REHEARSALS FOR NC FESTIVAL IN FULL SWING!

BY ADRIANNA MICHALSKA

I have no idea how time between September and now went by so quickly but the rehearsals for this year’s Next Choreography Festival surely are in full swing.

So what have we been doing so far?

Constantly questioning, constructing and deconstructing, venturing into our senses, always looking out for the present moment and for things that work and don’t work in our choreographic practices. Challenging our bodies, our perceptions, and our understanding of what choreography is and what it can be.

I remember moments that felt like a ritual – dancing and singing, in a circle, allowing the movement to come from ‘the guts’, letting go of inhibitions and indulging in the physical expression.

I remember dancing to inner music, outside music, no music, with music, and against music. I remember improvising to the sound of Donal Trump’s voice (highly recommend experience but must be treated with care).

And frames. We explored many frames this year. Siobhan Davies’ gestures and poses, Lee Anderson’s pictures/postcards, Martin Hargreaves’s uncreative creativity, forgery, theft… These are only some examples of artists whose choreographic practices and frames we explored this year. Each time, the frame (or a choreographic task if you’d like) was set up and we used our bodies as resources to engage and create within it. Amy Bell (the Next Choreography facilitator) often told us to think of choreography as a machine that you first set up and then put the movement through. Something will always come out, and the more you understand this machine, the more exciting the potential results.

What should you expect from the Festival then?

Over the past couple of months we have accumulated tons of materials, notes, reflections, and experiences. We got very excited when planning the Festival – there were choreographer’s hats and badges, ritual dances in the courtyard, and other plans. Amy and Laura (the SDD Learning & Participation Producer) worked very hard with us to refine and compile our ideas into an exciting programme that reflects and goes beyond what we have experienced this year.

This year we encourage you to explore choreography through improvisation, challenge the perception of the performer-spectator relationship in a participatory piece, venture into different corners of SDD studios to see how dance unfolds in unexpected spaces, discuss other talented young people’s work as part of the Feedback Forum, and much more.

Overall, the Next Choreography Festival will overtake the SDD Studios for the whole of Sunday 9th July, filling it with installations (visual and sound), dance, movement, discussions, food (for body and for thought), and fun. Definitely an event not to miss.

For more information about the festival schedule and tickets: https://www.siobhandavies.com/whats-on/performance/next-choreography-festival-2017/

REFLECTING ON THE THINKING BODY PROJECT

LAURA A

Teacher Lucy Coates worked with Siobhan Davies Dance for 10 weeks as part of our Thinking Body project at Reay Primary School. Artist Jo Rhodes worked closely with Lucy and her Year 5 class to explore the body, neuroscience and curriculum topics.

Here are Lucy’s reflections on the impact of the work on her teaching and her pupils.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170822152230/http://blog.siobhandavies.com/primary-school-programme/2017/06/22/reflecting-on-the-thinking-body-project/

NEXT CHOREOGRAPHY FESTIVAL REHEARSALS – WITH MARTIN HARGREAVES

STELLA ROUSHAM

The NC festival rehearsals are in full swing, with only 3 weeks to go! We have been running all over the Siobhan Davies building: from dancing in the lift, the changing rooms, the parlour and even outside in the court yard (let’s be grateful for the sunny weather over the past few days!). The Festival is looking to be a busy day, with a huge variety of choreographic pieces, art work, soundscapes and installations. The audience will also be welcomed to get involved with a workshop and several participatory pieces.

The NC cohort have also been working on an ensemble piece with guest artist Martin Hargreaves. This is focusing on the principle ideas of Signature, Theft & Translation and to what extent are these possibilities or what happens when we use these ideas within dance or choreography. Martin asked us to all devise a short phrase of movement, words or drawing which represented each of these words. Surprisingly, the greatest challenge for us as we approached this task was defining these words. Many of us soon realised that our personal ‘signature’  within movement, is perhaps also theft; we acquire gestures and habits from others and subconsciously are always ‘stealing’ –  we can never dance in a vacuum, as such. ‘Translation’ we decided felt less intentional or destructive than ‘Theft’, which to us symbolised taking movement or art that isn’t ours. Not simply copying, but also claiming ownership of it. Problems surrounding cultural appropriation were also stirred up with the idea of ‘Theft’ and how certain dance styles become appropriated by the mainstream media, with little regard to the original origins.

Subsequent to devising our individual three pieces, we then worked in groups to combine our work. This lead to even more layers of watching other groups, recreating, remembering and recollecting their work, until we had several ‘meta’ works, all of which are intricate copies, translations and memories of other people’s work. And yes, it made our brains ache too when we did it!

The NC team have one more rehearsal with Martin this Thursday before the dress run in two weeks time. I am interested to see how the piece will be finished, and if there are any more layers can add to the piece. By it’s nature, the spontaneity of the piece is a key element, so I am hoping that it won’t be a ‘finished’ or ‘polished’ piece as such, but rather a continuous exploration, even on the day itself.

If you’re keen to see this work, or simply have a passion for creativity, dance and community make sure you come to the NC Festival on Sunday 9th July at Siobhan Davies Dance.
Look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you,

Stella