#motionhouse

[willstafford]

Shooting for the Moon

STARCHITECTS: A Mission to the Moon! Birmingham Hippodrome, Friday 3rd February 2023 Motionhouse’s new production is aimed squarely at a family audience, in particular the youngest members of the family.  Five children, portrayed by grown-up performers, are having a sleepover, although sleep is the farthest thing from their fertile little minds.  With tireless energy, these effervescent…

[room9125]

Using Projection in Performance

Wasteland- Gary Clarke Company

Having recently watched Wasteland at the Lighthouse theatre in Poole after a workshop with some of the performers, I found it very moving to see projections of original footage taken of the miners in their final days of work before they were made redundant due to the closure of the mines. The movement by the performer who was playing an ex-miner was very clearly indicating that he was drunk, as he was carrying a bottle in a brown paper bag and the choreography was all pitched off-centre, falling the complete width of the stage sometimes all the way from standing to the floor. There is a moment of stillness where he stands more stationary, centre stage, and looks up with his back to the audience as he watches the projection of memories. It is a literal representation of looking back to the past but given the context that we had learnt more about in the workshop it was very poignant and didn't feel cliche at all.

I would like to utilise the footage I have taken, and I've begun to edit some of them together into a simple visual, which I think will work well as part of the improvised movement. I am not trying to create an emotional reaction, it is more about the functional shape and form that is created within that space in contrast to what comes when we are always being watched. In the context of my work there is no historic or profound event that is tied to the movement, it is simply every-day observation so I will aim to keep any audio neutral and one that does not hint to moments in popular culture.

Gary Clarke Company (2019). Wasteland Tour - Gary Clarke Company. [online] Wasteland Tour - Gary Clarke Company. Available at: https://wastelandtour.co.uk/ [Accessed 12 May 2023].

Nobody- Motionhouse

When considering the options of either projecting footage or using a TV screen, I have to reference what would be my idea outcome it I had unlimited resources and tech support. When watching Nobody, also at the Lighthouse Theatre, I was mesmerising by the ability to selectively project onto elements of set, particularly the stretchy fabric sleeve that covered the cube scaffold frame.

I would love to have a moving projector that moves around the periphery of the floating structure, which I would choreograph alongside, almost like a ghost dancer.

Motionhouse (n.d.). Nobody. [online] Motionhouse. Available at: https://www.motionhouse.co.uk/production/nobody/ [Accessed 12 May 2023].

[books0977]

Motionhouse in Broken, London, April 2016. © Katja Ogrin.

If the tech didn’t entirely wow then the Motionhouse dancers did so as strong and agile performers. This is dance infused with circus and their clever physicality pleases no end, also the grace of their movement between the bigger set pieces and their sense of timing in making so much of it work.

[adamwittek]

Breathtakingly spectacular Motion in the House! 🌊🏠 What an acrobatic stunner to celebrate the return of live #ContemporaryDance. 🤸🔥 @Motionhouse #Motionhouse #PeacockTheatre #MotionhouseDance #NobodyShow #DanceCircus #CircusDance #AcrobaticDance #DanceTheatre #PhysicalTheatre #MovementCulture (at Peacock Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUSUCQXIT45/?utm_medium=tumblr

[youngcritics-hatfair]

Before individual written reviews start coming in, we all got together to watch the main act this evening, and the team bravely stepped up to share their first impressions to camera! 

Click on the title link to hear what we thought...

[matildashoney]

tiny dancer

coming soon.

a @sweetcreatureinthedark and @hunflowers original story.

join the taglist!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　✧･ﾟ

Stella Smalls and Harry Styles, two big names in a small town. Stella Smalls, a principal dancer at Motionhouse Dance Company, is training to compete in the World Dance Movement, an international dance competition with her partner, River Daniels, whom Harry Styles graciously dislikes. Harry Styles, who is training for his second international title, is struggling to find a balance between missing his lucky star and being the best fighter in the world. River is surprisingly confronted by someone Stella knows all too well - a certain someone still waiting for her return - and quits the competition three months before the show. Leaving Harry to be forced with an ultimatum of a lifetime: dance with Stella or leave Stella alone for good.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　✧･ﾟ

“Come on, lovey. One more kiss before you leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she says matter-of-factly, shaking her head and nodding towards where the door is swinging open with men walking in and out. “I’m leaving the room for you to get changed, you stink.”

“Come shower with me,” he whispers, standing on his feet and bringing her into his chest, the clamminess of his skin sticking to her fingertips as she lays her hands against his abdomen. “Not like any of these blokes actually shower here, anyways.”

