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: Being Week
Our interest this week is on 'being'. We have developed tasks to focus on our being, the very nature or essence of ourselves. In order to notice ourselves 'being' in the world it is perhaps [...]
BreathBone: Sensing Week
This week we focus on sensing. Sensing, making sense and being comfortable with nonsense! The word and meaning of sensing is various and many. We often have a sense of something and in more [...]
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 [...]