ROLES - A New Opera (by Poppy)

When we founded our company Metta Theatre 13 years ago there were three driving principles, which satisfyingly remain the driving principles of the organisation to date. We wanted to provide a platform for unheard voices and stories, we wanted to pose political questions or provocations to our audiences, and we wanted to embody a spirit of collaboration in the way we make work. Our contemporary opera ROLES, written by myself and composer Oliver Brignall over the course of our six month artist residency at the V&A, exemplifies these principles perhaps more than any other Metta project to date.

Everything we do is politically provocative and we’re keenly motivated by the need to represent diversity in our work, but it’s the depth of artistic collaboration on this project that has been so profound and so transformative for our creative process. Never have I worked on a project, either for Metta or freelance, where every artist - whether writer, performer or even costume designer - has felt so integral to the creation of the work. Aptly for an explicitly feminist piece exploring female voice, the all-female cast and predominantly female creative team have had their voices not only heard but incorporated into the material. Because we commissioned the five costume designers as we were still writing the opera itself, and several began their design process before the libretto had been written, there are even sections of text written in response to design. Jean Chan’s extraordinary bloodied orb of a dress for Salome encouraged my exploration of moon and colour symbolism, meanwhile Gabriella Slade’s desire to explore pleating in Ottavia’s ‘power’ dressing directly inspired the line ‘waves fold and unfold, stories told and untold’ - her pleats playing out an infinite pattern, like the sea itself. So too the singers, who came with their individual interpretations of Oliver’s deliciously open graphic score, and several times (testament to his generosity and lack of ego in the writing process) made alternative suggestions which were then accepted, integrated and became part of the written score.

Consequently this piece ROLES - despite the intentionally clashing aesthetics of the five costumes - has a deep coherence to it that I have rarely encountered - everyone is wholeheartedly singing from the same hymn sheet, and consequently the layers and richness in the work are magnified. The unusual process of creation, working piecemeal and iteratively throughout our V&A residency, aria by aria, designers creating alongside the opera being written - is undoubtedly a factor in this. But I wonder too whether the feminist agenda of the project has not also galvanised our team of 17 artists (15 of them female). Opera as an artform is almost categorised by its ‘important’ roles for women - but it’s also true that historically all of those roles were created by men (albeit sometimes hugely progressive enlightened men, like Mozart) and sit has striking how often those roles require women either to die (Katerina and Salome) or to make huge sacrifices and end in tragedy (Ottavia and Bess). 

It feels a powerful time to be challenging historically problematic representations of women and to refashion and reimagine these roles for today. Many women, especially young women, are finding their voices - speaking up and speaking out against the ongoing feminist struggles of inequalities of pay, everyday sexism and of course sexual harassment (when the characters sing ‘Me Too’ they are not only singing about macaroons). But we would do well to remember the other women, still denied a voice - whether through repressive patriarchal regimes, or because the threat of violence in their lives makes silence feel a safer choice. This work is dedicated to them.

Touring Blown Away Again

Like many parents reading that same bedtime story for the sixth time in a row my mind occasionally wanders, and being a theatre-maker it often wanders into theatre-making territory. Of course it's hard to ever get bored of Rob Biddulph's gorgeous work but ever so easy to slip into a parallel world where the characters come into all singing, all dancing acrobatic life! Which is exactly what happened two years ago when I first read Blown Away to my two little boys. So with Rob's blessing we began to explore how to adapt the piece for the stage. The playful sing song verse of the original cries out to be sung so filling the show with songs was an obvious first step. But when you look further at the lovely illustrations you'll notice (if you're of a circusy persuasion) that Rob has already drawn many of the characters in existing acrobatic positions - notably two-highs and three-highs (when performers stand on each other's shoulders - a frequent physical trope of the show). 

