Back to our roots…

This Week’s Soundtrack- Gå På Salong - Cleo & Kristin Amparo, Broke 'N Tipsy (Click to have a listen while you read…)

The Pavlich room has been packed away as we wrap up our last day of the residency.

There will be more exploration to come, but for now we leave the halls of Fremantle Arts Centre back in the capable hands of the REAL ghosts that haunt it. There are many thoughts and dreams left swirling atop the lighting beams, hopefully when we return in November they will float back down to us having evolved in new and unexpected ways. 

This week saw us journaling and writing, piecing together pieces of stories and images, and choreographing movement and dance - all to culminate in a first “sloppy run” of what the show could look like. (“Sloppy run” referring to a very loose, slap-dash draft of the show that is put up on the floor for the sake of ripping off the bandaid!) And what did we discover in doing this?

There is an important story to tell about the nature of hair bringing women together, but also being a source of separating women. We are taught to compete against each other, to compare ourselves, to meet the high expectations set for us and our appearance, and look down on those who can’t meet them. This can bring us feelings of shame and isolation, of feeling alien in our own bodies and “unfeminine”. 

At the same time, spending time grooming, brushing and styling hair can be a beautiful source of connection. Braiding hair at sleepovers, styling each other's hair before going out to a party, sharing hairstyles and hair care tips are all ways that we bond and foster beautifully intimate female friendships. Having our hair brushed as little girls by our mother, sister, grandmother, father, best friend is an unspoken expression of love. If they were to brush our hair again now it would be a great comfort and gift. 

We all have aspects of our hair that we love and that we hate. We all hate that one witchy-poo hair that is too dark and thick. Maybe our mane is too frizzy or too straight, too thin or too thick. We have hair here or there, it's the wrong texture, dull colour… the list is endless. But we also have parts we love, little joys we allow ourselves. The shape of our brows, the length of our eyelashes, a natural curl, highlights from the sun, wavy hair from the beach, the way our arm hair shines in the light…this list often doesn’t go on as long as the hated list, but is certainly unique to each person and is something we want to expose through making the show. 

With a google drive full of videos, pictures, writings and songs- and a car boot load of props and butchers paper, we walk out of the gates of Fremantle Arts Centre to close the week at the beach with some pizza and bubbly. We will see you again in a few months time Pavlich Room, now we will allow our material to mature like a fine wine!