Short + Sweet Dance Penang 2016: Everyday Carry
Everyday Carry was indeed was a long journey. It took one whole year and many many unexpected barriers for it to come to fruition.
It started with us approaching BB Ostella Adam to be our choreographer. As it turned out, her husband was planning to relocate back home... home is in Houston, Texas. So, she gave us a couple of options: do it via video-call or she recommended a few of her choreographer friends based in KL to take on this project instead. We chose the former.
We started out with the easiest task, buying the chairs from Ikea. From Jan - May, we had free movement rehearsals and explored with movements with and without the chair and recorded those sessions so that BB can find out our capabilities and range of movement. We started rehearsing actual choreography around July. But Alvin was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis of his right knee right and I was diagnosed with a cervical slipped disc right about end-July. We had to take a break from all physical activity and had to decide whether we still wanted to go ahead with this project.
I was adamant to proceed, because we have gone so far!!! It would be such a waste. So, BB wrote to the organizers to ask if we can transfer our participation to the Penang S+S Festival instead of KL. The Penang dates were later than the one in KL so, we can pick up rehearsals again after our month of rest and recovery from our geriatric orthopaedic problems. The organizers said yes!
And so we started rehearsing again in September, with some new choreography with our injuries in mind.
Performance week came and seeing the professionalism in the dance troupe from the Philippines, we just felt honoured to be sharing a stage with such talents. When Joe Hasham announced the winner of Best Newcomer, he said that normally this award goes to very young people, but this time is not the case. Unexpectedly, we won the Best Newcomer and Festival Director's Award for that dance. I am thankful beyond words that we even managed to complete this project. I am thankful that BB stuck it out with us even through so many hiccups. And most of all, I am thankful to share this journey with my partner in life, Alvin.
It may be our last attempt at a dance piece, but it will not be our last artsy project together. :)
