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S P R I N G T E R M
GARBLE.
THE PUBLICATION FROM LONDON CONTEMPORARY DANCE SCHOOL
The Tech Issue. | Lucy Carter | Bridget Fiske | DV8 | | Yayoi Kusama | James Cousins | Joshua Baum | NDT2 |
G
CONTENTS
Is s u e 6 | Apr i l 2 0 1 2
4
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LCDS Goes Forth - James Cousins Interviewed
8
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The Technology Issue - Our choice topic introduced
12 - Dance On Camera Jessica Sim talks dance film 16
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20
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A New Space For Dance - Facebook, Twitter and The Space Tech On the Cheapo Stage
22 - Bridget Fiske The Isadora programme 24
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Mari’s Mouthful - Chocolate, and lots of it.
26 - Reviews: NDT2, DV8, Noises Off and Yayoi Kusama 28 - Garble Over Lunch With Lucy Carter. 31
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What’s On? - In Dance, Art and Theatre
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2 | GARBLE
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Editor’s Note. It only becomes truly apparent how ridiculously dependent you are on technology, when your iPhone dies runs out of battery. You wait around staring at the black glossy screen wondering what to do with your life, suddenly unable to pretend to be busy when waiting alone in a coffee shop. Apparently we are losing the ability to be bored. Or use public transport without angry birds. Given gadgets’ ability to invade every aspect of our lives, we stopped to wonder how it has impacted the dance world. I know, original right? But before you stop and wonder how many more years it will be before the word hologram stops being 100% disappointing, turn to page 24 and let your worries fall away. Mari has a wonderful choccy recipe for you all, because confectionary is more interesting than projections...
Editor Writers
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James Morgan Jessica Sim Mari Colbert Chris Scott Kit Brown Declan Whitaker Emilia Gasiorek Celina Liesegang
Special Thanks to
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Mary Bullard David Steele London Contemporary Dance School
Cover Image by James Morgan and Declan Whitaker
The Garble Team:
GARBLE | 3
James Cousins
Interviewed by Chris Scott Image by Mikah Smillie
I met up with good friend and LCDS graduate James Cousins on a sunny day last week to discuss what he is up to after winning the very first New Adventures Choreographer Award (NACA). Since graduating from LCDS in 2010 James has had an exciting two years in performance and choreography. After leaving LCDS he joined New Adventures on their international tour of Swan Lake, he has danced for Marc Brew, Yolande Yorke-Edgell, choreographed works for Verve, CAT, taken part in Choreodrome at The Place and found time to be involved in a film, to name just a few things; but the most exciting news was the announcement in August that he had won the very first NACA. Chris: So tell me a little bit about what the award involves. James: The money for the award was given to Matthew Bourne as a Birthday present by close friends and colleagues. Matt has always been interested in supporting young artists and he appreciates how hard it is to make a start as a young choreographer. So the award was set up to give one choreographer the opportunity to be mentored for the year by Matt; to
4 | GARBLE
have support in marketing, budgeting and running a company and to put on a showcase at the end of it. I certainly never expected to get it. I was up against so many amazing, more established choreographers, but then, I got it! Chris: What does the mentoring involve? James: Well, I haven’t actually started rehearsals yet, so I guess when that starts Matt will actually come in and have some input, but so far its just been helpful to talk through ideas. Just having the chance to talk it through with someone who’s so experienced and who has been creating work for 25 years. But it’s not only access to Matt, I’ve had the chance to speak to Lez Brotherston about design, he has been in the company forever! Etta Murfitt was great to talk to about casting and how to run rehearsals. During the process she will come to rehearsals and share her expertise, and hopefully I’ll have Kerry Biggin (New Adventures, Michael Clarke) as my rehearsal director. I’ve also learnt a lot about marketing from the amazing team at Sadler’s Wells. Its not just learning about choreography, that hasn’t even started yet, so far its all been about everything else.
LCDS GOES FORTH
Chris: So what are the main things you have learnt through doing this so far? James: The main thing that I have learnt is that it is an absolute bitch to run your own Company. You don’t realise as a dancer how much things cost and you take so much for granted. Everything just costs so much money, the reality of it all is so, so hard. Although the aim of the award was to help me create my full vision of my work, I still can’t achieve that because it would cost tens of thousands of pounds more. That’s been great to talk to Matt about, compromising artistry for the realities of budgeting and such. Take advantage at LCDS of everything you have around you, access to dancers, space, costumes support, because once you get out, getting all of those things together becomes so difficult and everything costs money. Chris: Can you give us a little nugget of what to expect form your showcase? James: Well if it all works out, I will be creating two pieces, the first a trio, that I started last year in Choreodrome at The Place, that will focus a lot on partner work. The second, a group piece for ten dancers with lighting design by Lee Curran (Hofesh, Bonachela), and hopefully be a bit of an extravaganza, who knows.
James Cousins on the set of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Chris: You were awarded £15,000 from NACA, which to any student sounds like all the money you could need? But it hasn’t quite been the reality of it? James: No, it’s certainly an amazing start and I’m very grateful for the opportunity but I have had to work extremely hard to find financial support from other places. Initially I thought fifteen grand was so much money, then you do a budget and you realise the show is going to cost minimum fifty grand, just for two nights at Sadler’s Wells…. Shit! So I have applied to the Arts Council for money, looking for others sponsors and am hoping to get a lot in kind.
Chris: As a choreographer, looking for dancers, any words you have for the students at LCDS? James: Stay open minded, be versatile, you might be extremely lucky and get in that one company that you have always dreamed of being in, but the chances are very small. You have to do so many different little things to get you by and you have to be open to all those things. Networking and knowing as many people as you can know will help you get that and keep work coming in. Don’t be scared of freelancing; the majority of dancers do it and it can be fun! Its not just about the dancing, you have to be an all-rounder. What I want of a dancer is someone who’s fun to work with, who picks things up quickly and who’ll give everything a go; they will be doing it, not thinking about it. Work hard and put yourself out there but remember it’s good to have some fun in the studio. Have fun, be friendly, that’s my motto. Look out for further details regarding James’ Showcase at Sadler’s Wells planned for 7th September. Many thanks to James Cousins.
