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Behind the scenes - Gillian Langley

Posted by: Gillian Langley on 21 November 2008

Back at Sadler's Wells last Thursday I had a ball! Vastly diverse crowds of people were arriving and inside they warmed themselves with the contents of the theatre's bar. The atmosphere was buzzing, and everything was, happily, going to plan.

Max, 17, and a budding videographer, accompanied me backstage to check the video camera was as simple to function as Malcolm (Rambert's Technical Director) promised, for he was to handle the machine while I collected the audience members' reactions fresh from their experience of Eternal Light.

Back stage again I ventured through the right wing as the dancers warmed up on stage with just the heavy red curtain between them and the steadily increasing bustle of the front of house. I bump into Paul Hoskins (Rambert's Music Director) dressed smartly in a black suit and on his way into the pit to conduct London Musici and the choirs. Paul introduced me to Wendy Hacker (Orchestra Manager of London Musici) who took me through to the pit. As we both ensured our mobile phones were off Wendy told me how during the orchestra's afternoon rehearsal, immediately following the schools' matinèe, the sounds of the orchestra were in competition with the vacuum cleaners as the job of cleaning, understandably, had to be done.

My experience of sitting in the pit was, as I'd anticipated, emotional. I have to agree with Wendy's thought that sometimes you benefit from hearing the music once or twice before seeing it in unison with the dance. So there I was, no choice but to just listen as I could see the audience not the dancers. It's the verse from the third movement that I knew would start my tears rolling!

‘I have to believe
that you still exist
somewhere,
that you still watch me
sometimes,
that you still love me
somehow'

I left the pit when I began to miss the dance and knew I could watch from the privileged position of in the wings. I was in time for Virginia and Kyril's duet, and to have the choice of watching it live from the wing, or on a screen showing the audiences perspective, and with the other dancers ‘hanging around', stretching some more, re-hydrating, wiping off sweat, was a real ‘behind-the-scenes' experience.

As soon as the curtain went up for the first applause I grabbed the video recorder and scooted back around the outside of the theatre to the foyer to find Emma Kerr (Rambert's Learning & Participation Administrator) and Max. We filmed many people's thoughts of Eternal Light. Look out for that on our Video Wall.

As for watching Infinity from the wings... WOW. I simply LOVED IT.

Gillian's previous blog

 

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