leena saarinen & i have collaborated since 2001 on numerous performances, presentations & projects. yesterday we met for the first time.

our collaboration began in 2001 when leena answered a call i put out on various email lists for people who were interested in experimenting with the use of the internet in live theatre. this was the[abc]experiment, & from there we went on to form avatar body collision in 2002, with karla ptacek & vicki smith. together we have created ten shows which have been presented around the world - but the four of us have never been together in the same physical space. i knew vicki before we started, and met karla in 2002. i've emailed with leena, chatted, video conferenced, spoken on the phone, seen photos and videos of her, everything except met her in the flesh. until yesterday.

of course we knew each other immediately - our faces and voices completely familiar, even movement and mannerisms were recognisable. it was an uneventful meeting, really; altho we did exchange several sideways glances of slight disbelief.

it's strange meeting someone you know already, for the first time, because we "know" each other online in different ways than we "know" each other physically; the distance means we share some things that we wouldn't share with those physically closer to us. & collaborating artistically, remotely, means there's an intense, not always harmonious, dynamic as we struggle to find ways to evolve the work. we can be incredibly clear about some things in our textual communications, yet other nuances of communication are completely missing. often we are having to make up methods and languages as we go, by trial and error, & interpersonal relationships can be very complex.

so with more than 8 years of this relationship behind us and between us, meeting leena was more an affirmation than a revelation, more interesting than wierd, more fun than nerve-wracking (for me anyway - i hope also for len!). the next challenge now is to get vicki, who hasn't met leena or karla, over here to have a grand (re)union of the 4 of us.