Sunday Session
5th February 2008
Entry by Sarah Young, Development Officer
I have been working for Echo Echo for over 6 months now but last week I was ashamed to admit that I had yet to attend a Sunday Session!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Sunday Sessions, the event is held every month on the first Sunday of the month at 7pm in Echo Echo's dance studio. It is essentially a platform for performers to show new work, to experiment and to mingle with others in a safe and supported place.
I was determined to attend the first of the New Year and as Ursula (Echo Echo's Co-Artistic Director) said on Sunday evening, the space is unique.
And after popping my Sunday Session cherry at the weekend (3rd Feb), I can agree that the space is unique. It is a warm and comfortable space where professionals, amateurs and everyone in between could perform or simply watch and listen.
The evening began with an exclusive peek at Steve's solo piece, 'A poetic phrase of turns' which he had just performed at British Dance Edition in Liverpool the previous day. This was followed by Ayesha's dance group who performed a beautiful improvisation to music.
The gifted James King and Caroline Gallagher had us in stitches with their clowning performance. After which, Ursula sprung a surprise group improvisation on everyone. Of course, as always there was no pressure to take part and with the group of about 8, there was some wonderful movement, group and duet interaction with the backdrop of some Swiss music and yodelling. This tied in nicely to Dennis' reading about his climbing experience in Switzerland and Italy.
Poet, performer, Consequences technical manager and all round wonderful person, Ellen Factor performed some improvisation with James King. They had us questioning perfection and our ...how should I put it?...body image. It was hilarious.
Weaving back to dance, the talented Janine gave us a solo followed by Ursula's playful improvisation with singer Victoria. Something that I think the two are hoping to develop.
As the evening came to an end, we skipped to another genre - music. Bernadette sang about some great female characters close to her heart and then we were treated to a trio made up of Benny, Martin and Yehudith. As far as I know, Benny and Martin were also newcomers to the Sunday Session so I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did and their performance was a perfect ending to an eventful and fulfilling night of performance.
Reflecting on my first experience of a Sunday Session, I will definitely not leave it so long before I return. It was a welcome change to my usually uneventful Sunday evening spent complaining that the weekend went in too fast. The Sunday Session left me feeling good and although I didn't perform, I felt accomplished. I hadn't wasted my Sunday evening watching TV or stressing about Monday morning. Instead I was surrounded by creativity and talent that left me pondering.... maybe I could perform sometime? We'll wait and see!
If you would like more information on the monthly event, visit the Sunday Session page on this site. Alternatively, contact Echo Echo on +44(0)28 7134 2266 or e-mail info@echoechodance.com
