Dance Research Studio

It was so great to be working again with .esther at on our performance project 'Hips&Skins'. The placard we are holding says:
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?
Good question...
More information soon about our first performance 😎

Wonderful to see the new show
'Noel and Adelaide' at , with the brilliant perormers: , and (composer/musician). The show perceptively and playfully combines issues about climate change, ageism and gender with beautiful dancing, acting, choreography and music and we are very proud at that it was made and rehearsed here! ♥️

Image of solidarity from THE WOMEN IN REVOLT! exhibition .britain

R. I. P STEVE PAXTON

The image of Steve Paxton in 'The Beast' (photo: Julieta Cervantes, 2010), is in the book: 'The Wise Body - conversations with experienced dancers' by and , published by Intellect Books, 2011:
https://www.intellectbooks.com/the-wise-body

The book includes 12 inspirational interviews with international artists, including Fergus Early's brilliant interview with Steve Paxton titled :

How Important is Dance? I Think it May be Critical!

Delighted to have at rehearsing their brilliant new show 'Noel and Adelaide'. Performers: , and Swartz. Design by . Watch this space for further details ❤️

DRS SEASONAL MESSAGE

Throughout 2023 DRS has continued to support independent dance and performance artists by offering the studio space for research days, workshops and short residencies - including small salon type performances with guest audiences. DRS will continue to offer this support throughout 2024 to independent, freelance artists - who despite the difficult economic climate, are often making the most innovative and radical work.

We all at DRS very much look forward to seeing members of our existing community and welcoming new associates to the space in the coming year.

Wishing all of you happy holidays and a joyous and positive New Year!

HIPS&SKINS
New performance work in development by Jacky Lansley and Esther Huss
Trailer: https://youtu.be/huv-Y32aVhU

Jacky Lansley and Esther Huss - Dance Artist are interdisciplinary dance and performance artists whose collaborations over 20 years reflect their engagement with progressive social and political issues.� Their 30 year age difference has brought a rich and varied perspective to their work, with an understanding that they share similar experiences as women which transcends age and crosses decades.

In 2022 they began to R&D a new performance work titled ‘Hips&Skins’, which emerged from their shared concerns about women and health; in part prompted by personal experience and the resulting research they had both done into the health sciences - an industry that is colluding with the erosion of the NHS and free health systems globally, while neglecting the health issues of women.

Drawing on the skills and strategies of cabaret, performance art, poetry, song, film and manifesto, Hips&Skins is both art and theatre, using humour, visual language and dance to enable diverse audiences to engage with serious issues about women and health.

REBELLIOUS BODIES - International Butoh Festival, touring UK cities 31st October - 12th November:
wwwrebelliousbodiesfestival.com

Dance Research Studio has been delighted to provide some organisational support to this wonderful festival, which brings the extraordinary art of Butoh to the UK. The programme launches in London (Oct 31 - Nov 5) and will include performances by some of the most renowned Butoh artists such as: Mitsuyo Uesugi and Takao Kawaguchi - and will include an exhibition 'Flowerbird: A Tribute to Yosh*to Ohno'.

Jacky Lansley and Fergus Early visited Japan in 2010 and worked with Yosh*to Ohno at his studio; an Interview with the artist is published in their book 'The Wise Body' (Intellect Books 2011) https://www.intellectbooks.com/the-wise-body

Rebellious Bodies International Butoh Dance Festival is curated by Mai Burns

It was delightful to have DRS Associate Artists Trisha Durdey and Timothy Taylor working on 'Brainland the Opera' at Dance Research Studio this week.

Wonderful to have: Fergus Early, Jreena Green and Martina Schwarz, working at the studio on an exciting new performance which will tour in the autumn.
More details soon!

DRS ASSOCIATE ARTISTS - R&D ‘Hips&Skins’

Esther Huss - Dance Artist and Jacky Lansley have been in the studio developing material for 'Hips&Skins' - a new performance work about women, science, snakes and dodgy experts...

Watch this space!

Performance Research
A Journal of the Performing Arts, Volume 27, Issue 5: On Solidarity

'Becoming Us: Finding Solidarity Across Difference’
Research Article by Jacky Lansley, Jreena Green, Esther Huss, Ingrid MacKinnon, Timothy Taylor, Fergus Early

This group article explores personal and political experiences of six UK based artists who came together in 2016 to create a performance project ‘About Us’ and have continued to support each other throughout the pandemic. The article is a collage of writings and images which convey the personal stories of each author and reflect on differences and alliances concerning gender, racial identity, age, sexuality and social class.

Lansley introduces the context in which this diverse group came together. She identifies the research themes explored in ‘About Us’, which threw up fundamental questions concerning what it is to be both human and animal, and why we oppress and demonize other animal species. Green discusses these ideas from her perspective as a black woman, for whom the position that we are all animals is complex, raising issues concerning slavery and scientific racism. Huss discusses taking on the lease of an old miners’ institute in a quest to bring back cultural life to an impoverished area of Northumberland. She tracks historical and cultural links between the closure of the pits in the 80s and the present, identifying forms of protest which brought miners’ unions and artists together in solidarity. Taylor draws on writings by the philosopher Jacques Rancière to explore finding solidarity across difference within both his teaching and performance work. He discusses how the group supported him to develop a language that expressed intimate thoughts and feelings about being a gay man. Early uses poetry and parable to question our relationship to the planet and all the species we share it with. He interrogates the Judeo-Christian notion of hierarchical ‘civilization’ and explores the intelligence of trees. MacKinnon reflects on her position as a black woman and mother in a world that strives for unity, but continues to divide. She discusses how the group draws on strengths as movement and dance makers to share differences in ways that enable growth and understanding.

To buy and read: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13528165.2022.2160909