This class was exceptionally chaotic. Rowdier and livelier, even than usual. Still a lot of fun, but I'm definitely glad I put in the preparation in advance. When it was first booked, the plan was for 25 people attending, so I arranged to use The Fiddler's Elbow as a venue, since it has a larger space than The Standard. It meant we could spread out more and set the class up into two groups.
I recruited another model so that there was one for each group. Qba - a man I had met earlier this year in the Sapphire Rooms - was perfect for the job. He practices yoga and is able to incorporate that into his poses. And he has a very striking look that's perfect for the job. A small beard and moustache that make him look a bit like Guy Fawkes, and he starts out with a top hat. Makes for a great entrance.
I also involved two other people. Qba's girlfriend (her name is Pixie - she's someone else I met in the Sapphire Rooms) so she could see a class running, and possibly work as a tutor in the future. And Maria, so she move back and forth, taking pictures. As usual, I had Alison taking pictures as well, but I knew she was going to be very busy with organising all the other details, so it made sense to take a little bit of the pressure off her.
I had a brief discussion with Alison at one point. I thought that perhaps I could take up one space, while Qba took the other space - and the girls could drift back and forth between the two groups as they liked. But she thought that it would make more sense if the groups stayed relatively consistent, while the two models switched spaces halfway through, instead. It made sense - best to keep the format as simple as possible. Otherwise, there would have been just too much going on and the whole thing would have been in danger of getting out of hand.
At one point - just as I was getting ready to take up my second pose - some of the girls in my group looked over towards Qba's group, saw him standing on my head and were instantly very impressed. I was immediately asked if I could do that as well. No. They were disappointed and the next question was a challenge - what could I do? That one definitely put me on the spot, and I suddenly felt like I was letting myself down a bit, by comparison. So I lay down on the couch and stuck my left leg over the back of it, to demonstrate that I was capable of a bit of flexibility, myself. They didn't show it, but I'm confident that the girls were very impressed by this.
One of the things that always amazes me - and makes the classes so interesting - is seeing how someone will interpret a pose. The pictures can be exactly right, but create a very, very different atmosphere. In the last drawing challenge of the day, I posed with one of the girls. She sat in a chair and I put my foot up on it, then leaned forward and put my hands on her shoulders. Nothing more dramatic than anything I've done a hundred times already. But one of the pictures - the one that won that competition - looked pretty scary. My body and the girl's head. I'm not going to describe it any further - just take a look at the pictures below, and you'll see for yourself.
When the girl who drew that picture stepped forward to pose for photographs with me, someone suggested that we reprise the pose. So we did that, and then we tried to enact the kind of pose that could have created a picture like that.
I nearly forgot to bring out my feedback book this time. By the time I remembered it, it was to late - the girls had already gathered their stuff together and were preparing to leave, so I didn't want to add to the confusion by suddenly digging out the book and chalk, then getting them some volunteers to sit down again and start scrawling comments onto the book. So, instead, I let it go. The girls left, Qba and I got dressed, and all of us - Alison, Pixie, Qba, Maria and I - had a brief conversation and I told everybody that I would be happy to hire all of them again, if more opportunities came up. In fact, I already have Qba and Pixie in mind for a class coming up in October.
As I left, I saw the girls sitting in the bar, so I dug out the book and took it over to them. I got my class souvenir, after all. One of the girls told me that some of her friends are going on a hen night in Edinburgh within the next couple of weeks and promised to pass my card on to them. I think the chances of them hiring me are slim - not really enough notice. But it would be good if I got some extra work out of it.
