Ah, holidays…

August 29th, 2011

Eighteen years ago my sister took a holiday in Cyprus, on her return to London she told me she was sick of her long commute to work, the unpredictable weather, had been enchanted by this beautiful island and wanted to leave UK. Within days she had secured a job and accomodation and relocated to Cyprus. Eight years on she married a Greek Cypriot with 2 (adult) children who also live in Cyprus and so – our wonderful Cypriot family who we recently spent our holiday with.

The first night we stayed at their home in Nicosia. As well as cats and dogs they own a bad tempered parrot called Parrot who squawks grumpily at everyone but if you sing to Parrot she is happy, she dances by ferociously nodding her head and swaying.

Parrot  melon

Grumpy Parrot                                                                  

Sirina Bay

Sirina Bay

We left Nicosia to stay at the coast and the relief of a slight breeze. Days spent snorkeling, diving off rocks, reading, drawing. Evenings, barbecues of fresh fish, sheftalia and souvlaki, followed by midnight swims with an underwater torch.

 

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Carmen. Coliseum, London

August 4th, 2011

The following drawings are of the English National Ballet rehearsing and performing Roland Petit’s Carmen at The Coliseum, London. Carmen. London 1

Morning class 

Carmen. Coliseum, London       Carmen performance. Coliseum, London  

Rehearsal                         Performance

Carmen. Coliseum, London

Carmen. Coliseum, London

 

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Latitude Festival 2011

July 26th, 2011

Latitude Festival 2011  The National

            The National

Some of my favourite’s at Latitude recorded through my sketch book or camera.

Ed Sheeran  Dionne Bromfield

Ed Sheeran                                                   

Fella Fela

Tom Kitty  Andrew Smith. Moon Dust

Tommi Kitti. A Trip                        Andrew Smith. Moon Dust

Space race letterbox  Space-Race Letterbox  

Anna Calvi Electric Hotel

 Anna Calvi                                        Electric Hotel 

 

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Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut

July 24th, 2011

I’m at Sadler’s Wells for Hofesh Shechter’s Political Mother: The Choreographers Cut. There’s a party atmosphere, half the stalls seats have been removed and the standing area is filling up, the noise is rising, laughter, chat, hugs. I’m in the dress circle looking down, I recognize some dancers who I worked with recently in the audience: “Hey it’s Sally!” I’m reminded of the Hofesh Shechter Company performance at The Roundhouse of In Your Rooms. I was one of the standers, as anyone who knows me will atest to I am pretty damn short. I stood on tip toe, I shuffled around but could only see the raised up musicians. It was Hofesh who said to me “Go upstairs find a seat you, must see to draw”. I did as I was told and from those drawings created a painting. Here is a small selection of the drawings I made during the performance of Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut.

Political Mother choreographer’s cut

Political Mother choreographer’s cut Political Mother choreographer’s cut

 Political Mother choreographer’s cut

Political Mother: The Choreographers Cut 

I love this dance. I drew during early rehearsals in Brighton, I watched a performance in Brighton then at Sadler’s Wells a year ago. Each time I’ve been bowled over by the movement, the powerful music and my emotions which rose up within me and clasped me by the throat. The cast of dancers has grown from to 12 to 16, the incredible band of snare drums, electric guitars and percussion has expanded to include a string section, now numbers 24.

These small drawings will be used along with the others I’ve made as research for a large oil painting, maybe some etchings too.

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Fusional Fragments at the Clore Studio

July 19th, 2011

Last week I was invited by choreographer Marc Brew to draw at rehearsals for Fusional Fragments at Greenwich Dance.

Fusional Fragments is a new work by Marc Brew in partnership with Dance East, a collaboration with percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, composer Philip Sheppard and five extraordinary dancers.

ballet class

 ballet class. 2

ballet class.3

Morning ballet class

The day begins with a Ballet class. Sometimes choreographers ask me to take part in the early morning class so that I become a part of the company and am not seen by the dancers as an observer, as Luca Silvestrini did during the rehearsals of Crossroads. I like this not only do I enjoy the  class but it effects the drawings that follow. I was glad Marc didn’t suggest I join this class, it was way beyond my capabilities! The drawings are in charcoal and conte on long sheets of brown packaging paper. 

rehearsal 1. Fusional Fragments  Fusional Fragments 2Fusional Fragments.3  Fusional Fragments.4Rehearsal, Fusional Fragments.

Drawn in charcoal on large sheets of fabriano.

The performance of Fusional Fragments was at the Clore Studio at The Royal Opera House on 14th and 15th July as part of Exposure: Dance Snapshots of New Work. If you saw the performance weren’t you knocked out by it? The dance vocabulary beautifully combines Marc’s background as a classical ballet dancer with his more recent work in contemporary dance, investigating the links and differences in the two styles.

