Dissolving Borders: the Integration of Writing Into a Movement Practice
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DISSOLVING BORDERS: THE INTEGRATION OF WRITING INTO A MOVEMENT PRACTICE GEMMA COLLARD-STOKES BA (Hons) MA A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2017 This work or any part thereof has not previously been presented in any form to the University or to any other body whether for the purposes of assessment, publication or for any other purpose (unless otherwise indicated). Save for any express acknowledgments, references and/or bibliographies cited in the work, I confirm that the intellectual content of the work is the result of my own efforts and of no other person. The right of Gemma Collard-Stokes to be identified as author of this work is asserted in accordance with ss.77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. At this date copyright is owned by the author. Signature……………………………………….. Date…………………………………………….. Abstract This thesis theorises the practice of three female British dance artists, Miranda Tufnell, Helen Poynor and Hilary Kneale. It engages with the central idea that a combined practice of creative writing and movement improvisation enhances the artist's articulation and assimilation of the experience of dance, consequently developing a deeper connection to the experiences of the body in relation to one's environment. Refuting common perception that the inadequacy of language fails to embody the experience of dance, I argue that the approaches used by these women contribute to a distillation of experience thus revealing the essence of movement. Importantly, it focuses on practices that have been born of the feminist consciousness that facilitated the development of both British postmodern dance and women's writing since 1970. As a result, I utilise Elizabeth Grosz's notions of freedom and writing otherwise, and David Abram's Merleau-Pontian ideas on participation to underpin theoretical endeavours. Fieldwork, in the form of interviews and the participation in/observation of various performances, workshops and training programmes, run by each of the dance artists studied, is presented. The development of my own practice resulting from these enquires is documented, analysed and appraised throughout the thesis. The Introduction outlines research questions addressed and methodological approaches undertaken before considering the historical context of each artist's unique practice. Each case study is preceded by a chapter that identifies biographical circumstances, creative choices, and socio-political conditions that have influenced the careers of these dance artists. The function of writing as a bridge between the subjective embodied experience and objective analysis of that experience is examined alongside an assessment of the scope of each practice as a method of harvesting a [re]connection with nature and its power to generate self-affirming stories. Finally, the conclusion offers thoughts on the difficulties of such an endeavour within the framework of contemporary thought that maintains its stance on the split between [body]dance and [mind]written language. Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iv Acknowledgements v List of Figures vi Dedication vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: An Historical Context 37 Chapter Two: Miranda Tufnell: Collaborations and Compositions 71 Chapter Three: Of Body and Imagination 105 Chapter Four: Helen Poynor: A Walk of Life Perspective 134 Chapter Five: Movement as Metaphor for Life 167 Chapter Six: Hilary Kneale: A Multifaceted Practice 195 Chapter Seven: The Story Teller 221 Conclusion: Some Thoughts Toward Completion 249 Bibliography 272 Appendices A: Interview Transcript - Miranda Tufnell 301 B: Interview Transcript - Helen Poynor 327 C: Interview Transcript - Hilary Kneale 363 D: Coat by Hilary Kneale 387 Acknowledgements I wish to take this opportunity to thank my supervisory and advisory team: Dr Clare Lidbury and Dr Royona Mitra for their unwavering support, inspiration and guidance through the stages of my doctoral study. My gratitude extends to the generosity of the Miranda Tufnell, Helen Poynor and Hilary Kneale, whose willingness to engage in dialogue through interviews, access to materials and invitations to workshops, performances and rehearsals have been invaluable, and without whom, this thesis would not be possible. I would also like to thank my family and friends who have tirelessly supported me throughout this endeavour with love, encouragement and good will. I extend my warmest thanks to my husband and soul mate Gavin, for his infinite patience, positivity, wisdom, for believing in me, and providing me with the next challenge in my life, our son Koby. And finally, this thesis is lovingly dedicated to the very special women who have guided me throughout my life, not least, my late grandmother Dorothy Joan Seymour, and the dearly missed Dr Niki Pollard. Thank you, for I would not be where I am today without you. List of Figures Figure 1: Miranda Tufnell and Dennis Greenwood in Other Rooms 90 (1981). Photograph. Figure 2: Miranda Tufnell in Whitechapel (1980). Photograph. 