Jerwood Bank 2008 – Siobhan Davies Dance

I really appreciated being in the group and seeing other people’s processes. This helped me a lot. Perhaps most specifically was when I saw individuals working in directions that were new to them, and that might not have been a challenge or a new directions for someone else. Hence, there was a sense that each individual had their own set of challenges and needed to develop their practice in particular ways that was different from everyone else. As a choreographer who works with other dancers, it was interesting to be able to appreciate individual needs and to witness my colleague’s breakthroughs in certain areas and how the project leaders helped them achieve that.

This was also really helpful in reflecting on what my challenges were. One colleague for example took a new direction that radically changed her Portrait. It was so apparent and exciting, I was inspired to question the ways in which I needed to shift and challenge myself.

What transpired for me was a need to play with ‘volume’ in my Portrait and to recognise how much more deeply I could engage with my material and how it could be refinement or varied at each point in my Portrait. Also, a theme of emotion and physicality: somehow my material was quite emotive and I wanted to balance that with a performance quality that kept it physical – so it was less closed and prescriptive.

 Tags: 6. Week six/ Joe Moran