duets and trios

Tuesday was pure joy. Rejoining the rehearsal process, I once again found myself in the company of Roberto, Greta and Christopher, this time joined by actress/dancer Sheila McCarthy, at the National Ballet studios on Queen's Quay. In the enormous, brightly lit rehearsal room, they were quietly going over the very last sequence of the film which takes place on a departing train. Roxana must choose between lifelong friend and confidante Amy, and her lover, the Pawnbroker. These two characters represent the greatest influences in Roxana's life story and both love her with the same urgency. Watching Roberto's gorgeous choreography, the emotion of the scene was both subtle and huge, inviting interesting musings on how the camera will observe such wonderful diversity.

During the time I was there, the dancers were focussed mostly on the two women aspect of the trio. The dynamic of having an actor who dances and a dancer who can act is rich - the language of bodies and faces provides a natural compatibility and sense of completion. The power of Roberto's choreography is that it offers emotion through gesture as well as dance and his long fluid lines mean that emotion is almost continuous. Luckily, it is also graded beautifully. As a result, Roxana's dilemma is left unresolved but her connections to both characters are deeply felt.

In a break, Roberto and I stepped outside so I could check on my car (!) Sure enough a nasty parking notice was pinned to my windshield miraculously in tact in the gale force harbourfront winds that were otherwise ravaging everything around us. In the shadow of the building and with the sparkling lake in the distance, we traded thoughts on the emotion of the piece and the values and properties of a static camera vs. a moving one. I have learned on this production that everyone is fascinated by aspects of film production! The dancers talk about camera like old pros, wondering where it might be in any given moment. (Moze was busy all morning with the other demands of production.)

The man himself arrived as I finished chatting with Roberto. When I told him how beautiful it had looked he happily recounted the rehearsals yesterday that laid the groundwork for what I saw today. May I just add that Moze is the only human being I know who can stand in hurricane winds and still look fabulous. Not a piece of clothing ruffled, while my hair was whipped into a frenzy. I got into the car and realised that one of my sunglass clip on shades was missing. I wondered how long I had been sporting my pirate look!