all photos by the incredible Andrey Utenkov
My blood heart is pumping after 6 hours rehearsing (in total 9 today). Maybe it’s the sugar high from our collectively cooked tehina-oat cookies, but I have a feeling it’s the Energia.
A 3 hour improvisation passes as if it were 20 minutes, and I’m flashing back to days of drama in school, where we would spend hours rehearsing, in the pure love and name of art! The jokes, the joints, the lesbian love affairs, the wild ridiculousness, the waves of tiredness and frustration… I forgot how alive it is to be an actor/human.
Under the guidance of Stamatis Efstathiou, of Atropos Theatre, on our third week of Energy, towards our final showing tomorrow, I am humbled, impatient, inspired, irritated and deeply grateful all at the same time.
On the one hand, I feel like the director’s puppets, doing as he says without question. On the other hand, I see the result of this creative vision and genius – not just producing a quality performance, but generating and cultivating this Energia – that makes magic between people, communities and place. In other words, the result is the Energia, the process.
Last week saw us creating and performing solo pieces for a theatre walk, in and around the River. The Weather Gods must have been in our favour, because it was beautiful burning heat all week and now has returned to 12 degrees rainy indoor Winter-Summer. Not only did I personally delight from researching and performing in this breathtaking background, but I’ve also been blown away by what’s been happening on the periphery of the project.
New wonderful friendships are forming, new languages learnt (kak- how, calleni – knees, patok – flow, bok-a-bok- side by side, lubov – love) and the local community are opening their hearts to us, sharing a window into village life.
And beyond that I notice the magic of Kryvoryvnya (translation: curvy-straight) itself, this tiny village which is said to have prayer-enhancing properties.
I’ve done something pretty radical for myself. With some sadness and loss, I’ve declined an offer to work at a gorgeous family-run kindergarten this year, in favour of braving the deep waters and saying – Universe, I’m ready, use me for whatever I was born to do, and may I be prosperous from that which I love! In other words, freelancing. In other words, let’s dance!
And, as magic has it… one makes space and new things can appear. Without wanting to run before I can walk, they are already happening. More please!
I don’t know exactly where the road is taking me, it’s scary and exciting, but I do know that it’s taking me back “home” in just a few days, and I wonder what it will bring.
These last 2 months travelling have re-opened my heart, that had become afraid to love and experience, and my soul, that had become afraid of freedom and madness. Of course there’s been many challenges on the way, but as a whole I am so grateful for receiving the soul food that I asked for and co-manifested and I’m looking forward to discovering the next step…
Thank you!
