“If I didn’t pick my feet up I was going to burst.
If I didn’t throw my arms out I was going to pop.
If I didn’t move my head and my hips, my fingers and my knees, my shoulders, my back –
I exploded into movement.”
“I’ll never again take for granted being in a creative space making work” – I spoke to Only In Newcastle about where the idea came from and what it was like to make something new under COVID restrictions
We step outside and start to dance was inspired by a dance-inducing outbreak of mass hysteria recorded in Strasbourg in the 1500s when a woman did, indeed, step outside and start to dance. And kept dancing. Within a month, four hundred people had joined her.
In November 2020 we were delighted to be awarded an OnComm, celebrating the best work presented online or broadcast during the Covid-19 lockdown.
This brand new audio experience was available to experience for free for twelve months between Oct 2020-Oct 2021 at westarttodance.com, where there was also a BSL interpreted and captioned film version available and a series of creative challenges to explore alongside the piece.
– Participants reactions included –
– THE MAKING OF –
– REHEARSALS AND RECORDING –
Rehearsals (photo by Emma Biggins)
Rehearsals (photo by Emma Biggins)
Filmmaker Merlin Mee (photo by Emma Biggins)
Karen Traynor (photo by Emma Biggins)
Sarah Lewis Obuba (photo by Emma Biggins)
Dale Jewitt (photo by Emma Biggins)
Eleanor Chaganis (photo by Merlin Mee)
BSL Interpreter Caroline Ryan (photo Merlin Mee)
The full team (photo by Merlin Mee)
Video by Merlin Mee. Photographs by Emma Biggins and Merlin Mee
Alison Carr 