The warp and the weft week two

We asked the gorgeous India Walton to write a blog for us this week! Enjoy her wonderful summary of a very big day on Tuesday…

Goodness gracious. OW! I am sore. But in the best way. Today was incredibly physical and I wouldn’t have had it any other way! There is something special about the kind of physical fatigue felt by really working your body, it almost feels good…. right?

Today was a combination of creating afresh and revisiting. We started with our Arachne section, a confrontation between goddess Minerva and Arachne- a prodigal weaver who dares take Minerva on. The challenge for me, someone with a real mouth on them, was curtailing some of my impulses to explore the, at times, superior power of minimalism. Sometimes a moment is already charged with enough significance and feeling without needing to add a breathy ripple and a pretentious high leg on top!!! Frustrated, hungover and stumped, we did what we could and jumped into our second Arachne section. This might have been the real magnum opus of the day! A combination of spoken word and visual storytelling taken in turns that culminates in Minerva ripping up Arachne’s tapestry in rage. They take turns antagonising each other with their woven pictures, ripening the atmosphere for a fight. BUT CAN WE PLEASE ADD IN A FLOOR ROLL, I persisted. They caved. Honourable mention for floor roll in programme coming.

Revisiting a particularly communal moment, perhaps one that best embodies what it can really mean to create with your bare hands, we explored the swinging sensation felt in the music of the Barkcloth section. Communities that take inspiration from the minimal elements around them are perhaps key to encapsulating the legacy of woven practice itself, reinforcing the notion of togetherness with each other and the natural world. Therefore, it felt in keeping to honour this ‘swinging’ and Izzy rightfully kept us on track within the parameters of a swinging sensation, to me always reminding me of a communal breath or perhaps the rocking of a child.

Ending our day with a gentle fabric toss felt soothing. Resisting the urge to swaddle myself in it and demand that Izzy rocks me like a baby while Sanne sings a lullaby, I insisted that my hangover had now subsided (lie).

It’s hard, the realisation that physical theatre is really all about the emotion you put into it. Striking that balance, how much to do physically and how much to leave to your heart is something I continue to practice. I’m just really grateful i’ve got the chance to do it.

India x

And enjoy this little summary of clips we put together from the day! - the music is Nuday by Degiheugi, Andrre its a great one for a little boogie!

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The Warp and the Weft — Week One in the Room