On Air - International Collaboration

'On Air' at 'The International Scenography Biennial' .DE

I was delighted to be invited by my good friend Cihan to collaborate with all Turkish art collective on a special comission for the closing ceremony of the International Scenography Bienniel in Ludwigsberg, Germany. 

  Bags were packed and I set off to Istanbul for rehearsals...


My friend Cihan picked me up from the airport, Its been a long time since I've visited Istanbul, Its always been a city full of adventures and the memories are fresh. Im excited to meet the new people I will be collaborating with and even more excited to be creating work in the city.

We take our first rehearsals in the Istanbul ATA film studios I am thrilled what a great and perfect place to dance on the wall... I am introduced to Melih, he will also be dancing in the performance, we train together.

Me and Melih on the wall at ATA film studios Istanbul

I love the city and we travel everywhere by Motorbike which suits my thrill seeking nature perfectly, while I am in the city Cihan takes me to work with him on a Turkish TV series as an assistant rigger, I'm sure it was just to keep me out of trouble but I had fun, we spent the evening dangling an actors stunt double by his ankles from a large crane in a torture scene. Cihan runs a stunt and flying effects rigging company in Istanbul and specialises in flying people around. Check out Vertigo Flying Effects online here at  www.vertigo.gen.tr

Team Vertigo

The next time we gather for rehearsals I am introduced to Asli and Mihran the other members of the Ciplak Ayaklar Dance Company. During this rehearsal we also start to play with live music from Viola Star Omer of Istanbul alternative rock group Gevende. I Love the sounds that Omer makes with his Violin. Sooner or later we are all checking into a hotel in Ludwigsberg, Germany...It feels surreal to be touring in Europe with a Turkish company, but before you know it, we have created a show and its opening night.

Omer at the opening night.

Me and Cihan find show publicity in the streets of Ludwigsberg

Event Poster

 It really was an Inspiring collaboration in so many ways. Firstly let me comment on the musicians, The two artists present were from the Istanbul based band Gevende were absolutely astonishing, some of the most beautiful violin and trumpet playing my ears have ever heard. They composed a wonderful piece of music for my performance and on the last night were joined by a beautiful Japanese woman who played the synthesizer, she had come to see the performance, got chatting and joined the band... I just loved that!

The Riggers and Production team from Istanbul Vertigo Flying Effects were amazing as well, In my ten years as an aerialist i have never felt more empathy for performance from a technical team, I felt creatively supported by them as well as feeling completely safe in their hands.

My co-performers Asli Ozturk and Melih Kirak or Ciplak Ayaklar Dans Kumpanyasi were incredible to work with and we created effortlessly together.

And finally visuals from Osman Koc, a computer genius who stepped in last minute and  speed programmed sound responsive and beautiful visuals for the event.

We did terribly well and had a standing ovation on the last night and from an auditorium filled with academics...we should be proud :-)

If you want to see a little teaser of my part of the show there is a reel on vimeo HERE

Pictures from Shai Gertzman

A RatUpaDraynPipe Production

The end of the world in Little Stretton

Between February and March this year (2013) I worked as producer with Ratupadraynpipe Theatre Company on their newest production 'The End of The World in Little Stretton'

Ratupadraynpipe Theatre Co. was born in 2006 out of Dave Lovatt's adult acting classes, each year the classes ran, fresh talents were showcased by putting on a performance in a non traditional theatre venue. Dave’s acting courses provided an opportunity for people with little performance experience to be part of professional productions and to perform for live audiences. Ratupadraynpipe’s previous productions include ‘Gum and Goo’ at The Paintworks, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest’ at the Pro Cathedral, ‘Superfields’ At The Trinity Centre ‘The Lears - Live on Broadmead’ at The Island and ‘A bit of Argie Bargie’ at The Albany Centre.

  "Approachable oracle with a colossal understanding of the acting processes, he seemed to engender a sense of fun and, above all, confidence in us"

 Continuing with general themes of working in not for purpose spaces and transforming them to centres for art and culture happenings this production was staged within a regeneration project currently known as 'The Phoenix' aka All Hallows Community Co-Op The Easton community hall has been recently taken over by the group and has been transformed from a burnt out shell into a place where Theatre, Cabaret and all manner of community events can happen.


The End of The World in Little Stretton is a duolouge with a twist.  The scaled down cast comprised of Director Dave himself, directs and acts as Sgt Jack McCracken, in first onstage performance for sometime. Co-starring with my good friend Heidi Borg playing Constable Belinda Green and a live score from Pip Dave Taylor (Pips Jukebox).

Adapted from David Greig's Beautiful and daft ‘Dalgety’ The End of the World in Little Stretton is a play that has previously only been performed as a script in hand reading. The play is a very funny look at how the world may end from the eyes of two village policemen, it features a Dead Deer, A Naked Rambler, and the mysterious disappearance of the local Tesco’s

Normally The Sgt only has a few minor traffic offences to
contend with but today his Olympic loving, patriotic life will end in the face of
withering beauty, as his world is abruptly turned on it's head. Jacks descent into madness is only just kept in check by the indomitable Constable Belinda Green.

