The last residency week was the most intense. On June 12th I spent all the available time at the New Theatre, in creating my choreography: Trauma express. From the first moment I decided to create and direct the choreography without dancing. I wanted to have a clear eye of the ensemble. The eighteen performers who decided to be part of my project were completely committed to the rehearsals. I explained them the importance of starting the movement from the part of the body or from the emotion that the previous week, during the research we made, they chose to explore. Between them there were not only other residency colleagues, but also local dancers who dedicated their time and their artistry to me. This was a precious gift that I really appreciated a lot. Always on Monday I had the general rehearsal of Kote's project. With three cars, the other dancers and I reach the point from where we needed to walk through, in order to go back to the theatre and finish our performance. All this experience was very moving. I believe that Kote's piece shows is sensitivity and also his skills as director. I liked a lot to work with him and with the other guys involved in his project.
When we finished, although it was already late, my day was not over yet. Before returning to the hotel, I had to meet the lighting technician. I had a clear idea about what I wanted for my choreography and the lights were an important part of it. To achieve what I had in my mind, the technician needed to move and point several lights in a different spot respect the one were they originally were. Then I told him the combination and the timing of each light and he wrote every change on his computer. I also liked very much this part of the work. Around 11pm, late, but happy, I finally went to sleep.
On the 13th, I had general rehearsal directly at Movement theatre. In order to be ready for the next day, I set the lights during the performance while the technician was there, ready to help me in case of need. It was funny to sit on a chair suspended in the air, more than three meters above the stage. After the first run through, I noticed that the energy wasn't the one I wanted, so I spoke to the guys, I collected their opinions and then I asked them to try again, this time with the 'costumes' we had chosen. I changed the music tone and the performance was already better, but I was sure that with the audience they would have been more motivated.
On the 14th, all the curators were in Tbilisi, so we had a meeting with them before going to the theatre. I was really excited about my 'work in progress' premiere but I also felt responsible for the guys. When the public entered the theatre I gave the sign for making the music start. When everybody was in, I switched on the first light and then, following my instinct, I changed a bit the light timing I had already set, in order to give more intensity to some of the couples who were under the spotlights. The performance was much better and I was proud of the work we all did in a little but efficient time. After mine, I attended the choreography by Toni and Iole and finally we could 'relax' and enjoy the evening.
The day after, I went to Gabriella's workshop. She made us work on time, space, directions, levels and other choreography’s principles. In the afternoon I had Kote's performance. So, once the workshop was finished, I went to the Movement Theatre and warmed up to get ready. The show was intense and beautiful. I loved to participate in this piece, I found the dramaturgy clear and emotional and I also appreciated how Kote helped us to connect with the refugees’ stories.
The rest of the week, I continued with Gabriella and Zak’s workshops, we still had an amazing dinner at Levan’s place, with Iuri and all the residency guys, and the last performance days with Andrea piece about clubbing.
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