Lights, Projector, Action

FireBox Dance Theatre's film, Dark Matter, was shown as part of yesterday's performance and to say I was nervous doesn't come close to covering it. I always get nervous when I'm showing something I've choreographed or produced. I'm generally fine if I'm dancing because I'm in control of my movements but when it's out of my control and it's something that I've created it's more personal. Add to that the fact that I knew my film was so enormously different from the other pieces being shown and I was cacking it!

The other pieces were very 'traditional' contemporary dance, if there is such a thing. Mindy Meyers was re-creating 2 pieces from historical contemporary dancers, Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller, Christy Munch was presenting a piece about purging a relationship, dressed in white muslin trousers, part silence, part 'Hallelujiah' soundtrack and we were dancing in a piece by Nana with lots of imagery and a percussion soundtrack.

Then there's my film: 3 sexy-as-hell dancers gyrating in a night club to nasty, grimy techno music that repeats until you've gone beyond wanting it to change and you're getting into it again, shot in and out of focus with me in silver high heels dancing on a table.

It actually went down really well, with people seeing things in it I had never intended, noticing points that no-one else has commented on and generally just being really enthusiastic about it. One audience member loved it so much she's trying to persuade her friend, a club owner, to use it in the club one night (for a fee of course!). That might be a long shot but it'd be fantastic if it came off.

I also have to say that without Atalee, my hero, we wouldn't have got the film running at all. She came in, hung the white screen, patched up the sound and the projector, focused it all, got it looking great then dis-mantled everything at the end. Given half the day I could have probably figured it out but we had an hour and she did the job.

The best part of the night was when people started asking who Shug was. Well, for a laugh, I decided to say he was an underground DJ/musician/producer from Glasgow who takes pieces of music and turns them into something really unexpected. Now, in Glasgow that would have been met with an "Aye, right, who is he really?". In Chicago, "Yeah, y'know I kinda know that name, I think I've heard some of his stuff before. He's so cool".

So there you are, Shug, get your flight now, there's a ready-made market out here for you.