At a deeper level the use of circus also lets us dig into some of the deeper themes of the story - trust and a friendship that is borne out of sharing a physical adventure together. Circus is always a great art form to make manifest themes of trust - it literally cannot exist without it. There is no greater pleasure than being close enough to the action to see the trust in the performer's eyes as they throw and catch eachother with grace and ease. Thus far we had been very faithful to this relatively simple tale of friendship and adventure - even maintaining the aesthetic of the slightly 'bobbly' illustration through knitted costumes, props and puppets (which add a satisfying sense of the Antarctic temperatures). But being a Metta show (there are always multiple layers of storytelling) we wanted to take the characters further in terms of their backstories and their emotional as well as physical journies. And so we took a little artistic license and developed the characters further - so Penguin Blue became a penguin who had always wanted to fly (something real Penguins cannot do) but instead had spent her life following 'colony rules' and keeping her feet on the ground. Meanwhile Wilma (Wilbur in the original - always up for a bit of gender parity in casting) became an over anxious seal, keen to travel, but afraid to leave the familiar surroundings of her ice hole, and Clive the polar bear just wants a friend - it's lonely being a polar bear - especially if you try to eat your friends.

Now here we are two years later and the show is finished and ready to take flight - the props are knitted, the harmonies polished and the circus tricks drilled into the performers bodies. Join us for the ride... it's a lot of fun.

We should be shouting about all our shows but here's a quiet thought about NPO announcements

This is a thrillingly busy time for us - we're currently in rehearsals for two brand new plays (including my playwriting debut Wondr) and Pixel Dust a play we commissioned from the awards-winning Clare Bayley, for the Edinburgh Festival and this week we're ALSO re-rehearsing our street dance and circus Jungle Book which tours again from next week. First time in twelve years that we've been in rehearsals for more than one show at the same time! Extraordinary. All three shows would not have been made possible without subsidy - the Wellcome Trust supporting the Edinburgh plays and an Arts Council England Strategic Touring grant supporting Jungle Book.

So when the news came in last week that we were not going to be entering the portfolio of nationally funded organisations we were a bit disappointed, but to be honest we didn't have much time to dwell on it - we've got art to be getting on with. 

However, amidst a social media sea of celebrations and commiserations across the sector I felt I wanted to add something to the conversation. It's something I've been banging on about for a while - most recently in this article I wrote for UK Theatre about the inequalities of our funding system - that we have to remember at a time like this. We are not in competition. 

Like so many other organisations who either lost their NPO funding or didn't enter the portfolio this time round it's so easy to look around you and see fellow companies succeeding or simply maintaining a position who we feel don't 'deserve' the money - the work isn't 'good enough' or the level of subsidy in relation to the 'reach' of the work seems way out of kilter. But in art, as in life, comparing our own progress to those around us is deadly, it's toxic, it's never a good use of our energies - it doesn't help. 

After being told of a brand new national touring company - literally brand new - entering the portfolio in the South West (we're a national touring company but that's also our official base and ACE region) on almost half a million a year we were feeling annoyed, we were feeling cheated, we were feeling like the twelve years of blood, sweat and tears we've spent working out of our spare room, making extraordinary and extraordinarily ambitious shows was somehow a waste of time. In that moment we were being self indulgent idiots! We're still here, we're still in the middle of opening three shows, and we're still going to make the next four years of work happen with or without NPO resources. 

It was a huge gift to be invited to apply and a bigger gift still that the rest of the sector was behind us so strongly that over that process  we became an Associate Company at two mid-scale regional theatres and developed several new co-producing partnerships. Even without the resources of NPO behind us I have every confidence in those partnerships bearing exciting, imaginative and diverse fruit over the next four years. That would never have happened had we not gone through the NPO writing process.

But back to the 'competition' - the advent of a new (funded) National Touring company making imaginative diverse work - that is brilliant news for us - that means the development of the same audiences (and artists) that we serve - it helps us. There's no such thing as too much great art. And undoubtedly the new company in question - Emma Rice's Wise Children will make extraordinary art. I can't wait to see what they produce.

Any form of subsidy is a gift. Given that we live in a capitalist society, a market economy, but a significant proportion of the theatre sector functions outside of this ecology, it is the biggest gift to receive the support and resources to live by our art, even (perhaps especially) if that living is precarious and propped up by the support of friends, family and thousands of hours of childcare in kind. We are still here. It's all still happening. We still manage to scratch a living by our art - and that is not a right.

