MANIFESTA- the launch of Tá Na Deptford!

Ta Na Deptford - The Tree from Ta Na Deptford on Vimeo.

After what seems like weeks of build up we were finally able to launch Tá Na Deptford with a utterly disorganised, seriously improvised, yet brilliant 'MANIFESTA' down the Amersham Arms last Monday night!



None of us knew what to expect. The event had been hailed as a party/ happening/ workshop/ meeting/ photo-shoot for actors/dancers/performance artists and misfits! Keeping things relatively vague seemed the best way of promoting a company that has yet to establish itself- we have sown the seeds for Tá Na Deptford, but as yet cannot be sure what it will bloom into! Not that we were scared. We had so far managed to obtain most of the essential ingredients needed for the Manifesta. 1) a good location- 'the Gallery' above the Amersham Arms pub in New Cross. 2) an excellent DJ- who had downloaded a vast array of Brit themed tunes to get the Manifesta off the ground with a much needed infusion of our own culture! 3) a couple of willing photographers to take footage of the event. 4) Costumes- LOTS OF COSTUMES- all sourced locally from Deptford market, Deptford rag-yards, Deptford second-hand shops, and Deptford friends! All we needed now was people in whatever actor/dancer/performance artist/ misfit bracket they fitted!



I had not wanted to offer any direction to the group- feeling that this would essentially go against the Tá Na Deptford methodology. However it was always going to be difficult for things to just happen the way they had done when I attended my first ever Tá Na Rua workshop in Rio. I remember I followed the sound of music up an equally dark and disheveled staircase up a back door in Lapa, to witness amazing scenes performed by the most impulse/ lively/ gorgeous troupe of dancers I have ever seen. At first I watched- amazed by the scenes spontaneously created before my eyes. They 'Material Girl' by Madonna came on and I couldn't stand at the edges any longer- so I went for it! I picked up a sparkly jacket and a wig and entered and danced- snatching as many costumes/props as I could until I collapsed in a heap of stuff in the middle- feeling like I had just undergone a Madonna exorcism in Brazil! This is how Tá Na Rua would happen- only enter when you feel the impulse to do so, and when you feel it- go for it- with all your energy and using the props and costumes around you! In reality though when I had this Tá Na Rua enlightenment in Rio what had really encouraged me to let go of my self-concoiusness and take centre stage was not the venue or the costumes or the music but rather the energy emitted from the performers. So I was unsure how I would pull this off here in London without a troupe of Tá Na Rua actors to show everyone how it's done!



As a means of avoiding the situation whereby I would actually have to verbally dictate what would happen I plastered a sign on the door with a few instructions- eg. listen to the music. pick up costumes. go with your impulses- however given the bizarre red lighting scenario I believe this sign was ignored by every person that stepped into the room. Then chaos with the music set up (we had no chance to properly sound check) meant we were left in silence- with expectations for me to give some kind of explanation as to why I had been so keen to draw a group of total strangers into this 'space'. Luckily before I could ramble on too much about how I was not going to tell people what to do beacause that was not the idea and I didn't know what I wanted them to do anyway- the music started! At first people stepped up reluctantly, more perhaps out of pity for me as I stood alone in an exploded costume box in an 'I love Rio' vest. Then people began exploring the costumes, trying on the costumes and finally moving with the costumes. There was alot of costumes!

To begin with it seemed more to be like we were just playing with the costumes and props- relying on them to offer a means of performing. Then people began to stop worrying about what they were wearing or doing and began to enjoy the music. The trick is always to connect with the music. Once you have found this connection it is possible to perform, to dance and to use the costumes and the props to express what you find in the music. Once some start others follow and soon we're working together- driven simultaneously by what we want to do as individuals what others are creating. And some fantastic scenes were created. There was a mass worship of a costume covered tree to the 'Wicker man', a waltz by pink fairies to 'Chim Chim-iny' and scene wherein a sword yielding masked vixen slayed all the men present to the tune of My fair Lady's 'Wouldn't it be lovely'. Such moments achieved the best of Tá Na Rua- creating impulsively exciting performance that fly in the face of convention and offer a new visual spectacle to music.

Well done to all those who participated, you cetainly passed the test as Tá Na Deptford actors and I look forward to seeing what next week brings!



Tá NaDeptford 'happenings' will happen every Wednesday from 8pm in 'the gallery' above the Amersham Arms in New Cross. Entry is free, but costume donations are always welcome!