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Greenwich & Docklands International Festival

July 11th, 2011

I was so fortunate that I was given the opportunity to draw during rehearsals for Marc Brew Company‘s Nocturne and Luca Silvestrini‘s Crossroads. I missed the performances along with other Greenwich and Docklands International Festival performances of the first weekend of the festival, having been partying in Suffolk.

However the following weekend there were some real gems performed across the river at Canary Wharf.

Underneath a transparent stage, I sat on a reclining seat and watched Spanish company Producciones Imperdibles perform La Mirada Transparente above me. Interesting drawing at that angle, I focussed on feet, the man opposite focussed on knickers. (True).

La Mirada Transparente

La Mirada Transparente

Deaf Men Dancing in a collaboration with my friend, visual artist Rachel Gadsden together created a spectacular performance and celebration of being alive. The show incorporates sign language, sound and live painting. Also see my drawings of Deaf Men Dancing performing Elvis at Candoco’s Birthday Party.

Deaf Men Dancing. Alive

Deaf Men Dancing with Rachel Gadsden. Alive 

The biggest crowd puller was Waiting Game, presented by Motionhouse Dance Theatre: a couple out for a romantic dinner in Canary Wharf only to be repeatedly scooped up by a JCB digger. A very large man and his very large friend were blocking my view, by the time they’d done as I suggested and sat on the ground (to a cheer from the audience members behind them) I’d lost the desire to draw.

Dancing to Romanian brass band music and the backdrop of our River Thames, Compagnie Pied en Sol performed Pied Filigrane Fanfare in the Canary Wharf uniform of grey buttoned up suits but with the striking addition of red shoes.

Pied en Sol. Filigrane Fanfare

Pied en Sol. Filigrane Fanfare

Compagnie Pied en Sol. Pied Filigrane Fanfare

Still time to catch Deaf Men Dancing and Rachel Gadsden if you live near Bristol, Stockton or in the Lake District.

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Square Dances. Rosemary Lee

July 11th, 2011

Spent an afternoon in an early rehearsal for Rosemary Lee‘s Square Dances. Fascinating, mesmerizing and beautiful.

Rosemary Lee. rehearsal

To be performed in October in central London squares as part of Dance Umbrella 2011.

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Thorpness

July 5th, 2011

A weekend in Suffolk with Camilla and friends, to celebrate her birthday – wonderful.

Camilla’s party Camilla’s party

Aldeburgh from Thorpness             Valetta

Posted in Drawing, Event | 1 Comment »

Blowing Rain

July 4th, 2011

Sometimes when I kiss my daughter goodnight she asks me to tell her a story ‘not from a book Mum, from your head’. So I told her the dream I had recently.

A heavy down pour of rain woke me during the night, I went into the garden, stood in the pouring rain and waited. My three children slowly appeared and stood with me none of us spoke but we acknowledged each other with our eyes and held hands. Together we filled our lungs with cold night air raised our heads and blew in unison, we repeated this again and again in rhythm with each other all facing the same direction. The rain began to ease and without speaking we returned to bed. 

In the morning the dream had evaporated, I woke up the kids and on opening the curtains I realised it had rained heavily during the night. My 14 year old son wandered into the kitchen saying “the rain woke me when it was still dark, didn’t it wake you?” “Oh… I’m not sure, maybe”, I replied. The dream drifted back to me as I remembered the reason why we were blowing the rain, we were sending it to Somalia. If only it was that easy.

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In Good Company

June 30th, 2011

A powerful evening of five dance works created by the highly skilled and talented dancers from Hofesh Shechter Company on 18th June at The Place. Following drawings during rehearsals for Political Mother and paintings inspired by his choreography, Hofesh Shechter said of me “I am impressed with how Sally is able to capture not only the movements but also the atmosphere of my work”.

I hope the company dancers feel the same way. Below are a selection of my drawings of their dances.

15 Minutes of Infinity. 1       15 Minutes of Infinity 2.

15 Minutes of Infinity. Choreographer, Maeva Berthelot.    Performers, Maeva Berthelot, Fred Cave, Thomas Hauser 

Yesterday’s Bird

Yesterday’s Bird. Choreographer, Jason Jacobs.  Performers, Jason Jacobs and Andrew Maddick

 Noble Thinking

Noble Thinking. Choreographer, Sita Ostheimer. Performers, Hannah Shepherd, Vit Bartak 

No Face. 1

No Face. Choreographer and Performer, Chien-Ming Chang

Holding Dead. 6

Holding Dead. Choreographer Philip Hulford. Performers, Philip Hulford, James Finnemore

I’m looking forward to seeing Political Mother The Choreographer’s Cut at Sadler’s Wells (12 – 16 July), performed by Hofesh Shechter Company. New sketches coming soon, meanwhile see drawings of Political Mother created during rehearsals in Brighton last year.

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