ijrkj – Page 7 – Creative & dance journal

Photographs of the ‘In-between’ performance by Andrew Bell

Photographer Andrew Bell took some great black & white photos of the in-between performance at the Turrill Sculpture garden on May 25 which you can see here.

Composition & rehearsal: ‘in-between’ performance

We had a composition and rehearsal session on Saturday 18 May for the ‘in-between’ performance. Cellists Bruno Guastalla & Josie Webber and the dancers – me and Josephine Dyer, created a score and jammed ideas for the performance the following week.

Research proposal

I submited a research proposal to the Freiburg Contact Festival 2019. It’s an idea which I’m also developing with others into a dance for a duet with two cellos. But the Freiburg proposal uses an instrument more at hand – our clapping hands. This is the proposal.

Teaching Contact Improvisation?

I started teaching Contact Improvisation at Oxford Contact Dance in 2015. But how do we teach contact improvisation – it’s an improvised dance after all.

Jamming at Oxford Contact Dance

We had a silent jam (dance session) for contact improvisation at Oxford Contact Dance on Sunday 17 March 2019. Here’s a few photos of a very juicy jam! Photos by Piotr Znamierowski.

Saluto! A dance

Offbeat – Oxford’s fringe festival – invited submissions for its 2019 programme and so I made a proposal. ‘Saluto!’ is a participatory dance performance based on Italo Calvino’s short stories. Here’s the details.

Teaching Props!

Tennis balls, balloons and cards are all ‘props’ or tools which can be used in teaching contact improvisation. But how?!

Learning to dance

Learning to dance seems simple: attend classes; practice; dance! But learning to dance is – for me – a highly reflective and investigative practice, and integrated into making dance – just like making any artwork. In 2018, I learnt that dance is not theatre; and that decorators are dancers.

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At the End We Begin by Richard Chappell Dance

‘At the End We Begin’ by Richard Chappell Dance was performed at the Pegasus Theatre on 26 October 2018. After the performance, Richard Chappell tells the audience that the performance is one which evolved from a solo dance to a duet and then a quartet.

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Garden Dance

An ornamental garden in Oxford, the light and shade of a beautiful autumn day, and much creative work lead to a great performance of ‘The Garden Dance’ by four dancers from Oxford Contact Dance on Saturday 29 September 2018. It was very special – almost enchanted.

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