On Tour: The Cholmondleys
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Your support makes all the difference.Touring is incredibly tiring. We use the entire stage space for dancing, which is, of course, completely different in every venue we go to. So we spend the whole day before the show respacing and reworking the choreography. In Metalcholica we've got some off-road bikes: Honda 250s which have been stripped down for a rat-like look. They are very big, unwieldly things which we keep taking apart and which won't all go back together again. They are really heavy but they do look very good on stage. We cart them around in a truck because I'm not letting anyone drive them from venue to venue. It's a bit too exciting and I might not see anyone again.
Luckily we are in London for two weeks which is heaven, but there are places round the country which are a joy to go back to. The Arnolfini in Bristol is not the most well-equipped theatre but the people who run it are very supportive of dance and avant-garde work. The Blackpool Grand is my other fave. On Sunday nights they invite strange things such as dance in, which is quite daring programming for that kind of venue. We don't aim to shock, we just want to make people feel they'd quite like to be in the show.
It is a problem finding somewhere to go afterwards though. In fact Metalcholica examines the attitudes people have towards 10 women in their late twenties all wandering around looking for somewhere to eat and drink. People are very scared of us, they can't imagine who we are. We go to a lot of clubs when touring but I never remember the names - after two hours on stage, all you want is a bit of vibe and some really good music.
Lea Anderson is choreographer of The Cholmondeleys: 'Metalcholica' to 9 Apr, 8pm, The Place (071-387 0031), then tours to 15 May
(Photograph omitted)
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