For my final performance, I wanted it to be centred around something that was meaningful and personal to me. At the start of the process, I did not want my performance to be so obviously about myself and my life. However, due to injury, my new idea is directly about me and my fitness journey throughout my education. Although the amount of physical movement needed to be minimal, I did not want to discard it entirely as that would not tie in with the topic of Sports and Fitness.
When conjuring up my ideas for my final performance, I cast my memory back to a workshop at the beginning of the semester when we were shown Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia (Demme, 2015). This performance was made up of many different stories, supposedly from his own life. To begin with, I liked that he entered the room from the same entrance that the audience did and that there was no lighting separation between the audience and the stage, creating a relaxed atmosphere as the performer and audience were in the same space. The separation of space changed when Spalding Gray started to talk, which would entice an audience in. I decided that I would like to do something similar. I want to walk in from where the audience walk in and enter a space that is not separated by light until I wanted the audience to focus in on something.
I also wanted to share parts of my life (stories) with the audience however, I do not want to go in to as much detail as Spalding Gray does as I only have a short performance time of 8-12 minutes therefore, it would not be possible to go in to such detail. With the time of my performance in mind, I wanted to write a short amount of speech that work as an overview and summary of each section of my education leading up to finding the gym.
Order:
The sections of my education that I have chosen to share in my performance are:
1) Primary school: KS1 sports day
2) Primary school: KS2 Tag Rugby
3) Secondary school: P.E. lessons
4) College
5) University: Athletics and Cross Country
6) University: The gym
I will be performing these sections in chronological order, as they are written above.
From my original performance idea, I will be keeping the projection of dots of light falling and the Halo game music as both of these will fit in well with section 6. I am wanting to create a spiritual atmosphere and feel that, because the Halo music reminds me of spiritual/religious music, I will be able to do so.
Props:
I will be using minimal props and set because I want my performance to come solely from me and my body.
I sourced a small bean bag from the primary school that my sister works at for section 1 as they are a staple piece of equipment for any primary school’s P.E. department therefore, the audience may be able to relate to having had used one themselves.
My only other props will be a hula hoop and skipping rope for section 1 and a set of dumbbells for section 6.
My performance space has also changed from a T shape and having the audience sat on chairs, to end on using the seating banks. I no longer need to use the aisle so it would be a wasted space if I were to keep it there.
Works Cited:
Demme, J. (2015) Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia [DVD]. Simply Media.
