Happy Slappin' at the Goblin Kings Masquerade Ball

On Friday the 4th May Happy Slap Boutique teamed up with Prangsta to provide a make-up booth attached to their stall at The Goblin King's Masquerade Ball in the Old Vic tunnels. Myself and fellow performer Aurora Starr provided walk about performance through out the night - Cheeky goblin fan dances around the atmospheric Old Vic Tunnels. The night was great fun and I was so amazed at the effort put in by all the staff, performers and punters - The costumes, make-up and prosthetic's were out of this world. The drippy, damp and dark tunnels of the Old Vic were a perfect setting for the night and made it incredibly easy to get immersed in this goblin world. The only negative point I have is to do with the music and the general sound of the night. It was a bit 'off'. When joining together night life, partying and theatre you have to think of the night as a whole performance, with peaks, climaxes and an awareness of the vibe that's being created. At the 'party peak' of the night the main stage (and in fact the only sound resonating throughout the tunnels) was the sound of a solo ukulele comedy act. The act itself was great - and obviously I am a fan of the ukulele comedy scene! However what the crowd was wanting at that point was to be dancing - Put the comedy act on in another area of the building, where people can choose to listen to it if that is what they want - Not make them listen and pay full attention to something so specific when they are itching to dance and let their goblin hair down. Having said that however the night as a whole however was really great and I loved being apart of another event helping to mix theatre into the exciting party scene that is blooming right now!

RUMPUS - definitely the way parties should be

Happy Slap Boutique started what (we hope) will be a long and beautiful friendship with the wonderful people of RUMPUS on the 7th of April 2012. We ran a room 'The Illustrated Circus of Beasts' for RUMPUS Vol.9 Tomorrows Party Today, filling our space with the circus, live body painting and general mischief to the sounds of our wonderful Happy Slap DJ Ocelus.

www.rumpusparty.co.uk
www.soundcloud.com/ocelus

Kensington - We Are The Young

A music video I did in October 2011. I am the girl with the gun and the drugs and the lipstick and that.



Directed by Daniel Burdett. Production and makeup by Natasia Demetriou

www.kensingtonband.com www.thisisheavy.co.uk

Neglecting Chimney Weeps

It has been over a year since I have updated my blog... Within that time Horseplay Arts Club has come to an end, after a great year of theatrical partying. Projects such as Debunked, Lizzie&Phoebe and MANYROOTS theatre have been put on the back burner. I have moved house, found a new man, learnt to fire breathe and traveled to China - Where I picked up a horrific tropical infection, ended up in a dirty inner city hospital and for the first time in my life had days on end with only my squidgy brain as company. It was within this time that the last year really came into focus.. and my practice as it stands right now came into focus.

It's no secret that I love to party and up until a year ago all the performance I was doing in festivals, clubs and events was more of a side project, something more for fun than creative development. It was during an installation of mine called Rave in a Cave at Kendal Calling 2011 that I first realised just how passionate I was about this way of performance. A local man from Skipton slurred over his local ale that the installation had made him realise that "life isn't just black and white" and that he "felt open to new and exciting things". So I started directing, curating and performing full time at club nights, festivals, events and parties up and down the country, working freelance with existing organisations such as Project Exodus and the SOAS Union and with bands such as Slamboree. Around October 2011 I took on a leading role within Happy Slap Boutique - The company I have worked creatively with since 2010. It is under the fantastic collaborative of Happy Slap Boutique that I am trying to push the theatrical boundaries of festival and club performance. My desire is to stretch audiences expectations of what performance in this setting can be and can mean.

So now I have found my theatrical purpose (for the time being) I must not neglect Chimney Weeps. I must continue to document my practice. www.happyslapboutique.co.uk

The Flophouse Fringe Festival

Lizzie&Phoebe are collaborating with Richard Keiss and scratching a new work 'The Attention Show' at the Flophouse Fringe Festival Saturday, May 14 at 12:00pm - May 15 at 1:00am. Come on down!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180941758620443

Horseplays 1st Birthday

One year to the day since we started Horseplay at Proud Galleries in Camden we threw our final pony party at that venue. We are moving on to BIGGER and BETTER things...

Rumour has it that Horseplay is moving East End.. so keep your ears to the ground as soon you will be able to hear the sound of distant hooves galloping towards you once again!

