#ThrowbackThursday FLOW

With our upcoming theatre dance experience IGNIS, exploring and inspired by the powerful and potent qualities of fire, we throwback to the last time Hubert Essakow draped our stage with his beautiful choreography.

Inspired by water, FLOW was an innovative collaboration of dance, design and music. Five dancers with a pioneering collective of artists created a new full length dance experience, staged in the round in an ever-changing waterscape. 

"The ultimate in immersive theatre" 

Independent on Sunday 

Designed by Tom Dixon and composed by Peter Gregson, FLOW explored unique properties and different states of water, to reveal the dynamic relationship of mankind to this essential element, the most valuable of commodities.

"Enjoyably strong on style- a serious, exhilarating collaboration"

The Guardian

 

"Essakow's choreography is stunning"

A Younger Theatre 

 

Performed: 4 - 23 February 2013

Choreographer - Hubert Essakow 

Designer - Tom Dixon

Composer - Peter Gregson

Dancers -  Sonya Cullingford, Daniel Hay-Gordon, Thomasin Gulgec, Simone Muller & Kieran Stoneley

Sound Design - Andy Marlow

Lighting Design - Matthew Eagland

Dramaturg - Dan Ayling

Text - Richard Thomas

Projections - Kitty McMahon

Who is Amy Gdala?

...Was my first question when our upcoming show was first announced, a stupid question to many, but as booking have been coming in, confusion on how to pronounce the word and what it actually means appear common place.

So first things first; “Am-ig-da-la” is the correct pronunciation of the word.

And according to Wikipedia (the source of all internet knowledge):   “The amygdalae are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep and medially within the temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans.  Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing of memory and emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.”

Insightful!

In terms of what it means as regards to Geraldine Alexanda’s play, well it can be explained quite simply by reading the blurb on the back of our promotional flyers.

“Catherine is in a post-traumatic state and Simon, an eminent psychiatrist, is employed to help her recover her memory in time to give evidence in the trail of Joshua James.

As the date for the trial approaches, Simon becomes absorbed with the working of his patient’s brain, as he grapples with his preconceptions of truth, memory and perspective.”

Further understanding to these nut shaped nuclei and their connection to our upcoming play are explained thus:

Recent studies suggest that, while the amygdala is not itself a long-term memory storage site, and learning can occur without it, one of its roles is to regulate memory consolidation in other brain regions.

During the consolidation period, the memory can be modulated. In particular, it appears that emotional arousal following the learning event influences the strength of the subsequent memory for that event. Greater emotional arousal following a learning event enhances a person's retention of that event.

Yankee Doodle is coming to town!

Yankee Doodle went to town

A-riding on a pony,

Stuck a feather in his cap

And called it macaroni'.

Having said the words ‘The Last Yankee’ countless time over the last few weeks it’s not surprising that this nursery rhyme would pop into my head, absent-mindedly humming while the cast of our upcoming production of Miller’s play rehearsed behind me I suddenly realised I had no idea what the lyrics were talking about.

What had Yankee Doodle named macaroni, the feather, his hat, or the pony?  And why was he called Yankee Doodle? 

To my surprise Mr Doodle had not named anything after a type of pasta commonly coupled with cheese.  The Macaroni was in fact a wig that came to fashion in the 1770’s, and the term quickly became adopted for describing foppish gentlemen.  So this song, sung by British military officers, is actually an attack on the masculinity of the early American colonists.

And it gets worse, “Doodle” is a word derived from German meaning “fool”, so not only were the officers having a crack at the colonialist testicularity but also they were saying that these ‘Yanks’ were so naïve and stupid that they thought putting a feather in their hats made them fashionable.

Of course it’s not surprising to find out that a nursery rhyme isn’t quite as innocent as first thought, however it’s interesting to see how it links with the Miller play.  The song is ultimately an attack on American identity, specifically New England colonists, adjacent to this we have four characters beautifully painted by Miller all struggling with their own personal identities and ancestry in American history.  

While we are yet to release the official poster and trailer for our upcoming production… why not enjoy this…