Fabulous Animal is a composite artistic project, which includes
photos and videos of professional dancer Zosia Jo and of workshops’
participants and Zosia Jo’s live performance at Cardiff Made. It is
an exploration of the body in its fleshy and animalesque dimension.
The performance begins with Zosia Jo feeling her body, her teeth, her
arms, licking her arm, comparing the hair in her armpits with the
hair on her head. She stretches her muscles and shakes her body. She
dresses and undresses.
The performance
starts with playfulness and warmth. Zosia Jo is friendly and puts us
at ease. Zosia Jo has a beautiful physicality and control over her
body. Every move looks natural, with no tension, and easy. As her
body moves slowly and softly, it becomes seductive. It is seductive
in the literal sense of the word, in bringing us closer. She embodies
an eroticism without a mask.
In the very small
space of Cardiff Made, Zosia Jo projects a sense of wider nature. She
moves like the waves of the sea, like the movement of our lungs as we
breath. What is striking of the performance is her ability to give a
sense of being in nature and part of nature. Zosia Jo is successful
in stripping us of our everyday masks and let us see that underneath
our clothes we are animals. In nature, the spectators would have been
able to sense more their own body and their relationship with rocks,
sands, trees, or water.
The texts beside the photos give a thoroughly research context linking this exploration of the body and nature to feminism. However, it is too abstract for the performance, while it is probably more powerful in the contexts of the workshops Zosia Jo did in Egypt. The exploration of the body outside of societal constructs of beauty, strength, and skill can resonate with men as well as women. In a disembodied society, we can all benefit from experiencing our bodies differently. At the performance, we remain spectators; yet as we watch Zosia Jo, we can imagine her as an animal. Like a butterfly she spreads her wings and she is nature. She is a fabulous animal.
I am going to be honest with you dear readers, I was rather dubious about Message In A Bottle.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Sting or The Police, but the fact this was another dance production by the wonderful Katie Prince of Zoonation fame (of which I am a fan) I was really intrigued with how the two could combine.
A really poignant story, Message In A Bottle focuses on a family torn apart from war and disaster, facing a life of a refugee and starting life again. A story that has often hit our newspaper headlines and breaking news articles on TV.
Zoonation has been known for its comedy – taking existing stories and giving them a comical yet urban feel to them. This production from Prince is something so different and dare I say it, my favourite to date from this choreographer and director.
Somehow the music from Sting fits every scene so well, without much change to the music, the world this family exist in feels almost alien and somehow the electronics of his songs, and the earthly beats of others just fit so well to the story and the characters.
The dancing, of course, is flawless and awe inspiring as Prince’s work always is. It is great to see her branch out even more with choreography – previous work lending to the fact it is urban, a hip hop version of a story; this production has these moments, but there are also beautiful contemporary moments, really showing the skills and versatility of each dancer.
And a review cannot be written without mentioning the set – a combination of multimedia usage with projections, a cubed stage where the background is ever changing, costumes that just fit effortlessly with the colour schemes and the lighting effects that are those I haven’t seen before in a show but also manage to include us the audience – an absolute triumph.
Message In A Bottle is an absolute masterpiece. It is everything from a dance show and more, and somehow, if you weren’t a fan of Sting or The Police before, you will now have them on repeat.
Kin, a triple bill of two
new works and one revival performed by National Dance Company Wales at Dance City,
Newcastle is deceptively simple and unspectacular but leaves a warm and deeply
satisfying feeling. Performed by a fine tuned and yet relaxed ensemble this is
beautiful dance with an underlying humanity.
National Dance Company Wales, based in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff is a contemporary dance company in existence since 1983, first as Diversions and, since 2009 as the National Dance Company of Wales. Kin is the latest touring triple bill with works by the current Artistic Director Fearghus O’ Conchuir, Dussledorf based English choreographer Alexandra Waierstall and the late Nigel Charnock, co funder of internationally acclaimed DV8.
Rygbi, (Rugby in Welsh) the opening work is by Fearghus O Conchuir and is inspired by the, as the title suggests, game of rugby and is a fun, beautifully researched and choreographed piece. That choreographic detail even includes the slightly tight concentrated expressions of the players/dancers, who occasionally break out in victorious smiles. Physically both fluid and dynamic, with rhythmic, fast paced changes of direction and slow motion moments it’s an easily understood piece full of quirks and camaraderie.