Mycological Society

My role in Traveller and Unraveller was as a member of the Mycological Society. We held Tobias rooted to the ground in the opening section. The dance was choreographed by Jennifer Essex and relied heavily on improvisation, taking influence from the dance form Butoh.

More information on Makeup Artist Grace McComisky's site http://www.gracemccomisky.co.uk/203

Behind The Scenes - Traveller and Unraveller

Recent Performances

Traveller and Unraveller

London College of Fashion is proud to present Traveller and Unraveller - a dance performance to celebrate and showcase the culmination and hard work of final year students from BA (Hons) Costume for Performance, BA (Hons) Make-up and Prosthetics for Performance and BA (Hons) Technical Effects for Performance.

In the story of Traveller and Unraveller, written by Harry Man, the narrative revolves around the central character Tobias. Tobias, 'the Unraveller' finds himself in a forest stuck between day and night in the realm of the crows. His journey back to Earth, much like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, is both literal and symbolic.

Students have worked closely with the director Jennifer Essex to visualise the story, alongside professional designer Di Mainstone. Natalie Brown Acting Director of Programmes for Performance commented, "We are extremely proud of our students' exceptional talent, creativity and making abilities, which they have applied in a process which has engaged their energy, enthusiasm, team work and confidence to deliver their ambitious designs within a very tight time frame and budget, for the show at the Cochrane Theatre."

Barquentine- Gormenghast Project

Makeup Artist and Creator - Grace McComisky
Model and Actor - Elizabeth West

I WANNA TAKE A RIDE ON YOUR CANDY STICK

The Christmas Belles will take you kicking and screaming into the festive season with a sickly sweet pole dance... HORSEPLAY @ Proud Galleries Camden 14th December 7:30pm-Late £5 on the door

A durational work
Devised by Lizzie West
Make up by Olivia Brown
Performed by Lizzie West, Olivia Brown and Jill Raymond

People You May Know

A Participation Game 30/10/2010

Co-produced with Takeover @ York Theatre Royal

THERE is a party, the best party you are likely to attend, you are invited but you don't know where it is, everyone you know is going but they don't know where it is either. Over the course of one hour you will learn more about the location and how to get there. However the people you may know will need to help and will need your help too.

THIS is a game about helping the people you may know to meet, to go to the same party and spend time together. However you will have to meet online first to discover how to get there.

THE game plays itself out across the city of York and will culminate in the best party you are ever likely to attend, we just need to get you and the people you may know there first.

Director (Rob Drummer)

I am performing in Other Pieces this week...

Other Pieces

Performance
(60 mins)

Thursday 7 October, 5pm & 7pm
in Clean Rehearsal Room at Central School of Speech and Drama as part of the Collisions PHD festival.

‘The art of jigsaw puzzling begins with wooden puzzles cut by hand, whose maker undertakes to ask himself all the questions the player will have to solve, and, instead of allowing chance to cover his tracks, aims to replace it with cunning, trickery, and subterfuge … despite appearances, puzzling is not a solitary game: every move the puzzler makes, every piece the puzzler picks up … every combination he tries … every blunder and every insight, each hope and each discouragement have all been designed, calculated, and decided by another.’
Georges Perec – Life: A User’s Manual

Other Pieces is a game for two across time and space. As scenes from the lives of various strangers unravel and entangle themselves, audience members must complete a jigsaw puzzle laid out before them. Whole moments and memories are recreated for the individual with real urgency before the jigsaw image is solved and boxed, placed on a shelf and perhaps forgotten.

Directed by Rob Drummer
Dramaturgy: Luis Manuel-Campos
Scenography: Lauren Irving

A Short Walk in the Country

'It makes me think about the way I am'



18th-20th August at Forest Fringe Edinburgh. A collaboration between Nick Wood, Venla Hatakka, Jonathan Gavaghan and Elizabeth West.

It's a good job I love it.

Struggling through the tube station arms filled with peacock feathers.
Slowly stuffing a plastic horse head with bin bags.
Spending 4 hours desperately searching for Australian merchandise.

Panicking about not owning a pair silver hot pants.
Panicing about not owning purple leggings.
Panicing about not owning the correct coloured corset.
Learning to play the toy accordion.
Buying carpet tape for nipple tassels as it holds it on better.
Painstakingly gluing glitter onto 23 masks.

