By Sara Templeman

 

As we near the end of rehearsals for Emerge/ncy I have come to realise that this show for me is massively about personal challenge and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. 

It's been incredibly daunting hoiking myself over the edge of a very high structure with the only way off it supporting my whole body weight down a rope. 

As a non aerial performer and a bit of a wobbly person at height this has been a massive challenge. 

With the encouragement support and patience of an amazing cast and crew we are all finding our own way and at our own pace. 

First off it was all about learning rope technique taught to us by the wonderful Gemma and Jess who make climbing and descending down a rope look easy. It is not! These seriously strong women make it look effortless but it is all about mega effort. It's based in a foot lock from silks technique which enables you to feel secure to climb up and down a rope.

In preparation for the show and this technique we were told we'd need to build upper body strength which has never been my strong point.  Pardon the pun. So in advance I trained hard at the gym doing weight training and with a daily exercise regime I could do at home focussing on core and upper body strength. I've surprised myself with the results! Also enjoyed a bit of a play on the monkey bars down the local park too as well as a day out in a climbing range bouldering and belaying to get some confidence with my height fear! So it was a lot of fun as well as a challenge. 

After a few days coming down the rope in a harness and getting used to the height and technique today (Thursday) was a massive moment as I free climbed down the rope (albeit with knots in tied in to help but I still did it!!) 

It was a proper buzz, my hands were shaking a lot afterwards but felt an enormous sense of achievement. Also watching the other performers in the team all manage it as well was so lovely to watch. There was a real sense of achievement and unity. 

We are still to decide whether to have a straight rope which I'm yet to free climb down (I need a harness currently for this) or use the knotted rope. Either way I'm  feeling happy that in either instance I can actually do it. It's Such a relief! 

I'm definitely in a good and positive place about this aspect of the show now having put aside my fear and anxiety and trusting myself that I can do it. It means I now have more head space and focus to look forward to the other aspects of the piece so finding details of character and cementing the movement we do off the structure over the last few days of rehearsal. 

Can't wait for the finished piece to be ready for our premiere at Brighton Festival weekend after next :)