GARBLE | 5
THE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE | Text By Celina Liesegang |
In this issue, GARBLE have got together to ponder over ‘Technology in dance’, whatever that is... We’re living in a world that is now driven by technology, and many facets of our everyday lives which once required manual labour are now facilitated with the use of electronic and mechanical devices. Not only do many of the new technologies aid us in our daily fight against time, but also act as exciting diversions which continue to amaze and entertain us. It’s no doubt that this new era has in-
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fluenced the ever changing world of contemporary dance, where so much focus is placed on the “now” and whatever is to come next. These exciting technologies bring on a whole new set of possibilities to choreographers who look to create innovative, stimulating work. However, it has become more prevalent to see pieces where the technology becomes the main focus, as opposed to the physical movement of a dancer, which then poses the question; how far can the role of technology increase before it overtakes the actual performance element within dance? And is this necessarily a bad thing?
| THE TECH ISSUE |
Bodies are becoming increasingly more mobile, choreography more challenging, however there must be a limit. In our attempt to push the boundaries of this art so obsessed with innovation, it’s no wonder choreographers have begun to introduce technology as a way to excite and inspire audiences. When used in a way that supports the movement, it can be a very successful alliance, however there’s a fine line between using technology to enhance a performance and relying on it entirely.
feeling very entertained, but I felt that this was mostly because of the impact the elaborate staging and projected animation had made on me as opposed to being truly inspired by the movement. It may seem a bit presumptuous to imagine dance being taken over by technology, but we can make an analogy with the way modern music has developed in recent years. It is clear that every aspect of musicianship has been challenged by up and coming technologies, which have allowed producers to create, without Although this may not even the need for innecessarily be considdividual musicians. ered a bad thing, the However unlikely it problem we then enmay be that technolcounter is that once a ogy could entirely technology has been replace dance, it may used for a while we bebe worth asking yourcome accustomed to self, next time you seeing it in conjunction see a show; is there with dance and therea strong technologifore it doesn’t excite Above - Nina Kov, ‘Divide By Zero’. Opposite - cal presence? Is the us as it would have the Akram Khan, ‘Desh’ © Richard Haughton relationship between first time. For example movement content after having seen Divide By Zero by Nina and technological content well balanced? Kov (Resolution! 2012) which involved the Does it rely on the technological aspect or use of an interactive projection system, oth- does this just emphasize an already great ers expressed their fascination with the live work? Does this bother you? projections stimulated by the movement of I think when in so many different ways, we the dancer, however as I had already seen are challenging what dance is and can be, Rites by Klaus Obermaier, which involved the question we should be asking is: Is it a similar technology, I was automatically any good? less intrigued by it and focused more on Tweet us @lcdsgarble the dancer’s movement. Similarly, seeing Continue reading for our many Akram Khan’s solo Desh I left the theatre opinions on dance and technology...
GARBLE | 7
| Text and By Jessica Sim |
DANCE ON CAMERA
H
idden among the burgeoning worlds
Lumière invented cinematography in 1894. Other
of entertainment, dance, and film, lives a genre
choreographers, dancers, and filmmakers have fol-
of art modestly labelled as “dance on camera” or
lowed closely, with familiar names such as Isadora
“video dance.” With its quiet existence, neither
Duncan, Serge Diaghilev, Charlie Chaplin, Mary
fully a part of ‘dance’ nor ‘film,’ this art-form
Wigman, Walt Disney, Martha Graham, Gene
thrives from the two genres’ greatest qualities: pro-
Kelly, Stanley Donen, and Merce Cunnigham.
ficiency of movement and the ability to capture,
Despite such involvement, video dance has man-
cut, and manipulate this movement in the edit.
aged to remain fairly hidden. It seems it is often only exposed to those studying contemporary
Video dance is not only a documentation of dance
dance and film, and even then manages to be
(though film has contributed immensely to the
overshadowed by live performance.
ability to archive choreography), but rather is a unique and ideal collaboration of two art forms.
There are several reasons that I make this specula-
It does not necessarily need to involve ‘dancers’
tion, one being that each discipline requires skills
as we may know them, but can also use careful
that are foreign to the other, deterring many from
editing of any images to create choreography for
even beginning to experiment. Another reason
the camera. With this in mind it is unsurprising
may simply be lack of knowledge about the col-
that video dance has existed since the creation of
laborative discipline. So here I bring to you a list
film itself.
of must-see Dance on Camera, a small taste of the
Thomas A. Edison filmed Ruth St. Denis
rich collaborative world.