Drawing various fat naked ladies with large muffs.
Turning a Dorethy Perkins snake skin top into a desert snake.
Running around exotically with loo roll.
Buying 8 boxes of 15 denier tights and wondering about the thickness as they will be worn over a naked body.
Argueing over character shoes.
Eating a crisp off the sole of a dirty flip flop.

Vomiting due to the fact I have squirted a whole can of cream into my mouth.
Being a sexually confused zebra.
Growing my pubic hair.
Jumping in a water fountain in January.

Working out the correct mixture of household liquids to create the most realistic sexual fluid-like substance.
Cleaning a stinking club toilet.
Falling off a chair over 40 times.

Regurgitating food.
Having a penis slapped accross my face.
Sorting through hundreds of postcards.
Making Adam and Eve costumes.
Comparing fake moustaches.

Doing a Kate Bush interpretation so frantically that I feel like my brains fallen out.
Being repetedly slapped accross the face.
Rubbing a dead pheasant in my face.
Dancing around half naked in Leeds city centre.
Jumping into a chocolate cake.

Downing pints of beer.
Dancing for 5 hours with no break.
Worrying about kangeroos.
Getting too much fake hair in my eyes.

Sticking fake eyeballs into apples.
Crafting a prop out of raw meat.
Sticking a banana in Hilary Benns face.

Hello World, this is me.

Drowning (working title) - Projection recording

I had the pleasure of working with Riki Kim on her dissertation project 'For pain without words we can Understand'

I had to work with a specific stimulus:

Do you ever feel like sometimes you are drowning in other poeple's words?

You are drowning in other peoples’ words and your own words are being lost. You are at a point where you feel as if you are mute, for you cannot express yourself with words tainted deeply by others. You are drowning, unable to communicate.

The movement was improvised and inspired by Butoh performance.

http://www.ateralas.net/pain/notes.html

Whose Cloud is it Anyway? - New Website

Please check out Debunked's new project website and book online for our next show!

Whose Cloud is it Anyway?
28th-29th July at The Peoples Show in Bethnal Green.

www.whosecloudisitanyway.com

Sitting at my computer, looking like a tramp,
I ain't got a boyfriend, got a youtube account.

Happiness is like a butterfly

Happiness is like a butterfly... The more you chase it the more it will elude you... But if you turn your attention to other things it will come quietly and sit on your shoulder.

I will be collaborating with make up artist Grace McComisky on the performance work 'Happiness is like a butterfly' which will be shown at The Horseplay Arts Club at Proud Galleries in Camden on Wednesday 19th May. The work will be durational starting at 8pm and continuing for the rest of the night. Come along... "It's only a fiver like pet"

Lizzie&Phoebe Latest Performance

On the 21st April we created a performance event for the arts club night HORSEPLAY at the Proud Galleries in Camden. The work was an offshoot to our latest piece 'Did you ever know that you're my hero?'. In this work the audience get the chance to be our 'heroes' for three to four minutes.
Audience as Neil Armstrong
Audience as Superman
Audience as Paula Radcliffe
Audience as Rolf Harris

Volvo Volcano

From off stage the car horns blared. The setting was twilight, with the street lights just starting to think about turning on. A car on bus standoff had unraveled centre stage. The W3 bus which travels from Finsbury Park to Wood Green was nose to nose with a silver Volvo C30. Due to parked cars either side of the street neither car nor bus could get by, one had to give in, but neither were budging.
Of course the Volvo is in the wrong the audience thought. You always give way to buses. Everybody knows that.

Cars were piled up for miles.

Passengers on the bus were furious. "We need to get home to our wives and children, eat our tea and watch Eastenders! We have had a HARD DAY"

The bus driver let the passengers off.

"KNOB"
"Fucking prick"
"Arse hole"
"Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Donkey dick" Said the passengers as they walked past the Volvo and off stage.