So I am hugely grateful that we even have an Arts Council, a Wellcome Trust, all the myriad other funders, and groups of individuals passionate enough to support the arts from their own private sources. We must never fall into the trap of entitlement - we don't have a right to these gifts. Societies need art and culture to function, and individuals need art and their own creative outlets to function as their best selves. Society has a right to great art - I believe in the concept of public arts subsidy as strongly as I do free education and healthcare - but no individual artist, no matter how successful or 'esteemed', has an automatic right to that pot of money. It is and will always be a gift. We remain, as ever, grateful for those gifts that have brought us to this place. With the redistribution of 'public funding' wealth across the sector now announced it's time to celebrate those gifts that have brought us to where we all are - and keep looking outwards and not inwards. We still have gifts to share, we all have gifts to share - now is the time to be even more generous.

A Short Guide to moving from small to mid scale work, as an artist-led company

After 7 years of trying we have finally made some headway in our attempts to move from making small to midscale work, or from being a small to mid-scale company. It has been hard work for us - perhaps for others it comes more quickly and easily - but to ease other companies and artists on their way here is: Poppy' Short Guide to moving from small to mid scale work, as an artist-led company (Just my humble opinions and experience - no hard and fast rules)

To summarize the below - small scale work is artist-led both for venues, funders and audiences. Midscale work is much more audience led - ultimately you have to make work that significant audiences will want to see, and that venues can feel confident of selling. You also have to feel really comfortable with the idea that you are making work to be sold (which is not generally how most companies conceive of their small scale work). Ultimately you have to start thinking strategically about every choice you make, and that doesn't make you any less of an artist.

- Audiences. You have to be confident that you're going to make work that will appeal to a significant number of people. Very rarely do I meet artists who genuinely make work for (or often even think about) their audiences (except when they're writing their G4A applications). They make the work they want to make, or express the thing they think needs to be heard but if that is too narrow in scope it's very hard to transition to mid-scale. Audiences love to be challenged - but challenge them with heart of the work not with the marketing/offer of what the work is. No one has any money any more - funders, venues, audiences - so they want great art that is bold but not a risk at the point at which they buy a ticket/book the show.

- Hooks. Venues want something they can sell (they may also want quality and originality and diversity but not always). The hook can be a title (preferably out of copyright, that makes life much), or a named actor/writer. We spent 5 years trying and failing to get venues interested in tours of projects without a sufficient hook (albeit with great reviews, images, semi-names, strong scripts etc). Jungle Book was booked entirely off the title - in some instances literally from a one sentence description. Avoid Shakespeare though as you'll have too much competition from established mid-scale companies. You must still make the work that's in your heart too (we didn't realise Jungle Book was SUCH a hook/title when we started developing it - it was the show that we wanted to make).

- Venues. Get them to see your small scale work and begin the conversations. That said there are relationships we've been developing for 10 years where they've seen (and liked) our work and still not booked it and venues we ring up and then and there they offer you a slot and £20k for the week with no knowledge of the company and the work. Again the power of having a title or hook. But in general it is helpful to invest your time in developing your relationships with venues. We have a database of 200 venues, 100 meaningful-ish, maybe 25 properly properly meaningful. But even the latter don't always want the work. They have a programme to balance and you won't always know what else is being put out there. Once you have some venues on board though do mention their names to the others. Also there are degrees of mid-scale - both in size (Jungle Book played Winchester with 350 seats and Eastbourne with 900) and in wealth (which often correlates to level of subsidy rather than size) and in prestige. The lower end of any of those spectrums will have less choice available to them but they will also (generally) do less work for you because their own resources are stretched.

- Advocacy. Having someone already at that scale who will speak on your behalf can work wonders. Since 2012 we had English Touring Theatre mentor us and either through their contacts or their direct advocacy we booked our first full midscale tour (Jungle Book). One of the venues was Exeter Northcott Theatre where we've now been made an Associate Company and now they talk to venues on our behalf and open up the possibility for dialogue with organisations who have never returned our calls for a decade.

- Time. We have been going for 11 years. We having been trying to make mid-scale work/become a mid scale company for the last 7 years. It's happened in a meaningful way over the last year. It could happen quicker - it will also depend on where you're at within your own career, if you start the company already mid-career with a huge network of contacts and strong reputation (as Improbable did) it could be much quicker.

- Budget. Try to make each venue/week wash its face so if you require either subsidy or investment that's only for the creation of the work. We have NEVER yet achieved this because our mid scale work is either for family audiences (which gives you much lower box office yields and/or guarantees) or with casts too large to be effectively viable on the mid-scale. You want a book-able title and a cast of 4 or 5.

