Deborah Hay solo performance
commissioning project

WHAT IS IT?
With the Solo Performance Commissioning Project all participating artists commission the same solo dance choreographed by Deborah Hay. Hay rarely demonstrates solutions to the choreography. Rather, she conveys her concepts through directives that each performer translates individually into movement in his/her unique way. As part of the process, the artist is bound to the material through meditation-like exercises that are applied throughout the choreographed dance.

Deborah Hay's orientation to dance is activated by attention to practices of performance. In an intense learning environment she challenges the experienced performer with movement concepts that trigger multiple levels of perception at once. She choreographs the world 'between' moments, where movement proclivity plays second fiddle to exercised inquiry.

In the latter half of the SPCP/Findhorn, each artist is personally coached in his/her performance of the dance, with everyone present. Ultimately the solo is adapted by each performer through a period of practice that extends into the months following the project.

For more information on Deborah Hay visit www.deborahhay.com.

* Please note that this project is aimed at experienced professional performers.

WHY?
The Solo Performance Commissioning Project developed from the growing necessity to encourage communities to support artists and their growth. The project's goal has been to:
*further professional training for performers;
*provide community access to new directions in performance;
*help artist and community to work together for the enhancement of their cultural life and traditions.

Beyond the exchange between Hay and the artists, the residency is based on a commitment to involve the larger community in the process of art creation. The commissioning fee is sought by the artist from his or her community and must not come from the performer¹s private resources. Sponsorship may come from relatives, friends, businesses, and local, regional or national arts organisations. All patrons receive acknowledgement every time the solo is performed by any of the participating artists.

 

THE AESTHETIC PREFERENCES & ARTISTIC ORIENTATION OF THE PERFORMER IN THE SOLO COMMISSIONING PROJECT CONCEIVED BY DEBORAH HAY.

This list can determine whether the Solo Commissioning Project is applicable to you as a practitioner of movement and/or performance art, including acting. Those not familiar with her work should consider each item and determine whether these activities are ones either already familiar to you and/or ones you wish to conscientiously exercise.
*Your ability to laugh at your serious intentions at any given moment is a tool you like to remember to use
*You have explored 'self-expression' and found it limiting as a means to create performance continuity
*You are drawn to explore movement in all its variety - either through a cultivated or ingrained absence of discrimination
*You are not content with partial practice
*You want your process to be continually challenged
*Your respect for the intelligence of your whole body is unqualified
*In performance, your non-attachment to professional training in dance or techniques is acting as a source of on-going
insight, and delight
*You are without fear of appearing foolish in your capacity to violate form in order to recognize where and why it exists
*Integral to your experience of performance is an inclusive regard for the presence of your audience
*You are becoming or already are skilled at monitoring your own performance
What this means is you have developed a capacity to witness yourself from more than one perspective at once, not as a judge but a guide in the practice of attention.

 

SPCP 2007

DATES & LOCATION
Findhorn, Scotland
Wed 29 August - Fri 7 September 2007

Commission fee (to include one meal per day) £850

Travel to and from Findhorn
and accommodation are additional

How to register and enquiries:
gill@independentdance.co.uk

 

ID (Independent Dance) is producing this event, the second UK Solo Performance Commissioning Project outside the USA. ID is an artist-led organisation programming professional development events throughout the year. It is based at Jerwood Space, London, but for this project is collaborating with Bodysurf Scotland to provide an appropriate retreat environment for the work. In addition a partnership with Institute for Choreography and Dance, Cork is enabling the documentation of this unique project.

"I feel I have been given a gift. Deborah Hay's choreography has given me a glimpse of the limitless possibilities for the growth of humanity in art. I feel energised by the responsibility her choreography has allowed me and have a joyous sense of trust and curiosity towards the future I may evolve towards with(in) this piece"

Findhorn Foundation Community:
Venue for event will be the magnificent Universal Hall Arts and Conference Centre. Set within the Findhorn Foundation Community and Eco-village, this beautiful 5 sided theatre space will be stripped of its seating for the event providing a beautifully large and unique dance space. The building also includes an award winning organic café, hot-tub, and cyber-lounge. The Findhorn Foundation Community is known throughout the world as a major international centre of personal and spiritual transformation and sustainable living. The community itself is situated on a 2 mile long peninsula amongst beautiful beaches, sand dunes, and woodland. It is located in the North East of Scotland near to Inverness and Aberdeen Airports.

For more info on the community and local area visit www.findhorn.com

"Deborah creates an atmosphere with which one can playfully and thoughtfully study the phenomenon of performance while enabling one to freely learn through their own experiences, the subtleties and largeness of art-making and one's presence within it"
Amelia Reeba, dancer/choreographer

"At a time in my career when I was feeling stagnant, Deborah's work reintroduced me to my own dancing; to dance as a living thing. Her gentle and powerful focus in teaching cuts through old patterns and internal obstacles with fierce intellect and compassion, leaving me amazed to discover myself. Learning and dancing Beauty was like having the top of my head opened to the whole sky"
Emily Stein, dancer/choreographer

Accommodation options:
The participant's fee does not include accommodation. You need to arrange your accommodation separately. Options range from shared caravans or eco chalets to B&B Further details will be provided on request, although some alternatives can be viewed at: www.caravanpark.findhorn.com

"The impact of the work on my artistic practice is seismic. To acknowledge that perception in the dance is fundamentally freeing from any hidden burden to 'create', therefore shifting my attention from 'out there' to 'out there as seen from here'."

"I found the Findhorn community really wonderful in that it supported the work we were all doing as well as gave us space to do it"

"I have been stuck in 'old' movement patterns and had a critical parrot on my shoulder. The practice gives stimulus to get moving and keep moving; there is so much to contend with that there is no time for self-criticism"

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