20 minutes passed, the tension was getting higher and higher. Finally the Volvo nipped into a parking space to the left of the bus. The audience breathing a sigh of relief. Had he given up? No. He jumped out of the Volvo and started kicking the door of the bus. Like a mad man he kicked, punched and screamed. "My fucking right of way. Me. Mine. MY right! TWAT!" The bus driver turned on his alarm and for a moment the audience believed that Mr Volvo was trapped and his out break would cost him... But he squeezed himself out and frightened by the alarm it would appear turned around and sped off in the opposite direction. The audience broke into applause. Good triumphed over evil.

"Well that was better than Grand Designs" I said as I left my front room window and sat back down on the sofa. My beetroot bake was cold though. Never mind.

HORSEPLAY

The next Horseplay is Wednesday April 21st and starts at 7.30pm with DJ's until 1am. Entry just £5.


Horseplay is London’s new club experience bringing the best music, visual art and theatre under one roof for one night. Expect pop up theatrical spectaculars and roaming puppet masters, video installation in a stable and a band on the stage. Brought to you on horseback is our host who welcomes you in to this rowdy, boisterous party where the line up is sure to hold your attention and throw a few surprises your way.

www.horseplayartsclub.com

Come and watch me perform with no sleep, no rehearsals and a layer of volcanic ash glazed over my eyes.

8pm-9pm - 'Did you ever know that you're my hero?' Lizzie&Phoebe An intimate performace event for one audience member.
Through out the night - 'Somewhere over the drain hole' Performed by Jill Raymond and directed by me. An intimate performance in the ladies loo.
9pm-10pm - SEXY ZEBRA! MANYROOTS theatre An in-crowd interactive work.
Keep your eyes peeled as there still may be a surprise performance 'Ready Steady Theatre' going on... if I am not all zebra-ed out that is...

KEEP CALM and CARRY ON

"It's okay... On Sunday I have a full day to do lots of work... and to catch up and to read and to update and to write and it will be fine."

My room is really dirty I better clean it.
The flat is really dirty I better clean it.
My clothes are really dirty I better wash them.
I am pretty dirty I better have a shower.
I really fancy making a Moroccan beetroot bake.
I desperately need pears.
Bob (my fish) needs cleaning out.
I'll just pop to Tesco.
I'll just pop to Primark.
I haven't spoken to Michaela for a while, I better give her a call.
I haven't spoken to my Mum for a few hours, I better give her a call.
I have far too many bras, I better sort them out, get rid of a few.
I don't think this floor has ever been mopped.
Beryl and Pete (my stick insects) are actually very interesting, I have never studied them before.
I think I should take up smoking.
My computer screen is really dirty.
I'll just have a crumpet.
I can't work without Jasmine tea, it sounds stupid but I just can't.
My computer keyboard is sticky.
I'll just watch an episode of skins on 4OD, just one.
I'll just check facebook.
I'll just message my ex.
I'll just have a wee.
I'll just have a glass of wine.
There is one can of strongbow left, I better have it.
I might as well finish that wine.
Right, that was productive, bedtime.

I am getting really damn stressed. Work due in. Can't do it. Really can't and everywhere I look round London there are quirky interior household fancies telling me to 'KEEP CALM and CARRY ON' I am trying...

Up in the Cloud

Whose Cloud is it Anyway?

Whose Cloud is it Anyway? is a vital attempt to comprehend the digital landscape that exists above our heads. Vast amounts of our data, our social interactions and information increasingly exist in digital clouds. Even our books, films and art are being transferred and uploaded by Google and Apple, who now seek our trust in them as custodians to the future of our culture. This durational performance work is made up of that same information, relayed and remixed alongside multiple narratives exploring the necessity for human traces in this digital age. An absent father is manifest in the postcards he leaves as bookmarks and a woman silenced online protests atop a roof against an unjust regime.

Retro Disney is Allowed.

