I’m writing this after enjoying yet another Summery London weekend in a pretty happy place! I’ve got three weeks until the end if term, with assessments over, projects week to come and then another trip to Sweden to look forward to, all is smiley!

Milonga by Sidi Larbi at Sadler’s was something I went to see, not really knowing what to expect, on June 9th. It was the first time a non-argentine choreographer had worked with an Argentine tango company, so I expect the company probably felt the same before collaborating with Larbi. The piece communicated the social side of the culture of tango, with moments of casual conversation interspersed by footwork and lifts that if you blinked, would have certainly be missed! I’ve never seen Tango beyond Strictly Come Dancing and I was amazed! Sidi added his touch of incorporating his unique, animalistic movement into the more stylised movement of tango, which seemed to make the idea of mating rituals and relationships within the piece even stronger…it was pretty sexy!

The weekend that followed introduced me to some new methods of practise I’d love to try more of. It was Caledonian Road Market, and, alongside making cupcakes and flower baskets, I tried Tai-Chi for the first time. There was a free taster session going on in the middle of the street, hence, I wasn’t anticipating the often advertised calming effects that it was supposed to have with a pretty constant stream of bemused onlookers walking past us, I was however surprised. I’m not sure if it’s the constant movement, I suppose a bit like the motion of a car or boat, but I felt so relaxed. Honestly, I don’t know a huge amount about Tai-Chi but I feel like the movement of the body without strain or a particular kind of intensity must be beneficial. I left feeling warm from the inside, revitalised and more mobile, making a promise to myself to try it again!

As a first year, we’ve just come to the end of a week containing our first ever assessments in ballet and contemporary. They have most definitely taken their toll, everyone was exhausted on Friday. Personally, I found ballet annoying nerve wracking. I say ‘annoyingly’, because I knew my nerves were unnecessary and most certainly unwanted, but I couldn’t seem to let them go throughout the class. It was a very odd experience, almost as though my mind had been completely split in two, with one side telling me to relax and leave mistakes behind and the other going into complete panic mode. As a result I’m not sure how well that’s gone, but was grateful for the fact it was the beginning of the week so I was much better prepared for the contemporary assessment on Thursday. When Thursday arrived, not only was I more content, as I feel more comfortable in Cunningham technique, but because I had a clearer vision if how the class would run and hence, I felt more able to control doubts or frustrations that arose in the inevitable slip ups that I made, something that was pretty re-assuring to know I’m capable of not going into melt-down in future assessments.

The middle of the week found the culmination of several late night rehearsals manifesting itself in Ideas in Action. I was happy to have been asked by Frankie, a class mate, to be in his piece alongside six others called BrainWorks. It was a relatively physical piece seemingly randomly composed with movement that’s really pushed my physical expectations, hence it’s title, as if you know Frankie personally, it’s apparent he’s definitely not a ‘straight line thinker’ 😛 I was particularly excited for ideas in action as, in first year, this event is one of the main performance opportunities and it really does bring the spark that performance brings that is hard to get anywhere else and why a lot of us began dancing.
As usual the afternoon highlighted the amazingness that LCDS houses. I found I particularly enjoyed pieces that seem to have been born out of fun. Ruby Portus and Zunnur Sazali gave an example of this. They created ‘Exoticcocovanillaprintspinkfossi’ which played upon the friendship of the pair and the things they love. They made the most out of them as real people, something I found endearing and engaging.

Another first this weekend…the March Against Austerity was happening in central London and was attended by over 250,000 people. I’ve found as I’ve become older and more independent since living in London, politics and the governance that controls our lives and whole future has become more and more important to me. I’m aware this is blog about my dance training, so I’ll say, that dance and the arts is a major reason I went to the protest. I’ve had my eyes opened to how crucial arts funding is since being a governor for CDD. So many of their decisions and future plans rely on what the governments future plans for art are, and as something which my future career relies on I found it was hugely important I was there to say I’m not happy about the current plans. Although the left wing is apparently very segmented, I did feel a sense of unity that left me hopeful about the power of the people.

Thanks for reading, have a happy week.
Hannah x