A path is made by travelling – often repeatedly – along a route and trampling the ground. There is a performative element to it, and the path is a memento or record of movement making a pathway. We could say that we ‘path the walk’ though we usually say that we’ve walked a path. Here is documentation of a walk on the edge of a woodland near Horton-cum-Studley in Oxfordshire which I made in October 2021.
Continue reading Pathway – an invisible danceCategory: Uncategorized
Behold! The Aikido headstand! #HeadstandChallenge
My research into headstands, led me to consider a different stance to one which I’d normally use, and where the outside of my hands rest on the ground, supporting. Hence, the Aikido headstand!!
Continue reading Behold! The Aikido headstand! #HeadstandChallengeFalling, folding and shoulder dancing
So much dance tradition involves our feet: stationary and standing, or travelling in space – walking, running on them, etc. But how about dance which is falling, folding in our body, and dancing with our shoulders on the ground? I played with some ideas and created a couple of sequences.
Continue reading Falling, folding and shoulder dancingFomenting dance
Recently, I heard a radio interview with scientist Jane Clarke who’s an expert in proteins. It made me wonder if there was material here for dance! I also thought of an unusual way to document dance. These ideas are noted down and they become a way of fomenting new dancing.
Continue reading Fomenting danceOne year on: stay home, save lives, do Qi Gong!
It’s about a year since the Coronavirus epidemic began in the UK (March 2020) and there have been two periods in lock-down (stay at home order). During this period, I’ve had a regular practice of Qi Gong (Qigong) – the 18 movement form – and this is what I’ve found in it.
Continue reading One year on: stay home, save lives, do Qi Gong!Spring Awakening #HeadstandChallenge
Oxford City Council (as Dancin’ Oxford) asked for contributions to its Spring Awakening project. Dancers contribute video clips of themselves dancing which are edited into a final film for digital distribution. A headstand seemed to summon-up the period in which we were living – the world turned upside down by Coronavirus!
Continue reading Spring Awakening #HeadstandChallengeNew dance : Spring Awakening (triptych)
The Arts Centre at the Old Fire Station, Oxford had requested proposals for short films under the banner of ‘Lights Up’. I submitted a dance called ‘Spring Awakening (triptych)’ which used the concealed human figure – inverted in a headstand, as its basis. It’s a solo piece and used humour – which seemed appropriate for a venue that hosts Oxford’s fringe festival.
Continue reading New dance : Spring Awakening (triptych)Moving with the Times
Oxford City’s Council’s dance programme ‘Dancin’ Oxford, invited submissions for its March 2021 production at the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford. I made a submission called ‘Touch’ – a solo work using video projection.
Continue reading Moving with the TimesDance in the face of coronavirus
The outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in March 2020 caused the suspension of our dance and class sessions at Oxford Contact Dance. Assembles were unlawful, ‘social distancing’ the new normal, and most people were isolated at home. We couldn’t dance together. What could we do?
Continue reading Dance in the face of coronavirusDissidence : a dance
This dance theatre composition ‘Dissidence’, uses techniques from contact improvisation. It’s intended for performance at a fringe festival or in an art gallery, or similar setting.
Continue reading Dissidence : a dance