Jerwood Bank 2008 – Siobhan Davies Dance

Duration: 2:18

The Bank project gave me these questions to take away

When working on a move – when testing a move:

Where does my movement begin? Where in the body does it begin? What is the spines relationship to the move? the head? the feet? where is the in breath and the out? What propels it through space? what is its rhythm? What is its emotional intention? psychological intention? What is its opposite? What action word would describe it? What poetic word or phrase would describe it? What impact does it have on the space ? What impact does the space have on it? What is its texture?

Where is the focus – where are the eyes – if you have where the eyes are clarity seems to come….

Can the body express the moment and not the face – let the body do the work

Where exactly does a movement begin middle and end – and then how can you keep a freshness and openness to the movement   – where is the play in the movement

What are your restrictions, your boundaries for the move or the moment or the phrase -

Submerge a part of a movement – top half of body only  – simplify – what is absolutely necessary?  - extracting the essence of a moment and removing the fluff – the unnecessary.

Impose an outside structure on your material – trip up your habitual structuring and rythmical  traits -

How do you expand a move without losing its essence ? Option to song a move  – break it down into tiny parts and focus on the movement within a movement.  Look for longer than  you are  comfortable with at a quantifiable amount of movement – get something small but clear – then proceed from there.

What is the perfect amount of effort for that moment for that movement …

These questions are what I will take on to my next projects – both as a performer and and a choreographer.   I am itching to make work – with this new set of eyes.

I went straight from Bank into performing – that was difficult. The time and space allowed for exploration during the Bank project can not be found in the pressure of a 6 week produce a piece of work schedule. What we were given during the Bank project can not be found again – I am very sad that is over but keen to make sure that the work started here finds a way of coming out.