Next up 2067 Time and Time and Time is a much more meditative piece with structured improvisational movement, which though sensitively performed felt diffuse and sometimes obscure. Clearly created with great care and skill I was left wondering what the choreographer really intended even down to the compositional devices and use of props .
Lunatic by the late, great
Nigel Charnock known for his intense theatricality both as performer and
choreographer and important among LGBTQ artists, who tested new ways of
expressing their sexuality and their social situation was created in 2009. It
is expertly restaged by Jo Fong and feels uncanny in its’ relevance to today,
from the period style of the 1950s sequences through drag to joyously mad
ballet movement. A mix of dance and gesture filled with despair, madness and
joy using voice, props and costume changes to create a fantastic piece of choreography
which is highly relevant to today. It is also a test for the six dancers who perform
it with panache and humour.
“It is a kind of madness. All my work – to the public – doesn’t look chaotic, but mad. A little bit lunatic. People say, ‘I didn’t know what was going to happen next, what you were going to do next’.” Nigel Charnock interviewed by Emily Lambert, Wales Online 2009
The evening has a clear overarching theme of the group, how important we all are and how connected we are; there’s a sense of humanity and kindness. Superbly curated by Fearghus O’Conchuir it is contemporary dance that seeks to reach out without losing any integrity and it does.
Choreographer Alexandra Waierstall Composer Hauschka Costume Concept and Set Design Alexandra Waierstall Lighting Design Caty Olive Costume Design Brighde Penn
Lunatic
Choreographer Nigel Charnock Costume Design Shanti Freed Costume Make Brighde Penn Lighting Design Jackie Shemesh Costume Design Consultant Joseff Fletcher Restaging & Rehearsal Director Jo Fong. With thanks to the Nigel Charnock Estate
In November 2018 we published an article in response to the new Arts Council Wales Corporate Plan “For the benefit of all..” with a range of contributions from Creatives in Wales. We revisit this area in the updated article below with responses from one of the creatives featured in the article as well as an additional contribution.
Our mission statement at Get The Chance is “Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events.”
We were very pleased to see some of the priority areas in the new Arts Council Wales, Corporate Plan, 2018 – 2023 “For the benefit of all”
In particular we were interested in Commitment 2 below
We will enable a greater number and a wider diversity of people to enjoy, take part and work in the publicly funded arts.
ACW then go onto make a series of intentions (below) for where they want to be in 2023 (5 years)
We will be able to demonstrate clearly that all our funding programmes promote and contribute to equality and diversity
There will be a narrowing of the gap between those in the most and least affluent social sectors as audiences and participants
We will develop the creative work of disabled artists by funding “Unlimited” commissions and developing a scheme similar to “Ramps on the Moon” operated by Arts Council England
We want to introduce a “Changemakers” scheme placing BAME and disabled people in senior executive positions in the arts
We want to see a doubling of the number of disabled people in the arts workforce
We want to see a doubling of the number of Black and Minority ethnic backgrounds in the arts workforce
We want to have introduced an Arts Council Apprenticeships scheme designed to provide opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds
We will have achieved a trebling of the number of BAME and disabled and on APW boards of governance
I struggle to fully engage this as a response. My recent experience has revealed that there is certainly a surge to include diversity in all its forms on boards and in creative spaces and projects. However, this new ‘interest’ feels more like organisations ‘needing’ to diversify rather than ‘wanting’ to diversify, in order to secure their future and funding. I am hopeful though.
Elise Davison
Artistic Director, Taking Flight Theatre Company
What a year of change 2019 has been. For Taking Flight it has seen the company move away from the annual Shakespeare production to more indoor, venue-based work.
peeling by Kaite O’Reilly, opened on International Women’s Day in March at The Riverfront, Newport and then toured Wales and England and was a huge success earning 4 and 5* reviews.
The Guardian stating “Accessible theatre? Do it properly – do it like this”. Following this Taking Flight was invited to Grenzenlos Kulture festival in Mainz, Germany as an example of best practice in accessibility. It was a huge tour and highlighted once more the inaccessibility of much of Wales; accessible accommodation is very hard to find, and some venues struggled to meet our access riders. However, this did lead to some very inventive solutions involving temporary dressing rooms created with flats, curtains and even a marquee! Obviously not the ideal but with our hugely creative stage management team always looking for solutions rather than the problems and the support of venues we made it work. High applause to Angela Gould at RCT Theatres for her work in this department.
