Whilst chatting to Anya, she asked for advice on performing away on tour. As I am used to travel and dancing away on tour/rehearsals for lengthy periods she felt in need of some advice and had questions about this new aspect she was soon to experience in her career path.
Below are the questions that I was given, I thought that by publishing them some of you would like to add your personal reflection to these. I felt it would be a nice idea to get a variation of answers as one tour can be very different to another- one creative field differs from the next- and we all hold different opinions to the experience of living from the same old suitcase feeling a sense of 'floating' from one performance, theatre/venue and hotel to another!!
- Essential items to pack...what can you not live without on the road? is it better to pack lightly or overpack and be prepared for anything?
- I have heard from friends that it is very hard to eat healthy whilst travelling/rehearsing/performing...any tips? do you take food and utensils with you, so simple meals can be prepared? or do you have to master the art of chosing the healthiest option on a take away menu?
- Do you tend to have to work on very little sleep?
- Do you sometimes get socially claustrophobic living, working 24hours together...do you get time to yourself? or do you just have to become tolerant in that kind of situation?
- Do you find it difficult to rehearse, perform and still find time for conditioning? How do you adapt your conditioning routine?
- What are your experiences of technical difficulties when performing? What are the most common ones?
- Do perfromance venues really vary?
- What is the most challenging part of touring?
My answers;
- My essential 'body pack': includes arnica cream/gel capsules and germolene for those bumps, bruises, cuts and burns inevitable whilst performing/rehearsing. Muscle rub; like tiger balm or deep heat to sooth the body when it hits fatique and results in pulls/strains, as you will be expected to work through the pain. Theraband or exercise elastics for stretching and conditioning. Knee pads for experimenting/repeating with new exciting moves. Hair/makeup required for performance. I tend to over pack when it comes to clothing, lots of layers and rehearsal wear as many venues and theatre can be freezing! I would like to think I take losts of nice clothing to wear for down time, yet that would be kidding myself....as rehearsals/performances and travel takes around 13-15 hours daily, social time on tour is very rare...other than a post performance run where a little glass of wine is well deserved.
- Monitoring a healthy well balanced diet can be difficult if you are not based in self catering accommodation with acess to kitchen appliance, as the 'on the road' food tends to be lots of eating out, take aways or the quick and easy options from supermarkets like sandwiches (lots of stodge fat and heavy carbs, not ideal if eaten alll day every day). In these circumstances I tend to take backup options of substantial items like rice cakes, oat biscuits for a little sugar kick, buy fresh fruit daily where accessible, nuts and dried fruit. As these are snacks, I like to eat little and often, saving myself mainly for dinner where i would chose a meal based upon fresh food and lots of protein, like fish or chicken, and some carbs for energy. In many venues and theatres microwaves are available so soup is ideal for the light lunch to keep you going through out the afternoon. I do give in to my cravings though, I know I will work off plenty of calories throughout the time away so if that choccy bar is shouting at me...I will eat it :)
- Yes this is a very common factor, to work on little sleep. This even more so now that I am having to sacrafice even more sleep to connect and work on this BAPP course. It is therefore important for us dancers to watch what we eat, with regards to lots of energy and slow burning foods...leaving out where possible the option for the sugar and adrenelyne rollercoaster of rush/dips. I find that stretching and napping on the go to be helpful in time management. Many times I have been laughed at by other co members for stretching on trains, in minibuses and catching up on much needed 40 winks in public, ha.
- I think being tolerant and socially away of your own mood helps alot in such sticky situations. I have discovered tension within myself, and seen it with other peers as you have no choice really than to be in each others pockets. I found that lots of communication to 'the outside world' helps, keeping in control of your own focus with reading/researching your own apsects of performing etc. Listening to music is a must for me....the songs that cheer me up, energise and calm me down are on playlists. Having a journal where if necessary you can explode all emotions in private so as to not create more tension...afterall as Martha Graham once said, 'Misery is a commincable disease'!
- I am currently touring with two different programmes of work, both sets of pieces are very different...one named 'Within this dust' is an extremely energetic and technical programme with 2 dancers (myself and another) based on the 'Falling man' image of 9/11, so imense emotional preparation is required along with the technical training...the other programme named 'Cut' has 5 dancers in a site design piece, 2 hours of site specific dance theatre work in and around buildings where we each have a character to portray. I find the spare time to be more difficult to come across when in 'within this dust' as we are needed in the space more often. Like I said before, multi tasking with the stretching, combining certain required techniques for the pieces into the daily and preshow warm up/ asking for specifics in daily class always help target your personal needs. When we are in the larger group, we take it in turns to teach class....always to teach different areas of technique and performance so as to cover all ground. The other dancers in your situation will need similar body and expressive attention so its good to voice it!
- Technical difficulties do always tend to arise, mainly at crucial points, especially if your programme has many lighting states, musical changes/live music, or effects and props....yet it is good to distance your self from such things as there is a team in control it and you have your personal perparation to take care of. When the problems happen mid perfromance (usually music or lighting cues) it tests your ability to act on impulse or 'reflect in action' ( :-) !!!!) to carry on and pull the performance together seamlessly with the others (if applicable).
- I would be inclined to say yes, but looking back I have found many venues, as I am currently theatre based, they roll into one image and memory...afterall theatres rarely differ. I imagine for you, when in commercial venues you will see the differences more!
- The most challenging, and often in some cases an exciting part of touring is trying to keep each performance fresh and energetic, desptite being tired (and sometimes trired of the choreography). Give yourself a new angle to view your role in performance, or something new to achieve throughout your perfromance helps this. If you experience an injury or have a bad day, it can be quite difficult to rise out of the gloom with out the comforts and company of home...this teamed with constant travelling (which, dont get me wrong is a fab experience) and living from a suitcase can get some people down. Many days are very similar so try not to become subdued and dont fall into the boredom...look at each day as a new experience of which you can learn from, and impart knowledge and fun to others. We are living the dream afterall!!!
I am looking forward, as I imagine as is Anya with hearing some other stories and views within your answers ...thankyou in advance!
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