performing a skirt dance in the same year Louis
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| THE TECH ISSUE |
Queens for a Day dir. Pascal Magnin 1996
An absolute favourite of mine; in the mountainous plain of the Swiss Alps, referring to a traditional myth; three festive couples dance among cows and rolling hills, to bells, folk music and the expansive landscape. (Watch this on Dance for Camera DVD, LCDS library or YouTube)
Boy (1996) Rosemary Lee and Peter Anderson 1996
A young boy moving in absolute freedom and play; a rejuvenating sight along the Norfolk coast. (Watch this on Take 7 DVD, LCDS library or YouTube)
We No Speak Americano ft. Cleary & Harding Jonny Reed 2010
Simply two sets of hands and a single desk; two individuals create impressively coordinated rhythms along to the beat of the popular song by Yolanda Be Cool. (Watch this on YouTube)
Horses Never Lie (2003) dir. Kathi Prosser, choreographed and performed by Caroline Richardson 2003
A single woman, embodying the strength and the fear of horses; shot in the vast space of a sandy stable. (Watch this on Dance for Camera 2 DVD, LCDS library) GARBLE | 9
| THE TECH ISSUE |
The Cost of Living DV8 Physical Theatre, dir. Lloyd Newson 2004
Filmed on the Brighton coast; a film that questions the worth of dance and its dancers, with a hint of sarcasm and wit. (The Cost of Living DVD, LCDS library)
Singin’ in the Rain directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen 1953
A must-see for all, and especially for lovers of tap. (Singin’ in the Rain DVD)
Birds A film by David Hinton 2000
The most classic example of what it means to “choreography in the edit;” a dance-film composed only of cleverly selected footage of birds. (Find this on Take 7 DVD, LCDS library)
Rosas Danst Rosas dir. Theirry De Mey, choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker 1983
One of the most influential and often referenced dance film works. (Rosas Danst Rosas DVD, LCDS library)
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Michele Anne De Mey Thierry De Mey Peter Anderson (who has worked with Rosemary Lee) David Hinton (director of Birds) Jonathan Burrows (known for Hands created in 1995) Busby Berkeley and Fred Astaire (from the late 1800’s)
Vanishing Point A film by: Rosemary Butcher & Martin Otter Director & camera: Martin Otter
And if you are still craving more... some suggested artists to investigate further:
And within The Place library collection DVDs:
Dance for Camera and Dance for Camera 2: a collection of pioneering short dance films (including my personal favourite of Queens for a Day by Pascal Magnin) Take7 : Seven pioneering British dance films (including Boy by Rosemary Lee and Birds by David Hinton) Forward Motion: Leading British Dance : three DVDs, Artist’s Choice, Insights, and Intros (including work by David Hinton, Lea Anderson, Liz Aggiss, Rosemary Butcher, Jonathan Burrows, Rosemary Lee with Peter Anderson, Lloyd Newson, among many others) This list may seem excessive, especially if video dance may not be your forte. Yet I give you this small ‘launch pad’ from my discovered love for the discipline before which I had very little interest. For me the attraction of Dance for Camera lies in its ability to capture the most intricate of moments, to embrace outdoor environments, and even to leave the choreographing until the end, for the editing stage. As “contemporary dance artists”, we are one of the two essential parts to this discipline. So in light of being a soon-to-be-graduate, might I go as far as to suggest another possibility for your career? ...................................
By Jessica Sim.
GARBLE | 11
A NEW SPACE FOR DANCE | Text by Kit Brown |
Sneezing Panda: YouTube
Twitter and Facebook: Marketing’s migration from its traditional paper setting to the vast and tangled mess of the world wide web was a logical and welcome choice, not just for trees. Modern thought is dominated by the attitude that if it can’t be Googled it doesn’t exist; if Wikipedia doesn’t know about it then why should you? Online advertising is a constant struggle to be noticed as companies do anything and everything to increase their SEO (search engine optimisation) ranking and to save their sites from drowning in the estimated 5 million terabytes of data on the web. In the struggle to connect with new customers and audiences the next logical step in an organisation’s internet journey is onto the sunny shores of social networking where many surfers stop to rest; 1.2 billion of them in fact. What better place for dance companies, choreographers and theatres to connect with new and existing audiences 12 | GARBLE
than on websites designed for the very purpose of connection. The presence on social networking sites of dance organisations and individuals leads to an odd phenomenon, like the internet’s answer to reality TV. No longer do I merely respect a choreographer and watch their works but I’m friends with them. Stephen Petronio posts pictures of his karaoke solos, wedding cake and then, conveniently, his latest piece to my news feed. Twitter is maybe a little more honest about the relationship, no longer am I a friend but a follower. Even so Mark Baldwin not only informs me of the details of his latest piece but lets me know he’s heading to Chinatown for dinner; I half expect him to finish with “I’ll be back late; don’t wait up”. It’s remarkable that one of the effects of the virtual world has been to make choreographers seem more real, almost human, by providing a level of insight unavailable in the real world.
| THE TECH ISSUE | Youtube: For further insight with a dash more relevance; the best place to go is surely Youtube (short of the theatre or studio of course). Here the relationship becomes professional again without a wedding photo or holiday pic in sight. For the intrepid browser with both the patience and aptitude to sift through its heaps of stinking rubbish Youtube provides a treasure trove of gems. Rehearsal footage, clips of class, and brief interviews are all informal but incredibly informative. Suddenly it feels possible to track down any company anywhere in the world and see what they’re up to and what they’re like. In reality this isn’t possible. Not everyone likes to flaunt their hard work on Youtube but it can often feel that way and organisations that don’t conform risk being forgotten. Short-form video is certainly no replacement for live, full-length performance but it can be useful to the future audience-member who is presented with a kind of try-before-you-buy package.
“We have manpower, national coverage, interesting stuff, we’re entertaining people, at the end of the day, so we have all the weaponry to make a really big voice.” The Space: Youtube, for all its highly successful work in bringing videos of keyboard-playing cats and sneezing pandas to big audiences, is surprisingly not good for everything. Certainly it is not the place to go for actual works of art. The next, probably less familiar, stop on our tour of the internet is ready to fulfil this important function.