“Girl in a locker room disappears into the showers and Harry Styles is nowhere to be seen,” Stella scoffs, shaking her head adamantly and brushing his hair away from his forehead, the floppy tendrils of his hair falling to his sweaty skin. “Very likely that everyone will know what’s happening.”

“Stella Smalls,” Harry says warningly, clicking his tongue and grabbing her face between his hands, “don’t ever call yourself just a girl, ever again. Hear me? Much more than a girl to me.”

“All right, all right,” she concedes, pecking his lips quickly and walking towards the locker, grabbing all his belongings and shoving the clothes that need to be washed in the tote bag he brings to every match. “Go shower, I’m tired and want to go home.”

“I’ll shower faster if my Lucky Star comes with me,” Harry teases, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and walking towards the showers in the corner of the locker room. “Come on, Stell. One time.” Stella sighs, looking between the phone, where she is impatiently waiting for a phone call, her belongings, and her sweaty boyfriend standing all too enticingly at the edge of the tile flooring. Stella begrudgingly sets their things in the locker, oblivious to the buzzing that’s vibrating from her phone, and hurries to Harry across the locker room floor, smirking as he says, “That’s my girl. My Stella.”

[hunflowers]

Tiny Dancer Masterlist

Word Count: TBD

Pairing: OC x Harry

Warnings: Explicit Language, Violence, Sex, if any of these bother you, please don’t read

SUMMARY:

Stella Smalls and Harry Styles, two big names in a small town. Stella Smalls, a principal dancer at Motionhouse Dance Company, is training to compete in the World Dance Movement, an international dance competition with her partner, River Daniels, whom Harry Styles graciously dislikes. Harry Styles, who is training for his second international title, is struggling to find a balance between missing his lucky star and being the best fighter in the world. River is surprisingly confronted by someone Stella knows all too well - a certain someone still waiting for her return - and quits the competition three months before the show. Leaving Harry to be forced with an ultimatum of a lifetime: dance with Stella or leave Stella alone for good.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

[stevendaturamcilroy84-blog]

Fantastic new show “Charge” by @motionhouse and was great to see my friend @danielconnor1 perform live. Go see this show if you can! #motionhouse #charge #dance #storyhouse #chester @storyhouselive (at StoryhouseLive)

[thewidowstanton]

Martina Knight, dancer, Motionhouse: Charge

Martina Knight grew up in Torino, Italy, and started dancing when she was three, studying ballet and modern at Centro Danza Arké. She has worked with Henri Oguike Dance Company, Tavaziva Dance and Tom Dale Company, among others. As well as being a dancer she has a BSc in sport science from the University of Torino, a post-gradulate diploma from London Contemporary Dance School, and an MA in performance.

Martina joined Motionhouse in 2012 and has performed in many of its shows, including Scattered, Broken and Lost. She also appeared in Watermusic Motionhouse’s large-scale outdoor show in Aarhus, Denmark to celebrate the city being the 2017 European Capital of Culture. She takes a break from rehearsing the company’s new show, Charge – which is about electricity and is the third in the company’s ‘Earth Trilogy’, after Scattered and Broken – to chat to Adrian Arratoon.

The Widow Stanton: How did you get into dancing? Martina Knight: I was only three when I started going to dance school. All my friends were going. We’re really big into ballet in Italy so I did a lot of that. Then when I was 13 I got really, really, really fed up with it and decided that it wasn’t for me. I think it was partially a thing about body image. You know, girls are developing at that age and the way you perceive yourself changes a lot. Because Italy is so heavily influenced by ballet that was such a big thing. All the girls were wearing their pointe shoes and I just felt a bit of a tomboy; I didn’t want to be associated with that. I think I was just going through that stage where you want to experiment with who you are and maybe I didn’t feel like that kind of dancing – mainly ballet – was representing who I was. 

The gap I had was in the most important years of training because between 13 and 16 is  when all the basics really settle. But I decided that was it; I wanted to stop. I did loads of different things; aikido, volleyball and just had a little break. But I never really stopped enjoying dancing and I used to watch all the dance movies and would try the moves. One day my mum found me dancing in my room. That was the time when I was a bit out of love with everything I was doing outside of school and she just went: “Right, Martina, look, you’ve always danced since you were able to walk and you seem to be dancing hiding in your room, so I think it’s time for you to go back to dance school.” And she kind of dragged me there. 

