Too fast.. too fast!!

right I've got until the 20th of August to come up with a solo to a didg and drum piece ( it's got rain stick to start and end - it's that 'hippy' that is exactly 2 mins long for my very good friends, VERY posh wedding.. I ran thru the music about 7 times last night and each time I seem to come up againts the 'wall of TOO FAST'.. the is *very* ambient sounding but when you start to look at drum beat patterns they are all over the place becuase of the drums changing patternation about every 4-7 seconds. I can't follow the didg beat as there isn't really one..

I really wanted to do something really floaty and slow, but it just doesn't seem right so I've been thinking of lots of butterfly moves split time, and 5 beat weaves/ fountains (or what ever they are called - I still don't know the names ) to keep up with the speed of the drums, but this is very tiring as it's about 3 beats a second! I've been told that a drummer is going to be accompaning me for this solo - here's the question.. would the drummer be able to keep up with the drums on the track AND still give me a slower beat to count to?

I've also got to do another bit with a juggler and contact juggler, who I won't meet till the evening of the wedding (no practise), to a River Dance (bride is Irish ) track that I'm not really that worried about at it's got a nice 1-2-3-4 beat and I can just choose a 2-4 beat to count to BUT how can I join the jugglers to sew up the performance so we don't just look like 3 seperate performers doing seperate stuff on the same stage - if ya know what I mean.. any ideas you guys can share would be great!

help me.. oh and to confound the whole thing I'm going to get my sinuses widened on the 11th - so I'll probably have a green/blue/yellow facd at the wedding and be on strong pain killers the week workning up to the wedding.. so might not be able to practise..

oh woe it me!

Man, that sounds crazy! I don't have advice other than..is there any way you can have a different track played?

heavy toys. light toys will will condition you to spin faster, slower toys will cause you to spin slower, more on plane and often more gracefully.

The drummer should here the music and have time to be able to work with it. When you know a piece of music really well you can work with the ebb and flow really well.

Talk to the drummer and let them know what you want to do/change. See if you can find the half beat and work to that. The change will look really cool and if you can follow the change that would look really awsom as well, just listen...

Other than than you could learn the music really well yourself and work with the ebbs and flows, once you know where they are going and when they change you can move with them and/or half beat with them and it won't be a problem (easier said than done)

Good luck with it all, let me know how it all goes. I hope that what I have said helps a little bit.

Ice

longer toys too can reduce your speed. The increased effort required to twirl them requires more nrg.

whew! tough one. the things people expect sometimes!

i would-
make up slower accompaniments to the song in your mind, and spin to those. go to a mental beat that follows the feelings of the different sections. faster dance moves over slower poi still come sout high energy. you're lucky you only have two minutes, if the drummer is good, have him follow you with no repetition. if and when they can't- they could come up with improv trills for the awful parts, and when there are discernable downbeats have him kick some simple deep alpha downbeats. i suppose you are dancing to a west african song which has lots of intertwining beat signatures? just weave in and out of your own beats with it.
have you tried being assertive and honest? "hey you wanna more refined wedding, i've got other songs choreographed out already?"
the jugglers, i say work with what you've got, do a rotating three ring circus thing so someone is in front 1/3 of the time and the others are doing simple stuff in the back.

yeah I've sort of planned a routine in my head without the music.. I've already got really heavy poi (jugglin ball weight) with about 4 foot of ribbon on the end ( Hi Bender).. they really are quite beautiful even if I say so my self.. i should hopefully be able to do it, but the music is so sort of dead pan I'll just have to not do it 'to the music' and just have it in the back ground.. I've choreographed start and finish moves to the music so I hope it won't be noticed that it's 'not to the music'.. anyhoo.. what ever I do will be amazing just because I'm doing it for my best friend at her wedding - it'll all be fine.. I don't think i'll have time to train the drummer so to speak.. I doubt I'll met him till just before we do it!

Still the River Dance tune that I have to do with the jugglers is very bouncy - lots of key changes and FANTASTIC Irish dancing beats.. so that should be a sinch! Like the idea of trio rotation - Thanks Arashi - it's good to hear from you again

Sod it - Just get really drunk and improvise

Your fellow performer - Durbs

me get drunk and improv?? never!

you'd be really pround of me Durbs.. I've got the routine written down and EVERYTHING.. oh and ya boo sux to you for making me do it on my own!