Dance stops trafficking but Miranda couldn’t stop the bus
I
have most definitely been slacking in the blog department recently, but with
good reason. What with weddings, holidays, new jobs this summer I’ve been hard
pressed to find time to write about my, now not so recent, adventure in sunny
Scotland, performing at Edinburgh Fringe 2014.
Despite
the last minute ring around to organise a bed to sleep in for the duration of
my performances in Edinburgh, by the time I got on the megabus I was getting
excited to finally perform the piece I’d been working on for 2 months with LCP
Dance Theatre. Drama ensued before we’d even left Victoria coach station as our
youngest company member, Miranda, was unable to find the station and hence
missed the bus. Frantic phone calls were made as directions were given and
Miranda was instructed to ‘stop the bus’ by standing in the middle of the road
if she saw it go past her. The hilarity of imagining Miranda standing in the
road and using an arm gesture from the piece to stop the bus managed to
entertain the rest of us for a good portion of the journey and the gesture and
phrase it came from would from then on be referred to accordingly.
From
the moment I got to Edinburgh I was mesmerised by the uniformity of the
architecture, the majestic presence of the castle and the stunning natural
landscape of the city and its surrounds. I journeyed through chic high streets
and hilltop parks to find my beautiful new home for the week, in possibly the
poshest street in Morningside. My extremely generous host whom I had never met
before and was putting me up for free greeted me with maps of the city, pasta
and a cosy attic room of her 3 storey Victorian mansion. Throughout the week I
was left various notes and a couple of chores to do, such as hoovering the vast
staircases, as payment for my lodging but when you have a comfy bed and two
showers to choose from, and the alternative was camping in a forest without
electricity or running water, who can complain.
On
our first full day in Ed we were scheduled to have our tech rehearsal at
Spotlites@The Merchant Hall, our theatre for the week, at the shocking time of
6.30am. We all made it in from our various abodes and we were actually there
earlier than theatre staff who seemed to resent us for having such an early
tech, despite it being the theatre who organised our time slot. After three
hours of debating various lighting states and positioning spotlights we were
unceremoniously ejected from the venue via the backstage door, onto a refuse
collection alleyway. I can only assume the theatre did this in order to prepare
us for the nightly expulsion we would endure, after every performance, being
given only 5 minutes to remove the audience, our props, our belongings,
ourselves and sweep the stage. Although this system did make me angry as I
worried about being forced into the cold Scottish rain after 1hr15mins of full
out dancing, wearing nothing but some fishnet garments, I did appreciate that
the theatre had to do this in order to fit in all the other shows into their
jam-packed daily schedule. Of the 40 or so other shows on at our venue over the
month, I got to see 4 of them, which doesn’t seem too good as a percentage but
when you consider that that was four hours of mediocre/interesting
comedy/theatre for free, I felt almost ready to forgive the theatre for their
backstage behaviour.
During
my time in Edinburgh I wanted to make the most of the 500 venues and 3000 shows
the Fringe had to offer. After the early-morning tech I started my search for
something interesting to watch and soon bumped into my friend Anna, who was
flyering for her play which I attended that afternoon. A fantasticly endearing
story of the relationships between Icelanders and British soldiers during the
Second World War, complete with leaf blower to recreate the cold wind as anyone
entered or exited the imaginary room. In stark contrast, later that day I was
coerced into watching/falling asleep to a very amateur play about Scottish
teenage girls and their troubles, reminding me of GCSE drama pieces, in which,
with the exception of one stunning performance portraying a manic depressive,
the acting left a lot to be desired. As the week went on, it got harder to find
shows that a) looked good b) didn’t clash with our schedule and c) didn’t cost
a fortune. I dragged two girls to a free comedy show called ‘Worst German Ever’
and then decided to splash out on a stunning spectacle called ‘Bianco’ by No
Fit State Circus, which was so good it deserves its own blog post, coming soon.
Enough
of other people’s shows, the main reason I was there was to perform with LCP
Dance Theatre, along with an international cast of dancers and actors from
Italy, France and Poland, raising awareness against human trafficking. As I
exclaimed to many people whilst flyering, we were dancing to a narrative script
based on a true story by Sophie Hayes, a survivor of human trafficking. The
subject matter sometimes made me feel uncomfortable as we rehearsed scenes of
violence and sexual exploitation but once performing in front of an audience it
became easier to think of myself as a character and think about the emotions
behind the situation. Obviously, in 8 renditions, the piece didn’t always run
smoothly. From first-night fainting to last night prop malfunction, movement
mess-ups to wardrobe mishaps and the awful tension of the narrator missing her
entrance and skipping a whole scene, it wasn’t all plain sailing but each and
every performance had an audience – who applauded, a cast who danced their
socks off and a message which was hard to ignore.
The
highs of receiving applause at the end of each performance were, of course,
contrasted with the lows of flyering in the rain, an awful bladder infection
and turmoil among the cast after a particularly unorganised street performance.
On sunny days the lows were less likely as flyering on the royal mile became an
enjoyable experience and prepping for a performance with yoga in the park was a
viable option. It was the rainy days, which always seemed to coincide with our
street performances, when things became a little tedious as we danced on a
slippery outside stage, getting drenched whilst our potential audience ran for
shelter, and then crammed into the Costa toilets to prepare our costume and
make-up before braving the cold as we made our way to the theatre.
Highs
and lows weighed up, and all things considered, it was a very enjoyable
experience participating in the Fringe, both as a performer and audience
member. The buzzing atmosphere, sketch shows, outrageous costumes and musical
renditions that filled the streets brought a smile to my face whilst our own
performances gave me the opportunity to do what I love, and for a great cause.
Some links for you:
My photos of the fringe and beautiful Edinburgh - https://www.facebook.com/eleanor.palmer.73/media_set?set=a.10154518519595301.1073741835.698710300&type=3
Images from 'AM I?' - https://www.facebook.com/LCPDanceTheatre/media_set?set=a.4884679442499.1073741825.1463028838&type=1
A review of our performhttps://www.facebook.com/LCPDanceTheatre/media_set?set=a.4884679442499.1073741825.1463028838&type=1ance - http://www.broadwaybaby.com/shows/am-i/699502