Well maybe we could do something like this... I have a story from my youth... I was cutting my sisters hair when... No... It's not really like that... It's sort of the same but not really... You don't like it? OK then. How about this. THIS. No... This? No. This. Hello I am over here... You don't talk much... I like talking... I have a strong connection to depression and MENTAL HEALTH. How many pages? Yes, well no actually... Have you smelt the fresh rain? No of course not... I have smelt the toilets however and they bloody stink. Maybe we could hang tiny parcels from the ceiling and let them drop through out? YES? I like it. I agree. You agree with yourself? When is lunch? This room is cold. I feel deeply moved by Tom Waits. Maybe we could light it from behind... Or from the front... Or from the side... Have you tried that with movement? Have you smelt fear recently? No of course not, why would I? That's a bizarre question. Do you like this? this? or this? I don't like this but I do like THIS. This angle makes me look fat. From the ceiling I will look better. How many stories do you have? I have loads. Like this and this and even THIS. THIS IS REALLY GOOD. LETS GO WITH THIS. Have you every thought about this angle? No it makes me look fat. When is lunch? When is the toilet break? Can I have a cigarette. You don't talk much. Well I kind of prefer to listen. Hello, do you like to listen? No I like Katie and Peter the next chapter. I like this. I agree... On this? or this? Have you smelt the smell of desire at one point in your life? I have felt desir... but.. what do you mean? I have lost the point... Am I... erm... Welsh? I really want to constantly keep my face on the floor. To express feminism you know. What? How does that express femin... Does it? Ok. If you want, it's up to you really. Have you read Theatre of the Oppressed? Have you smelt oppression? No. What kind of ridiculous question is that. It was only a suggestion. I won't make one again, promise. Chocolate bums? From a Soho sex shop maybe? That could work. I am watching her and she is bloody pissing me off. But she has nice shoes. When is it a coffee break? Now. I need COFFEE AND CIGARETTES. Do you like that film? You know the one? Tom Waits... and Iggy... Erm... Do you like Disney music? I don't know the words but I like the songs. Disney? Are you sure? Yes. I like it. I don't. I do... Erm... I didn't ask for this. Do you know Snow White and the seven dwarfs? Oh yeah. Retro Disney is allowed. Of course. WHAT WE COULD DO IS... Well OK... I guess we could... I was kind of wanting to... But it doesn't matter really... Hang the parcels from the ceiling... Hang them... Light them... you know... But OK... I will let it go. Snow white has depression. Has Snow white smelt depression? Felt it? EMBODIED it? We could add more movement... I am not feeling it. I am feeling this though. This? or THIS. Or t-h-i-s. My penis hurts. No? It was only a suggestion.

"A faculty is everything man is able to do, even though he may not do it. Man, even if he does not love, is able to love; even if he does not hate, he is able to hate; even if a coward, he is capable of showing courage. Faculty is pure potentiality and is immanent to the rational soul."
(Boal, A)

"Everything is gratuitous, this garden, this city and myself. When you suddenly realize it, it makes you feel sick and everything begins to drift...that's nausea."
(Satre, J)

Well its kind of like this.. but not really.. yes.. no.. erm.. sorry.

On Tuesday I lead my first Improvisation workshop at school. In the past I have only lead workshops for 12-18 year olds so this was a first. I sat up on Monday night trying to re-write my exercises for participants my age and older. However two glasses of wine and ten minutes into the task I fell fast asleep, out cold, gone. Woke up Tuesday morning rather panicked and when the bus was late (due to a school boy being sick on the upper level) I ended up running to school in a right fluster. I still managed to get to school on time (just) and after all that worrying the workshop actually went quite well. I think the class really understood what I was trying to achieve and overall it was very light hearted and comic. The improvisation style that I am interested in is all based around your own personal experiences. Not to hide behind a character and a stereotype as people often do. The youth group I taught last year was a perfect example of this. In every improvisation they would play a postman or a teacher, usually one would have an affair or give birth and that was that. I tried to encourage them to find truth in their improvisations, what would they personally do in a given situation or space. Once they came round to this idea I could see it starting to excite them, they felt ownership over the work as it was completely personal to them and their life. They liked the fact that their unique story was happening at a unique time and place and would never be repeated exactly the same again. Back to Tuesdays workshop... The class gave me feedback on my exercises. They all had lots of lovely positive things to say and I felt quite pleased.. My main criticism was that I overly explained myself.. Couldn't quite articulate what I wanted and as a consequence 'vomited instructions'. Something to work on. Which brings me back to a memory from the youth club when one day one of the girls said "Howay Miss.. Can we just do it" (in a Geordie accent).

I have an idea... What do you think?

What have you realised today?

Workshop with Duncan Macmillan and Clare Lizzimore - 60 seconds to write down what you have realised today...

