On Monday, Nicola and I met in Chatham. We planned to begin bringing to life some of the research we gathered simply through spontaneous play.
The first part of our research consisted of gathering stories from local residents. We knew that we wanted to explore themes of home, travel and journeys and began by getting in touch with UCA (University College of Arts). Nicola became resident artist at the UCA Halls of Residence, where she collected stories from passing students. Having felt that her research had not provided enough inspiration, Nicola has since spent a lot of time walking through the Chatham/ Rochester area talking to local residents. Her conversations uncovered an Urban Myth about an estranged woman known as ‘Bluebell’. Having passed away a few years ago, Bluebell has left quite a legacy in the local area it seems, particularly with the older residents, many of whom remember specific details about her appearance, habits and misadventures. The memories people spoke of were bizarre yet touching and allowed Nicola and I to begin piecing together a character.
Below are images of the scrapbook Nicola has created from her research. From Nicola’s research I intend to take stories, images, illustrations, text and textiles into the studio to use as a starting point with the dancers. I have booked in two weeks of Research and Development with the dancers of Daisy Farris Dance Collective. During this time we will transform and expand the research further. I am very excited to get into the studio with all of this rich research!
According to local memory, Bluebell was extravagant and theatrical in her appearance. She would walk for miles around the Medway area, dragging a carpet, carrying bags and walking between traffic. She was in love with the local Doctor and would leave chocolates on his car bonnet along with oranges and bananas too! She had a habit of going into the Post Office and arranging a selection of ornaments before walking out again. She would paint her nails in Rochester town centre and then move on.
These strange acts inspired Nicola and I to experiment ourselves…
For Nicola and I, Bluebell represents many of the themes we had been discussing in our research. She considered the Medway area to be her ‘home’ but was continually on the move. She carried with her possessions that she considered valuable or important and her extravagant appearance gave her an identity. As Nicola and I explore ways to combine our practices, we have become interested in props and how they inform movement; Bluebell gave us an excellent starting point to begin exploring this. As you can see from the video, our experiments were focussed on play and at this point we were making no attempt at incorporating movement or choreography. Although very playful (and bordering on the ridiculous!), these experiments have allowed us to explore eccentricity and a new identity which will inform our collaboration.
We are not sure if Bluebell will remain with us for the duration of the project, or if she is simply a temporary inspiration. But for now she is providing a lot of food for thought…
Pictures from our day of fun…
