Making outside @ Bath Spa University
I think this may be my favourite project – certainly for a very long time!
There are lots of factors that go into that statement, but I think the most important one was the open, energetic and creative approach of the Bath spa dancers – It’s a year on since I made this work, and I am instantly smiling thinking about it.
Another thought that jumps to mind is that we were essentially in the aftermath of a lockdown and still had lots of restrictions in place. Making an outdoor work was an obvious solution to dancing in the restriction but also, having spent most of lockdown reconnecting with nature and finding new spaces for dancing beyond the studio (or my kitchen!) - it felt like a strong pull to really respond to the environment. I wanted to work with the dancers to question how outdoor spaces root into our memories, move us emotionally and become destinations that can allow for action, reflection and interactions.
In Spring 2021 I did a site visit to Bath Spa uni to meet the lovely team of dancers, walk around the grounds, and see where the work might ‘live’. If you have been there, you will know that it the uni is a collection of beautiful grand buildings homed in lush green hills, all tumbling down toward a large lake – what a place for these dancers to train!
The site was full of opportunities for interacting with the architecture and natural landscape and the challenge of forming the dance within the frame of this environment was more about finding a way to ‘meet’ this site and be part of it, rather than try to be louder than it. With so many possible places to locate the dance, I decided to narrow down to a possible 10 options and refine these choices by finding an organic journey for the dance rather than trying to visit all of them. Standing, walking, lying on the ground – taking it in both visually and aurally – capturing the natural sounds of the space, filming possible routes for the work – I left with a lot to think about.
In preparation for the commission week I’d set the dancers a series of questions to answer regarding their experiences with different environments, “describe an outside space from your memories that brings a sense of peace or happiness” and “why do people sit on outside benches?” As these answers trickled in on our Whatsapp group I felt I was getting a sense of the personalities that would flavour the work. I started to explore how these responses could blend into natural sounds that I had collected on my walks around Bath and in my own home town, and this formed the foundation of the soundtrack of the work.
The work was to promenade across a series of locations on the site, each had its own mood and intention. Drawing on this to inform the soundtrack provided me with an overarching structure of the work. Having this meant I could remain open with the vocabulary so that the dancers could explore tasks, imagery and be responsive to how the site made them want to move; it was important for me not to lock down the vocab as I wanted to co-create with the dancers and take ownership of the piece.
Amy Morvell joined me for creation week in June 2021. Arriving to a room of ‘yes’ people was such wonderful experience – immediately on board and willing to explore each idea with commitment and thought. For us, making was about being in the performance environment and allowing the choreographic idea to interact with what comes in and what emerges by being in the space – an internal-external chemistry between dancer and site. Playing, thinking and feeling our way through the ideas in the performance space provided a sensory and physical experience that was often transported to the studio as a place for clarity and refinement. Here, dancers could find what remained in their bodies once the stimulus was removed. Returning to the performance site, responses were homed and structured within the frame of the location. It was wonderful to see the dancers let go of presentation and embody the sensation and intention of each section in each location.
The dancers invested in this work beyond the physical movement. They had taken the difficult step of allowing themselves to be in the work with a thoughtful balance of authenticity and vulnerability. The sites were integral to the intention of each section and the dancers felt, saw and moved across the surfaces with presence and awareness. It was quite a moving experience honestly! The work and the people in it have stayed with me.
