Performance

Movement Artist
As a movement artist I am engaged with performance that strives to create a transformative experience for myself, for my colleagues, for the audience and for the environment. I create environmental performance as well as studio-based work and I am currently investigating movement created in an outdoor site which I am then "importing" and transforming within a studio setting as part of my next performance.

My performance work has frequently included live dialogue with musicians, an eclectic approach to text, sometimes spanning several languages, inter-cultural collaborations and more recently I have been exploring movement-based performance with video and with photography.

As a movement troubadour I create improvised movement pieces for specific events. I have been invited to move at weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and exhibition openings. This work seeks to honour and extend my experiences in ritual art with Javanese colleagues, when I was living in Solo, Java.

My formative performance training was in physical theatre with Jacques Gardel at Theatre Onze in Switerland. This work was closely influenced by Grotowski. I later worked briefly with John Martyn in the early days of the Pan Project in London. My studies with John Garrie Roshi profoundly influenced my understanding of presence in performance and in life. Finally I studied with Suprapto Suryodarmo, Javanese movement artist in Java and Europe, whose astonishing skill as a movement teacher guided me to develop Move into Life.

Director / Facilitator
As a director/facilitator working mainly within university settings, I specialise in facilitating movement-based physical theatre including a preference for site-specific work. These performances start from movement but may include text, music and image.

Initially students are introduced to basic movement skills, following Move into Life principles. This allows them to develop their own unique movement vocabulary and a wide variety of improvisational skills. I also train them in a practical way to respect and care for their bodies, for the environment and for each other in the space. I facilitate performance which permits each individual to shine through with their own creative passion without compromising the collaborative approach of the company.

My areas of work as a visiting lecturer include physical theatre, dance theatre, intercultural theatre and ecological performance.

Photographs: © Drew Yapp   
See video and still images  from the following performances - click on any title:
On the Brink
Labyrinth
Green Shade
Being in Between
Water (Candi Sukuh, Java)