Announced late last year The Space is a pop-up arts site from the BBC and Arts Council England running between May and October this year. The online channel is to be a mix of live streamed events, archived content and new commissions. Last month the 53 recipients of a total of 2.5 million pounds worth of funding were announced. Among the successful dance applicants were Sadler’s Wells who will be broadcasting performances and content related to Breakin’ Convention alongside songs from their Bollywood musical ‘Wah! Wah!’ restaged around East London; Russell Maliphant who plans to broadcast his new piece ‘The Rodin Project’; Dance exchange with a documentary in ten parts following the creation of a site specific work; and Dance East with a new publicly accessible magazine show. More creative use of The Space includes Forkbeard Fantasy, a gaming environment based around the titular artists’ collective; and the Alan Sillitoe Committee, a GPS-enabled app in the form of a motorcycle handbook exploring the ‘angry young’ author’s home city of Nottingham from his perspective. In essays designed to inspire use of The Space John Wyver and Paul Gerhardt have burdened the relatively short project with their rather grand ambitions for a revolutionary change in arts media, with Wyver giving an extensive list of traditional conventions that he hopes to be challenged. Everyone involved would probably do well to read the third essay from Rachel Coldicutt. She begins by remarking that “digital projects that try to fulfil entire organisational strategies are doomed to failure” before later going on to extol her mantra of “do one thing very well” rather than “doing quite a few things badly”. All said I look forward to seeing what the project turns up. GARBLE | 13
TECH ON THE CHEAPO STAGE | Text By James Morgan |
I
think we all recognise that ‘technology’, in its
Is it too much to ask to export your video, for the
many guises, is ‘in’ when it comes to current con-
love of the stage manager? There is nothing worse
temporary dance work. Innovation is obviously a
than seeing someone press play from within Win-
wonderful thing, and I have seen some breathtak-
dows Movie Maker. Also, make sure that we don’t
ing works utilising techno-wizardy which not only
all get to see the contents of your desktop right
supports the dance being shown, but also stands
before the movie comes on. Stick a couple of sec-
out as artistry in its own right. The rest of the time
onds of black at the start of your video and start it
however, it just comes off as unnecessary, badly
using the spacebar.
executed, or merely a distraction. It sounds ob-
Also, work out how it’s physically going to be set
vious, but it’s the low budget affairs that are the
up, and actually account for that in the choreog-
worst culprits: small theatre, site specific, or stu-
raphy. If you walk in front of the projector so it
dent works. Sometimes the choice to pimp out
projects onto your body, you no longer have an
the piece was simply a bad idea, but often it’s the
anonymous image on the back wall; you are ac-
fiddly production decisions made by the choreog-
knowledging to the audience that it exists and
rapher that determine whether their 3D project-
your work is now arguably about the projector.
ing, light pulsing, waffle making, spinning thing
The same is true if performers press play, or you
was really worth it, or if it just saps any credibility
are having to pirouette around the various cables
from the work.
that litter the space.
The most used and abused piece of technical elaboration is not surprisingly the projector, usually
These sorts of practical and aesthetic decisions
accompanied by a laptop of some kind. Whether
extend past the use of technology however, and I
used for a super cute montage of pretty pictures, or
am reminded of viewing January’s ‘Stranger than
a video panning across a pained looking dancer’s
Fiction’ event at Siobhan Davies Dance Studios,
face, there are a few unwritten rules that get bro-
which as a low budget affair, demonstrated to me
ken time and time again.
many of the dos and do-nots on my mind.
14 | GARBLE
| THE TECH ISSUE |
In the first work, ‘Rhythmic Dialogue’, the chore-
Other works were more successful through being
ographers had gone to some length to fulfil the
aware of the space they were in. The third piece,
evening’s theme of ‘Atmospheres and Spaces’ by
‘Air’ for example, was a playful relationship be-
getting us to enter in the dark, but managed to
tween improvised dance and electronic music,
destroy any ambience she had created by walk-
which didn’t apologise for the visible wires and
ing over to her laptop to start a projection by, you
Mac, but was reinforced by them. The movement
guessed it, pressing play from within movie mak-
was laced with both precision and whimsy and in-
er. Unforgivable...
teracted with the unique contours of the space in a
This lack of consideration was typical of the rest of
subtle and refined way.
the piece and there were issues with how unraised seating suited her
‘Shedding Light’ was
choice of move-
equally well manifested
ment,
the
- a simple duet between
placement of the
dancer and torch wield-
projection, which
er in darkness.
was difficult to
only the light from the
see for many in
torch, they created huge
the room. It is a
shadows and a genuine-
shame,
because
ly unsettling mood, uti-
movement
lising the uniqueness
was crisp and in-
of the staging to evoke
teresting
when
genuine emotion from
you got past the
the audience. The im-
sloppy
age of Emma Roberts’
her
and
produc-
tion. It is times like these when I won-
“Having to press play yourself and pirouette around the various cables that litter the space?”
Using
silhouette, lit only by the glow of the studio’s fire exit sign remained in my mind all evening,
der why it is that dancers can so often fall short
a reminder that the mundane and simple is often
when it comes to production value. Aesthetic and
most engaging.
practical decisions that other visual artists take as standard are completely missed, and though I am
I will leave you with a quote which I am ashamed
aware that this is often a result of dance spaces
to say is from Apple’s latest brainwashing video:
which are far from perfect, why not make work
“We believe technology is at its very best when it is
that falls within the confines of the space, money,
invisible”. So, if you’re going to use technology to
time, whatever - you have available, and avoid be-
present something to an audience, don’t draw at-
ing a square peg in a round hole - you can’t ask an
tention to how you’re doing it. And buy an iPad...
audience to make excuses for your work.
GARBLE | 15
Bridget Fiske Last year I had the chance to work over a weekend with Australian Dance Specialist Bridget Fiske, whose work explores ways of working with digital media and dance using the Isadora Programme. It was a brilliant opportunity to experience and experiment with new and alien technologies. Trying something which so simply altered the choreographic environment was a fascinating challenge. It opened up so many choreographic possibilities whilst simultaneously adding more complications and things to think of.
us. The possibilities were endless. Effects ranged from simply changing the background of the projection, to completely warping the video imagery so that we were rendered mere smoke. My favourite interaction was one where the dancer’s movement correlated to how much of them appeared visually on screen, so that if you were stationary the screen would appear blank.
