Site Specific Performance at Interface Inagh

Woodlandsymposium November 2021

Sound: Christine Mackey

Pictures: Aoife Herriot

Everything can inspire movement. The long shapes of the trees, the tactile element of the soil (that was partly a challenge to dance on), and the sounds of the creaking trees all influenced my movements. For my performance, I found two perfect lines of spruce trees in the middle of the forest. They reminded me of a traditional framed theatre stage and created my dancing space for the next two weeks.

Christine Mackey invited me to explore sounds that she recorded while digging up the soil. For me the recordings sound like very powerful breaths and inspired movements that Laban would have described in Effort Terms as “Wringing”. The term Effort describes the quality of movement rather than a sequence of steps. Interestingly, the action of wringing can be found in the action of stretching.