Angela Gould, Theatre Programme and Audience Development Manager, RCT Theatres.
One of our lovely actors toured with her dog who was a lovely addition to the team. Max is a therapy dog; many places we visited were only familiar with guide dogs, which made us realise how much there is to learn about the different types of assistance dogs.
Everything we learnt during this extensive tour will feed into the work we have been developing towards a scheme like the Ramps on the Moon initiative. A scheme like this can never be replicated, but the interest and passion from venues in Wales to be involved is overwhelming. Creu Cymru, hynt and Taking Flight have been in ongoing discussions about ways to make this happen. We read with interest that it was also a priority for ACW and have begun conversations with them around a similar scheme. As we have been researching and pushing for this to happen since ‘Ramps’ began in 2016, we are passionate that this becomes a reality. Taking Flight has just received funding for their next production, Road, at Parc and Dare, RCT Theatres and we hope this partnership will be the first step. Taking Flight will give support to participating venues to be confident to manage and produce inclusive work, to provide excellent access and a warm welcome to all- both audiences and creatives.
While peeling was out on the road in the Autumn, we also remounted the hugely successful and totally gorgeous You’ve got Dragons. After a run at WMC we hit the road again for a UK tour including a week run at Lyric Hammersmith which was almost sold out and incredibly well received. The desire for inclusive and accessible work for young people is growing. Watch this space for more news on You’ve Got Dragons next adventure.
Taking Flight has often dreamt of setting up a Deaf- led Youth Theatre for D/deaf and Hard of Hearing young people and with funding from BBC Children in Need we have finally done it. Led by the tremendous Stephanie Back in BSL and English, the youth theatre began last week and the results are already fabulous. The Wales Millennium Centre are our amazing venue partner and host the weekly sessions for D/deaf children aged 4-18. We have been overwhelmed with interest in this project, demonstrating that this has been needed in Wales for a long time.
There has also been a surge in interest from companies and individuals wanting to consider access while writing funding applications. There is a general excitement around making work accessible. There are some brilliant intentions and I’ve had exciting conversations with companies about different types of access and have been able to recommend consultants and access professionals.
The ground has been fertile for change for some time and there is much more inclusive and accessible work being created here than when we first started 12 years ago. Theatres are also much more interested in programming diverse work and many have invested in Deaf Awareness training with Taking Flight (Led by Steph Back).
Steph Back
There is a real desire to diversify audiences and welcome them to theatre spaces. Taking Flight’s next symposium on 28th Feb at Park and Dare RCT theatres on Relaxed Performances brings the brilliant Jess Thom, Touretteshero to Wales to discuss ways to provide the warmest possible welcome to those who may find the traditional etiquette of theatre a problem.
Jess Thom, Touretteshero
There has been a surge of work featuring D/deaf and disabled performers, productions like Jonny Cotsen’s Louder is Not Always Clearer, Leeway Productions Last Five Years and Illumine’s 2023 really engaged new audiences and the venues have really built on this success. There have been more productions that embed access in a creative way, a gorgeous example in Gods and Kings by Fourinfour productions with integrated BSL from Sami Thorpe. I had lots of fun working with Julie Doyle and Likely Story integrating BSL interpreter Julie Doyle into Red. Companies are choosing to interpret, audio describe or caption all the shows in a run rather than just one which is really encouraging and promoting more equality of access to shows.
So, the will to make accessible work is absolutely there, the best of intentions are definitely there and, now the funding for access is factored into budgets, the funds are usually there. However, why is it still access that falls through the cracks, gets pushed aside or forgotten as a production approaches opening night? I hear stories of interpreters and audio describers who can’t get into a rehearsal space to prep or are placed somewhere on stage that is neither aesthetically pleasing nor practical. It can still sometimes feel like access is something that needs to be ticked off a list in order to fulfil a funding application.
I am absolutely sure that this is not the intention; but we are all so overstretched, one person is often doing multiple jobs (especially in small companies) and when no one is directly responsible for access or it simply forms ‘part’ of someone’s role. So those best intentions and exciting plans are really hard to fully achieve. Taking Flight are exploring this lack of provision for access co – ordination with Bath Spa University so watch this space for the results of our research… The next generation of theatre makers are coming, and they really care about making work that can be accessed by all – that makes me happy.
