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Writer's pictureErika Valdez

AOA S5 E11: Devising PAUSE...

AOA Season 5 Ep 11

Molly: Hello and welcome to a podcast about creating experimental art in trauma-informed and sustainable ways that support artists, our communities and the organization as a whole. I'm your host, Molly, and you're listening to Any Other Anythings. 


Molly: In this season, we are focused on the latest project being produced by Grey Box Collective. It is titled Positive Ruminations. So this is an event that will feature four new works and each episode of this season of Any Other Anythings will feature conversations from the creative teams developing the new work, and we are really focusing on capturing the process and sharing out the things we find interesting along the way. Hope that you enjoy the season of Any Other Anythings. 


Molly: Hello, all. Welcome back to another episode of Any Other Anything. I'm your host, Molly. And in this episode, we are chatting with the creative team for PAUSE... So, Jennifer, Jasmin, and Ri. And again, this was focused on devising form and how when we focused on devising form, the content itself just kind of naturally emerged and appeared.

And overall, it was just kind of like a warm, fuzzy conversation about being in the space and being in this process as a, as a team. So, I hope you enjoy the conversation from the creative team of PAUSE...


So we just ran through approximately 20 minutes worth of material for PAUSE... Which was slapping together all the stuff and things that has been created thus far. And so I'm wondering, what would you all like to capture in this moment or share out in this moment having just gone through that?


Jasmin: I really hope people enjoy the moments with the fabric being folded and bundled. 


Ri: I really enjoyed the sticky note process and like completely deconstructing the movement and then putting it back together. It was a really good challenge to be in the messy middle and just let it unfold however it wanted to unfold. 


Jennifer: I think the chance choreography aspect really resonates because grief is like that no matter how much you plan with it.


It kind of crops up when it wants to crop up, how it wants to, and I feel like doing the post it note with the chunks that we have and the reorganization of it really allows us to explore what we're doing. The internal happenings are related to the external movements and happenings.


Ri: I also just want to capture my frustration with the fabric and realizing that it was a metaphor for grief as well.


I really wanted to just put the fabric down and just move and not like have to hold on to it if I had to wrap it on my body or attach it to me in some way and so then I realized that that actually is like grief like you just want to put it down or like shove it somewhere or you don't want to deal with those feelings right now and you're really tired of carrying this heavy cloud around inside of you. And then it feels a lot like that kind of frustration.


Molly: Yeah I think that's one of the things about this process is like the topic seems to always emerge somewhere in the process, even like today with you being like, I am so overkill with this shit, like, like it just comes up anyways.


Where, like, as we're here sitting at the, like, in between work in progress number one and work in progress number two, with just one more rehearsal after that before the show, where are your heads in terms of the direction it's going. Yeah, like how do you see this moving forward now?


Jennifer: I see playing with the connection between the three of us growing. I think having this rehearsal where there was a lot of weight shifting, weight sharing, give and take, getting into that trust process a little bit more in being able to be this close with our fabric, hanging on each other, touching each other, not having to have it perfectly fitted together and smooth and having it chopped up.


I'm excited to see how it naturally connects us with each other, moving forward, moving through what we have, the chunks that we have.


Jasmin: Kind of bouncing off of like your last thing Jen, Jen that you said and then your last thing Ri that you said. For me with like my whole like body aching and all that stuff, I was frustrated with like the like wrapping around with the fabric but it's also kind of metaphorical too like where you're getting wrapped up in your grief and you're frustrated with it and you don't know what else to do.


Because it's kind of something that you have with you, but I'm excited to see where we go with that and how we're playing along with how long in what direction can we support each other and also just like trusting my own body and its limitations through that process.


Ri: I'm excited to see where it grows. And I am working on shedding my perfectionist tendencies that wants to hyper rehearse everything before a performance, which is my own training and shedding. That's it.


Molly: Yeah, that's what Grey Box will do to you.


I also just want to say, like, thank you for also sharing, like, your frustrations in the process, because I feel like in so many so often in the performing arts world, like, you're not allowed to, like, be frustrated. But I think it's a natural part of the process. Like, there's, like, we talked about, like, the storming part.


There was some storming today, and it doesn't have to be, like, a hurricane. It can be, like, yeah, a rain cloud. 


Jasmin: Can I add something to that? 


Molly: Yes, you can. 


Jasmin: Okay, I just like want to thank you guys and like Grey Box for like creating like a safe space to feel that and like share it like vulnerably because that's not welcome everywhere and here I was kind of like I'm gonna feel this and they're gonna, they're gonna support me and I'm gonna trust that they aren't gonna like, you know, do any ill intention with me being vulnerable and it felt very comforting and supportive and I'm thankful.


Molly: Aw, yay! That's a warm, fuzzy place to end. Thank you all. Thank you.


Molly: Hey, listener. Thank you so much for taking the time and energy to check out another episode of any other anything's greatly appreciate your presence. Be sure to check out the show notes for links to find out more about this podcast, the speakers and Grey Box Collective. You can also go to greyboxcollective.com/podcast for a full transcript of this episode. Thank you again for listening. Thank you again for being here. Greatly appreciate it. Take care of yourselves and each other.






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