The piece itself is just layers of joy and sadness and loneliness and torture and struggle. So I think that is very clearly reflected in how I felt playing, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. In that sense, I think, by that measure, it felt very successful, in that I felt I was able to really lose myself in the piece in a different way. I usually just play music, and I’m not into storytelling. It’s a fine line between what I usually do and what we were doing tonight. But I feel that I’m perhaps a step closer to a new stage in my development as an artist, by stepping outside of my usual zone. So in that sense, great. I feel really light, and in a good way, empty, after tonight.
The residency was, in a good way, a struggle. We’re working on things, going back and forth, arguing and disagreeing, and agreeing again, all with positivity and sympathy. My collaborators are all very passionate, very intelligent, very thoughtful, very artistic people who have amazing ideas. And so trying to pull all these together while maintaining my vision for this whole project, as well as always keeping the storyline and the character of Yokihi, and what she represents, in focus, trying to pull all these different elements together in a way that feels organic
What I’m taking away from this residency is… on a physical level, on a pragmatic level, we were able to videotape it. We have a really nice video crew, good sound. So from there, that video will allow us, hopefully, to put it crassly, shop it around and see if there are people who are interested in being a part of it, or supporting it somehow, or presenting us. But also, it’s a way for me to get an objective view, to see what we were doing and see what was being conveyed, how it was being conveyed. So that’s huge. Just that itself is huge.
But then, getting through it, performing for the people that were here today, just working through a lot of ideas. A lot of this stuff was very new to me, ideas that we put together. So being able to just do that, and put it out in the universe, is already a vital part of this process, I can already tell.