- Tourbooking - aim for a guarantee when you can. Venues will programme over your dates with other work (also true at the small scale) so if they've gone quiet push for a deal memo. No one has time to programme so it's done in a rush on Friday afternoons (because it' soften the most creative/enjoyable part of their job) or random times like Sunday morning or Christmas Eve. Go to the overpriced conferences (UK Theatre Touring Symposium and the AGM, Theatre 2016 - which will presumably be repeated) and any conferences specific to your art form, because you can meet all the programmers face to face and network.

- Workload. It quickly becomes untenable to run your company on a voluntary basis when you move from small to midscale (and that is the reality for the majority of small scale companies). Assuming core funding is unlikely and given the prevailing economic climate it is (whether from ACE or Trusts & Foundations) you MUST try and budget full cost recovery into each project OR increase the number of people running the company with you on a voluntary basis or you will go insane. Midscale companies are no more financially viable than small companies as a business model - in some ways they are less so because the extra bodies involved requires more communication/management/admin. You can also mix and match and only aim to realise a midscale project every two years for example (but you do have to maintain relationships with those venues in between).

- Being clever with scale. A two hander can feel mid scale if the piece and/or design is epic. A very pared back minimalist design (cheaper to build and tour) can still have impact and feel midscale. No set or lighting at all but 10 actors can also. Presumably the desire to upscale as an artist is driven by the desire for more resource with which to express your art/vision so make sure you use maximize your resource at any scale. A cast of 6 - all of whom are used a lot can feel more 'mid scale' than a cast of 8 where 3 of them appear only once as maids.

Finally question your motives. Why do you want it? It's no less financially secure, in some ways it's less so because the budgets are bigger, the lead times are longer (so you need to contract people for longer/further in advance) and you'll inevitably take more of your income from box office which is riskier unless it's all guarantees/fees which is unlikely (except in circus). Given the priorities of funders it will probably necessitate touring which may reduce your public and industry profile - it's infinitely easier to get press and industry to see work at a 50 seat fringe venue in London than eight 500 seat theatres across the UK. More things go wrong more of the time - there are more people involved and the possibilities for human error are hugely amplified.

Or more positively: What can scale add to your art? How can scale help you grow as an artist and/or as an organisation? Is it politically important that your work is seen at a larger scale in terms of the message that sense to other artists not currently represented at that scale? (The latter may be a harder sell to the venues but a much easier sell to the funders so you can potentially offer venues an interesting and quality piece of work for a cheaper rate knowing that it's more heavily subsidised.)

And ask for advice from all those who are either making the same transition or have made it or were always making work of that scale. Nice/good/ethically sound people will make the time because they're nice/good/ethically sound and they will connect you to other people who are nice/good/ethically sound.

By Poppy Burton-Morgan

Keeping It in the Family

Heading back into rehearsals for our new and improved street-dance and circus Jungle Book I'm feeling very proud of having created a theatre company that can accommodate the particular caring responsibilities not only of it's two Artistic Directors (we have two little boys - Noah and Finn) but also of our employees. The initial Jungle Book rehearsals back in March spanned the Easter holidays so we were joined by the wonderfully well behaved daughter of our lead performer for two whole weeks. Similarly during tech she and the daughter of our costume designer were made to feel very welcome by the Theatre Royal Windsor as they ran around backstage. Tech week is always a hard time to juggle  family and work commitments - especially as a single parent (which both costume designer and lead performer are) so I hope our example helps both parents and the sector realise that family friendly working practices don't always necessitate huge costs, simply a little thought, care and flexibility. And being prepared to schedule in advance and not change rehearsal calls at the last minute - yes it takes a bit more organisation but it's perfectly achievable.

As we're now deep into summer holidays the children will be pretty much permanently in attendance during the next three weeks when we take over London Wonderground. It helps of course that Jungle Book is a family title so there will be hundreds of other children also running amok, so we've also decided to deck the kids out in some bespoke Metta branded t-shirts to help us keep tabs on them all among the melee.

With the wonderful PIPA campaign raising awareness and campaigning on behalf of parents in the performing arts and Family Arts Campaign  doing similar work across the sector for family audiences it's a great time to be sharing  family-friendly practices. Contrary to popular belief we don't often have our own children in rehearsals - they're still a bit too young not to be a distraction - but having an 11-year-old in the room for two weeks of the process not only made it possible for our lead performer to accept the role at all, but crucially gave us a wonderful sounding board for the work. I would definitely welcome children in the room again, and would recommend it to any company considering employing a parent.

