• We spoke again with Anya, and our conversation with her led us into new topics for thought /research, including looking at the meaning of the word ‘radical’ – first the dictionary definition of getting ‘to the root’ of something; and second, looking at it from the point of view of Derridian deconstruction, circling around the thing which might lead us to see for a moment beyond the binaries. We’ve been questioning what it would mean in each of our respective practices to get to the ‘root’ of something. We’ve also been thinking about the possibility of two different methodologies for taking improvisations, rehearsal room ideas etc. to the next level. The first would be by trying to pin-point the root of the thing (be it an improvisation, an image, an idea), and working more and more specifically into that. The second is to allow ourselves to continually circle the thing, hoping to open up a new space beyond the rational or intellectual by doing that.

• Anya’s conversation also brought up for us the idea of art as a space for difference, and we’re continuing to question whether we are creating a space for difference – both in the rehearsal room, and in the material we are creating.

• We also thought about the topic of adaptability, and to the possibilities of ‘becoming oneself’ or ‘changing oneself’. This connected to hospitality through the idea that the guest, the stranger, brings change, and in order to host radically we need to be willing to allow ourselves

• We emailed with our mentor and his response led us to question how each of us individually intersect with the topic of hospitality – why we care about it and where we stand in relation to it.

• During the week we continued to use the chair-object for research, taking it to public places, both outdoors and indoors, and either waiting for passers by to question it and use it, or inviting people to be our guest as we held them. We created video pieces of the interactions, and have also been using them as research for physical work which we then explore in the rehearsal room. One of these explorations has been working with connections in pairs, back to back.

• We took some time to draw and explore possible set / design ideas as possible environments to play inside of, to inspire us to new physical challenges and dynamics.

• Finally, we recapped all the materials we have created over the last three weeks and came up with a plan for the final week that allows us to go back and revisit some of the things that have become important for us. The schedule for the last week is to continue beginning each day with shared dance practice, and then to spend the remaining morning hours exploring specific physical ideas, including the back-to-back exercise and the materials from the chair research.
The afternoons we will use to go back and look at things from the first three weeks that we
want to spend more time with:

Sun: Set/design ideas
Mon: Personal stories/ text material
Tue: Chair / Hospitality is text work.
Wed: T-Shirt / Territory. (light)
Thu: Back to Poland / material from improvisations
Fri: Prosthesis / Body as furniture
Saturday: Open to continue any of the above
Sunday: Open to continue any of the above
Monday: Open to continue any of the above plus 15 min showing of audience interaction ideas