Dalston Songs

dress rehearsal

2010-02-02T12:15:00.001-08:00

last dress rehearsal today before the first show tomorrow
the men had their tanoy off and charged on for their entrance
I was wearing too much slap!

nearly there

2010-01-28T10:21:00.000-08:00

a run today. lala, one of the interviewees who is spanish came today. tomorrow th set gest in and we look at lighting states in the evening

card game

2010-01-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

lots of card sharping today to practice the rhythm in card game

composing

2010-01-19T14:18:00.001-08:00

I cant believe I am still composing in week three of a remount but I have to work on the team in front of me and need to change things to suit the new team. nearly stopped!

radio 3

2010-01-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

radio today radio 3 to record us for music matters at 12.15 on saturday

this interviewed soraya with the interviewer translating from the french

we solved a corner of the show we had been working on

and we are starting to pout sections together

bingo

2010-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

the bingo song may bein the phone booths
today Steven choreographing the men's mobile phones song and "drinking"
two nights ago I interviewed a Kurdish friend.
soraya spoke of what it was like to leave her mother tongue at the age of 5 when she left Algeria.

rehearsals week one

2010-01-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

the polyphonic mayhem has stuck and it now has 6 parts, each a voice from a different interview with one of my neighbours. we are also going to translate them so there will be a tower of babel moment.
Helen Porter our music associate ( who co wrote the twitter opera) is doing fantastic work coaching the music.
Rakie Ayola ( ex holby city) has joined the women's section and learnt various clapping and stepping patterns as well as the ongs this week.
a choir are bringing 50 people to one show, I am doing a free workshop for the first 5 groups who book over 20 seats.
we start choreographing with steven on monday
I have been up late at night and early mornings this week rearranging for the new constellation of performers.

First two days of rehearsal

2010-01-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

we have had two days with Rakie Ayola who is new to the show. she is a fast learner and we have started work on the choreography as well as the singing. i always find singing and moving takes 4 times longer to rehearse than just singing.
We practiced an armenian clapping pattern which is part of a celebratory song with lots of cross rhythms.
We also have a music associate on the show, Helen Porter, which is a dream for me as when we made it I was teaching all the music alone. Helen herself wrote a "Twitter opera"

mm

2010-01-02T15:30:00.001-08:00

mayhem

2010-01-02T14:51:00.001-08:00

Tonight I spent 6 hours ( I can't believe it took so long!) working on 2 extra parts for a song which has extracts from 5 of those I interviewed about home. It's polyphonic mayhem and yet I have an idea for one more part which would cross the 6/8 rhythm with a 4 beat tune. That I will attempt tomorrow. I won't really know if it works until I hear everyone sing it on Thursday.

solo for A

2009-12-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

New solo part for A started today on my sister's piano and hopefully finished tomorrow on a freezing church piano.

also hoping to compose a fourth part on the song with card shuffling and dealing

Soraya's visa

2009-12-10T12:35:00.001-08:00

Soraya got her visa to come over. she is Berber from Algeria living in france. relief as she is core to the sow and an amazing improviser.

Dalston Songs Dec 10th

2009-12-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

We go into rehearsals at the beginning of January. Just now I am meeting the new cast members and preparing new arrangements and scores and finishing the casting. Yesterday I met Aykut and showed him the songs he will be singing. I am still looking for one more woman and am hunting some people I haven't seen for a long time, people I would love to work with.

Helen (Chadwick)