Well hello there.
It has been a while and a lot of things have been happening, and I felt it was time for an update.
Not only have I been on tour with Arts Team and choreographing a new project (see previous posts), but theres also been some other stuff going on.
My choreography Krama was selected to be at the Opening ceremony of the Kampot Writers and Readers Festival which was a great success. The whole festival went amazingly well, and Kampot was buzzing. Paul Kelly headlined the festival but there was loads going on, including Khmer shadow puppet plays which were great to see. I was so honoured that my choreography was at the opening night! And Donald and I really had a fantastic time at the whole festival.
I also had to do an introduction talk about Krama, the process and the stimulus for the choreography. This was very nerve-racking! I think I’ll stick to dancing on stage next time… But it was great to be able to explain what the movements mean and why they have been selected to be in the piece. So many people came up to me afterwards saying they loved it so it was great to be able to have the opportunity to explain and connect with the audience.
I am back teaching in the Inclusive Arts Course again which is delightful. It is so fun to teach them dance four times a week, and I was very impressed with how much they remembered from my classes even though I have been off timetable with them for two months. These guys are awesome.
Something else rather exciting is that Arts Team are currently in Hong Kong touring my choreography. They look like they are having an amazing time, and I’m sure their not missing me too much 😉
Check out this rather sweet letter from one of the audience members too. Kids are so nice, and so brutally honest in such a wonderful (most of the time) way.
Yesterday, I made a duet with two of the dancers from Epic Encounters. They have a gig next Friday due to being in a film, so we took four hours and came up with what we could. Here’s a cheeky wee glimpse of a bit of what we got up to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5fvBFrG8wY
And tomorrow Krama is off to the US Embassy to perform! I am so excited! Cannot believe my work is going to be performing in Embassy’s. So we are off to Phnom Penh tomorrow with an extra rehearsal today. I tried to finish the projection to the piece for this gig, but with surprise duets to choreograph and Hong Kong preparations for Arts Team, this week has run away with me.
I did however have time to make this wee trailer of Krama. Let me know what you think; I’m wandering if I should do more work on it?
Anyway, I think that is all. Thanks for reading! I’m starting to think about putting preparations in place for coming back home as well. 4 months left here, so I need to make sure I give all that I can to these wonderful dancers here, and I need to explore Cambodia more! It’s been all work and no play so far, however we have a holiday with friends visiting next week so I am very, very excited. It’s going to be great!! We are going to go jungle trekking which I am sooooo excited about, however I have been told I need to be prepared for leeches in my knickers!!! I’ll let you know about that one……..
Love from Cambodia, Kathryn xxx
(This is us at our neighbours wedding. Khmer weddings are amazing. Full on pop band on stage, and the bride and groom get covered in SILLY STRING!?! It’s ok though, the bride has about 6 different outfit changes throughout the night. The other wonderful thing about Khmer weddings is people come up to you and fill your glass with beer right up to the top. They cheers you then you HAVE to down the whole thing. Wasn’t so wonderful the next day though….Here we are with blessings of flowers to throw)
kathrynspence 