Women during WW1

We started off the session by watching everyone’s duets/solos. After watching them we discussed parts/images/ideas of the performances that we might be able to use within our piece.

An image that I felt was really strong was the image of two women reaching out to hold each other’s hands, as it showed the support the women gave each other. We learned a part from a duet performed:

• We were in pairs, with one person in front and one behind. The one behind would hold onto their partner’s arms and the pair would lean forward then come back up and create the action of wringing out a cloth. This action would be repeated 6 times, getting faster and faster, and on the last lean forward they would stay in that position.

• Then the person that was behind would roll off their partner to the left and they would both drag their hands along the floor towards themselves. Then, from right to left, they would sweep their hands along the floor and with their right hand they would stamp on the floor. This created the image of women working in a factory.

All of us doing this sequence looked and felt very powerful.

Simon had the idea of war poems being read out whilst our performance was going on. This could be very effective and would create an extra dimension to the performance.