sharing with Critical Pathways and our initial stages of collaborating with photography ~

during our research and process in creating the material for the first sharing of work, we had been working with photographer Chris Daly in rehearsals. Chris came into the studio with us in one of our rehearsals and captured the essence of our research and movement material. i really like the photographs from that day, and have posted them on the blog pages. my thoughts of inviting a photographer to work with us in the process was to have images of movement material that we can feed back into our creative process in creating material. in a similar structure of creating material in improvisation with images and ideas reflecting through the movement.

in rehearsals we explored feelings and thoughts that we had experienced through the last two days before our rehearsal, also keeping awareness in our bodies in layers of structure and space, and in the spacial relationships we are creating.

we sketched three moments in time where we felt a connection with each other in space, and also noted three movements each that resonated for us in our own movement material.

these 12 moments that appeared in our improvisation continue to develop as movement material, and for the sharing with Critical Pathways, we selected one movement, one spacial orientation and one photographic image each to work with in performance. 

Ria chose the first photograph above for its movement and connections in our legs, feet and knees, and i chose the second photograph for the detail with Ria's right arm movement in the frame, and the imagined movement in her torso. 

we worked with Timo in the music and decided to select 5 mins from the original music score that would work well with our material, this was the ending of the original score that is quiet and rhythmic in electronic soundscapes. our feedback from the choreographers in the group was that of the soundscape gave an enhancing feeling in the landscapes in the movement material, and throughout different places in the music gave our material a new landscape visual in space. this is very positive response to continue working on these ideas in the future.

photography Chris Daly

we hope to continue collaborating with photography and movement in our process in researching movement material for bodies of water.

our process so far in research and explorations for Bodies of Water ~

Ria and I have been working in the studio with specific themes selected from my initial notes and research into curiosity and interest in the ocean. its vast open seascape and incredible depth, with a serene sense of peace flowing through it and yet somehow a knowing of the tremendous power and strength it has as a force in nature.

we decided to look into specific details with the idea and bring the enormity of the scale it can lead you to imagine, back to the basics in the element of water. Themes that we are discussing in our process are volume/scale/mass, reflection, depth, translucency, flow/time, space, perspective, and sculpture, as on-going research. In this sharing of work we focused on reflections, depth and space.

we are looking at our connections with our bodies, in sensation, in space, and in relationship to each other both in space and in time, through working in improvisation to feel and find our thoughts through these places. 

i am interested in the idea of perspective, perspectives in space as the doer in an action, perspectives in a frame as an observer of depth in a picture or situation, and perspectives in the body as layers of substance and matter that form ourselves. This led me to play with the notion of combining my thoughts in these areas in an improvisation to process material and form in an experiment to see what will happen.

in an improvisation with Ria we firstly worked though the layers in the body, starting with the outside surface, skin and sensory awareness in our levels of touch and coming into contact with other surfaces and each other. The muscles and our awareness of when we use certain muscles for movements and when we are not using these muscles. Looking at the bones, and imaging the skeletal system and structure of our bones inside our bodies, observing different ways in which we can find strength and awareness in the bones. And the organs, identifying individual organs is fascinating, their size, shape, location, function, all bring knowledge and understanding to how our bodies work everyday. 

exploring all of the levels moving together also as a way to bring focus back in to sensing both the space inside our bodies and the space outside. Seeing each other in the room and responding to the surroundings we're moving in.

imaging the room as a canvas and our movements tracing paths as if the ink of a pen is marking the paper. This was fascinating as we started to feel and sense the air and space in both a 3 dimensional and 2 dimensional perspective. Floor patterns, air patterns, connecting patterns between relationship of people and space.

with these experiences we started exploring visual images in photography in relation to our research with finding space inside and outside of the body. 

we improvised with five photographs, one by one, in five improvisations as duet. Then combining the images with one another, each choosing one photograph each, for contrast and difference between us, at the same time responding to and with each others movements.

     

photography Ellie Keeble

i chose these images from my personal interest in their form, frame and content and a knowing that they are a tool for creating movement. I have been working with these five photographs in a workshop with Rosemary previously and their interest for me still held strong, so I liked to see how they may effect this research.

Ria and I chose three photographs that we felt worked well in relation to the improvisations we're working on. 

we chose the three photographs from the second line down and decided their connection in time to each other, moving from left to right through the duration of the improvisation. 

at what point in the improvisation you arrive at the following photograph is your choice and we enjoyed the freedom with time moving through the photographs at our own pace.

in rehearsals every improvisation was different and we valued as much feedback from viewers in the room as possible. Responses and observations in our work gave us an awareness in the progression of the material and structure that the improvisations were taking, visually and sensationally. 

collaborating with music added a new layer to our work, introducing new elements in the sound. Live musicians responding to the dance was great timing for our material to move in new ways with the structure we created. Live violin and percussion players, with electronics, composed by Timo Tukanen, held improvisation in the music score as a place for the musicians to see and respond to the dancers material. This left space for the dance to breath with its own rhythm, natural pace and flow of material in improvisation. 

i enjoyed performing this piece with Ria in new environment and surroundings, and was aware of our settling in the space before performing, as if there was a moment of ok now we are here.

Bodies of Water was performed at the Amadeus Centre in London on 1st March 2009.

welcome to Bodies of Water blog page!

we are Katie Keeble, choreographer and dancer, Timo Tukanen, composer and musician, and working with contemporary dancer Ria Uttridge, creating a new dance and music collaboration called Bodies of Water. 

Bodies of Water is a two part exploration into the awareness of the environment and other issues in collaboration with art!

here you can find more information into the process we are creating and developing in collaboration and integrating art disciplines. We are working on the piece as we speak so more updates coming soon, see you then...

photography Chris Daly.