2pm – 4pm
Rumah P7:1SMA
This was the first rehearsal with the Assistant Stage Manager present, Adi Aiyad, whom P7:1SMA has worked with previously.
The rehearsal started with the Alleycats segment, which is about drug addicts. The segment is mainly showcasing drug addicts coming together, placing their hands in a pile (to perhaps absorb the drugs), having “tingle” and allowing the affects and side effects of the drugs to take over/energy to flow in. They presented concepts such as euphoria, melancholy, hallucination and losing conscious awareness.
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Addicted “cats” in the open.
After going through a few times and fine-tuning the segment, the collaborators continued on with the Umbrella segment, and first recalled the choreography that was set during the previous rehearsals. Haizad mentioned that he would like to incorporate the superstition of jangan buka payung dalam rumah, nanti ada ular (“discouraging the opening of umbrellas indoors, otherwise a snake would appear”).
This time, the collaborators were able to rehearse with actual umbrellas found in the studio. Haizad then initiated the tweaking of formations and refining of certain parts to add more clarity to the concept he was trying to portray, as well as adding in elements of playfulness/cheekiness to further accentuate the narrative. As they were rehearsing, the collaborators had some trouble identifying the parts of the song as it was rather similar throughout, which they resolved to playing the music from the start.
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The umbrellas were a key visual in the umbrella Malay folk dance.
Observational notes/thoughts from the Umbrella segment rehearsal:
- The phrase payung tak payung
o Supposed to protect/shelter but does not necessarily do so or not completely
- Correlation between shelter, hide and protect.
- The transferring of the umbrella; transferring of protection/role of protector?
o Especially so with the swapping of genders in a gendered dance.
- The controlled/slow/careful opening and closing of the umbrella, as compared to allowing the umbrella to spring open by itself
o Gentleness of being a protector?
o Fragility of protection?
- The scanning of the protected
o Better appreciation/emphasis on the value and importance of protecting
o One would not be able to protect something they do not understand
Before ending off the rehearsal, the collaborators tried once through from Umbrella → Exist → Alleycat.
After which, they had a rehearsal debrief:
- The breaks before and after the Exist segment were rather jarring because the Exist segment is short
o Depends on the necessity and artistic vision/value of the breaks
- Some of the songs will not include all the casts and Haizad has new songs in mind.
- Haizad is currently considering the possibility of adding in a Spoon segment using a song from a band with the same name.
o The preliminary structure would be to cook instant noodles with a candle in the middle of the stage, using a silver spoon, and the cast will share and consume the noodles on stage
- The song list and sequence is still a work in progress
o They might not be including the Spider segment
-They might need to sacrifice some “questionable” songs, including those that have already been choreographed or set