Dance Ireland Residency

Helen will use the opportunity of this Dance Ireland residency to undertake a choreographic research process and studio practice where she will explore and create new multidisciplinary material.

Covid permitted, as part of this residency, Helen will run a free 2-day choreographic workshop, where together with workshop participants, Helen will craft a short, mindful piece of choreographic work to share as part of the New Movements programme. This work seeks to explore, inspire and encourage integration and accessibility within dance

The work shared will aim to illustrate the struggles of artists that exist within ‘the grey’. ‘In the grey’ is a term Helen has devised to describe a space in society where particular artists, including herself, exist. It relates to artists who do not quite fit the social and/or medical categories of a fully healthy/ mobile dancer nor the category of disability. ‘In the grey’ is a space where artists’ barriers go beyond the nature of average/ short term injury, where artists who are living with chronic injuries or conditions still find themselves significantly limited, either physically or in terms of their skill/ career progression, due to living with related symptoms on a long term, and sometimes life-long basis. This term, or space, is something that Helen relates to very strongly, having had a long-term condition for 14 years, and which is still ongoing.

Throughout this residency, methods of working will include improvisation, authentic movement, somatic approaches to dance composition, integrating dance and poetry, finding the dancers voice (text generation via a guided devising process), and influences of ‘Viewpoints’.

Helen's Residency will take place in summer 2021.