Second stage rehearsal

Recently I have been asked by many why I choose to write about my creative process for the dancepiece Degenerator here and on the homepage of the Royal Swedish Opera.

It can be, for some, a sensitive thing to share with others something so unfinished or that is still under construction.
My resolution is that just as the programbooklet is not the piece and in the same way this blog is that neither. It started with the idea that I wanted to document the process in some way, only for myself to begin with, but at the same time I thought that sharing with people what happens behind the closed doors of one of the bigger companies in downtown Stockholm, The Royal Opera, would be an exellent idea.


The piece in the process. Jeannette Diaz-Barboza, Gunnlaugur Egilsson och Sandra Gerdin (photo by: Carl Thorborg

It is in my oppinion different to openly share the process in a more abstract dancepiece than for exampel a play or something with a more linear-storybased development in itself.
At the same time I hope it is read with a open mind and that it might create a curiosity for some to come and see the finished product.

Today was the second stage rehearsal for Degenerator. This time the backdrop was up and Martin Säfström, the lighting designer, was there to experiment with different proposals for the lighting.
It is two different things to rehearse in studio or on the stage of the Royal Operahouse. The space is considerably more on the stage wich allows the movements to be danced out more when on stage.

Irina Laurenova in rehearsal (photo by: Carl Thorborg)

We have now reached the ideal situation of all choreographers: To be able to go into the material and work on intentions and stretch all possible boundaries.
One of the costumes is almost finished and was tried on stage today. The design of Behnaz Aram bring an extra elemnet into the pice and I cannot wait to see the bigger picture.
Jeannette Diaz-Barboza, Sara Sällström and Gunnlaugur Egilsson in the photostudio (photo by: Carl Thorborg)

Yesterday the the dancer Jeannette Diaz-Barboza was photographed by Carl Thorborg for a poster for the mixed-bill. We went through the choreography and tried to find movements that can represent the style in still frame. Sara Sällström, hair and makeup-artist, fixed Jeannettes hair so that everything would sat as it should for the photoshoot.