The complexities and beauty that can be created with such technology are more than evident in BridgBridget Fiske is a dance et’s work ‘Red Rain’ from and physical theatre artThe Fish Project. The ist who choreographs for project explores how and stage, site and outdoor why artists represent themwork and digital environselves in self-portraiture. ments. She works colBeing highly autobiographlaboratively with Andrew ical, the piece is Fiske’s exCrofts, under the partnerploration of identity, and ship FISKE & CROFTS self-representation as she to create interactive digital attempts to reveal truths works. Crofts is responsiabout herself. ‘Red Rain’ is from 'Red Rain' a commission from The a combination of live perble for technical, lighting Image Watching Dance Project and Moves - Internaand media design and op- tional Festival of Movement on Screen. formance and video media eration, using the Isadora as “digital poetry” all exProgramme. Isadora is graphic programming soft- ploring this theme of finding self. The piece not ware which facilitates real-time manipulation of only explores Fiske’s personal relationship with digital media. The description of the programme society, but the relationship created when colitself is confusing! Essentially, there are over two laborating with different artists, both musicians hundred building blocks, called actors, which per- and media designers. As it happened I got to meet form different functions; some relatively simple, and work with her lighting and media designer, others much more sophisticated. We were told Andrew Crofts, over that weekend. It is clear that to create movement that would then be filmed, work that uses video media, like ‘Red Rain’ and manipulated and projected on the wall behind, so the small sketches we got to create, are very much that when you were moving an identical you was a collaborative process. moving at the same time. The editing was down to 16 | GARBLE
| THE TECH ISSUE |
EG: What first interested you in collaborating with This isn’t necessarily a linear thought either, nor abstract. I think it sits in a place of more surrealdigital media artists? istic considerations. I am though as an artist inBF: I had always been engaged with visuals arts clined to ask about the ‘text’ that the work is creatand design in my youth. This is actually where I ing and the use of video media has the capacity to feel I started before dance. My mother is a visual contribute to creation of this ‘text’. artist and I was always painting and drawing and studied visual art until going to University. So as EG: Some of your work is also site specific, how do creative digital technology became more accessi- you think this differs choreographically from creatble and I met more people working in this way I ing a technology based piece? feel like it was a natural progression for me. I also loved what the camera offered to the process of BF: One of the things that I consider are the parevealing and directing the gaze. I met Crofty in rameters around the creation and outcome of the 2009 when he was lighting designer for a show I work. The parameters are not a negative aspect of was a collaborator on. creation, but reveal things that I wouldn’t have otherwise been challenged to see. In this way EG: How do you think technology has affected working with site and working with interactive dance, given that there is now an extra element to technologies have a similarity. They also have a consider? similarity as I sometimes find myself thinking of space (architectural or virtual) as a character and BF: This is such a big question and the types of just as with the live body, you give this character a ways artists are engaging with a huge pallet of role and ways of interacting and being interacted technological mediums is so broad. From a per- with that contributes to the communication of sonal perspective the choice to work with technol- ideas within the work. ogy has been about a few things: 1. that it allows some aspects of the creative imagination to be re- EG: I notice your work tends to be in solo format, is vealed, contributing to the creation of meaning 2. there a specific reason for this? That there is the ability for work to be repeatable and connect with wider audiences via this repeat- BF: I have always had an interest in solo work. My ability and different modes of interaction/engage- honours year at QUT was exploring this. I think I ment, and 3. That via interactive works there is have been influenced by a history of solo practice the opportunity to explore varied ways of engag- across art forms, but this isn’t my only interest. I ing with audiences that has the potential to offer am more and more collaborating with other perdifferent empathetic responses to works. formers and artists to create works and I continue to be a performer in other choreographers/direcEG: You talk a lot about using video media as “dig- tors works. Crofty and I are even talking about how we can share a space, i.e. How does the deital poetry”, could you explain this more? signer perform a duet with the performer? I think BF: I have for many years been interested in re- there is a cycle I have recognized between sharing vealing the internal landscape of the performer in the space with others and then taking time to unperformance. At times this has been through spe- derstand myself in a solo process that feeds back cific uses of sound, other times light or costume. into a shared space.
...................................
By Emilia Gasiorek.
GARBLE | 17
MARI’S MOUTHFUL | Text and Images By Mari Colbert |
W
ith a bake sale almost every week and a homemade cake being the only suitable gift for every birthday of every month, there is clearly a baking frenzy sweeping across LCDS. In keeping with this, here’s one for the end of a long, hard day in the studio, when your hunger and fatigue are battling with each other in the kitchen…. PLUS its made using the most useful piece of technology known to dancers...
Microwaveable Chocolate Fondant IN A MUG That’s right, it’s done in the microwave AND it’s in a mug AND, as if it could get any easier, it’s all done in 5 minutes! Well-deserved decadence.
18 | GARBLE
CHOCOLATE FONDANT IN A MUG Serves one, absolutely no sharing.
+ 60g Chocolate bar (your choice, milk or dark) + 60g butter + 3tbsp sugar + 3tbsp plain flour + 1 egg + One extra chocolate (truffle, one square, some choc chips, what ever you have lying around/left over) ISN’T IT BEAUTIFUL...
1. Break the chocolate up in a bowl and melt together with the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir. If it is not all melted microwave for a further 5 seconds then stir again. Continue this process if necessary to get it all melter, but be careful because the chocolate can suddenly burn if you don’t keep an eye on it. 2.
And the sugar, flour and egg and whisk till well
combined. 3. I BET IF YOU’RE REALLY LAZY YOU COULD MIX IT IN THE MUG TOO...
into the mug. 4.
Use your instincts a little because it may need a little longer depending on the strength of your microwave. If you can muster up some patience, allow it to cool before tucking in. If not then WATCH YOUR MOUTH, ITS CRAZY HOT!
Take your largest, most favourite mug and grease
the inside with a little oil or butter then pour the batter And for the finishing touch, place your last mouth-
ful of chocolate of choice on top of the batter in the middle. 5.
