Research context/question
The research started already in a class with Annemijn. We were creating physical tasks and tried them out with each other. I invented a task that was about listening to sounds, and drawing what you hear, with closed eyes. From the drawing, you then need to choose a few figures, that you translate into shapes with your body in space. I made this task because I was interested in working with how what you hear can trigger your imagination. I had previously mostly worked with making sound with your voice, which I intended to continue with, but with the addition of also listening to external sounds.
Secondly, there was a book about a Swedish author involved from the beginning on. I am fascinated by words and intonations, as well as stories. A question I had was, how can we bring the world inside the text to life?

Analysis VPD (Medium, nexus & communication functions)

Performers
The two performers were reading the same part of the book, and played with it together. They were sharing the same space, both physically and imaginary. They started and ended the duet together in the upstage left corner, reading the book and discussing it together. In the major part of the duet however, they had their own movement and space trajectory. Sometimes, they would come together, but without directly addressing one another.

Movement
The movements vary depending on the performer. Alba, who is the performer with a long sleeved, blue sweater (the same sweater as in my solo), moves mostly on her knees, close to the floor. The character of her movements is influenced by the long sleeves, which she is often shaking and turning. For Laura, the other performer, the movements are initially informed by one of the positions that derived from her sound-drawing. Laying on her stomach, back arched, with arms spread out to the sides and one leg reaching upwards. The movements are also influenced by the voice of the other performer. Laura reacts to Alba’s reading out loud with alert head movements, as if looking around for something.

Sound
There are a lot of sounds in the duet. Similar to the solos I created, there is use of voice, as well as recorded music playing. Silence is also an important element, especially for the timing of the louder parts. The voice derives from the performers reading in the book and deconstructing the words and sounds. It may not be audible for non-Swedish people, but since the two performers are Spanish and do not understand Swedish, the reading sounds peculiar. However, they are reading with complete confidence and focuses on the sound of the words rather than the meaning of them.
The music adds to the playful and whimsical atmosphere. It is instrumental music by the English band Penguin Cafe Orchestra, an avant-pop band. Their music is influenced by exuberant folk music and a minimalist aesthetic, but is not traditional Spanish folk music as suggested in the feedback form, that I received after the duet presentation. That was an incorrect assumption.

Space
The space was open as a playground for the performers. It was empty and anonymous, so that any fantasy world could be projected on it – both from the performers’ as well as the audience’s perspective. Only the lighting influenced the atmosphere, adding warmth and mystery through quite low intensity of light. The audience was seated close to the stage, bridging the gap that might otherwise have created unnecessary distance between the spectators and the performers’ world.

The performer-movement connection
The performers worked with a set of different movements and movement qualities. They both had their own set which differed from one another. Underneath that, they both had their pathways in space that they moved along. Alba moved mostly on her knees, while waving her arms and changing her head position, due to her changing visual focus. The movements initially derived from ‘moving into glowing clouds’, while painting the air with imaginary paint. Laura, on the other hand, generally had a more upright body posture, touching and reaching for the clouds behind her. She was also painting the space around her. Additionally, both of the performers had a few shapes with their bodies that they revisited from time to time.

The performer-sound connection
The performers made lots of sounds themselves. They read out loud from a book, and throughout the piece, they use the text as a base line for vocal improvisation. Both of the performers play with the rhythm and timing of what they are saying. The voice also influences the way the performers move. Next to that, there is recorded music playing. The performers relate to the music to some extent, being in sync with it, but sometimes also intentionally going against it. The music is not driving them, they have their own rhythmical patterns.

The performer-space connection
The performers have the entire stage to their disposal, and they use most of it. The performers have check points at different places, which often symbolise an imaginary place. As a spectator, you don’t really know where the performers are, story wise. The two performers move through the space individually, but due to their pathways, they are bound to come together at certain check points. It seems like they just end up there, as if the space is leading them there.

The movement-sound connection
Sound and movement were both produced by the performers. In some parts, the movements and voice were synchronised, and other times, they operated separately. The rhythm and tempo of the talking could differ from that of the movements. The aim was to create more layers of activity. One reason for that, was to be able to produce a powerful start-stop situation, towards the end of the duet. In the absence of the music, the performers together needed to start talking and moving at the same time. Then, they needed to be in sync with each other and time the stopping together as well. After a few rounds, in a moment of stillness, the music came back, and the movements and sounds produced by the performers continued without a break.

The movement-space connection
Depth of field played an important role in the movement-space connection. Moving from upstage to downstage and vice versa, moving alongside the back wall, and traveling diagonally across the space are examples of patterns. As often when I create, I drew a floor map for each performer. Those constituted the base line for direction of traveling. Other than that, invisible obstacles in space influenced the movement qualities. The performers imagined mostly different coloured clouds that they needed to move through, avoid, and put into motion.

The sound-space connection
Sound was projected out to the spectators, but since the performers didn’t use microphones, I decided to let the audience sit close to the stage. In that way, everything the performers said would be hearable for most people. I do believe that the music sometimes overpowered the voices of the performers to some extent. That could have been more balanced. The words and vocal sounds originate from the text in the book that is placed in the upstage left corner. The book remains there as an anchor in space during the entire performance.