Mark and I focused on three apparently paradoxical features of the biological nature of change:
1. Same/different: a fundamental feature of individual variation - individuals within a species share the same features, yet without differences there would be no variation on which selection could act.
2. Past/future: the temporal dynamics of change, which is so eloquently expressed in the opening line of TS Eliot's poem Burnt Norton: "Time past and time present are both perhaps present in time future, and time future contained in time past".
3. Conceal/reveal: the magnetic, and sometimes mercurial, nature of camouflage, of how individuals blend into the background, and then suddenly reveal the most dramatic of displays.
It is these three principles, namely how similarities become differences, how the future becomes the past, and how the natural world can conceal and yet reveal, that allow females to be so particular in their choice of males. That is the nature of change - and why it can be so comical.
These ideas were inspired by watching the birds doing their amazing dancing routines. The six-plumed bird of paradise is my favourite. When the principal male dances, the show is really impressive. He is mainly black but with some white feathers that are usually concealed, but when he starts to perform you suddenly see this striking white ‘inflatable tutu', which he uses to great effect when wooing the ladies, who watch the stage with a critical eye. Not all the males are quite such talented dancers, however, and time really matters because it takes years of practice to become the principal male. And practice these birds do; for some birds spend 90% of their daylight hours dancing and for up to nine months in the year - now that's dancing dedication in the bird world!
Seeing the first performance at the world première in Plymouth was just amazing: I was spellbound. No wonder Rambert won the Laurence Olivier award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance this year, thanks to such talented dancers and choreographers, visual artists, musicians and composers, lighting and sound designers and everyone else who played such an important part, all under the direction and superb skill of the brilliant Mr Baldwin. At the post-performance party I was moved to tears when Mark and Nadia asked if I would be willing to become Rambert's Scientific Advisor. I was over the moon. But I couldn't quite believe my good fortune, and the next morning I said to my hubby "please tell me it's not all a dream"! The Comedy of Change has itself evolved over time, and each successive performance brings something new and even more beautiful than the last. I have been to quite a number of the performances, and at Sadler's Wells I went to every single one. I would have loved to be there for the grand finale but sadly I could not, but I was there in mind, alas not in body.
With the last performance at the Sheffield Lyceum, The Comedy Of Change is very much on my mind as is the Company - all the dancers and everyone else who works there have made me feel such a part of the family; they've taken me under their wing in so many ways and I feel so lucky to have had such an amazing opportunity. And as the curtains close on this tour a new era begins. Mark and I have already started brainstorming about our next collaboration... just watch this space.
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