One of the keys to 8bb’s success? Visual cues during performance.
We play some pretty complicated music, so the most sly and subtle head-nod, flute-jiggle or elbow-flap at appropriate moments in a piece can make the difference between an amazing performance and a total, complete train wreck. For more, read Q-bitch.
This week we’ve been playing as the “pit orchestra” for the University of Richmond (our wonderful second home) Dance Department’s annual spring show, Imagine. Myra Daleng is the creative powerhouse behind this diverse showcase, in which around 30 or so dancers take part.
One of the most physically demanding pieces in the show, choreographed by Robert Battle, features music by David Lang. It’s funky, machine-like, pounding, repetitive music, and to mirror this the dancers fling themselves around the stage with sharp, jerky motions. It looks like bloody exhausting stuff.
If all goes well in the pit, I give a head-nod at the end of the piece; the nod communicates to the rest of 8bb that we are 16 repetitions away from the final bar. On Friday morning, during the performance that was taped for prosperity on DVD, I clearly wasn’t concentrating (thinking of lunch or cricket or houseboats) and didn’t give the cue. Now, the Mac also gives the cue, but typically it is much smaller. I felt quietly confident that the rest of the ensemble had caught the Mac’s nod and all would be well. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the “end”…everyone kept playing. As I said, this dance piece is very physical, and the girls finish the choreography in a precarious position, balancing on one foot. So they were forced to hold this position…and hold…and hold…and hold. As Myra said afterwards, “It felt like an eternity!” They teetered heroically for about 20 seconds until everyone in 8bb found their place and the final chord crashed down.
I apologized profusely to the dancers, but they seemed to find the whole thing pretty hilarious. You have to love that about young, non-professional artists: they’re having waaaay too much fun up there to care about any little things that go awry along the way. Hm, I suppose I (preening perfectionist prima that I am) could learn from that…
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