Header image: And Now We Unravel, Again directed by Emma Jayne Park and danced by Jorja Follina, Claire Pencak and Malcolm Sutherland for Dumfries and Galloway Dance. Image by Martin McKeown, taken as part of Sanquhar Arts Festival.
Dance Happens Here…
A season of pop-up dance performances across Dumfries and Galloway.
What do we mean by pop-up?
Short pieces of choreography, performed outside in a variety of spaces, created so that they can pop up… sometimes where they are least expected.
What has happened?
- 3 Dancers relocating to Dumfries and Kirkcudbright for six months.
- 3 Open studio sharings and spaces for conversation with curious audience members.
- 4 New pieces of choreography, made and premiered in Dumfries and Galloway.
- 5 Local artists engaged, including designers, photographers, musicians and film makers.
- 8 Choreographers working in the region.
- 10 Weeks of rehearsal.
- 10 Weeks of performance.
- Over 30 locations.
- Over 60 performances.
- Over 1000 audience members.
As well as numerous conversations about what we are doing, many dogs popping over to check us out, some people joining in and lots of checking the weather.
Why popping up?
There is a dedicated dance community in Dumfries and Galloway, from dance schools and community groups to artists who use movement in their work.
Yet, we also know that watching dance is not a common habit for many local residents. As someone who grew up in Gretna - and discovered a love for dance through a series of happy accidents - our Lead Artist Emma believes that this could be because of a lack of access to regular high quality touring dance.
Many organisations work really hard to tour dance in the region, but doing so in venues requires people to be available when the performance is scheduled and to feel bold enough to buy a ticket.
Popping up in public places creates a no-pressure environment to watch dance and chat to the people who performed it, hopefully sparking an interest and building trust. For those already familiar with watching dance, it creates an opportunity to see performance in the spaces they move through in everyday life.
Plus, in such a beautiful region with so many stunning outside spaces, it feels great to dance outside!
For a taste of the project and the five stunning performances, watch the video below. Commissioned by and made for The Scotsman Sessions, it captures the essence of what Dance Happens Here is all about: dance happening in some unexpected and unusual places across Dumfries and Galloway.
Read the full article on The Scotsman, with an introduction by Kelly Apter: https://bit.ly/3dK24sj
The dancers
In Spring 2021, we put a call out for three dancers, who would work with us to tour five new or existing works across Dumfries and Galloway from July - November 2021. They would also take up residency in the region for the duration of the project, spending six months getting to know the residents, volunteering with community groups, working with other local artists, and making personal connections - in a shift from ‘standard’ dance touring, where community engagement is often limited by the dancers having to change location frequently.
Dance Happens Here 2021 resident dancers:
Jorja Follina
Jorja is passionate about the benefits arts and movement can have on our physical and mental health, and is constantly fascinated by how powerful they can be as tools for communication and social connection. Through performance, research and teaching Jorja aims to share movement with others, inspiring them to move and get creative. ‘I am really excited by the ambitious, community driven nature of this project and can’t wait to create a diverse program of work to share with audiences across Dumfries and Galloway!’
Find Jorja on social media: Facebook @jorjafollinadw and Instagram @jay_follina
Malcolm Sutherland
Malcolm is a former member of the Staatsballet Nürnberg where he performed works form: Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Johan Inger, Mauro Bigonzetti, Cayetano Soto, Douglas Lee and Goyo Montero. Malcolm has been working freelance since 2015 and has performed all over Europe with artists/companies including: Klever Dance, Dance Theatre Luxembourg, Focus Dance, Company Shang Chi Sun and Shaper/Caper. ‘I am curious and excited to discover the region and people of Dumfries and Galloway through the unexpected nature of pop-up dance work.’
Find Malcolm on social media: Facebook @MIMsutherland
Claire Pencak
Clare trained at the Laban Centre, London and has worked nationally and internationally as a contemporary dancer, teacher and choreographer. Working creatively through movement in relationship to the environment, materials and ideas is a continuous thread through Clare’s practice which included movement research, performance, real-time composition and cross-disciplinary collaborations. ‘This is an ambitious and exciting project and I’m looking forward to dancing my way around Dumfries and Galloway and to working with five Scottish choreographers.’