Place the whole thing in the microwave for 2 min-
utes. In this time, the magic will happen… The batter will rise around the now melting chocolate, sealing it in chocolaty fluffiness. GARBLE | 19
Elixir
Joshua Baum & Sadhana Dance Text by James Morgan
Water droplets are flicked and spun around intricate sculptures, as if solid.
The night began with Josh Baum’s powerful sculpture installation which saw crystal glasses, china teacups, and glass beakers connected with diminutive pipes in a playful mingling of eastern tradition and schoolboy chemistry experiments. Minute droplets were manipulated in genuinely astounding ways, bounced and propelled around each contraption, highlighting both water’s scientific and mystical properties. Most interesting was the use of materials which I assume were treated with a hydrophobic spray, allowing the water to sit on a surface in perfectly formed globules, appearing both liquid and solid. The whole installation was incredible and
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I was ashamedly surprised to find it in our own Founders Studio, particularly as it was set up for only 3 hours prior to the performance and taken down straight after! Accompanying the physical installation was one of sound, which I sadly found quite cliché and standard ‘installation audio’; sounds of droplets and mystical mutterings about water resonated through the space with a rather obvious ambiance. It felt a little patronising, when the sculpture spoke so clearly for itself. The evening’s theatre work by Sadhana Dance mixed contemporary and Indian Bharata Natyam dancing, continuing the themes of scarcity and dependence, and exploring water’s
ART AND CULTURE
cultural and personal importance. There was a beautiful use of simple sculptural set and live voice, which formed a serene frame for the work, accompanied by a floor projection which created crashing waves and whirlpools around the dancer’s feet. It was realised particularly well, appearing intermittently through the work, though I did hope for a more literal interaction between dancer and image.
“Minute droplets were manipulated in genuinely astounding ways, bounced and propelled around each contraption”
I am sad to say that in such a well polished and artistically considered piece, it was the dancing which I found disappointing. When entering into more contemporary vocabulary, they were a little (forgive me) dry, and lacked urgency and a deeper physicality with the movement, which blocked my connection with the emotional elements of the work, particularly when the projection created such ferocious waters on stage. The very end of the piece however was certainly a satisfying climax: a strip of fabric was stretched across the stage, and pouring water onto the floor, the dancers revealed a beautiful thought on the importance of water, reflected from the projection onto the sheet, rippling and waving as the house lights came up. Ironically my mind has dried up and I can’t remember quite what it said, but believe me, I had goosebumps... The evening as a whole felt wonderfully cohesive, the show’s pairing with charity Water Aid affixing a sobering feeling of reality to the experience. Though my favourite element was certainly the sculpture, the whole picture was really worth seeing - find the remaining tour dates here:
Images by Kathy Hinde
http://www.sadhanadance.com /elixir/
GARBLE | 21
REVIEWS Yayoi Kusama @ The Tate Gallery, London until 5th June
James Morgan Kusama is Japan’s best known living artist and her recent retrospective at Tate Modern spans six decades of work, from her early ‘Infinity Nett’ paintings - minimal repetitions of single colour brush strokes, to experiencial full room installations such as ‘‘Aggregation: One Thousand Boats Show’, pictured. Influenced heavily by eastern and western art, you can see both the conceptual pulls of American Avante Garde and Japanese colour, pattern and vigour. The space is curated particularly well, conceived in immersive rooms which hold specific eras of her work, which is amazingly diverse. Particularly interesting were her political actions, performances and happenings which formed rooms 6 and 8. The later rooms were more interactive experiences; special reworkings of her installation works, ‘Infinity Mirrored Room’ and ‘I’m Here, But Nothing’. The latter was particularly engaging, consisting of parallel mirrors and hanging LED’s, which created an infinite space in every direction as you walked along a path either side of reflective pools of water. Unfortunately the insane overcrowding of the gallery at weekends meant we had to queue for half an hour to get into the final room (and leave), so make sure you go during the week!
Noises Off @ The Old Vic, London
Emilia Gasiorek
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A play within a play, ‘Noise Off ’ is possibly the funniest piece of entertainment I’ve been to see in a long time. It boasts flurry, flying sardines, malfunctioning telephones, fake Arabs, and complete chaos! Storming the Old Vic, it has broken box office records after sweeping five gold stars, and is now headed for the West End. The play is written by Michael Frayn after he saw another of his own plays from the wings and observed, “It was funnier from behind than in front and I thought one day I must write a farce from behind”. First seen in 1982, the comedy paints the utter disintegration of a stage production, from literally all sides of the stage. The play opens with the last dress rehearsal of the company’s show ‘Nothing On’. Next we are taken backstage during a matinee and finally we see the last night of the show’s run, where the whole company has completely fallen apart. It is so cleverly written and intricately thought through that it wouldn’t fail to make anybody laugh! Thoroughly recommended.
ART AND CULTURE
Entering Sadler’s on Tuesday the 6th, it was my first encounter with NDT and I was sure to be blown-away by the legendary company they certainly have a preceding reputation, so my expectations were high. As the curtain fell on the second piece -Kylian’s ‘Gods and Dogs’- I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed and overworked. The show opened with Lightfoot/Léon’s ‘Passe-Partout’, a piece that used an elaborate set of sliding doorways, which arranged interesting perspectives around the stage. Interjected with frustratingly inaudible Declan Whitaker speech the piece weakened and struggled to guide the audience down its confused path: grave and grandiose with more style than substance. In Kylian’s ‘Gods and Dogs’ the dancers moved in and out of languid duets to an admittedly mesmerising backdrop of gold chains. While I appreciated their skill, I found it difficult to connect with the piece. Yes the dancers were flawless and yes they had legs for miles but it was all so arbitrary. There are only so many 180 degree développés and over articulated torsos you can admire before it all begins to look the same. When a company is renowned for its technical capacity, it isn’t enough for them to demonstrate only that on stage. The standout piece was Ekman’s ‘Cacti’. Witty, rhythmic and with an interesting use of cacti, the piece was a post-modern pastiche of postmodernism The full cast arranged on ivory plinths conjured images of Olympic grandeur and as they began to move in perfect unison I relaxed in my seat and began to finally enjoy the show. Intricate, hand-jive-like gestures accompanied by en masse bopping revealed a lighter side to NDT2. A humorous duet in which the dancers commentated their own movement was a welcome reminder that they were people dancing, not just perfected technicians moving.