I've long extolled the virtues of babies in meetings - ours have been in countless meetings with venues, funders - in several instances our Arts Council Relationship Manager meeting us in playgrounds to accommodate this - even on occasion with potential cast members. Not everyone is as happy mixing their professional and personal lives - as someone who runs a company with her husband that was always going to be a given for me. Including our family in the process of making theatre has enriched our work, has enriched our brand (several years later there are still venues who remember us as 'the ones with the baby') and has enriched the lives of our children who are exposed to an extraordinary range of experiences and are also now highly fluent in circus terminology.

So if you're a parent in the performing arts - it's all possible.

And also - come and see Jungle Book - you and your children will all be very welcome.

From the Mundane to the Magical

Over the course of my first few weeks here in London, I have had the privilege to see what happens behind the scenes at a theatre company in ways that I never imagined. A few months ago, when I got my internship assignment, I had only a list of responsibilities to clue me in to what I had I store for these six weeks. Those descriptions did not do the job justice. I am one of the 3% of students that intern abroad. Of that 3%, many students will find that their internship sites will not give them enough responsibility and they may end up feeling like a burden. From the first day here at Metta, I have been welcomed with open arms and handed responsibilities as if they trusted me simply by the smile and eager look on my face. I have been doing tasks that range from emailing theatre contacts in regards to our tour of Jungle Book to analyzing sales reports, knitting and hand sewing props for our upcoming production of Blown Away, to interviewing audience members in Oxford after finally seeing Jungle Book for the first time. Now that I have finally seen Jungle Book and processed all my emotions and thoughts on it, I must say that it is an incredible spectacle of dance and unlike any production I have seen in my life. I never knew the depth of attention that is required to keep a theatre company running, let alone thriving. Knowing how much goes into helping this production tour across England and Ireland, I have so much more respect for the administrative work that Anthea, Poppy, and Will tirelessly powered through to make this tour run as smoothly as possible. Despite the small imp act that I had on Jungle Book, every bit that I can pitch in and help out with is met with enthusiasm and appreciativeness from the entire team. At times, it can feel a bit like I have been asked to paint a Fresco after having one introductory painting class, but with every stroke of my brush, I feel more confident and I can see the impact of my hard work; that has made an incredible difference in me.

I am approaching my senior year in University and it seems like everyone has an opinion about theatre majors and our job outlook after graduation. I would like to refute all their doubts, and my own. Metta has shown me that I am more than just a silly twenty-something who majored in theatre and has limited job prospects when I enter the real world. This internship and my theatre education has taught me that I can handle anything thrown at me and the skills I have obtained during my education will allow me to go anywhere and do anything if I set my mind to it. I may just need to trust the guidance of a few painting masters along the way.

Lauren Sunday

A-Z of the urban artforms in Jungle Book

A-Z of the urban artforms in Jungle Book Struggling to identify your krump from your breakdancing, your gangster rap from your grime. Well here is an A-Z of  the diverse urban [and occasionally classical] art-forms used within our street dance and circus production of Jungle Book:

Acrobatics - Spectacular floor based gymnastic feats. In Jungle Book mostly used by Mowgli, but almost all the performers have some acrobatic moments in the show (the monkeys flip out, Kaa and Bagheera have an acrobatic chase sequence, and much of Akela's break-dance solo crosses over into acrobatics).

Aerial hoop - a metal hoop suspended from a single point (or sometimes two points) in and around which circus artists move, creating shapes in the air. In Jungle Book it symbolises the coin thrown to the homeless Vulture girl Vee. Our hoop sequence is a doubles hoop (because there are two of them) and it's also often performed as a solo act.

Ballet - a traditional dance form characterised by graceful movements and gestures. In Jungle Book, Mowgli performs a short ballet sequence when Messua is trying to integrate her into the world of the suits.

Break-dancing (also known as B-Boy or B-Girl) - A form of non-rhythmic urban dance characterized by acrobatic and gymnastic movements. Akela and the wolves use break-dancing in Jungle Book, often on skateboards!

Charleston -a vigorous, rhythmic ballroom dance popular in the 1920s. This is also performed by Mowgli when trying to fit into the suit world.

