Devising Journal #1

Week 1, 10th August 2022:

Fresh from my first seminar of the year, I'm beginning to develop ideas for our original production of Lady White Snake. During the class, we were introduced to the mythology and the cultural background of the ancient story, before being tasked with approaching the story through various angles from feminism to cultural politics in a series of presentations which would take place from Week 2 through Week 6.

In my excitement, I got home and decided to play with some movement work. Drawing on the Laban system of movement that I had experienced during the summer holidays, I tried to explore the ways in which Lady White Snake would transition between her human and snake forms, and to find a balance between the two states. While we do not have a concrete narrative to work with, I fully expect that we would be crafting an original narrative that retells Lady White Snake to our young and diverse audience, and I felt that movement is one of the most timeless and readily available ways in which I can begin creating the performance.

My non-TS friends were immediately interested in my devised piece and asked me to send them videos of my practice, and I gladly complied. Through that process, I discovered on my own that documentation was actually incredibly useful when it came to studying how I move and what I can bring to the next discussion based on my independent study. I used the videos to do the sketch of Lady White Snake in action, using myself as the model for Lady White Snake as she calls to Xu Xian for help before being trapped under the Pagoda.

In the coming weeks, I will be working on either the presentation for cultural politics or the Haw Par Villa site visit. I cannot wait to embark on the research and devising journey, and to see what we have in store for the next few seminars.