11 October, 2012

Sarojini Nagar Market
at various locations throughout fashion street and main market; 6:00pm
Performers: Amu, Rudy, Mallika, Kriti, Niranjani, Bopana, Shena
Observers: Aditi
Documenter (Photos & Video): Yash
Audience No.: 20 - about 80 at a time, maybe more...
FREEZES and 'SLOW MO' RACES!

We met in a park near the venue to decide on what to do, and to practice. We decided on a sequence of Freezes - in which the theme was 'coming together' and then 'breaking apart'. We worked in couples, trying to make sure to 'freeze' with each person in the group, in rotation. The person left out in each case would then say "typewriter" as cue to find new partners. (er.. yes... typewriter) We thought that a high energy 'coming together' contrasted with a slow (and possibly painful!) 'breaking apart' would work well - and that's the idea that we entered fashion street with. We had also practiced a 'slow mo' race in which Niranjani was to be the Winner - and the rest of us were to scramble, claw and push each other out of the way to try to win. All in slow motion.

practice in the park

So, from the serene surrounds of the practice park, the posse with the Idea ambled confidently into the bustle and noise of the Street.

Which had many cops.

Posse stopped. And reconsidered.

"Maybe we should... keep moving.. you know.. not create a crowd or anything..."

practice in the park in b&w!

So we decided that in the high energy happy 'coming together' we'd move along the street, so as not to create a static crowd, and then proceed with the freezes at intervals of about four or five shops' distance. The idea was to do about seven rotations.

But from the very first moment, all the high energy and scattered energy and moving energy - created a high energy MOVING crowd, that appeared to want to move with us! Noise levels reached a mild roar every time we moved - so that even though we quickly adapted our 'act' to be a little less...er.. enthusiastic... the crowd that we tried to avoid creating nevertheless created itself anyway, and we decided to wrap this sequence up after about 3 or 4 rotations. It's not that there was aggression anywhere, or that the crowd was ugly in any way at all - it was just that the energy was moving into possibly uncontrollable realms and we were not sure where it might lead.

Next, we tried the Slo Mo Race a few times - to interested responses. Yash and his camera meant that comments of "shooting ho rahi hai?" were inevitable. As was, it seems, "paagal ho gaye hai"!

Rudy and Bopana frozen in a Break Up moment

We ended with another attempt at the Freezes - this time done slowly and with contained energy. This worked very well, and a very absorbed audience gathered around - with some members of the audience telling others to give us room to perform and to applaud at the end! Mallika made it a point to speak with people after the performance - and was told to 'carry on' with such work and that our group would 'move ahead' with fame and fortune! A lot of this was said directly to Yash's camera (hmm...)
(video to be added here soon)

learnings:
1. Very Imp : MUST MUST have an Observer/Guide for every intervention. Only a person outside the group of performers can gauge the energy/mood of the audience and would be able to take a call on how long a performance can be stretched - or not.
2. MUST MUST stay in the general area after a performance, in order to talk to people - else it's more like a hit-and-run accident than a complete sharing exchange.