1.) Crash mats are very comfortable.
2.) The most serious makes me laugh.
3.) Low fat salt tastes nicer than regular salt.
4.) I have an annoying voice. I annoy myself.
5.) New levels of worrying alcohol induced incidents; my friend 'gained consciousness' running down a motorway outside of Leeds with no clothes on.

Polite Cards by David Shrigley

Peter Pap

I am back at my family home for the Christmas break.
Back to Newcastle.
Geordie Land.
The Toon.
Where even in the depths of winter, when earth stands hard as iron and water like a stone... You can still see girls walking home after a night out with no coat and no shoes.

I feel like I have stepped out of my MA bubble.. "Oh yes, there is life outside Central".

Since getting back to Newcastle I had completely neglected my studies, research and practice. I had become wrapped up in the Christmas world of food, drink, family and festivities. Yuck. I suppose it's good to have a break but I do find it 'oh so easy' to completely forget that I have work due in. Shit.

As a child my parents always used to take me to see the Northern Stage's Christmas productions. They were a far cry from the glittery soap-star pantos that spring up all over the place at Christmas. Northern Stage always seemed to put a really different twist on Children's classics. Their productions had a dark edge to them, a bit of black comedy thrown in and really imaginative sets and costumes. Performances to delight children and adults. I remember seeing performances such as 'The Snow Queen' and 'Grim Tales' as a child and being completely immersed in the world created in front of me on stage. I suppose Northern Stage (Formally known as The Playhouse) really inspired me at a young age to want to pursue a career in theatre.

So as much as I hate to admit it I was full of a disgusting festive delight when my Mum surprised me and my sister with a trip to the Northern Stage's Christmas eve matinee production of Peter Pan. I was excited to jump back into eight year old Lizzie (a place where I like to be) and run away to Never-land. I had complete faith that N Stage would take me there. However I was bitterly disappointed.

The set was brilliant, with audience facing audience and a long raised stage in the middle. The simple furniture of the Darling's bedroom was manipulated to form every other scene in the script, which gave the whole piece a feeling of make believe and child's play, which worked very well. Yet the piece lacked feeling.. I went away feeling nothing, nothing at all. Their was no emotion, feeling and N Stage's usual 'edge'. I felt like there was too much emphasis on the movement and choreography, which was done perfectly by Ballet LORENT's Liv Lorent and no thought into the real underlying emotions of J M Barrie's writing. When we saw Mary Darling alone in the empty children's bedroom I saw no real feeling of loss, worry... a mother beside herself with grief over her missing children. In fact the emotion was down played and light hearted as if she wasn't really that bothered at all. The world we live in now is full of missing children, child abuse and pedophilia. I am not saying that the children of Newcastle should be directly confronted with these issues but there is not one mother in the audience who wouldn't have been emotionally attached to Mary's character if played with real emotion and dark undertones. When Peter comes back to the bedroom years later and expects the heavily pregnant Wendy to run away with him once more... Where was the genuine excitement to see Peter? Where was the fleeting feeling of "If only.. But I am no longer a child"? In fact when Peter ends the first act by accepting death Wendy might as well have shrugged her shoulders and said "Oh well, never mind". Not one of the actors had any spark, any life. The piece was flat. Dead. Empty.

I wanted to give the actors some vocal coaching and some energy. I wanted the audience to be involved... I wanted to see the children of the audience really believe they were in Never-land. There could have easily been a live local band on stage to create atmosphere and to entertain the audience through the dreadfully slow scene changes. Where was the Geordie charm of N stage? Where was the dark edge? What set this performance aside from the usual Christmas tat? Nothing. It could have been everything.. but it was nothing.

After the show when my Mum's friend said to me "I'm sorry to interrupt love, but I really have to go now... So much to do before tomorrow... and your Mum still needs you to go buy some sprouts" I realised that I had been performing a live review of my theatrical disappointments for over an hour. When I do this I usually always feel like a bit of a cockhead... But this time I didn't care... Maybe it was the five festive glasses of wine I had just drank... I don't know... But as I walked through Newcastle city centre to find some last minute sprouts I dramatically looked up into the night sky and promised to the Christmas stars above that if I didn't do anything else worthwhile with my life I would always try to make good theatre.

Christmas day is over and sods law... I have the flu. Yet at least now I am back to 'Thinking Theatre'. Right, now about that Visual essay...

