Land of the Ents

When I see these plane trees I half expect then to start moving their big branches and speaking to me with their gnarled trunks.

the river

The first day that I arrived I walked the half block to the river and there were hundreds of people skating here in either direction as far as I could see!! Now, 14 mild days later the only ones on the ice are a few ducks. Today was the first sunny day since I have been here. It is about 3 degrees with chilly wind and warm sun. The air smells like wet earth. It reminds me of Vancouver.

Chez nous

I have had the guest apartment to myself for the last three days while Peter is off in Berlin, I-Fen is dancing in another project at her home in Essen and Nardi is in Greece sorting out visas. It is very quiet! I am enjoying a bit of solitude though I begin to look forward to having a bit of life around me.

Self portrate

I thought that it might be time for a glimpse of the protagonist in this story! Here she is with the very cheery wall-paper in our entrance hall.

scenes of Bremen

Bremen is a very smart town arranged along the Weser river. So different form Spain, the germans obviously love to feel that nature is close at hand. There are bicycles everywhere and bike paths on all sidewalks. Pedestrians and bicycles seem to get along not too badly. We could use some lessons in Montreal on bike/pedestrian/car co-existance. Generally I find the Germans exceedingly polite and patient, not what I was expecting.

Spring

This may not seem wonderous for those of you in Vancouver but .... spring in coming to northern germany and here is some proof!

Scenes from Ludwigshafen

This is us!

Here is the group that I will be working with over the next months. Here they are from Left to right:

I-Fen - is a marvellous dancer from Taiwan originaly but who has lived in Germany for many years. She and Peter and I are all either just turned 40 (her birthday was last week) or just about to be. She complains quite a lot about her slowing energy but actually I have rarely seen a dancer with more spunk and precision combined in the same body.

Casey - most of you know. She will be there as always, helping Helge make this show as good as it can be.

Helge - he is the leader and choreographer for this whole adventure. I danced with him 10 years ago at Montreal Danse. It is nice to see him shining in his role as director. He is good at keeping his head when all seems to be spiraling around him.

Khonan - is the baby of the group, he just turned 22! He is from France but came to Germany essentially to work with Helge about 6 months ago. He is homesick for France.

Nardi - is Albanian and left Albania over the mountains in the late 90's. He has been living mostly in Greece since then. He just jumped into the project to replace a dancer that had to pull out. He is now back in Greece trying to organize his paper work so that he can have permission to be here.

Peter - yay Peter. I am so glad to have someone here who apporaches the world in a somewhat similar way that I do not to mention that he makes very good soup!

You will see more of this gang as the weeks unfold.

Home in Ludwigshafen

I-Fen and I shared this very compact european size room in Ludwigshafen... and the view from our window.

on the way to Ludwigshafen

After 5 days rehearsing in Bremen we already had a venture off to Ludwigshafen to work in the theatre where we will be doing the première of our show. The theatre there is very big and nice. The pressure is on for Helge (the choreographer) to come up with a show that can handle such a stage! Here is the motley gang from the artists residence waiting for the tram at quarter to 6 in the morning. It takes 5 hours and one tram, two trains, and one metro to get there from here. We will be making the trip again in a few weeks time with a finished piece (we hope)! The second picture is Peter a few hours later in a somewhat more awake state.

schwankehalle

This is the theatre where we are working called the "schwankehalle". From what I understand it was a brewery or at lest the place where they used to wash the barrels that the beer was fermented in. You see here a view from the front, the back and from across the river. There are two theatres - the "nuer halle" which is the grey building and the "olden halle" which is the one with the bricks. There is an art gallery in the towers as well as music space and a small rehearsal studio. We are supposed to be rehearsing in a studio which is up in that tower but on of the walls is apparently about to tumble down and so we are not allowed in until they can find a solution. For the meantime we are in other spaces. The artists residence where we are staying is right across the street.

Home sweet home!

Well, here I am in Bremen and this will be "home" for the next two-and-a-bit months. Not the most picturesque but after 11 days here it does already have a certain feeling of home.

For those of you who don't know, I am in Germany for the next two and a half months working on a new creation with a company here called steptext. We will be mostly here in Bremen but will be moving around also. I will try to keep you posted!