The delightful, yet difficult, relationship between dance and words has formed a central line of inquiry for much (if not all) of the Labs work. We have explored this territory deeply – developing ways in which we can find words that resonate with, and in turn enrich, bodily experience. We have developed performative environments, workshops and extended strategies through which we invite a closeness to the bodily experience – whether we are dancing, writing or speaking.
‘SKRIPT’ is a micro-installation, in which we invited artists and members of the public to sit and write with us: to sit in silence and write from the here and now, from what is present in the body. This work is accompanied by a blog ‘Writing-Dancing’ and reflective article ‘Closer to the body: reflections on Skript’.
The performance duet and performance scores, ‘BreathBone | PresentTense’, use related languaging processes – this time using in-the-moment spoken form – as we make ourselves fully available to the felt sense and to dreamstates as the basis for a meditative performance.
BreathBone: Bone Week
This week we focus on 'bone'. Our sense of bones is explored through experiential attention to our skeleton. Bones are living organisms that provide a framework for movement, protection and support. We tend to think [...]
BreathBone: Breath Week
Our interest this week is on 'breath'. There is nothing more essential than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet, the repeated ubiquity of breathing doesn't mean that [...]
Reflections on Making BreathBone: In residence at Dance4/I4C4
Vida Midgelow and Jane Bacon, co-directors of Choreographic Lab, spent a good amount of the summer and early autumn of 2019 in residence at Dance4 developing the performance practice BreathBone - the first half of [...]
BreathBone | PresentTense
BreathBone | PresentTense creates spaces of encounter to heighten inner awareness. Working with Dance4 (Nottingham), InDialogue (EastMidlands), Middlesex University (London) and Weld (Stockholm), Vida and Jane developed a new performance practice through July 2019- [...]
In the Aftermath of Writing | Public Talks
In the aftermath of writing | Public Talk Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Prof Jane Bacon and Prof Vida L Midgelow, Directors of the Choreographic Lab, invite you to consider the processes of coming [...]
WritingDancing | with Artists
Guy Dartnell, Miguel Pereira and Rosalind Crisp: extracts from collected writings in skript in collaboration with Jane Bacon and Vida Midgelow Choreographic Practices Journal 5.1, 2014 Guy Dartnell, Miguel Pereira and Rosalind Crisp presented [...]
Closer to the Body | Reflections on Skript
For Full Article: Jane Bacon and Vida Midgelow Choreographic Practices Journal, 5.1, 2014 (external link) Abstract Through this essay, Vida Midgelow and Jane Bacon, reflect upon the experience of writing-dancing with audiences and [...]
Skript | A Micro Installation
Skript is an interactive micro-installation presented by Choreographic Lab (Directors Jane Bacon and Vida Midgelow) http://writing-dancing.blogspot.com/ Come sit and take a moment to share your experiences of dance and dancing. Through one-to-one [...]
Scratch | A Choreographic Conversation
A circle of chairs in a pool of light, 2 women seated, in front of them two microphones. The audience enter the circle and sit, the lights dim, the silence opens and [...]