The beginnings, pre-DYCP
It began with big questions…
What does it mean to centre queerness in my movement practice? In the way I approach movement and the body, in the way I make and what I make, in the way I engage with others through my practice and what I share… How can I use ideas around Queer Utopias to question and undo the ways in which dance & movement often reproduce the patriarchal and heteronormative systems of society; and instead create spaces that explore the potential queerness offers in imaging other possibilities?
A first phase of research on Queer Utopias was supported by:
Jupiter Gallery, Newlyn: Jupiter Takeover residency, 3-10 July 2022 - where I invited peers who are part of the LGBTQ+ community to spend some time in the space with me, & talk and dream about what queer utopia means for them, what it might look like, how it might be different to everyday life, and what might stay similar. Thanks for the conversations and contributions to: Rowan For Now, SHARP, Berry Cruse, Kyra Norman, Lucy Luck, Scamp, Isobel Bloomfield, Fiona O’Cleirigh.
Pavillion Dance South West: Visiting Artist residency, 15-19 August 2022 - where I mostly worked alone, beginning to unpack the conversations had in the previous residency, particularly exploring how they relate to the body and physicality: how they can be explored through movement; how they could translate to shifting the way we approach the body and movement; and what’s the role of the body in creating spaces of queer utopia.
I experimented sharing this research through two workshops:
Queer Utopian Dreamin’, at Pavillion Dance South West, 17 August 2022
Queering Movement, at Fish Factory Arts (Penryn), 25 August 2022
And I ended up with a collection of post-it notes to carry with me throughout this journey of queer utopias!
Photos from my residency at Jupiter Gallery, Newlyn