Miss West can't help but Doodle

I doodle ALL the time. It’s not an excuse but I can’t seem to function without doing it. Listening to a lecture without doodling? Nothing goes in. There is no assimilation of information. So really… In my case doodling is actually helping me absorb lectures. That’s what I tell myself anyway.

Apparently doodles also indicate what is going in the subconscious.
Doodles in the centre of a page can mean the doodler is extrovert and in need of attention. Doodles at the top of the page show confidence and an abundance of ideas. If the doodle is next to the title, the doodler thinks they are incredibly important. The left hand side of the page indicates nostalgia and feelings for the past and the right hand side is a need to express the doodlers dark secrets and thoughts. Chains can indicate troubled relationships. Circles represent a need to find unity and peace. Clouds equal a happy person. Eggs, a new idea.. Blah blah blah.

I doodle my tutors. I doodle the ‘subject’ I am listening to. I doodle my tutors realistically, as children, in unusual scenarios and most recently naked. I have not uploaded the naked images.. but maybe I will?

What does this mean about me?

My Mother's Christmas letter 2009

Happy Christmas!

Here you go.. The annual West girls Christmas letter! Even though it makes Lizzie and Amy cringe a little!

2009 has been a positive year. Lizzie started her MA at Central School for Speech and Drama in September. She lives in North London and is shares a three bedroom flat with her friends. It is hard work, challenging, and long hours, but she loving it all the same. She has to write a blog on her progress as a theatre practitioner... If you have any bouts of insomnia and fancy a browse... www.chimneyweeps.blogspot.com

Amy is in her second year at Leeds Uni doing Sport Leisure and Culture; she is also enjoying her course. She has a part time receptionist job.

I couldn’t wish for two more thoughtful, kind and loving girls, and I am very proud of them. We are extremely close and look after each other. They came home to surprise me on my birthday.. I had no idea at all! It was a lovely weekend.

I am still involved in two dance groups, a Morris team and a Rapper team which I practice once a week. At Rapper we use two handled swords (not very well I may add) but enjoy it. I go to a wonderful yoga group once a week also, which is fantastic for stress-relief and relaxation. There are some lovely people who go, and I have made lots of new friends. Also I am a (fair weather!) cyclist, and enjoy rides with my friends when possible. This year we went to Holland for a week. Myself and seven others cycled all the way from Newcastle to the seedy red light district of Amsterdam. We went all over Holland enjoying the sights and indulging in the local prostitutes. It was fantastic apart from my friend Chris falling off her bike and having her arm in plaster half way through the week.

Friends and family are always very supportive and I value their friendship. It is coming up to four years since Alex sadly passed away, where has the time gone? We are having yet another ceilidh on the 30th January 2010 in his memory. The money we make will go to Cancer Research and the Clara Vale conservation group (where Alex ashes are). Last year we did really well raising about £500 for each charity. We have made a facebook group to support the event if any of you have been dragged into the social networking world like I have! It's sometimes the only way I can check up on the girls! Even if it is just full of drunken nights out! The facebook group is called The Annual Alex West Memorial Ceilidh.

Hope you are happy and well and that 2010 is a good year for you. Treasure each day, as it is a gift. May you have a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year! Love and God Bless.

Extract from 'Ode to a Chocolate Yule Log'

Die in my intestines and don't insult me. You are digestible and will be digested I assure you.
Because I consume you. Festive food. You do not consume anything.

Back to Butoh

Hello Butoh. I have missed you.

Imagery Butoh workshop with Marie Gabrielle Rotie.

My three favourite images from the workshop..

1.) Your hair is lush. It's made of Seaweed.
2.) There is an alien inside your body and it is eating your internal organs.
3.) Your body is made of dust and it will crumble at the slightest touch.

"The Puppeteer within you will enhance your life" (Penny Francis 2009)

After a bad day at school I wasn't looking forward to yet another lecture/demonstration. However as soon as Penny Francis entered the room my spirits lifted. She literally had a a twinkle in her eye. She was Mary Poppins-esque. She talked about her trade as if she was talking about an old friend. How long they had known each other, the experiences they'd had together, the high lights and low lights of their friendship and all with the care and respect that an old friend would deserve. It was bloody fantastic.

