How do you make a tie sexy?

In answer to the aforementioned question- who knows? Although I do know how to answer it a little more succinctly after today's session. To transition from the opening scene into the second scene Ben has asked Sam and I to create a movement sequence to get us from one end of the platform to the other using Skilling's tie. I loved the idea when it was told to me; I think it was something I needed and wanted to transition with because the time in between became a little cloudy as to what to spend it doing. So I was keen to start devising.

Our first block occurred before we had even begun as it would appear that I am unable to undo a tie; apparently of all the skills 17 years of life has taught me, undoing a tie is not one of them. So we had to sort that out initially because I was making the whole thing look sloppy and unprofessional, clearly indicating that it was a student on the stage not a 40 year old business women, who has encountered this situation plenty of times (3 to be exact). Weirdly it shouldn't be an issue, but it was one of those things that frustrated me because Claudia would know and I didn't and it's those gaps that start to make me uncomfortable because the clear differences between myself and my character show and that makes me nervous. Yet I suppose the main thing here is that I learnt to undo a tie so it was no longer a problem. 

Sam and I were able to improvise, create and then consolidate a sequence of moves quite fast, so the material wasn't the thing that needed improvement; it was the emotional impulse and connection we had to the movement. When Ben watched our sequence his direction centred around us trying not to do the moves just because it was choreography, but because of the need these two characters have to do it. Truthfully, the reason Claudia has sex with Jeff isn't because she is romantically invested, it is because she can and she wants to- part of me believes that the only way this women could express any connection with a human being beyond formal obligation was in a sexual way. The world of business- especially for a female in that time- was often one of perpetual sexual connotations and Claudia embraces this; it's not romantic, it's not personal, it just is. Contrasting this we have Skilling who genuinely cares for her, he loves her, enough to leave his wife. We therefore have this chemistry that comes together to make something electric onstage. Therefore we have to inject that energy into this instead of just stepping left, right and doing a little spin. Claudia and Jeff's relationship has iconic elements to it and the energy they share whether founded in sex, business, anger, hatred, competition or pity- they are brimming with animation and if Sam and I can pull that off and truthfully invest in it, it could become a vital source of energy in the play.