Day Three: The Encounter - La Encuentro
The encounter. The moment we’ve all been waiting for, the moment everyone is curious about. This moment will define the piece, this moment will define the trip. What will the devised piece be about?
Of course, we started with a very “Heather” warm up which consisted of core work and abs. Moments after we said our welcomes, all the students were indeed united through the rigorous ab work & warm up; our teachers smiling through it and taking photos. We all connected through our shaking, tremoring bodies. When told to “rest in plank” one Chilean student said something like “what!??,” all of us nodding our heads in despair and determination. The Chilean students had just come back from summer break, determined to push through and convince the students from the United States that they were serious about the work. The students from the United States were determined to do the same. We all wanted to impress each other: more so, we all wanted to have a mutual respect for one another.
After the warm up came something that the students from MSU know as “viewpoints,” moving through the space while being aware of where you are and still connecting with other people. What made it difficult was the small space and the fact that we were complete strangers. Despite the language barrier, we work well together. At the end, we moved in unison toward downstage, touching each other’s shoulders and standing in one line, together.
After the typical warm up for students from MSU, we took a break. The Chilean students led us to an empanada stand, trying to explain this South American cuisine, when in fact we were warned about the glories of a cheap empanada prior to coming to Chile. While sitting in the courtyard we conversed amongst ourselves, asking about the local culture, asking about each other’s habits.
When we got back to work we jumped right in. Gabriel, a teacher at the university, led us through a voice workshop where we connected to a partner on a new and personal level. Because we were students working across cultures with two different languages, this was significant. There is something about movement and touch that provides a mutual language. The vibrations in the room and in the body were intense. There was no room to hold back in this exercise, it required immediate trust. By the end of the experience, the ground of the room was shaking with vibrations of open, free, sound.
After the adrenaline of getting to know each other, we were faced with a difficult task. We were asked to share our personal stories with each other and create a piece inspired by them, translating for each other as best we could along the way. We had one hour. I was personally very impressed with the Chilean student’s effort to speak in English for us. Creating a piece was hard because everyone has brilliant ideas, which are complex and therefore hard to translate. I found myself communicating with the body to explain ideas. Rather than sitting and talking about what type of composition we could make, we just had to go for it.
When getting back to the room and showing each other our pieces, there was a common thread between all of them. Each group essentially made a piece about not being heard but wanting to be listened to. Yes, linguistically but also within our own language. Being ignored, not being really listened to. Maybe this is what the piece will be about, but we have to get back in the room and go straight into the work to find out. ¡Gracias para una buena dia en Santiago, Chile!
- Jeanette