Chinese Pole - Chinese poles are rubberised vertical poles on which circus performers climb, slide down and hold poses. They can be static or spinning - ours does both! In Jungle Book Kaa the snake is a pole artist, combining Chinese Pole and shiny pole (pole dance - which uses a bare metal bar) technique.

Contemporary - a style of expressive dance that combines elements of several dance genres including modern, jazz, lyrical and classical ballet. Mowgli uses contemporary dance throughout Jungle Book, particularly when she discovers the ‘red flower’ that she can use against Shere Khan.

Dance trapeze - a form of aerial circus where an artist performs on a horizontal bar suspended by two ropes. A dance trapeze (sometimes known as a single point trapeze) is rigged to a single point so that it can spin, sometimes very very fast. Mowgli conjures the 'red flower' on a double bar dance trapeze.

Fosse - a choreographic style based on the choreographer Bob Fosse. The waiters in the restaurant combine locking with a Fosse posture.

Funk - a dance genre that uses a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). Baloo uses funk when trying to persuade the wolves to accept Mowgli.

Gangster Rap - Gangsta rap or gangster rap is a subgenre of hip hop music with themes and lyrics based on the "thug" or "gangsta" lifestyle. In Jungle Book Shere Khan is a Gangster rapper.

Graffiti - a style of writing or drawing often sprayed in a public place as a form of artistic expression. In Jungle Book, Bagheera is a graffiti artist panther.

Grime - a form of rap music influenced by UK garage, characterized by machine-like sounds. In Jungle Book the monkeys are a grime crew, spitting about how they are shunned by the rest of society.

Hip hop - a style of popular music and dance featuring rap with an electronic backing. It is also used as an umbrella term for the many subgenres or urban or street dance. Hip hop styles are used throughout Jungle Book.

Krump - a dance style which is characterised by exaggerated, and highly energetic movement including stamping. Shere Khan uses krumping to depict his anger and struggle when he has been arrested.

Locking (see popping) - a style of funk dance, which includes freezing from a fast movement and "locking" in a certain position. The Suits movement is based on locking to show their robotic characteristics.

Parkour [also known as free-running] - Parkour is a discipline using movement which aims to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without any equipment. Bagheera uses lamp posts and railings for parkour in Jungle Book.

Popping (see locking) - a street dance style which goes hand in hand with locking. It is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer's body. It is also used by the suits to add to their robotic appearance.

Puppetry - a classical art form in which performers manipulate an inanimate object to give it the semblance of life. Baby Mowgli is a stick and rod puppet, designed to be manipulated by multiple puppeteers - rather like the traditional Japanese bunraku puppets who have three operators - one on the head and right hand, one on the back and left hand and one on the feet.

Rap (see gangster rap and grime) - a type of popular music in which words are recited rapidly and rhythmically over an instrumental backing. In Jungle Book, Shere Khan is a gangster rapper.

Skateboarding - the sport or pastime of riding on a skateboard. Akela, Raksha and the wolves are a skateboarding pack and often break dance on them.

Spoken word - an oral art that focuses on the aesthetics of word play and intonation and voice inflection. It is a 'catchall' that includes any kind of poetry recited aloud, including hip-hop, jazz poetry, poetry slams, traditional poetry readings and can include comedy routines and 'prose monologues’. In Jungle Book Baloo uses spoken word narration to explain the story of the show.

Street dance - a 'street dance' is a dance style that evolved outside dance studios in any available open space such as streets, dance parties, block parties, parks, school yards, raves, and nightclubs. The term is used to describe vernacular dances in urban context, and like 'hip-hop’ serves as an umbrella term for many subgenres.

Urban - Any of various dances influenced by the rhythms and techniques of funk and hip-hop music, such as locking, popping, or b-boying.

Vogueing - dance to music in such a way as to imitate the characteristic poses struck by a model on a catwalk. In Jungle Bagheera uses Vogueing [and waacking]

Waltz - a dance in triple time performed by a couple; this is another dance form which Mowgli performs when trying to fit into the suits world.

Waacking - a form of dance which consists of moving the arms to the music beat,typically in a movement of the arms over and behind the shoulder. Waacking also contains other elements such as posing and footwork. Bagheera uses waacking throughout the production, with her spray can in her hand ready to graffiti the streets.