IN RESEARCH 2020 – ongoing

Muscle memory is the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement.

This is queer love story. A piece is about the dual nature of love and fear, the unconscious patterns of human nature and the complex dynamics relationships reveal. Metaphors of courage and dangers involved opening oneself up to new forms of intimacy, trust and vulnerability are woven into the visual fabric of this work.

The heart is classified as a muscular organ. Our repeated experiences of fear and love become patterns stored in the tissue of our hearts. We explore notions of safety and how the nervous system reacts when boundaries are challenged.

2019 / 2020 – Heima Residency – Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.

Cecile Lassonde (FR) and I started this collaboration with an handmade puppy hammer (juggling toy) I created using found objects. Ropes and gloves.

By playfully and intuitively mixing contemporary dance and circus techniques, we based our explorations on how the body moves in relation to a moving orbital object and one another.  We explore the body in space, one’s visual integration and proprioceptive awareness in movement ans in stillness.

.

2022 – La Fabrique de la Danse Paris, France.

During a week intensive residency we have focused on creating a participatory workshop and a 10 min performance for Impulsion festival which took place at the Institut Suédois in Paris on the 2 & 3 July.

We recorded an original score with vocalist & musician, Lenny-Dee Nielson (ZA/GER) for this iteration.

Hands are an instrument of both love and fear. We use gloves as a metaphorical layer of protection. We use ropes to that give spatial awareness a tangible and invisible forms of binding fears and stigmas.

Image credit: Emmanuelle Staüble

2023 – Cent Quatre, Cresco Saint Mandé, La Fabrique de la Danse Paris, France.

We have brought in a international team together for a month long residency period in Paris. Our research has expanded by integrating a live vocals/sound performance element with vocalist & musician, Lenny-Dee Nielson (ZA/GER). Contempory dancers Anna Mikula(POL/NL) , Élise Moreau (FR/ESP) and Kandé Magassa (FR) have joined the stage. We are creating an eclectic project that blurs the lines between contemporary dance, theater, circus, songwriting, sound, voice, visual art and performance.

Our principle mode of inquiry is creating an atmosphere of hypnotic observation, both visually and sonically. We have collected a library of studio field recordings of the ropes and gloves, exploring varying degrees tension, pressure, contact and weight. So far we are exploring a soundscape through integrating the recordings into loops, with voice and rhythm both recorded and live.

CONCEPTUAL REFLECTIONS

The work has a deeper visceral undertone to fundamentally give the performers and the audience an experiential opportunity to open new neural pathways. By giving our personal & collective anxieties a place to exist and play within a safe and contained setting we are actively sharing our vulnerability rather than trying to hide it.

This project illustrates how intertwined and interconnected we are as a global community. Layers of body language, non verbal communication and new ways of expressing, respecting and reflecting on personal and community space. We unpack the psychological trajectories of empathy, visible and invisible dangers, fear, anxiety, the need to move forward, step back, to find human connection, to play by the rules, to protect oneself and the other.

This research intimately connects us to the notions of time & space, the precision & intent behind our gestures and the integration of respecting and influencing boundaries.

The body is a highly illegent mechanism, not only does it store positive neuromuscular patterns, it also holds and stores trauma and if we don’t find creative ways to release and heal these unconscious parts of ourselves?

The ‘mechanical loops’ represent the thought patterns that keep us stuck in inertia, stagnant fears and emotions linked to dealing with pain and trauma. Are these incessant & repetitive loops and steps in the forefront of our awareness or are they still lurking in the back of the subconscious mind and body? How do our old patterns and movements reflect our ability to constantly adapt to new and unfamiliar stimuli? How do we cope and deal with the stress of the unknown and can we accept that there are other forces at play that we cannot control.

The poi movements are based on principles of physics in relation to motion, speed, trajectory and gravity. We use these forces to illustrate the implications of  how trust, timing and space can reveal a sense of acceptance of a situation that was once out of our control. How do we find new ways to move towards, between, away, closer to each other and ourselves?