After trying desperately to get my previous idea to work, I am having to alter it drastically. The problem with a piece having three equally weighted roles and only one performer is proving hard to physicalise on stage. There are definite ways round using video and screens and silhouettes, but I feel to piece is becoming more and more complicated. I am a great believer in beauty of simplicity. However all is not lost. I am certain the piece should be about women and body image. It should also be about music. Throughout this process, wether it be my love of Kate Bush or various songs that have inspired me. Music is a very important part of my life and I know will be apparent in my solo piece.
I was inspired today during a morning work out on my cross trainer. I have had a strange relationship with a somewhat battered cross trainer, which I have had since I was thirteen. At several stages in my life during adolescence I have resorted to using the cross trainer, often in moments of desperation over the way I look. I have always been slightly curvaceous, shall we say, not that I hate the way I look but have struggled to maintain a figure I feel happy with. When I am on my cross trainer, I play songs that have a strong resonance with me. Songs from my past the evoke very powerful memories in order to get me through the vigorous exercise. I want my piece to be about this. This power of feeling through music. For the audience to gain some insight into the goings on in my brain when I attempt to get fit. Some songs I know will create a comic effect, sometimes I choose a power ballad and pretend I am a performer in a music video… embarrassing bit true. Some songs hold more melancholy and personal memories. I like the idea of the audience working out alongside me, but not physically but emotionally.