by Peyvand Sadeghian

This year has been quite a journey. A few months ago, eager to work and be ‘available’, the thought of taking two weeks out full time to focus on my own practice and project wouldn’t have been something I’d have fully entertained. After some genuinely motivating and encouraging conversations with Co-Producers Amy Clare Tasker and Laura Lundy, and an Arts Council England professional development grant, I was in a dedicated studio for 2 weeks open spacing with some extraordinary artists. By the end of the Intensive I released an idea that until then had been bouncing aimlessly around my head for far too long, and things are now set in motion.

The finale of the Intensive was an informal networking event in which those involved in making/putting on new work got to mingle. Ordinarily this would be where I turn my insides out and run far, far away. The word ‘networking’ sets off all sorts of social and professional anxiety for me, and I know I’m not alone in having this reaction.  I had to change my thinking around this, and think I did successfully with the help of Laura Lundy. I speak to all kinds of people on a regular basis, and the vast majority of those interactions are painless, and even stimulating and enjoyable. I also cross paths with and talk to those within the industry all the time, and over time have developed friendships and collaborations from those meetings.

So, there I am in a bar off Brick Lane with a room full of people who are all there because they have an interest in new, devised work. It was a huge comfort to know that there were a handful of people I knew in the room should I get struck by paralysing shyness, so I would say bring a friend if you know it’d help, but don’t stick to them (just know you’ve got each other’s backs). I had my own work, subjects, and questions I was genuinely passionate in talking about and loved hearing the range of exciting work that other people are up to and what they’ve gone through to get it out there. New contacts were made, and top tips received.

My next challenge is to keep the momentum on my own work. Currently, I’m evaluating what I’ve got so far in order to plan next stages, and have kept the conversations going with both newer contacts and those I already knew, making the most of their experience and opinions I value. Meanwhile, I still want to be a jobbing performer and was fortunate enough to jump straight in to rehearsals as soon as LDTI had ended, It will be an art form in and of itself juggling these two aspects of my career.

Use what you care about to keep you moving forward, make choices, let go of them, make more choices, share with others, we’re all in it!

Good luck.

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Thank you for following my experience as an Ambassador on the London Devised Theatre Intensive. I will start to talk about my own project more specifically in the not too distant future, so if you’re interested please keep an eye out by following me on Twitter: @peyvandofpersia

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IMAGE: Peyvand Sadeghian and Anne Rene Brashier improvise movement to verbatim text, in a peer practice exchange session led by Kate Goodfellow. Photo by Amy Clare Tasker.