I am sure that many of us would dread to know what the contents our minds would look like if they were to come into reality. Those odd dreams, the nightmares and the fears.
Peeping Tom’s Child brings all of these to the forefront in a bizarre continuous performance staged in a pretty normal looking forest clearing. Taking the fears and dreams of a child, what we encounter for the next hour or so is not only comical but at times quiet frightening and confusing.
By no means is this a negative comment.
With a little feeling of inspiration from the likes of Antonin Artaud’s theory of Theatre of Cruelty and a touch of Bertolt Brecht’s Alienation effect, we are intrigued by and at times disgusted at what we see. For the few, this is too much but for the many, once you are invested, there’s no leaving until the end.
Engagement comes in the anticipation of the next scene. Seamless in delivery, and with seemingly no obvious scene changes (although, of course there is, but they meld into one another so well, you can hardly tell) we encounter bizarre character’s with little relation to one another; scenes that we couldn’t even imagine in our wildest dreams, and they form together to give real laughter, uneasy laughter and real “WTF” moments that are nothing but brilliant.
There are ranges of physical theatre throughout the piece – bodies push the boundaries of what we understand they are capable of; like liquid, at times mechanic, without fear and flawless. One cannot help but be in awe of the performer’s capabilities and inspired by how graceful and yet at times fearless their movements can be.
Child is really something special. Not for fans of contemporary or traditional theatre, but certainly something that everyone must try for the sheer courage and impossible creativity it exudes.
A monochrome Zoetrope of cross- continental imagery.
“Created in collaboration with Peruvian artists and long- time collaborator, composer Steve Blake, ‘Laberinto’ continues Anderson’s work around misconstruction of reimagined lost dances, leading the audience on a serpentine journey into the labyrinth, into worlds beyond death.”
The piece was performed at Bristol’s Old Vic in their Weston
studio, an enchanted yet cosy space which fit the themes of Laberinto
perfectly. This meant the dancers were really amongst the audience, almost
close enough to touch but certainly close enough hear and maybe even feel their
breath.
The dancers begin the piece with grounded movement which
seems heavily influenced by Capoeira, an afro-Brazilian martial art form. They
create strong shapes, providing visual imagery for the audience which is almost
like a caricature or cartoon. This makes characters for each performer within
the monochrome zoetrope of cross- continental imagery that emerges on stage.
The dancers hold their own persona within the piece, each
with their own personality and therefore, their own characteristics. This allows
the audience to form a relationship with each, creating space for light- hearted
comedic moments which feature regularly within the piece and to the very end (including
the bow). These add to the theatrics of the performance and provide breaks from
the intensity of the images throughout. Also making the piece accessible for
those, who are not necessarily from an arts background.
I adored the stark contrast between the characters, whether
that was being devilishly camp or oppositely, stern and unphased. The posture
of these really played true to the role. They often carried a Parisian
‘laissez-faire’ attitude which occasionally indulged us in their inner
flamboyance. However, that isn’t forgetting the shift in physicality when
performing sections that deemed more heavily tribal influenced. The dancers
would then adopt a curved and more grounded approach, contrasting the seemingly
European personas they were previously carrying. Sadly, as the performers
tired, it did seem as though the sparkle of what were such strong, captivating
personalities had become more distant and less embodied by the dancers.
The costumes, all variations of monochrome catsuits, hold
reference to French icons such as Marcus Marceau as well as to Incan or Native
American masks. This fusion of European and Latin American aesthetics is
constant throughout the piece, both in imagery and movement. The use of face
paint on the face enhances the characters in which the dancers play. With
strict monochrome and neutral expressions, it is their physicality which tells
us of their individual stories. Only to be broken with exaggerated facial
expressions or the use of the tongue which strikes contrast to the sullen
monochrome otherwise. Imagery like the sticking out of the tongue and piercing stares
relate to that often seen in tribal rituals. This is heightened in the
penultimate section of the trio. The trio is made up of a solo and a duet. The
soloist seems to be trapped within a shamanic ritual between the other two
dancers. The two dancers appear to be chanting around the soloist but not
verbally, physically. The shamanic chanting is created via the use of hands and
gestural movements, almost like a text. Repeated, over and over, each time with
more power and vigour, growing in strength and intensity.