NDT2 Triple Bill @ Sadler’s Wells
DV8 - Can We Talk About This? @ National Theatre
Jessica Sim
Freedom of speech, multiculturalism, ‘honour’-based killings, homosexuality, and forced marriages, were among the topics covered in Lloyd Newson’s most recent work Can We Talk About This. Parallel to his preceding piece To Be Straight With You that discussed homosexuality, the piece could be described as a ‘physical lecture’ on the suppressed social-political issues in Islam. The sensitive topics were verbalised, projected, and embodied. The performance of the eleven actors/dancers is infallible. Speaking consistently throughout the 80 minute piece, they never seem to lose their breath even within the upside-down positions and constant rhythms of movement. The evening’s work is more than the average piece of dance, projecting a political message as much as an artistic one, yet it never quite reaches a peak and rather maintains a consistently fast pace of speech and address to the complex topics. It may be argued that this is Newson’s intention, to ‘bombard’ the audience with information in order to project the complexity and immensity rather than the detail. Regardless, there is a clear arching message referring to the excessive lack of free speech and action in much of the encompassing world.
GARBLE | 23
LUCY CARTER | Interviewed By Declan Whitaker |
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Lighting Designer extraordinaire Lucy Carter talks to us about her work. Winner of The Knight of Illumination for Dance Award, 2008, Lucy has lit everyone from EDge to the Paris Opera Ballet... ................................... You studied Dance and Drama before undertaking Lighting Design. Was this transition natural and when did this interest start? The seeds of my career in lighting design began whilst I was studying Dance and Drama at Roehampton Institute. I was choreographing and all my choreographic ideas had a light or staging vision as inspiration. I began to use light for my own choreography and then everyone else wanted light too so I began to light their work. It developed totally organically from there.
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How does your work evolve from initial ideas to manifesting on stage? I do research around the conceptual ideas of the piece, find visual stimuluses, or anything that relates to the umbrella idea and sparks an idea in my mind. Then I imagine how those ideas could look on stage and how they might behave in relation to the choreography. Next I will figure out how to achieve those visual looks with the lighting equipment I have available, I will choose what colour and form they will take. The hard part then is seeing these things in reality on stage and in a short technical time refining and adjusting them to look the way I want and ensure that the choreography is served by those environments. That’s a brief outline anyway. You’ve lit pieces from our very own EDge to the Paris Opera Ballet. Are these experiences very different or do you follow a similar process?
GARBLE OVER LUNCH
I follow a similar process in preparation, the thing that differs is once you get into the theatre and the time and resources that are available. Choreographers can be very diva-like. How important is it for you to ensure your work is fully realised too? In my experience Choreographers are passionate about their vision and their ideas, not diva like. This can drive them to push hard for their vision to materialise. If you have listened and embraced their ideas from the start and done your homework your vision is their vision. Any design ideas I have, come from a response to the concept of the piece and will have been thoroughly discussed with the collaborative team so in the end you are all working for the same visual result. I will always ensure we look at and try all my ideas, but won’t insist they stay in the show if they don’t work or don’t serve the idea. Designing light is very different to choreographing dance. How collaborative is the process between you and the choreographer?
tion and feed my ideas in so that they may inform the rehearsal process. This provides the richest results in the end product. Technology and lighting are becoming increasingly produced elements in dance. Do you think choreographers are relying on the production of a piece for credibility, as technology develops? I think our lives are full of fast moving, multioptional visuals all day long . Our stimulation is limitless in terms of technology and therefore our art can seem purer and simpler in comparison . One way to excite the eye and on the other hand focus our attention is to use technology to do this . As technology of lighting equipment becomes more and more sophisticated it lends new and exciting ways to produce my ideas. A bad piece of choreography will never become good just because the technology used in it is amazing. The visual appearance of a good piece of work can however, turn it into bad piece of work!
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I design very conceptually, I need to know that every lighting environment has a reason to be there and is connected to the original umbrella concept for the piece. I research and develop concepts, try and refine ideas. I structure the lighting states so they have dynamic shifts, environmental form and shape. Is that so different from choreography? The level of collaboration varies from piece to piece. Sometimes I can begin as the choreographer forms their first ideas, and we feed each other from an early point, others I come to a few weeks into rehearsals. Lighting has huge impacts on the success of a piece. Do you feel a any responsibility towards the integrity of the choreography? Of course. Totally. Whenever I join the process I will always try to make it a two way conversa-
Photos from ‘L’Antomie De La Sensation’, Paris Opera Ballet © Ze Plooom’s World and ‘Faultline’, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company.
GARBLE | 25
EVERYTHING ELSE You need to see...
JANET SMITH, Scottish Dance Theatre’s Ar-
tistic Director of 14 years, has stepped down and moved on to a new role as principal of NSCD. Her replacement, Fleur Darkin will begin this autumn, and is sure to bring a fresh eye to the rep company, having choreographic stints at The Bristol Old Vic, Laban and the ROH. Her personal choreographic style is distinctly theatrical, but also has a neoclassical virtuosity, something new for the the company. SDT is currently in the middle of their spring tour, which includes several works by members of the company, plus ‘Pavlova’s Dogs’ by Rachel Lopez de la Nieta, which is a fantastic and challenging work. Janet Smith was much loved, and though further innovation for SDT can only be a good thing, she did a cracking job and I do hope they don’t stray too far from their roots.