This riotous comedy answers those lifelong debates of  Why do humans have hair? Is it alright to be naked? and will Google survive after an apocalypse?

Here are some Pictures From the wonderful miss Tilly May

"Performances full of laughter, vitality and tenderness"

                                - Joe Spurgeon on ratupadraynpipe

                 

"Not afraid to say F***K more times than I've had hot dinners!"

                                -Venue Magazine

Lumiere Digiitale Auditions

Not too long ago Lumiere Digitale had the pleasure of holding auditions for interdisciplinary physical performers for it's new show at the old crown courts in Bristol, UK.

An exciting production combining digital arts with live performance in an unusual building.

We were absolutely innundated with applications for potential collaborators for this project with over 100 applications from talented circus artists and dancers from accross the UK and Europe.

I was faced with the difficult task of whittling these applications down to a select 25, to be invited to attend the audition day with us, at The Island Dancespace.

We then had to half this group again at lunchtime to continue working with around 14 performers into the afternoon. we still haven't finalised casting for this production but we have managed to shortlist to a final 12, with approximately 8 slots available in the production for extreemly talented dancer/ circus artists.

We had a simply fabulous day with everyone and were literally blown away by the talent. It has and is a very difficult process for us to select the final company for our 2013 production but we are very excited about it.

I have added a selection of images from the day, photography by Tilly May

For more information on the Lumiere Digitale project please visit our website at

www.ldigitale.com

Thanks for reading x

Sight: Unseen - work in progress

Testing Ground

Experiments in Dance

 

 

Full Tilt were excited to perform at Circomedia’s beautiful church building on portland square as part of the Testing Ground.

Testing Ground is a platform for work in progress or newly developed experiments in dance. Testing Ground is supported by Theatre Bristol and Circomedia and creates an opportunity for artists to show new work as well as receive valuable feedback from industry peers and professionals.

As part of their research for the Lumiere Digitale at the Old Courts project, Full Tilt presented an experimental aerial dance work, using a human counterweight system that exploited a substantial size difference between two performers to dramatic effect. An experiment in physics, it combined the technical challenges this presented with the improvisational and narrative possibilities that it offered. A duet of opposites, dichotomies, and contradictions that explored what happens when two poles meet in the middle (or not): the hybrid, liminal spaces between equilibrium or collision in the vulnerability of vertical space.

Using stimulus from Dante's paradiso Dr Jess Allen and I created a ten minuite duet for the platform. To create the work we used stimulus from Dante's Paradiso,  contact improvisation, and explored the possibilities presented by our unusual equipment.

Here are some Images of the piece by  Tilly May

Full Tilt are currently experimenting with new vocabulary, concepts and possibilities as part of the creative process for Lumiere Digitale's new show at the old courts

FLOW

  Multi Story Water

 

 

This September I had the pleasure of working with my good friend and long time dance partner Dr Jess Allen on a site specific project in Eastville both underneath the M32 motorway and next to the river Frome.

Multi story Water was an interactive project involving local people in a creative conversation about the river and our relationship with it – using storytelling, games, site based performance, and walking tours.

A series of weekend events took place in and around the M32 Motorway during September 2012, these events culminated in a Site -Based performance extravaganza.

The audience were led in promenade style from the Eastville roundabout underneath the roaring motorway and to where the underpass meets the River Frome. Along the way they watched 9 site specific performances from local community groups that had been created on site using narrative  drawn from true stories, gathered from local residents.

the show, named FLOW involved over 180 performers, including two groups of little one's 'the rainbows' and 'the beavers', two contemporary youth dance companies, 'Rise' and 'Kinesis', star Sweedish circus artist, Linn Broden, a choir, and the students from Bristol's Fda in Dance Theatre and Performance.

The River Frome has many stories to tell. As it flows through Eastville, it runs past homes and businesses, a school, under the motorway, and finally through sluice gates – where it disappears underground on its way to the city centre. The river connects different parts of the community, but do you feel connected to it?

Full Tilt were comissioned to produce a site based piece of aerial dance for the project. We worked closely with a group of local aerialists, teaching them new skills in harness based aerial dance. With them we then  devised a 20 minute vertical performance for the supporting pillars that hold up the motorway. We had to create this in a studio, so chose a nice wall at Circomedia for our pretend pillar experience.

Creating choreography for the pillars under M32

Hannah working on the wall at Circomedia

We also worked closely with a group of students from Bristol's Fda in Dance Theatre Performace, The course is led by dance artist Julia Thorneycroft, is based at the Bristol Dance Centre, and is a University of Plymouth and City of Bristol College collaboration.

Dancers Rehearsing onsite before the show.

The day came together really well. We started at 6am, myself and the riggers, Max Morely and Ben Osbourne, rigged the truss and equipment for the show, whist Dr Jess took the rest of the team for a quick run and warm up before rehearsing all the ground based material. We then united and rehearsed the show a few times before it was time to perform it. Then derig and packing away of everything, just as night time fell. Not bad at all for a days work!


The show was well attended, the audience behaved themselves, and we all had a good time. Jess and I were thrilled as it was the first time that many of the performers involved in the show had met or been in the space at together. And everything ran fairly smoothly :)

Rigging with the boys

A place to dangle

Counterweight Duet

The End