Throughout the piece the dancers’ hands will never be seen in a fist, but always splayed or stylistically positioned. Often the hands and arms will make references to whacking or vogueing foundations, often crossing over with that of 1980s catwalk models or magazine covers. This shape of movement is always precise, with transitional movements from one shape to the other. These shapes provide the context for the audience, often presenting imagery from familiar historic images. Not only supermodels but mimes, jesters, court dancers and circus performers. I did question at times which images have been used to make the choreography, as although some were obvious in their links, others not so much. There seemed to be expressions that linked with that of ‘Uncle Tom’ propaganda from the 1950s but whether that was purposeful or solely my connections, I am unsure.
The choreography itself relies on a mixture of devised games
(such as freezeframes or adding to the picture) as well as the use of strict
patterns playing with timings, canons, shape and poise. The accents of the choreography
tended to swap between ‘hits’ and breaks’, meaning sharp held movements and
sharper movements that then blend into something softer. The pathways of the
piece were most intriguing and formed a key role within the piece. The
characters would glide past each other, whilst in strict canons but along
unusual pathways meaning as the audience, your eyes were constantly drawn to
different areas within the stage.
The set simply details a square of flooring which is matched
by a dangling box light above. This cube of parameter provides ample space for
the performers to move and with their grounded movement quality, they seem
encased within the space and we the audience are peeking through the looking
glass. The strict spacing provided by the set allows the structure of the piece
to provide breath and more importantly to reset from scene to scene. Almost as
though when the dancers aren’t within the set, they are offstage (although they
continue to pursue their characters and to respond to what is emerging on
stage).
I was fortunate to witness the Q&A at the end of the
performance which added further insight into the process of creation and how
such a project came about. I was happy to learn that photographic images had
been one of the core ways in which the piece had been created and that the
piece focussed on these shapes and imagery throughout. It’s wonderful to see
such open ways of creating and these types partnerships taking place. I look
forward to seeing more from such an emerging professional company and wish them
the best of luck on the rest of their tour.
Rambert2 is a spectacular and charged performance with dancers of incredible physicality, elasticity, and vigour. I believe they earned the standing ovation; less so the choreographers. Rambert2 is made of three pieces, of which Sin, choreographed by Damien Jalet and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, is the most striking and beautiful. Sin is sandwiched between a disappointing and dated piece with a scifi flavour and an explosive but crowded and uneven piece at the end.
The first piece opens with dancers in space-like suit playing an impossible game of words. The theatrical side is quickly ditched and left unresolved to move to fun and rhythm. It lacks a journey, cohesiveness, and beauty. The final piece brims with colour and movement. It shows off the dancers’ agility, strength, and smoothness. They also show skill and coordination in working a rather limited stage. Sin is simply mesmerising. It is a gripping duet capturing the conflictual nature of desire, the life force of eroticism, and annihilation. It is beautiful and beautifully executed.
Rambert2 is a bonfire of energy with uneven pieces. Its main weakness lies in being too concerned with effect. It is ‘stagy’ with an expert use of music, lights, and showing off talent. It wants to entertain the audience and overall it succeeds. Yet, it does so by relinquishing the poetry that is present in Sin and at the beginning of the final piece.
Rambert2 was part of Cardiff Dance Festival, performed at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Our mission statement at Get The Chance is “Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events.”
After the publication of the new Arts Council Wales, Corporate Plan, 2018 – 2023 “For the benefit of all” we interviewed a range of arts professionals in November 2018 to discuss the intentions of Arts Council Wales and suggest ways that their ambitions may be best realised.
A year one from this article we spent time broadly discussing the aims of the Corporate Plan and what change (if any) has occurred in the sector. The questions we asked elicited a personal response from everyone involved. We are publishing our second response below from Rachel and Jamie from Avant Cymru. Avant Cymru describe themselves as “A forward thinking theatre company from the South Wales Valleys. Creating relevant, distinctive theatre, dance, Hip Hop and artistic activity with and for our community and championing this work at home and afar.”
Hi Can you tell us about yourself please?