I wasn’t quite sure but I did one class and I just realised what I was missing out on. I just fell in love with it again and then I never stopped. I started taking loads and loads of classes again and, of course, I was a little behind by that point. But that was very important for my career because having that feeling of being a little bit behind and having to put a bit more effort in was a great school for what came after. And when I did go back to dancing after a few years it was all about contemporary; I always liked the fact that it was more expressive, less codified. You could use dancing to express something different and that's what brought me back to loving it.

But instead of going on to be a full-time dancer you studied sports science… Yes, in Italy we have only one or two dance academies, and the one in Rome, again, is very balletic. So I decided to study something at university in Torino. My dad is a PE teacher and I love that side of things. I was always really inquisitive as to how the body works and how we can make dance a more scientific activity, led by more scientific studies. I decided to study sports science because I wanted to influence the dance world with that kind of knowledge. Nowadays that strand is developing but we're still not there yet. We're not at the level that sports people are at, with training regimes and attention to detail.

I did two years of a BA and, as often happens, I got an offer to train in London at this amazing world-renowned dance academy, the London School of Contemporary Dance. So I decided to freeze my career and go there and study for a year. Of course that’s never the case – I did one year then I got an apprenticeship with a really important dance company – Henri Oguike Dance Company – and I stayed for a year. Then I got a taste for it so I decided I was going to try to stay in London and find some work as an independent artist. That lasted for another two years; I was in London for a total of four years, then I needed a break and went back home.

London can do that to you… Yeah, it does that to people! So as soon as I got home my mum was like: [claps hands] “Sooo, your BA – are you going to finish it?!” [Laughs] My life is kind of surrounded by gap years. So I finished my BA and danced with a few independent artists over there but again the call of dance was just too strong. I just wanted to dance professionally, and in Italy it was really hard to do it as a profession. One of my friends who used to work with Motionhouse told me there was going to be an audition so I went to England and auditioned. That was five and a half years ago and I never left. [Laughs]

Had you been aware of Motionhouse before you auditioned for them? I had been working with Tavaziva Dance when I was based in London, and one of my greatest friends, Giorgio de Carolis, was a dancer in Motionhouse. The year I was in Tavaziva the guys came down to perform at the Queen Elizabeth Hall doing Scattered. I loved it; I thought it was so athletic and it was really exciting work. I kept an eye on the company and had a close connection with them already.

Because Motionhouse is not just straight contemporary dance – there are elements of circus and athletics in their shows – how does that challenge you as an artist? I’m not going to lie: it’s frustrating at times because there is never a time when you feel that you’re safe in what you know. They really push you to develop your skills, whether it is in more circussy stuff or whether it is more like acrobatics; it's a wonderful thing. We just did a show in Denmark, Watermusic, where we had to come off a wall and do aerial dancing. I had never done anything like it. It’s an amazing feeling once you have overcome that initial fear, and you get so much satisfaction out of it; you’ve got a new skill, you feel you get nourished a lot and you learn a lot, and this is a fantastic feeling. But there’s no hiding from the fact that it is really tough to be constantly in a place where you get challenged and pushed and sometimes are really out of your comfort zone.

I remember feeling really terrified at the beginning of the Denmark project; I’d never been up that high. But now I think back and I really enjoyed it. And just doing something that was so intense and hard meant that we really came together and kind of all grew up a little bit. You have to grow up in the way you approach new challenges. You kind of learn how to sometimes push things to one side and tell yourself that you’ll know it is going to get better, to just bear the initial fear then it'll be rewarding.

What can you tell me about Charge? It is again a further development for Motionhouse in that they’re really trying to straddle these dance, circus and acrobatic worlds and still keep it theatrical. That is really hard because a lot of circus activities are very trick-based; so you do a big preparation to do a very difficult move. But in Motionhouse we are really pushing to try and put these new tricks and difficult things within a dance environment, within the artistry of theatre. So most of the time we’re trying to hide the preparation, to make it look effortless. It’s really difficult because the more you specialise in new tricks the more you have to be focused and detached and just do the move, but you can’t when you're also trying to express an emotion and make it come out of a big dance sequence. 

I think this is the first show where we are really trying to get a 360-degree take across the different disciplines. I feel with Scattered and Broken and now with Charge we’re trying to push on and get more roundness in that struggle between the different art forms. Do you also like the way Motionhouse is always doing different things; lots of shows but also outdoor ones as well as those in theatres? It’s fantastic. It's definitely one of my favourite things; the fact that there is such a variety. Not only does it allow the company to work all through the year – in the summer we do more outdoor shows, and in the winter we do theatre – which is very clever, and really important to secure our jobs. And variety keeps you alive; you don’t do the same shows for months on end; one moment you’re on top of a wall, then on top of a cage, then you are in the street.

