Is South London unusual in being home to so many artists, writers, photographers, musicians, etc? We have featured many on Dulwich OnView – and here is Laura, on video too.
Hungry Ghosts
Hungry Ghosts
My name is Laura, and I am a contemporary dancer living in Peckham. I recently got back from a really exciting tour with a dance theatre company called Lost Dog. The piece, called Hungry Ghosts, is based on the theatre siege that happened in Moscow in 2002, and looks at the experiences of the people caught up in it. It was a really stimulating and challenging production to be a part of – not only because of the subject matter, but also because the company integrates movement, text and live music.
The tour was great – the dates were mainly in the UK but we were lucky to have a couple of European dates. One was in Cagliari (thanks to Donatella, our Sardinian cast member), and was definitely a highlight!
On the day of the show we got to spend the morning lying on the beach and swimming in the crystal clear sea! The performance was at a leisurely 9pm in a gorgeous little old-fashioned theatre, full of Donatella’s family and friends. Afterwards we went out for the most amazing antipasti, and then sat in hammocks in an outdoor bar overlooking the harbour.
After Cagliari we went to Barcelona, which was also really great. The sun was still shining and we were put up in a 4 star hotel complete with an outdoor hot tub on the top floor! After another night of post-show celebrating it was a bit of a struggle to have to fly back to a very drizzly England and go directly to Coventry to perform that night. And then stay in the Premier Inn on the A46. But all in all we had a brilliant time. And although it wasn’t quite a sell-out tour because the company is not so well known (yet!), the audience response was really positive, which makes it all worthwhile!
Hungry Ghosts
On the video side bar is a short dance film I was in for the fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto. It was kind of an arty advert for his new line of clothes called Coming Soon (which is why it’s a bit like a trailer). I think it is shown in his shops.
I got the job by going to a casting that I heard about through a friend. It was probably the nicest audition I’ve ever been too (they’re usually hideous) – not only did I get the job, but also for once there were more guys than girls (very unusual) and I got to dance with an array of tall, attractive men in the selection process!
It was fun to get an insight into the film world – compared to what I’m used to it was seriously big budget – huge crew, trailers, make up artists, hair stylists, even people trying to put my clothes on for me! And they really do say “camera rolling, action!” which I got pretty excited about. We loved the clothes and were really hoping that we would get to keep some of them (especially since we got them all sweaty), but we were told that because they were all one-off prototypes that couldn’t be given away. Very upsetting.
Next week Laura talks about how she became interested in dance, what she does when ‘resting’ and what its like dancing upside down.
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One Comment
Nice to see you still dancing better than myself, which is to say better than anyone else I’ve ever met, obviously.