Find Claire online at her website https://bit.ly/3zqn406
The performances and choreographers
Each performance was created or adapted for outdoor touring in the region by a guest choreographer, following an open call in Spring 2021. Guest choreographers came from a range of dance backgrounds: from hip hop and breakdancing, to aerial performance and contemporary dance.
Passepied
Choreographed by Bridie Gane
Images by Mike Bolam and Kirstin McEwan. Performing at Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival.
Sprawl
Co-choreographed by Tony Mills (incoming Artistic Director of Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, Dance Base) and Jen Paterson (All or Nothing Aerial Dance)
‘Much of the concept of Sprawl was to create an accessible touring dance work with universal themes that can be performed in a huge variety of spaces and places. We love the idea of local touring networks and that people just discover the joy of dance without having to enter into a specific building.’
Discover more from Tony and Jen online and on social media:
Follow @AllornothingADT / @room2manoeuvre / @flyingjenp / @tonythrills
http://www.aerialdance.co.uk/ http://www.r-2-m.net/
Images by Kirstin McEwan. Performing at Crawick Multiverse.
Triple Echo
Choreographed by Matthew Hawkins
Performance costume design by Donald Urquhart
Images by Kirstin McEwan. Performing at Soaperie Gardens in Kirkcudbright.
heartbeats, fresh air, gestures, time
Choreographed by Louise Ahl
Performance costume design by Laura Firby
Louise creates both solo and collaborative multi-art-form pieces using movement, sound and language. The work is often centralised around the relationship between the physical and metaphysical, exploring how we experience reality and make meaning in this world. ‘The opportunity to create work for people outside of my usual Glasgow audience is really exciting for me, to see how my work could resonate with people who wouldn’t necessarily choose to come and see experimental dance.’
Discover more from Louise:
Follow @ultimatedancer666
https://louiseahl.com/
Images by Kirstin McEwan. Performing in Creetown, Newton Stewart.
And Now We Unravel, Again
Choreographed by Emma Jayne Park
A new piece of dance exploring questions of failure, chaos and hope inspired by the following words. This piece has been performed in a range of different iterations and continues to evolve with every sharing. It is currently being explored as a piece of screen dance with local film maker, Emma Dove.
That space, taking space and naming itself - lonely
Full of a nothing that busy me beyond myself
Lengthen, open, offer.
Lengthen, open, offer.
- present
This failing body is yours, if you will choose it
It’s a soft drip that keeps us tending to these worlds that fail us.
And from this pile, I feel your heartbeat
And from this pile, I feel my pulse
I notice how uncomfortable but forgiving we are.
Alive with new information
Consumed by this urge
And then we unravel, again.
Discover more from Emma
Follow @culturedmongrel
https://www.culturedmongrel.org
Images by Kirstin McEwan. Performing at Crawick Multiverse.
The Team
Emma Jayne Park - Artistic Director
Robyn Jancovich-Brown/Nicola Shields - Project Manager
Helen Eragona - Marketing Manager
Dave Miller - Technical Manager
Kirstin McEwan - Photographer
Rheanna-Marie Hall - Project Officer
Maureen Smyth - Producing Support
Sara Johnstone - Emotional Support/ Mental Health First Aid,
Support offered in kind via The Work Room.
Funded by Creative Scotland's Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance.
Supported by and with thanks to: A' the Airts Community Art Centre, Avive Asbridge, Annan Harbour Action Group, Castle Douglas Community Centre, Circa 16 Sound Recording, Crawick Multiverse, The Creetown Initiative, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, Dumfries School of Dance, Kircudbright Community Centre, Maureen Smyth, Moat Brae, Mill on The Fleet, Portpatrick Community Development Trust, Scottish Dance Theatre, The Stove, The Work Room and Youth Work D&G .