I really enjoy the outdoor shows because the audience is really close; in the theatre it's more magical but also more detached and you can create a world that is more technologically enhanced. But in the outdoors you still have to create that magical feeling for the audience, but there’s only you and an object so the way you have to work your theatricality is a different one. It’s really interesting to get those skills. In the beginning it’s quite daunting, the audience is really close, there are children around screaming and jumping, people walking around. And the first few times it’s really hard, then you kind of learn to deal with it and work with it. When you get the skill it’s just so rewarding to have that close contact.

It’s also great to see how dance can reach people who would never buy a ticket to see a dance show in the theatre then suddenly it’s in a high street somewhere, and sometimes they get very touched by it. That’s where I think it’s really important for our art form to do more of those types of things. In the end that's what we want to do, to communicate with our art form. If we are always in theatres it’s so much harder to reach a wider audience. 

You also teach. Is that something you'd like to do more of? I really like teaching. I got into it more in the last few years. When you get a little bit older you also learn more who you are as a teacher. You look at younger dancers and you see how you were at their age. The way you teach evolves because of that. I do it through Motionhouse and independently; I work with a CAT scheme (National Centre for Advanced Training) in Birmingham on a Sunday and teach their students. If I could I would definitely teach more, and at a higher level. If I could do it in the conservatoire that would be a dream of mine, to go back and teach where I trained would be such an achievement, to go back and give something back because I got so much out of those years when I was in London; they really did make me as a dancer. The training is so varied and of such high quality. I gathet you got married recently… On 27 May. Chris Knight is a dancer with the company. We had crossed paths, he was three years after me at the same academy, I think. We knew each other from friends but we’d never actually met properly until he came and danced for Motionhouse, then we went on tour in America. That’s where it all started, as often happens with artists; you spend a lot of time together so you get to know the good and the bad very quickly – and you also fall in love very quickly. [Laughs] It must be nice that you can work together. Yeah, I mean working together is a blessing and curse at the same time [laughs]. It's amazing because we really understand our industry and how our lives have to work, at least for now. Because Motionhouse is so busy we get to travel together and we get to spend a decent amount of time together, which is something other dancers in relationships struggle with. Working together is really challenging and in jobs that so heavily rely on performative skills there's a lot of tension and stress. Of course it would be nice to have that stress at work then go home and be like, ‘Oh, what did you do today?’. But it’s something you learn to deal with and you have to walk in the house and be like other couples; that was work and now we’re going to relax and be us. And also the relationship is different, the way we are ourselves as a couple at home needs to be very different between the way we are as a couple at work, so it's about finding that balance between who we are as a couple and as individuals.

Do your family from Italy come to see you perform? They pretty much come everywhere. They’ve just been to Denmark. They love it because we travel so much they take it as an opportunity to see places they might not have seen. My dad gets the tour dates and goes like: "OK, I can come to this, I can go to that." Fortunately, with Charge we’re going to Padova in Italy.

So what’s been the highlight of your career? [Long intake of breath] Oh my gosh, that’s really hard. [Pause] Ah, yeah, I think the highlight so far was performing Scattered in New York in 2014. I didn’t sleep all night, just the idea that I was dancing in New York. I remember walking on stage and I really took a moment to take it in and realise, ‘Wow, I'm a little girl from Italy who took her suitcase and went to London and I did dance academy and took a big gamble and look, I'm performing in New York!’. It was part of a really big tour of America. It was an amazing feeling. That was my second international tour; I went to China first and that was big, but there's nothing quite like thinking, ‘I'm dancing in New York’.

Martina appears in Charge, which has its world premiere on 4 October 2017 at Warwick Arts Centre before a world tour.

For tickets and tour dates click here.

