Reflections on Craig & Miriam

(from a letter to Dan Finkel)

... I’ve written so much about the Craig & Miriam project to you, that I feel I should bring some sort of closure as to how it went.

All things considered, the performance went well. There were some technical glitches, but given that we had our first run-through with light and sound on the actual night itself, this was not surprising. I’d also had the privilege of seeing better performances from Juan and Julia, but it was also reassuring to see how much we could depend on the structure of the piece and the actors’ instincts/rapport to pull the piece through.

I have been thinking a little bit about Craig & Miriam in the context of my other pieces. Out of the three pieces created in recent years, Craig & Miriam is a clear development of the other two, and in its own way, the most incomplete. I don’t think we had enough time for the content to undergo a transformation, and for the piece to reach a place where it has an integrity of its own.

If Aftermath (with Cocoa) was about learning to be comfortable with the solitude of the studio, and Diamond Baby, about growing a dance from a relationship, Craig & Miriam was about learning to direct. From the way our final project was structured (27 pieces over 4 nights, same pool of actors and rehersal space, plus stage managing + tech) I knew that from the outset that I would have fight for my performers' interest. This had to be a piece that would give my performers energy, rather than one more rehearsal in their long day of rehearsals.

I think I managed to achieve this. The way Juan hugged me when we parted told me much; and indeed, one of feedback I got from the profs was, “I have seen more pleasure in Juan and Julia’s performance than I have in the whole year, and I think this is a reflection of you as a director. You must be fun to work with.”

One thing that I discovered was how, as a choreographer, I need to physically do (mark through, if not do full out) the piece myself. If I just sit back and watch, after a while it becomes difficult to feel the emotions.I need kinaesthetic knowledge to remain in touch with my instincts.

I don't know where this piece is going to go, if it is going anywhere at all. Maybe it will end up as compost for something else: a novel, a film or another dance theatre piece. In any case, I'm ready to give myself some breathing space from it.

While I was in Germany I would get up really early morning and play with myself in the studio. I started working on voice, and exploring the Leonard Cohen's song, "Hallelujah." Wow - what a magnificent word... there is such capacity for joy and pain within its syllables. And I thought about Miriam - you know her solo in the candlelight that I was never quite happy about? There'sa quality I want there that this work reminds me of... so who knows. Maybe my next piece will be a Hallelujah dance...