Hanoi, Vietnam

OK so I slacked off a bit, it's expected there's has been so much to do. Things take a little bit longer in hot countries, the heat drains you. Mmmmmm could the lack of heat in the UK be the reason a lot of choreographers get laughed at when we say, 'I'd like 12 weeks rehearsal please'. I must say though Vietnamese people work HARD, no really hard. Particularly market traders and shop keepers, I won't mention farmers. Members of the family help, but it's still tough. There are less beggars than one would see on a regular day in London. The government ran a scheme where they took beggars off the street, found out where their home province was and sent them back for their family to take care of, why they weren't before I don't know. People with disabilities and mental health issues, are looked after by the state. People only beg if they can't work, it's not a choice in most cases........off on a tangent there if think.

Well we have a really great piece of work simmering here. Some very strong imagery. I can't say everything about the piece for but I can give an idea of some of the imagery we are looking at using. The temple entrance you see below used to be the gateway to the temple where 1000's of Chinese soldiers are alledgedly buried, apparently there were others around the city, but were leveled and built over.

Imagine a drum call, bringing the public to the show, they gather at the bottom of the staircase, they see smoke filling the archway, illuminated by light it resembles a portal to another world, it is, our world of ritual theatre. They ascend through the arch to be greeted by images of a dancer moving, projected onto varying sizes of thin silk flags flowing in the wind hanging from the trees and attached to standing branches. The image darts from one piece to the next, darts, jumps and vibrates, across the material.

The lights reveal a real dancer, we see the dancer and the virtual dancers interacting. The audience continue to file past, it begins to rain in the area where the dancer is, the audience are guided along the path by large candles. As they listen to passages of The Requiem of lost Souls. They descend the other side of the mound to be greeted by the drummers at the base of the mound. Three dancers wait preparing for a long journey, ritually moving, repeating, checking and pacing with the drummers winding up the energy.

The route to the Quang Trung is lit with more candles reminiscent of a runway.

The dancer on top of the mound is now with the rest of the dancers preparing they begin, he begins to lay a path unfolding, a 50 metre white sheet extending along the floor between the candles. The group continue with the drummers, he continues to lay the path. He has returned, the audience turns to see the white sheet peppered with his footprints.

The group move along the path lifting, leaning and supporting each other on the long route, then the audience sees..........

More tomorow