#performance inspiration

[lysonde]

In case anybody watching Lys’s performance at the Fire Fest happens to think the human body can’t do those things on a single length of rope... Enjoy this inspiration piece. (No, the performance doesn’t recreate this.)

[glass-phoenix]

Thunder by Imagine Dragons

[lysonde]

What inspires you to write performances for Lysonde?

My very first paying job was in professional theatre as a spotlight operator for a vaudeville production. After that, I was a soundboard operator for a Shakespearean theatre company. While I personally am terrified of being on the stage, I’ve long had a love for performance and the show. What originally drew me to the Tarts was the concept of a performing troupe and being able to RP as stage crew (that’s what Zayneth actually wanted, but then he told Gabby he played guitar and that was that).

With Lysonde, I knew I wanted a genuine performer with all the complicated, rumor-filled history, colorful aesthetic, and hard fuckin’ work of an 1880s cabaret dancer. She ended up doing aerial rope performances because I felt that was a niche I could comfortably write and I’d happily bow out on shows where the Tarts’ silks performers wanted to be on stage.

That’s all the background stuff though. When it comes to writing actual performances for Lysonde, I often start with a song. I’ll be thinking “Okay, there’s a show coming up, we need to write something” (since Cal and I have been writing duet performances since February) and I’ll be listening to anything and everything when something jumps out at me. This song. Often, the song that starts it isn’t the song eventually used for the performance! (This time, my inspiration was Female of the Species by Space and the performance song was Spiderbite by Beats Antique.)

From there, we sit down together and bounce ideas back and forth, eventually settling on what feels cool and feels like it’d be fun to write and fun for others to read. I pull most of my move descriptions from Youtube videos of aerialist silks and corde lisse performers. For this last show, by the time I got to looking for moves to stitch together, I knew we were going for a bit of a spooky spider theme, so I was looking for angular poses and splayed limbs and head-first drops. Moves are quite often timed with the music for the performance and inspired by that nebulous central concept.

In practice, it looks a lot like writing choreography, and if you’d told me I’d ever be creative enough for that fifteen years ago when I was hauling sets and hanging lights, I’d’ve laughed you off the stage.

[lysonde]

Hallow’s End Preview

@riverblade and I have been hard at work on this year’s Hallow’s End show for the Tarts! Here’s a preview of our performance - enjoy!

[lysonde]

Sugar by Maroon 5

I’m reminded that I want to one day write a performance for Lysonde to this song.

[lysonde]

Practice: Act I

Two days after the Tarts’ Love is in the Air performance.

“You must be kidding me. I couldn’t even walk in those, much less dance. I don’t know where you got the idea that I’m nimble on my feet, Cal.”

“You’re plenty nimble when I’m chasing you.” Oh, his grin was so sly.

Lysonde blushed and focused on the reflection of his butt in the mirror across from her. Those workout pants were awfully flattering...

“We’ll contract out with a designer for a gorgeous dress for you to dance in...”

Hook, meet fish. Lys abandoned the thick rope she’d been hanging on to and crossed the room to take the spindly heels dangling from Cal’s fingers on delicate straps. “Red?”

“Two. Any color you like.”

“Alright. Teach me how to tango.”

[lysonde]

This is what performance planning between Lys and Cal’s writers looks like. Mind the tumbleweeds.

@riverblade

[lysonde]