A couple of people

‘A couple of people’ (working title – any ideas please give us a shout) is a duet consisting Gordon Raeburn (of Swallowsfeet Collective) and myself dancing and choreographing. We are good friends, and we wanted this to be shown during the piece.

We also wanted to try and explore how a man and a woman on stage can portray friendship and not romance.

We firstly rehearsed in London at Laban and Greenwich Dance, with thanks to Shetland Arts. This was great as these centres are really a hub of activity with dancers all around.

We then travelled to Scotland to work in Huntly, Gordon’s home town. His mother has a dance school here so we managed to use the studio. I have been amazing at how much dance and arts are going on here in Huntly and the whole community appears to be involved; it’s great! So we have been sharing the piece to community members for feedback wherever possible.

The work looks at dancing to different types of music, and the relationship between the movement and music, as well as how this connects the dancer’s movements to one another. A lot of effort went into selecting the right music, and in ensuring that it was easily accessible to a range of audiences, including those not used to contemporary dance. Music is something everyone connects to so we really wanted to use this to our advantage. Gordon also plays the harmonica during the piece, bringing an element of live music to the dance floor!

The duet is going to be performed at Mareel on 16th July, alongside choreographies that I will have created during the two intensive dance weeks, which can be booked here. I am really excited for these. It’s great that with each group I will have a full week to create a choreography. I aim to teach dance technique, explore choreography exercises (which all participants will be able to take away with them to future projects), possibly make a bit of dance film and create, devise and set two new works. It is such a great opportunity for professional and community dance to come together in a showcase event and I really can’t wait to get started. There are still spaces left so book on while you can!