Hi Avant Cymru are made up of many different individuals. We have key members for the company who come a different range of backgrounds
BAME
LGBT
LOW INCOME/HIGH INCOME
There are two elements we can relate to with each other, all have mental health issues or have family members who have had long term mental health conditions. The other is that we all have Dyslexia and for some, other learning disabilities including ADHD and Dyspraxia.
What was your personal pathway into the arts?
We have all had different pathways, one thing which we all have in common is that our parents were not in a position to be able to pay for classes and training which others could afford as we were growing up. For Rachel Pedley our Artistic Director this resulted in her assisting classes to cover the cost of her classes and taking on multiple jobs to pay for the clothing, equipment and assessments.
Do you think your class; gender or ethnic background has impacted on your education or career?
All of us have found prejudice for our backgrounds from certain individuals. This has helped us find strength in each other. We appreciate that none of us sound, look or have experienced the same as the other and this means we can enrich each other by sharing our differences.
What have you found to be your personal barriers to accessing the arts and being able to develop a sustainable career? Is a sustainable career even possible?
Money – Money, Money and most worryingly segregation.
Do you feel comfortable within your personal arts environment or is the different class, gender, ethnic background or privilege of colleagues something that impacts on you?
There are many environments we find ourselves in where there are middle to upper class people. As a majority working class company we do find it difficult to be able to explain that the places we perform, teach and train are very different to those accessed by the people we see outside of the Valleys and outside of the areas we perform across the world with our Hip Hop work. We have been to the purpose built buildings, with equipment and resources. We are grateful for the spaces and people who support us, without them the Valleys would be falling behind, they have kept opportunities available helping companies like ours to excel and grow. However the Valleys need purpose built spaces and talent to be championed.
Are things are getting better or worse?
Worse – Segregation is happening through policy led decisions.
ACW have the target of “We will enable a greater number and a wider diversity of people to enjoy, take part and work in the publicly funded arts.” Do you think this is acheivable?
True diversity happens when you have all involved who want to be. All financial backgrounds, race, religion, abilities, ages accessing and participating.
Do you think ACW will be able them to deliver on their targets and why?
Unless the funding is focused on actual practice coming from the people and the varied communities looking to open their doors, it will never be achieved, you can’t buy diversity by forcing people into areas, jobs, etc without them having their heart and soul in that area. There are already many diverse projects happening across Wales – not funded by anyone in many cases. The funders need to look beyond those they think they know and see the amazing work being developed from the ground up. There you will find achievement that will be sustainable, diverse and rich as it comes from those who may not have the ability to write a funding form, or deal with the networking meetings, but those who love the area, the people and the art of where they live and what they are inspired by.
How do you think ACW would be able to best realise their intentions?
Come to hear from audiences and participants, see what is being achieved and who is achieving it.
From your personal lived experience what needs to change?
That funders fund what the community want and need, instead of pushing statistics.
If you are interested in the work of Avant Cymru, further information on their next event can be found below.
Open Art Surgery with Breakin’ Convention Ty Pawb Art Gallery, Wrexham, LL13 8BBFri 14th February 2020
Open Art Surgery Wales invites you to delve into the mind and souls of some of the UK’s finest hip hop artists as they dare to try something new, dangerous and exciting!Artists present brand new short works devised and developed in just one week with mentorship from hip hop theatre aficionados Jonzi D, Ivan Blackstock and Anthony Lennon.This unique event, which takes place at the end of a week of intense research and development, presents six new works to the audience who are then invited to critique, feedback and ask questions to the artists involved.
Open Art Surgery is not about presenting finished work. The focus is to develop theatre skills within hip hop artists and to experiment with new ideas that could be developed further in the future. Breaking down of the fourth wall to allow the audience to engage with the artists, Open Art Surgery is an unmissable event in the Breakin’ Convention calendar.Hosted by Breakin’ Conventions Jonzi D
The highlight of the Dance Festival, for me, has been the workshop offered by Fearghus Ó Conchùir, Artistic Director of the National Dance Company Wales (NDCW). It was not only an opportunity for those like me, without dance training, to participate, but also a personal gift from an experienced and professional dancer to whoever wanted to be part of it. The workshop was open to all, with no financial or skills barrier, and it was led by Fearghus with an open attitude, making no impositions.
