Shibari and Physical Theatre: ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ 2019

At the beginning of 2019 I was awarded a ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ grant from Arts Council England to spend a period of time exploring rope, movement and physical theatre. It was some time to effectively fuse my two worlds – shibari and theatre – and I am incredibly grateful to have been given this opportunity. I have become increasingly interested in using the body as a tool for storytelling and emotional expression, so my aim for this time was to work on developing physical vocabulary, confidence in creating choreographic material and combining movement with rope bondage.

The main strand of this grant I spent undertaking some professional development training with leading contemporary dance theatre company Jasmin Vardimon. I had seen their piece ‘Medusa’ earlier in the year, and was blown away by their dynamic, athletic movement quality and style. I spent two months training full-time with them (one month in Barcelona with Marilena Dara and one month in Kent with David Lloyd) developing dance techniques alongside theatre, prop, voice & breath work, body conditioning and tumbling.

My background is more in acting, and while I have done a fair bit of physical theatre and ensemble work before, the training was much more dance focused than I had been used to, so was initially incredibly physically challenging. We had daily classes that focused on contemporary techniques and body conditioning, repertoire classes where we learnt choreography from Jasmin Vardimon productions, and creative sessions to experiment with improvisation, theatricality and creating solos. Guest practitioners (Geoff Colman and Melanie Pappenheim) also came in to work with us on specialist subjects like dramaturgy and voice work, as well as JV2 graduates Sanea Singh and Donny Ferris.

I developed strength and stamina – dancing every day in 40 degree heat with no air conditioning is definitely an experience I will never forget! HELLO SWEAT! – and much more confidence in working with my body. I was challenged so much as a performer, and as Jasmin Vardimon has such a distinct methodology it was really inspiring to get a glimpse into the company’s style and creative process.

Another strand to this grant was getting some specialist tuition from rope artists in Europe who work on similar, more movement-based styles. Spring Tide and I went to Brussels to learn from Nicolas Yoroi, a practitioner who blends shibari and martial art, and is currently developing content around dance and rope with rope artist Deborah Sarura. We received private lessons in a small group on “Dance with Ropes” and attended a three-day workshop to dive into his and Sarura’s unique style that merges motion, minimalism and organic shapes. Spring Tide and I also went to Berlin to get some tips on dynamic transitions in suspension from Marika Leila (Gorgone).

After this period of international travel and mentoring I had some time back in the UK to try and synthesise what I had learnt with my own practice. I spent some time with rope model Anna Noctuelle, who is classically trained in ballet, to work on fusing these elements. We explored some of the Nicolas Yoroi and Deborah Sarura content I had learnt from training with them, as well as integrating some Jasmin Vardimon methodology on movement qualities.

Although the grant had no expectation of output – its purpose was solely development – I wanted to create something tangible at the end of this process, so Noctuelle and I collaborated with videographer Yiannis Katsaris to create a short video filmed at Natural Light Spaces in Northampton, bringing together some of the techniques we explored over the few days we had together. It’s called ‘Taking Flight’ and you can watch the film below.

An exploration in rope and movement. Finding freedom in a typically restrictive form.

I also taught a workshop “Movement, Rhythm and Flow” at Anatomie Studio with Sophia Rose, looking at utilising movement, freeform rope and improvisation to create dynamic and expressive rope scenes. I’d taught evening classes on similar topics before, but this was a great opportunity to deepen this content into a full day, particularly using some of the knowledge and techniques I’d absorbed over this process. The workshop received great feedback, including:

“Thank you so much for such an amazing engaging and challenging workshop, you are intense and incredible, thank you for your energy and passion”

Workshop Participant

Unexpectedly, at the end of the year I was also then cast in a production of ‘Medusa’ at The Pleasance with Fusion Theatre Company, a devised, physical theatre piece retelling the famous myth. The Director Katie Merritt was keen to utilise each individual performer’s strength, and I played Medusa for the transformation scene, integrating movement inspired by my training with Jasmin Vardimon, and also some rope work. Perfectly putting into practice what I had been exploring over the year! (For anyone that is interested, we are performing the piece again at The Cockpit in March 2020 if you want to catch it.)

It was an incredible full-circle to the year that I’d had – from seeing ‘Medusa’ to performing in ‘Medusa’ (!) – and I am very grateful to the Arts Council for supporting this project.  As with any self-searching creative process the whole period had various emotional ups and downs, but the opportunity has been invaluable. I have gone deeper into the exploration of dance technique, body mechanics, movement qualities, emotional expression and intention. The project has given me more tools to work with creatively – in both shibari and physical theatre – using more of an interdisciplinary approach.

I am excited about what will come next. It was an amazing year with so much development, and I feel like there is still so much more that I want to explore. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey. Forever learning.