Flash

Bart van Rosmalen, of the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, and I did a session of free play, as we always do when we meet, last time he visited London. At the beginning of this clip we make really simple movements with our hands, backwards and forwards, up and down. It is though we are talking with our hands – and it provides a clear way into dialogue, perhaps because it is immediately concrete compared with pure sound. As I’m improvising I can see what is happening, and this helps to create a safe space. Without thinking consciously about it, we have chosen a good way of warming up: opening up the conversation, finding our ground, establishing a connection. And then, quickly, our interaction becomes playful – we are not worried what to do, but allow the conversation to evolve more spontaneously. We embellish the movements, suddenly I draw a circle in the air, and we start to create more interesting phrase shapes with counterpoint and pauses.

At a certain point our roles as separate individuals in the conversation also melt, and for a moment our hands hover above one another to create a single sculpture. This then acts as a point of transition and we take up our instruments again. Finally, at the end of the clip, the intimacy and feeling of a daily exercise comes to a close. As we move apart physically, we open the space and create a bigger frame physically, which in turn signals a bigger musical frame.