Photos: Charge and Broken: Chris Nash

Martina’s website; Motionhouse’s website

Twitter: @MartinaBussi; @MotionhouseDT; @WarwickArts

Follow @TheWidowStanton on Twitter

Read our interviews with other Motionhouse dancers Luka Owen, Alasdair Stewart and Daniel Massarella, and guest dancers Amer and Àfrica 

[willstafford]

Something to Crow About

Something to Crow About

Motionhouse: NOBODY Birmingham Hippodrome, Friday 4th February 2022 This latest piece from dance company Motionhouse seeks to externalise the internal.  Our inner voices, represented here by crows, are what keep us apart from others.  Our inner doubts, fears and concerns prevent us from achieving our potential as individuals and as a society.  The show begins with the performers moving like…

[room9125]

Update on set design

I have been experimenting with different materials, including various fabrics and paper in collaboration with a variety of lamps to see how they throw shadows and whether or not the dancers would be visible behind them. I really liked the idea of using finger lights at some point and when they are in closer range to the material the lights can be seen clearly so I will try to include them within a rehearsal to see if they would be a viable option. Head torches are very easy to put on and do not obstruct movement at all so could be interesting to play with once we have access to the theatre space.

Having met with Izzy again I had some new ideas to put to her. When we last spoke the plan was to create some sort of scaffold to hand paper or fabric on behind the dancers as an open-ended space. However from my own research I am drawn to having a more pliable structure that can form around the dancers. From conversation in my first session with them there was a lot of talk about restriction when we return to our childhood spaces, so I would like to reflect this in the set design. I have also been reflecting on Motionhouse's performance on Nobody, where they used a fabric sheath over a scaffold to project various images and textures. The options they had to fall into the sides and be submerged by the image was so beautiful and something I would love to play around with.

We have drawn up a plan of how the set would be rigged up in the theatre. Our plan is to see if a sketch-up/CAD model exists for Izzy to mock up a design and then take a look at the upper works and spacing of the trusses to see if it would be possible. Although I am very excited to see this concept come to fruition I am aware that having such an interactive set will require a lot of rehearsal time in the space which may limit how many choreographic sections I can tackle. However I will be happy to let some of this be put on standby in order to explore more with the overall design of the work.

[wonderfulworldofdance]

(via Ever wondered what dance theatre is? | The Wonderful World of Dance)

[maraleftlung]

Wondrous Stories: #WondrousStories with @Motionhouse and many more is the opening event of @birminghamcg22 in Centenary Square next week. Every eve. 17-20 Mar in Centenary Sq birmingham2022.com/festival/ #B2022 #B2022FESTIVAL #wednesday #skies #afternoon #today #view #march #winter #england #uk #ig #igers #instapic #instagram #instagramers #picoftheday #photooftheday #explore #artistsoninstagram #wanderlust #photography #leftlung #maraleftlung (at Birmingham Central Library) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca5dtobsuct/?utm_medium=tumblr

[laurenwatsonaerial]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lauren Watson (@laurenwatsonaerial)

Adaptive movement in choreography. The cast of The Rising and @circus_corridor had a workshop with the amazing high energy cast of circus show Block @nofit_state_circus & @motionhouse. 🎪 . . . . I was happy to be taught choreography by Rosie, it gave me a chance to explore movement on the floor with peoples who’s bodies are actually very bendy. Granted I would stick out like a sore thumb if I was the only one doing something different amongst a group, but I think I gave it a good shot at exploring the adaptive possibilities. 💪🏻 (at Gold Coast, Queensland)

[zabaione1]

Rasantes Programm Motionhouse / NoFit State „BLOCK“ beim #Sommerkoeln

Rasantes Programm Motionhouse / NoFit State „BLOCK“ beim #Sommerkoeln

“Zwanzig überdimensionale, betongraue Blöcke dienten gestern dem englischen NoFit State und der renommierten Compagnie Motionhouse als Schauplatz für ein akrobatisch-tänzerisches Erlebnis. “

Sie überzeugten mit einer rasanten Show , so dass das Publikum sie gar nicht mehr gehen lassen wollte.

Mit den Blöcken als Medium, schien es manchmal so als könnten sie durch die Luft gehen, bei den…

[matildashoney]

𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 // 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒 // 𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀'𝐒 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

Stella Smalls and Harry Styles, two big names in a small town. Stella Smalls, a principal dancer at Motionhouse Dance Company, is training to compete in the World Dance Movement, an international dance competition with her partner, River Daniels, whom Harry Styles graciously dislikes. Harry Styles, who is training for his second international title, is struggling to find a balance between missing his lucky star and being the best fighter in the world. River is surprisingly confronted by someone Stella knows all too well - a certain someone still waiting for her return - and quits the competition three months before the show. Leaving Harry to be forced with an ultimatum of a lifetime: dance with Stella or leave Stella alone for good.

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

𝐨𝐧𝐞 // 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 // 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