines what I'm looking for, time commitment and what is on offer in exchange.

Forever 27 - Fans, you are needed!

Piece by Piece choreographer Despina Mavrou has started a new and exciting choreographic project, for which she needs lots of input. Here's what she's doing and what she needs from you:

I am at the early stages of research for my new choreographic project. The starting point for this is the Forever 27 club, the group of musicians that died aged 27. The club includes Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain (and more recently Amy Winehouse). More specifically, I am looking at the fans’ points of view.

As a Doors/Nirvana fan I’m focusing more on Jim and Kurt, but all stories and contributions are absolutely needed! So here is what I would like from you, friends and fellow fans:

• Do you remember where you were, what you were doing, how you felt, when you heard Kurt Cobain died? (or any of the others)
• Have you ever visited Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris? What happened? What was it like? (the more detail the better)
• Do you have any personal stories, experiences or anecdotes relating to any songs by any members of the Forever 27 club? Anything, no matter how big or small will do - you can always keep it anonymous if you want!
• Which song is your favourite? Why? Which songs/lyrics do you find are the most significant to you? What exactly do they signify?
• Do you think being a fan has had an effect on your attitude to, or outlook on, life and death? How?
• What is your attitude/feeling towards other fans? Were you ever influenced by other fans or did you influence them in any sort of way into feeling, thinking or doing something in a different way?
• Do you have any other thoughts about the club as a whole, or about any of the individual members? 

Use the comments to answer one, some or all of the questions, or to ignore them and just say what you want! You can post anonymously if you want. All comments welcome!

As some of you are already aware, online contributions often form a crucial part of my work. I would like to recognise your contribution to my research in any future showings of the work I create, so if you want your name included, do let me know!

Despina

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30

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

time and other pressures....

... 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