I have always been interested in Puppetry. I have dabbled in the past.. But Penny Francis reminded me of what a full time art Puppetry is. The skill involved is obvious. A true Puppeteer is almost invisible - all of their life and being is projected into the puppet. So, in that way all the work, effort and skill can be overlooked and outshone by the puppet. I couldn't wait to get stuck in. Penny's love and devotion made me want to..

"...Dance with your coat stand, chat to your old teddy, flirt with your best overcoat or curse the devil in your computer." (Penny Francis 2009)

A Puppeteer can create life. A Puppeteer can bring an object to life in a second. The possibilities are endless, and exciting. After the lecture demonstration I went home feeling like I was a eight years old again when my closest friend was a toy dog called Bun. I remembered Bun tap dancing. He often used to tap dance, I don't know why but that's just what he used to do. His feet were made of plastic compared to his soft toy body so they used to make a satisfactory noise on my bedroom floor. The object's material and existence informs it's character and personality. He was also French, again I am not sure why, there just must be some French in his stuffing. He was bought for 10p from a car boot sale, so he must of had a bit of a past. Maybe a sordid French romance? Who knows. When I got home and I was unwinding in front of the T.V I spotted my housemates toy monkey. A present from an ex-boyfriend the monkey had little monkey boxer shorts on and a dirty expression. After years of silence dirty monkey told my housemate exactly what he thought of him. He was obviously still loyal to the ex-boyfriend.

Miss West can't help but giggle

It is fair to say that I have really been enjoying my movement classes, although it’s taken me a while to fully immerse myself into them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to movement studies, in fact I consider it to be one of my skills. It’s just that your body has a habit of forgetting… When you haven't done a class for a while… Basically... Movement classes can make you look like a bit of a twat. You have this strange out of body experience where you almost float above yourself and see what you look like: A bit of a twat.

Last week when prancing around in my leggings, embodying the Earth and the sky, smelling an imaginary desert flower and painting a rainbow none less, my thoughts were drawn to the Geordie chefs who I used to work with, before moving to London.

"You do theatre?" They would say. "Do you dance arooond like a tree an that?" They would tease.

So when doing just that, (being a tree) in week two of term, Miss West couldn't help but giggle. During every movement exercise I'd imagine the Geordie chefs of Cafe 21 in Newcastle standing at the back of the class. I couldn't stop giggling.

When on all fours pretending I had a pencil stuck up my bum, and drawing my favourite picture (to loosen up my vertebral column) I literally almost had a wee. How could I take this seriously anymore? How could I make the most out of these exciting classes? I was doomed to look like an immature Geordie out of control. Something I have come to get used to.

BUT- During a lesson in which we applied Sarah Kane's Crave to a developed movement sequence (that we created through exercises) we created something so real and powerful that it stuck in my head for weeks after. Sarah Kane’s brutal and hard hitting words of loss, love and desire… un-questionably a strong piece, had never been something I personally liked or connected to. Yet with eight people in one tiny movement space, experimenting with movement almost entirely instead of words, I was actually moved. Not even a hint of a giggle.

Actions speak louder than words.
Actions speak louder than words.

I am not going to stage a version of Crave, nor would I want to but when you experience a real moment of, dare I say it? Beauty… In a workshop- It just reinforces the importance of drama games, exercises and play. Without them performance can be shallow.

Movement games can make you feel like a twat as can drama games. Yet, embracing the twat within you (In my opinion) is a huge part of being a performer.

It’s what I like about being a performer.

So just like finding your 'inner child' as being an important part of play,
I think finding your 'inner twat' is important too… I think?!

BUMP

After a night on the beers,
With my Central peers,
I fell asleep on the night bus (again).

When the bus screeched to a halt,
I shot forward with a bolt,
And smacked my head off the pole.

Drunk and alone,
I started the walk home,
With a big fat bump on my head.

Now I have no idea why,
But I started to cry,
And sing a Bob Dylan tune.

“One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.”


I created a scene quite dramatic,
Not only as a Bob Dylan fanatic,
But as a piece of street theatre right there on the road.

So maybe it’s only in pain,
That your insanity becomes sane,
When the bump caused the drama to spill right out.

Hello November 2009, this is me.

Listen cockheads,
It's taken me a while to get here. Its taken me sometime to get here.

Said Erica, my therapist.