Back in the studio!
Thanks to some funding from Oxford Dance Forum's Evolution programme, I was able to take part in a month of residency at Space at Clarence Mews in London.
The residency offered 4 x 4hours of studio to use freely, 4 meetings with the 4 other residents on the same month of making scheme, and 4 mentoring sessions with Caroline Salem. Marking the end of the residency was an informal showing of the work and ideas developed during the residency.
This residency was a fantastic opportunity for me to start working on a piece I had been thinking about for over a year but hadn't had time to start exploring in the studio.
Studio time without any pressure to produce something at the end is invaluable and allowed me to use this time as playtime.
A few things I knew about the piece were that:
(1) It's a solo
(2) Well it's only a solo because I'm the only person on stage, but I also wanted to play with a few objects as props
(3) I was keen on using both my ballet background and aspects of butoh.
A few things emerged from this playtime. Mainly, I really like imbuing my objects with a kind of personality, using them as dance partners, and I'm very keen on finding the kind of texture and bodily presence that characterises butoh within the forms of ballet.
And now that I have jumpstarted this project, I look forward to seeing where I can take it next, and how I can keep developing it.
The residency offered 4 x 4hours of studio to use freely, 4 meetings with the 4 other residents on the same month of making scheme, and 4 mentoring sessions with Caroline Salem. Marking the end of the residency was an informal showing of the work and ideas developed during the residency.
This residency was a fantastic opportunity for me to start working on a piece I had been thinking about for over a year but hadn't had time to start exploring in the studio.
Studio time without any pressure to produce something at the end is invaluable and allowed me to use this time as playtime.
A few things I knew about the piece were that:
(1) It's a solo
(2) Well it's only a solo because I'm the only person on stage, but I also wanted to play with a few objects as props
(3) I was keen on using both my ballet background and aspects of butoh.
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| Surrounded by my props at Clarence Mews - 30th Nov 2017 [screencast of rehearsal footage] |
A few things emerged from this playtime. Mainly, I really like imbuing my objects with a kind of personality, using them as dance partners, and I'm very keen on finding the kind of texture and bodily presence that characterises butoh within the forms of ballet.
And now that I have jumpstarted this project, I look forward to seeing where I can take it next, and how I can keep developing it.
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