91 Figure 3: Gemma Collard-Stokes participating in the Walk of Life 164 training programme (2013). Photograph. Figure 4: Hilary Kneale in Peel (2013). Photograph. 205 Figure 5: Hilary Kneale in Silent Vessel (2011). Photograph. 209 Figure 6: Hilary Kneale in With Water series (2013). Photograph. 216 Figure 7: Hilary Kneale in Coat (2012). Photographs. 218 Figure 8: Collard-Stokes, G, (2012) Notebook. Photograph. 261 Figure 9: Kneale, H. (2012) Notebook. Photograph. 263 Figure 10: Kneale, H. (2012) Notebook. Photograph. 263 For my parents who raised me to believe anything was possible Introduction It is early, about 7:00am, on a bracing November morning. My reluctance to leave the warmth of home becomes increasingly distant as I attend to the purpose of my outing. The rhythm of my footfall settles me into a certain kind of attention, a form of listening that emanates from the whole body. My skin bristles at the tone of a black bird's call. The orb weaver's blanket left hugging the autumn hedgerows draws my eye. Once a week, I trace this route with the soles of my feet, toward the edge of a sheltered woodland clearing. Setting my rucksack at the foot of a tree, I pour myself a cup of warming tea from a flask and spend a moment or two basking in the nature of this place. The track that leads me here each week is widely known and marked by all manner of foot, paw, hoof and tyre, yet this nook continues to be unexplored by most. I exchange my mug for an old kitchen timer and set the digits to 60:00. The floor is littered with tarnished brittle leaves that crackle as I lower my weight onto them. I spread my body out along the surface, lying back to allow my vision to take in the altering light of the sky above. I wait... Overall, my wait is rewarded promptly and with little effort. Occasionally my wait appears endless. I wait for the impulse, the stirring impetus of the body awakening into movement - the moment when this place I have chosen, triggers a bodily desire to discover its depths and boundaries. Perhaps the craving to experience variation in freedom and tethering sparks a bodily curiosity in and out of the ground. Maybe the sensation of dew-laden foliage clinging to skin and garments creates the need to disencumber the body. It might be the twitch of a nerve ending that begins a 1 journey of energy through the body, out toward the firmness of a tree trunk, one substance meeting another. These are all examples of starting points I have followed. I am attentive to the smallest of ignitions into movement, both eyes seeing, both ears unlocked to the sounds of the landscape, body tissues prickle with sense data, communicating a wish to be moved by this place. After the dance, when the timer rings out and my moving quietens, I turn to my journal and open my attention in a slightly different way. I welcome language as it rises up, out of the lingering experience of moving with land. I welcome the words that spill from my pores. I welcome images that signal the patterns in my mind, the songs in my heart and the stories of my body. Just as I waited for the impulse to move, I wait for the impulse to write and once it finds me, I do not halt it. I write freely, with no forethought, no pause, no judgement or tracking of sense, grammar, syntax or correctness. My pencil maintains motion and breeds a connection with the page; I continue my dance onto paper. Words, sounds, scribbles and marks merge the familiar with nonsense. I play amongst symbols, digits, letters and characters; placement is curious and mischievous - not because I sense their significance but because they are pleasing to the motion of my pencil; to the detail of my eye. The words may follow one another, forming lines that appear as sentences but read like noise. Words trip along with no regard for their reader. I write, If I lie back to rest, She shuffles uneasily toward the back of my rib cage. Nervous and twitchy, The urge to fire her needles is too great. POW – she strikes, I am curved inward. A soft stomach cushions my unrest, She nuzzles at my soft spine. Showing her impatience, It prickles as she breaths. 2 My breath rattles her quills. To complete this stage of the process I read my writing aloud to myself. I hear the echoes of my moving, sensing and being; resonate through the words that shape the page. I witness myself outlined on paper. I identify my experience within the language, the pace and flow, the size and texture of the letters, the light and dark of the pencil line.