Interviews

So, I've started "research" for my NaPlwriMo play, which I have dubbed "Partnering." I've interviewed three dancers: a modern dancer, a ballet dancer, and a dance-scholar. I asked them the preliminary questions about how they got into dance, why they've stayed in dance, and then moved into more in-depth questions such as, "What is the relationship between dancer and audience?" I took pages and pages of notes, grappling onto phrases with dramatic possibility. Now comes the hard part where I parse through the research, try not to include every detail, and create new characters that use these people as jumping off points. Whenever I have research that excites me, the temptation is to use everything, every line, everything in the research seems important.

Also, because of these interviews, I'm thinking about retitling the play "Contact/Space," perhaps with a subtitle like, "a play with dance." I don't know. I kind of like "Contact/Space," since the play operates and hinges on the concept of distance (real and perceived) between people in relationships and also onstage/audience. I'm still thinking about this...