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KONY 2012
Out of an unashamed disdain for everything that goes viral on Facebook, I felt a little queasy about the video - its all just a bit brainwashey. I did however manage to overlook my initial snobbery towards the smug and gratuitous nature of the film, as the message is obviously a positive one. However, It actually turns out that there are more issues surrounding KONY and the group who created the movement, ‘Invisible Children’, than are immediately visible. There is no point me going into massive detail when numerous people have already done so online, far more eloquently than I could, but the upshot is that ‘Invisible Children’ aren’t financially accountable or entirely ethical themselves. For a company which is supposed to be soley charitable, they seem to make an awful lot of profit for their CEO. Also there is the small matter of the founder being arrested for masturbating and vandalising cars in public... Nice. Here’s a link to one of many articles which tells it better than me: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/should-i-donatemoney-to-kony-2012-or-not
Nothing makes folks listen like cute kids
TRANSFORMING TATE
Work continues on transforming Europe’s most treasured modern art gallery, adding a new 11 storey annex which will house a dedicated photography space, a large open plan sculpture gallery and performance spaces. The extra space will open the Tate up to contemporary commissions and allow for a more diverse and shifting range of work. The remodel, which is being called ‘Tate Modern 2’, is architecturally very unique, and will climb from the south-west side into the Southwark skyline. Originally aiming to be completed by this year, the new plan is to have half ready for the Olympics, including the opening of the former power station’s oil tanks and three cavernous subterranean spaces. The rest will take until 2016, which can’t come soon enough; Tate may be the UK’s most popular gallery, but this also means its the most overcrowded... http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/
VIDEO CORNER Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the Earth (Gotye - Cover): YouTube
Dennis Egel - Britains got talent 2012 Auditions: YouTube
5 musicians all on one guitar, and a really good song, nuff said.
If you don’t understand why this is amazing, I don’t think we can be friends anymore.
‘Solipsist’ By Andrew Thomas Huang: Vimeo
Will Young - Losing Myself: Youtube
Winner of the Special Jury Prize in the Experimental Short category at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival. Its weird as anything, but an absolutely amazing film.
Will Young has gone one step further and used contemporary dancers in his new video (watch ‘Jealousy’ for some Circus Space acro action).
G
SONIA SAYS: What do you have to say to Garble readers this issue, oh wise one?
Criticisms are opinions belonging to others, so don’t take what isn’t yours. GARBLE | 27
What’s On? Our Top Picks...
DANCE
31st April: Stranger Than Fiction @ Siobhan Davies Dance Studios - Current third years feature in a diverse improv based event. This is a must see, if you didn’t catch their Improvisation into Performance work in the Robin Howard last month. The studio is in Elephant and Castle and starts at 8pm. Be there! 29 - 31 March: ‘New Dance Commissions’ @ ROH’s Linbury Studio Theatre - Three choreographers, Freddie Opoku-Addaie, Laïla Diallo and Sarah Dowling, present new work following two years on the ROH2’s Choreographic Associate Scheme 11 - 15 April: ‘What Matters’ @ Siobhan Davies Studios - 3 days of dance, film, exhibition, debate and discussion 23rd April: CONNECT with Sadler’s Wells, ‘Compass’ - A compelling new work produced by Sadler’s Wells Creative Learning department, Connect. It brings together a team of choreographers, a writer, a film maker, composers and musicians with a cast of over 100 dancers. 17th April – 23rd June: ‘Spring Loaded’ @ The Place – 24 artists come to The Place to present their newly commissioned works, a refreshing start to the Spring season. Don’t miss out! 23rd April - 13th May: International Dance Festival Birmingham @ Various Locations in Birmingham. The biennial festival presents works from all dance forms from all around the world. Highlights include Royal Ballet of Flanders, Danza contemporanea de Cuba and Breaking Convention. 4 - 13 May: ‘Einstein on the Beach’ @ The Barbican Centre - Choreographed by Lucinda Childs an Opera in four parts, collaboration with Director Robert Wilson and Composer Philip Glass. Widely credited as one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century, this rarely performed work was first produced at the Metropolitan Opera in 1976.
THEATRE
24th March – 30th June: ‘Noises Off’ @ Novello Theatre – After its success at The Old Vic, Michael Frayn’s comedy moves to the West End. Definitely a must see! See review page... 20th March – 1st April: ‘Comedy Of Errors’ @ National Theatre – Known to be one of Shakespeare’s oldest plays this modern adaptation, by Dominic Cooke, is savvy and fast-paced. 14th April - 28th May: ‘Misterman’ @ National Theatre Lyttleton - Film superstar Cillian Murphy stars in Enda Walsh’s new play. After success in New York and Ireland the play arrives in London. Limited season. Until 21st July: ‘The Kings Speech’ @ Wyndhams’s Theatre - See the play that started the phenomenon. Based around the life of King George, the play is a surprisingly gripping tale focusing on character development. A must see.
ART
Until 14th April: Gilbert and George, London Pictures @ The White Cube, Hoxton - The duo feature an array of their work, revisited with newspaper headlines. Until May 27th: Alighiero E Boetti, ‘Game plan’ @ Tate Modern - A comprehensive retrospective of the Italian artists varied work, which spans collage, sculpture and embroidery to expose the changing geopolitical situation of his time, using materials from the industrial to the everyday. 4th April - 24th June: For the Love of God @ Tate Modern - Damien Hirst’s iconic Diamond skull goes on display in the Turbine Hall for the first time ever in the UK 28 March - 16 June 2012: Artists Film International @ The Zilkha Auditorium, Whitechapel Gallery Three art films telling personal stories and mediating around the themes of migration and displacement 11 April - 3 June 2012: Hans-Peter Feldmann @ The Serpentine Gallery - The 70’s known photographer presents retrospective and new work, a display of everyday situations and collected cultural artefacts.