VACUUM Debut Review (Patreon)

The week leading up to Saturday's show, I found myself trying to pick between two choreographic 'hypotheses':
(1) building the shapes and tricks in a slow, steady build-up to the final most difficult and impressive shapes, and leaning on the fact that the aesthetic of the vacuum tower itself is enough to keep the audience 'hooked' from the start; or
(2) have a slow, suspenseful start, BAM – hit people with a fairly impressive trick – and then back up and start the choreographic crescendo from there (finishing with a 'big move' again).   

I went with hypothesis #1 for the weekend.  
It went well enough.
But I think the way to move forward is actually more in line with hypothesis #2.

Next up on the schedule is recording a proper video of the act this Saturday in a studio. I've rented a beautiful, big, white-walled infinity-cove type deal down on Eastern Ave in Toronto, enlisted the lovely Tig Fong, Miranda Tempest, and Taliya Cohen to shoot, tech, and assist, and I'm looking forward to having fun with another angle of making weird art with weird art.

All this being said, I learned a lot from the show on Saturday and there's things I can address even in the short interim of 1 week that will  continue to improve things artistically and aesthetically (there are technological improvements that can happen as well, but those are lower on my list and will have to be addressed later in the spring).

The main issue that I can address in time for Saturday is a choreographic one.

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ISSUE: LOSING THE AUDIENCE IN PLACES
SOLUTION: CHOREOGRAPHIC ADJUSTMENTS REQUIRED

Not being able to see your audience certainly hinders being able to 'read' if a trick or transition is going over well; all I had to go on was sound.
Less screaming?
More screaming?
Quieter because they're freaked out?
Quieter because they're bored and looking at their phones?
Swearing because I'm blowing their minds?
Swearing because someone has stepped on their feet in a 6-inch stiletto?
Who knows.

You can also sense the energy from a crowd.
Even though I couldn't see anything on Saturday night from inside the tower, I felt like there were energetic lags from the audience that sync'd up with the quieter moments I was noting.

My analysis of this is that the beginning is slowwwww and suspensefulllll .... and then the audience's "big payoff" is just the elbowstand. Which is bloody hard to do in there (there's barely any room to maneuver; I have giant long legs; etc), but the audience doesn't know that. The image that I present to them in that moment just kind of looks like an 'easy inverted shape'. It's not enough reward for their patience and attention at the moment.

Therefore: I think the elbowstand has to go.
What to replace it with ... ?

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stay strange & wonderful -- 

xx. 

s