The Hardest Little Solo

If you've been reading this little blog you know that last weekend I performed a new solo - HOME. The structure of the work is pretty straight forward - I walk across the stage slowly while carrying a 7' tree on my shoulders, I walk downstage, put the tree down, walk in front of the tree, pause, walk to the lip of the stage and go into an improv structure based on the breath with my left foot never leaving its spot, I squat, and end. But, it is turning out to be one of the hardest pieces I've done in a while. The first walk is so slow and I keep rushing the beginning - or, it feels that way to me, even though others have said they don't notice it. During this walk I have to keep reminding myself of the statement I'm using for myself to frame the walk - 'one step = 10,000 steps'. Then the improv downstage is difficult, or challenging, because the arch of it is hard to hold on to - it starts slow, speeds up and then ends in the squat - I tend to rush the transition from slow to sped up. Staying with the simplicity of the beginning of the breath score is hard for me. Maybe it is because the piece doesn't have alot of parts that its complexity is so much on the surface. Trying to do just enough and keep it simple, yet try and fully express the work is certainly a challenge.