FINAL AESTHETICS PROJECT: "First Egg"

VIDEO:
First Egg

TITLE:
First Egg

INTENTION:
To celebrate moving into the new apartment with my fiancé by creating a site-specific dance piece in our salon and simultaneously cooking our first meal together in the new space.

INSPIRATION:
The idea behind this piece came from my desire to “christen” our new home with a dance piece.  Originally, I had expected that our renovation would have been finished long before we performed this piece.

SCRIPT:
The script was very simple.  Both performers start in the kitchen cooking an egg.  After a minute or so, one of them begins to relate to the space as a dancer, not as a “normal person.” The person cooking the egg continues until the other takes over.  The two performers switch back and forth until the egg is finished, then continue to relate to each other and the space as dancers until the music finishes.

DETAILS:
On Thursday, December 8th, 2011, at 21:30, "First Egg” was performed at 5 Yosef Hanasi St. Apartment 1, to an audience of a few friends and several passers by who could see into the apartment from the street.  I chose to perform the piece at night so that the light from the apartment would draw attention from passers-by on the street. There is a huge floor-to-ceiling window in front of the performance area that spans the entire six-meter wall and faces the street.

CAST: 
Mati Bardosh
S. Asher Gelman

Because of the nature of this piece, there were only two of us who could have danced it.    Originally I had intended to create a solo, but it occurred to me that because it was our home, both of us should partake in this piece.

PREPARATION:
Due to the fact that Mati studies in Haifa during the week, I was forced to work on this piece during the weekends.  Originally, I had intended to create a choreographed piece, but due to the ongoing construction, I was only able to work on the piece the day of the performance, since the kitchen itself and the couches only arrived the previous day.  Furthermore, the entire space was filled with garbage and cardboard boxes up until 24 hours before the performance.I decided that rather than scrap the production entirely, we could turn it into a site-specific improvisation.

ADVERTISEMENT:
My primary means of advertising this performance was Facebook.  I also called a few friends and asked them to come.

MUSIC:
Originally I wanted to use music about the home, but I couldn’t find any that fit.  I decided to use music from The Magnetic Fields instead  The tracks are all from their album “69 Love Songs”:
    Two Kinds of People - The Magnetic Fields
    Long-Forgotten Fairytale - The Magnetic Fields
    You’re My Only Home - The Magnetic Fields

COSTUMES:
I chose to have us both dressed in street clothes.  I wanted to create a sense that the performance aspect was almost an accident.  I wanted passers-by to stop and watch because of the movement, not because of the costumes, indicating a performance.

DOCUMENTATION:
I set up my video camera in the back of the room to record the performance.  The video does not include the giant window behind it.  Since our apartment is on the ground floor, passers-by were able to see the performance from the street.

RESULTS:
Several of my friends attended the performance of “First Egg,” as well as several people who stopped to watch from the street.  The feedback I received was positive.

PERSONAL ASSESSMENT: 
I was not thrilled by the final result.  Mati was feeling very sick the night we performed.  I did not have the option to postpone the performance, due to the fact that Mati had surgery the following day and would not be able to partake in any physical activity for the next few weeks to keep the stitches from ripping.  Furthermore, had I known that by this point we would still not be living in a finished apartment, I would have planned another performance entirely.  I decided to do this performance shortly after returning to Israel in September, at that time, I had no way of knowing that the apartment would still be unfinished.  That said, I felt that it is important to be flexible - when God gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

I believe that Mati and I did a fine job dancing this script, especially in light of how sick he felt.  I felt that my ideas about making our first cooked meal together in our new home into a performance was an interesting idea.  The egg took a bit longer to cook than I had anticipated, mostly due to the fact that neither of us were very familiar with using the stove.  I would have rehearsed with the egg, but I wanted the performance to be the event itself.  I felt that using an egg in rehearsal would cheapen the performance itself. 

There are a lot of changes I would make to this performance given the opportunity to do it again. I would create something rehearsed and set.  I would make sure the apartment was finished before committing to the performance.  I would have given myself ample time to rehearse the performance.  Unfortunately, this time around, that was simply not possible due to extenuating circumstances regarding the renovation.  I believe I was a little too set on doing this specific piece, and would have been better served changing my project.

I believe that, due in large part to the unlucky circumstances I faced, the performance was alright.  I, however, am not content with alright.  I ultimately felt that this project did not reach my expectations, and I feel it is not worthy of being called my “final project” for this course.  I feel that I did some pretty incredible work this semester, and that this is sub-par.  I would like to work on a similar project once the apartment is complete, because I believe there is a fantastic dance to be made, and unfortunately, it did not happen with this performance.