Today’s focus was to continue with character interaction and the building of relationships. I dedicated a lot of time to improvisations based on the scenario of a training session, with an emphasis on spoken dialogue. Although this led to quite a parody of the teacher-pupil relationship, I believe this gave the performers the opportunity to test out their characters in the life of a competitive disco dancer, physically and emotionally. The teacher character definitely didn’t hold back on saying what she really thought about the young dancers!
This scenario tapped into a lot of memories of the childhood activities I used to do, from ballet to school sports. I could recognise moments that everyone has experienced or can relate to, such as the student who is always that little bit better than you, being overlooked or ignored by the teacher, being judged by others on the way you look/dress, etc. These improvs were then used to feed into the development of the pressure material. Other relationships explored today were Paris and her mother: through a scene of a between heats pep talk/criticism, and a manipulation duet between Violet and Kristal.
The performers commented today that there is a lot of text in the material. There is definitely a current 50/50 balance of text and movement, but for now I am reluctant to change this ratio as I don’t feel we have adequate time to delve deep enough into the characters to express their traits, histories, etc. However, when we reach the stage of creating a piece I imagine the reliance on text will greatly reduce.
Silversmith Dance Theatre 
I enjoyed the identity development in working with Rebecca and her character, Kristál. As our subjects are such opposites, our characters personas can somehow get along. Kristál’s skills and personality is not a threat to Violet and she takes enjoyment of showing off to someone who is less capable. Kristál also allows Violet to manipulate and control her, whilst Violet massages her own ego.