We will return in 2022 with our first in person events.
As theatre spaces remained closed across Scotland, for independent artists with fewer opportunities presenting themselves, the outlook can often feel bleak. Dance Horizons launched a pilot programme of a new event series, Shifting Spaces. This is an open floor for ideas to be presented, questioned and developed. Artists have space to circulate information to others in advance and invite detailed responses and discussion from other artists and audience members. Our digital launch event in February 2022 was warmly received by audiences and artists.
Therefore we have channelled our resources into producing this outlet for creativity to continue to flourish as we navigate out of the pandemic.
Our Edition #2 Presenters
Baggage Check
Creator: Emma James (She / Her).
Synopsis:
A playful story of a woman who decides to run with her imagination. A hero’s journey…
When you realise the power of thoughts and beliefs, and that you get to choose - curiously the landscape begins to shift.
About Emma:
Over the years, Emma has been questioning the impact of surroundings, experimenting in site-specific dance over many continents. Currently, her work focuses more on the internal landscape. Using task-based improvisation, and emotive-driven choreography, to create experiences of connection and insight. Co-founder of Blipcollective : a community for contemporary dance based in Austria.
@blipcollective
The Norm Project
Creators:
Jorja Follina (she/her)
Contemporary Dance Artist
Ellie Higgins (she/her)
Performance Maker
Rhona McGuire (they/them)
Multidisciplinary Artist
Synopsis:
Initially inspired by the frequency at which we were hearing the phrases “back to normal” and “the new normal” in relation to lockdown and Covid-19 the work stemmed from an interest in the lack of a solid definition for the term 'normal'.
We took to social media in order to examine the shifts in people’s attitudes, moods, behaviours and expectations towards their everyday experiences. Over the past eight months our exploration has widened and shifted away from the pandemic, more towards everyday and societal norms.
How can challenging small everyday habits give way to questioning larger norms?
About the project:
The Norm Project is a small artist collective which began in the summer of 2020. Collaborating artists Rhona, Jorja and Ellie have been researching collaboratively through Zoom, outdoors, and most recently through our residency at CityMoves Dance Agency.
Audience interaction and participation are central to our practice and like many artists we have been finding new ways to reach and communicate with audiences at every stage of the work, exploring the possibilities of creating an open conversation in the digital realm. We have been sharing our work so far via Instagram (@the_norm_project), choosing to use the
platform as a gallery space where the public is always able to view and engage with our work. Using insight we have gathered through various polls, Q&A's and Zoom events, we are continuously inspired and driven by our audience.
Photo by India Scott, @indiesque
Retelling
Creators: Emily Briggs, Liam Brown, Abbey Adams & Kate Ireland
Synopsis:
Why do we tell stories? Can stories make sense of a purgatorial state? Existing in a state of in-between, four artists who have never physically met, find common ground in their desire to inquire and create new narratives. Through a series of digital installations, a fragmented journey of the last 12 months of their lives is formed. Each story traverses across generations, becoming an attempt to reset for a better future.
About the collective:
Abbey, Emily, Liam and Kate are four multidisciplinary Scottish artists with a passion for stories and unanswered questions. They enjoy working with non-performers to explore authentic perspectives and the epic details to be examined from everyday life.
Image: Kate Ireland
Who can Apply?
We are an open book and invite artists working within contemporary dance and inter disciplinary fields to take to the floor. We are committed to represent artists who feel their voices may not be heard and welcome artists with protected characteristics and disabilities to join us. Please contact us with any questions you may have.
Why Shifting Spaces?
This is our working title across 2021. This event was originally planned to be housed within a more traditional theatrical space however, due to the circumstances we find ourselves in the creative team are interested about what spaces we can use both digital and non.
FUTURE VIRTUAL DATES:
SATURDAY 24TH APRIL 2021
SATURDAY 22ND MAY 2021
To register your interest in future events, complete the proposal form or contact us.
