OCG VII - Day 6 - Show #2

Day 6
Slightly easier to get up this morning.  A lot of comments come up during breakfast.  The whizz of silence is a potent topic of discussion.  Another controversy is the nature of whether or not something was "music"; generally, I notice that there is a certain type that laments the place that tonality did not have in the performance last night.  One of the Seattle team--I think it's either Bill, Curt, or Jaxie, but it turns out to be Tony--makes a pertinent comment that we may need to leave our preconceptions of what "healing music" is at the door.  Personally, I revel in the fact that tonality simply does not matter in this work, or at least in the form that it is taking.

But everyone seems happy, and everyone acknowledges that the audience seemed to love it.

An announcement from the Travel Coordinator to the whole team, advising everyone to watch the board for later this morning.  Also, as the breakfast team disperses after a two-hour meal, I mention the point of seeing from last night to Sandra; it seems to light her up, which makes the idea even harder to resist.  It is a hazardous idea, but it seems potent.  Really potent.

Prepare the departures list for everyone.  This is a clear sign of the beginning of the end, for me.

Some laundry, with a long wait to put it in the dryer in the main house.  Sort out my suitcase, send a message off to Laura requesting some 35mm film if she has a chance.  I'd like to get some practice in before lunch, but Peter is sleeping, and the weather is total shit.  I'll have to pick it up after lunch.  Sigh.

2:00 - Getting grouchy.  Am a little mystified that people are napping right now.  Tonight's show will probably be a little tough.  One high mark is that I have my own departure for Monday figured out.

Heading into another middle again.

Piling into the buses at 3:00.

Arrival at Hadley around 4:15ish.  A chance to warm up, explore the space.  In the circle at shortly before 5:00 for blocking, "soundcheck".

This is a difficult space:  the acoustics are not good for a large group of any sort.  As a soloist, or even a small chamber ensemble of maybe 5 players, I could see this being a great space.  But as an ensemble member, I find it impossible to hear anything outside of my immediate vicinity, and even then it gets a little tricky.  And there are certain pockets that totally swallow the sound.  This is not to say that it's not an attractive looking space.  But that's sort of the crux of it:  there are a lot of things about this church that say "money" on it, and the feel of the building is like a really big toy, to me.  Fancy, pretty, sterile, and new.  The acoustics reflect that:  I get the feeling that I'm hearing the Orchestra through a plug-in, as opposed to the very real and 3-dimensional sound of the Cambridge venue.

Split green rooms.

Generally feel unsettled and restless, and it seems a bit like the rest of the team feels the same way:  there is more idle chatter than the night before.  Frank has observed that the attention of the team is different, and a bit shakier.  Robert brings this up as a matter of practicality.

Doors open at 7:00; at one point, I find myself talking a bit with a member of MREC.  She asks whether everyone got the kitchen enneagram she'd posted to Facebook, and mentions that she would have been available to give a presentation on this, over the course of the week.  This seems like a bit of a sticky wicket, and I duck out of the conversation pretty quickly, though my own feeling is that it would have been a bad idea, and not just because of my own aversion to jargon (though I do feel the enneagram is important, and I personally want to have a better understanding of it as well).

Performance at 8:00.

Los Internationales
Procession
Exploring the Space
Repertoire:  Red, Voices of Ancient Children, Berceuse, Askesis
Enpodulate/Whizz
"Triple Vicious Queen Whizz"
Procession
Encore:  Schizoid Man
Encore:  Asturias

Overall, it's a hard show, like I had suspected would be the case.  This is not to say that magic doesn't happen, and there is an improvised whizz that happens at the end of the second improv that is really quite amazing.  But the show itself is tough to work through.

A couple of moments stand out:

During "Enpodulate", and shortly before it becomes a whizz, there is a funny moment where there is quite a bit of activity going on behind me, and then I find myself in a quartet of circulation that becomes a twinkly little thing.  Then Bill comes over, and doesn't play a note, but does introduce movement into the moment.  I am not quite sure if he's come over to lead or if he's finding himself drawn to this little pod.  And then it dissolves, and we melt into the whizz.

Standing next to Jaxie during the TVQW, and being entirely unable to hear the whizz coming from my right.  Feeling like I'm slowing it down.

The final twinkle/procession of Asturias.  As we proceed out of the space into the other large hall, the procession chords fade out, and a zither comes up the chain from the hall back into the space.  It's really quite something.

After the performance, film!  From Laura's friend.  Greatly appreciated.  Seeing some intentional pissing of energy.  Also, seeing Frank run.  Back on the bus.

We arrive back at the house close to midnight, with strict instructions to put our stuff back at our cabins and then immediately come back to the main house.  Here, we find out that, since there is no way to have a team to make sandwiches for everyone, and since half the team will be departing after the final meeting tomorrow, we will each be making our own bag lunch (and dinner if it is appropriate).  A bit of shock and whining from the team, but it's got to get done.  My hand shoots up when Patrick says he needs help getting stuff brought out for this process.

As I'm making my hommous wrap, I notice people piling it on, with apparently no consideration for the fifteen or twenty other people that still need to finish their own food.  So my own becomes a bit smaller than I had originally intended, and it actually looks just fine.

Some very last minute consternation with last-minute travel changes.  As I finally make it back to my cabin, a text from Curt about one person needing to be on a different bus arrives--I'll have to leave it for the morning.  Decision work, and to bed around 1:25 am, with the realization that my hands really need a rest after this project.