We began with some basic ballet moves. My lack of dance training meant that movements were like foreign words which I stumbled to pronounce. The repetition at the beginning helped me fix the plies that, judging by my aching legs, I used throughout the day.
After the initial ‘structured’ session, Fearghus told us that we would do ‘contact improv’ in couples and in group, an announcement which was met by a terrified expression on my face. Being used to intellectual work alone, having to focus on the body and make sense of it with others is daunting. In the dancing space, I can only express myself through my body. There is nowhere to hide.
I have done some ‘contact work’ before. This time, we began as couples where one touched the other’s body gently, while the other became attentive to their own body and then responded to the touch. A simple touch, an attentiveness to one’s body, and a response to touch formed the essential elements of our dance for the day. I quickly found myself in duets and in group in synergy with others without effort, so much that asked to improvise alone, I complain that I lost my partner.
The togetherness that Fearghus wanted us to explore requires listening to one another’s bodies and being in dialogue with one another. It is not achieved by putting aside differences, rather by working with them. Perhaps the most interesting exercise was one of imitation. We were all asked to dance a solo for one (very long) minute while observed by the rest of the group, who in turn had to replicate something of our movement.
Like impressionists, we tried to imitate, but soon became interpreters with our own bodies. We tried to extract the essence of a person’s movements and recreate it, but this process of analysis and reproduction soon became one of interpretation. Other people’s movements sat differently in our bodies. It was a beautiful exercise in discovering the other as well as oneself.
Outside competitions and professional performances, dance is a gift of one’s way of expressing oneself through movement. It makes one vulnerable. It makes one risk judgment and rejection; yet all giving is thus. A soulful gift is the giving of oneself with no expectation of reciprocity.
Tir Cyfreddin/Shared Ground Workshop was part of Cardiff Dance Festival.
(This article was first published on Groundwork Pro Blog)
The piece opens with the dancers rooted to the floor, in
what seems like the foundations of a tree. As tensions build, the tree begins
to sway by the wind which causes a ripple through each performer. The storm
builds taking hold of the dancers swirling them through the space like leaves
drifting through the wind. Thus creating, an autumnal flurry of movement and
immersive sound. It’s imagery like this, that forms the development of the
storm throughout the piece. The dancers utilise this as well as breath to
create the effect of the ever-growing storm around us. It’s their skill and
power as performers that really drives the audience with them through the storm
that’s created.
The movement used was often self-indulgent allowing us to see the performers not as performers but as people, with their own desires and limitations. Even when taken by the wind and shifted through the space, the performers remained as themselves, not characters. Their own emotions drove them to move and create, with the ensemble often echoing the soloists state of mind in the backdrop of the stage. At times, swirling and spiralling across the space whilst the soloists remained still, reflecting their inner turmoil although their own appearance remained static and unphased. The first half of the piece focuses on simpler values to portray the story of the storm, imagery via use of line and shape within the movement and allowing the knock-on effect from dancer to dancer which creates this ever-building tension.
https://youtu.be/8nYxYRDltGs
However, the second half, relies heavily on theatrics and storytelling to get this point across. The timing of movements and the beginning of phrases becomes predictable, which with such fascinating, detailed music (composed by Amarok / Michal Wojtas which I shall be purchasing once released) becomes frustrating. There seems a loss of detail in the realness of these people, which was previously so enchanting. Facial expressions become forced and lose their authenticity, with an absence of realism in their hands and reaches.
Although, with this being said, the theatrical elements
really did provide food for thought. Especially the initial solo by Norikazu
Aoki. It approached the theme of mental health with self – destructiveness and
the desire from those around him to help fight this addiction. These things are
extremely important to be visualised in work on stage and such a difficult
topic to explore well. By leaving the solo so simple, it allowed the audience
to resolve their own interpretation of what was happening. It sparked a real
understanding of these issues from the point of those witnessing someone
deteriorate and how we can and should assist in those moments of self-harm.
This sharing of help was continued throughout the piece with simple, gestural
motifs such as that as the unfolding of hands.
The role of the observer stands as its own motif throughout the piece. This played by the choreographer James Wilton. He is present in almost all the scenes providing stillness to the continuing motion on stage. This leads me to question, is this piece the story of one man? Are the performers on stage sharing his own personal experiences to the audience? And was this his journey to self help and how he overcame his own demons?
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw
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