A bilateral cultural exchange deepening international collaboration between British and Italian disabled dance artists and organisations.
Collaborators:
UK: Holly Thomas & Raquel Meseguer Zafe
Italy: Giuseppe Comuniello & Camilla Guarino;
What did the online residency involve?
Both artist duos created an audio description inspired invitation that related to our practice or current curiosity, to ‘play’ and reflect upon the invitation before meeting online. Our conversations were rich, exchanging dialogue about each others movement and descriptive practice and the cultural contexts in which we both work. We all agreed we would love to spend time together in the real world developing the emerging sensory/descriptive choreographies that emerged from our exchange!
Invitation 1. ‘Table of Things’ – UK – created by Holly & Raquel
We invite each of you to:
- Find a selection of 4 objects that could be fun to describe, these could be something ordinary like a scrubbing brush, something with a story, like a seashell collected from the beach, something that may have belonged to a character, like a piece of jewellery or a toothbrush, something with an aroma, texture or flavour that you enjoy.
- Player 1 – Find somewhere to sit comfortably, away the table of things. Make sure you are not able to see or hear the objects that are being placed on the table.
- Player 2 – Lay a table cloth or a piece of fabric over a table and lay your objects out on the table cloth. The collect play 1 and guide them to the table.
- Player 1 – Using your sense of touch, smell, hearing, taste to explore the objects. Player 2 – will guide you through a table top journey, giving spoken navigational prompts to their voice travelling with you as you locate and discover the objects. Take your time, enjoy the journey and each discovery.
- Player 1 – This is your change to encounter and describe each object in turn.
- Player 1 and 2 – you can ask each other question along the way, let yourself explore, confirm, imagine, be inspired by, create stories about the objects you discover.
- When your journey is finished, swap roles and begin the game again.
- If you have any reflections you can share them with us during the online meeting, write them down or audio record them.
- Most of all have some fun describing!
Invitation 2. ‘An Excerpt of Description’ – Italy – Guiseppe and Camilla
We invite each of you to watch this extract of a live dance performance accompanied by Italian audio description written and spoken by Camilla.
Here are some written reflective responses from each Invitation:
Invitation One
When I set out, I laid it all out in front of us, mostly imagined, but partially seen
I had forgotten that there was a decision to be made.
I invited you to close your eyes and said, ‘I think I’ve got something to say’.
I thought of it as a single direction.
Knuckle to nail crest.
Heading to warmer climbs.
On the table where your fingertips play, you dip your toe in the sea.
I am proud of our arrangement of things.
excerpt of Holly’s responses to invitation 1
My fingertips, my 10 fingertips, 10 separate surfaces travelling a landscape…My 10 surfaces continue their journey, they encounter the cool smooth of ceramic, the lip of a saucer, elevated a little above the frozen lake. I trace the edges, all the way around its perfect circle. When I make it over the ridge I encounter a tea cup, thin string and square paper of a tea bag on the left, smooth handle on the right. A warm tea cup, not too hot. I surround it, bring it to the eager caves, eager crevices of my nostrils: cinnamon, liquorice.
excerpt of Raquel’s responses to invitation 1
Invitation Two
A story teller
A single voice,
warm,
detailed,
engaging words,
She tells his story,
She says,
‘The man, has two hands.
Two hands take flight like a butterfly’
Then she says,
‘The dancing man has two arms,
curving and uncurving,
curling and uncurling.
He has no worries’
Holly’s response to invitation 2
A box. A cage.
Quiet devastation.
(White floor, shadows fall on the left and right).
A bleached out human figure, lifeless, stands on the right.
Another bleached out human form lies on the ground on the left, feet touching the edge of the cage.
A living, breathing human sits on this bleached out form.
Arms folded onto their knees, and head folded onto arms.
Something has happened here – this is an aftermath.
His wing arms lift and lower as he swivels on his knees – a collapsing angel.
Raquel’s response to invitation 2
Open Dialogo is managed by Stopgap Dance and Commissioned by Arts Council England, the Italian Ministry of Culture and the British Council.