Broken Chords 2008
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Kneebone May - Nov 2018
Artistic director on a five month women’s dance project in collaboration with sculptor Rachel Kneebone, produced by Touchstones Art Gallery Rochdale. Working closely with a team of inspirational artists - dancers Ellen Turner, Beth Payton, Debbie Millner and performance cellist Charlotte Watson.
Rachel Kneebone is an associated artist with the White Cube Gallery in London. She is internationally recognised for her practice in complex highly expressive porcelain sculptures. When invited to exhibit at Touchstones Art Gallery, having always been fascinated by how dance “allows us to escape to a different space and language", Rachel said she “wanted to create something for my work to become part of, something that moved beyond the boundaries of just ‘me and my work’. "
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With each session the women’s ideas and confidence began to grow. Under TC’s guidance, Rachel’s work became the rich catalyst for them to share their personal stories and begin to express them through dance. In TC’s words: “We all have our epic everyday tales of life; we have stories to tell and our bodies can tell them when words aren’t always enough. We dance who we are.”
We performed our piece in the grand setting of the historic Great Hall in Rochdale Town Hall “to a packed and deeply moved audience. It was the culmination of an intense and amazing journey, but hopefully not the end.”
“We frequently get asked to justify why the arts are important, especially in areas like Rochdale where, sadly, many people struggle to meet their basic needs. We feel this project goes a long way to answering this question”.
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Quotes - Rachel Kneebone and Mark Doyle (Art Gallery Curator & Collections Manager), from the book - Rachel Kneebone "The Dance Project."
Music arranger and composer - Colin Elliot
Costume design - Mary Beresford
Photos by Len Grant
Reviews:
mightyhearttheatre - "On Friday evening with tears rolling down cheeks, we watched in awe, the women of Rochdale. This community of non-performers danced the most exquisite sequence expression, choreographed by TC Howard. Watching these incredible women of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, sizes & shapes take up space in Rochdale’s Town Hall in front of the famous, epic patriarchal painting was a very moving experience. Live cello, spoken word and beautifully evocative music filled the room. What a phenomenal experience to witness, what a spectacularly ambitious project for Touchstones Rochdale alongside Rachel Kneebone’s exhibition. It was art at
it’s best. It made us see ourselves in the work and long for a matriarchal world. Have always loved the power of contemporary dance to tell a story, as audience we interpret the movement as emotions, action, ,words. The body communicating what the mouth can not articulate. And this was exactly that.Stellar work Rochdale!!!! Congratulations to everyone involved!!"
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ArtReview - Mariner Warner (cultural history and fiction writer) reflects on the interactions between art, religion and the imagination since the Renaissance in conversation with Art historian and professor emeritus at the University of California T.J. Clark.
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"I saw a very strange and moving piece at Rachel Kneebone’s recent exhibition The Dance Project at Touchstones in Rochdale. In collaboration with a choreographer TC Howard and (a team of dancers), worked with local women – including refugees and women who had suffered domestic abuse – who, dressed in white like vestal virgins, danced in response to Rachel Kneebone’s porcelain sculptures and to the accompaniment of a cello. It was moving, resistant and powerful, a real example of contemporary art as a secular ritual. Nothing was invoked, no gods, no supernatural. It was these women in their solid flesh expressing sympathy with one another and sensuality in relation to these sculptures, affirming their own corporeality and its possibilities. And although I don’t think art should be socially useful or set out to be a therapy, you could say that this created a moment of re-enchantment."
TC: "I see, so often, how it expands our experience and vision of who we are and how it binds people together. We all have our epic everyday tales of life; we have stories to tell and our bodies can tell them when words aren’t always enough. We dance who we are.
It is the greatest of privileges to have been invited on this project and to share a rare journey of curiosity and discovery with a diverse and committed group of women.
Rachel Kneebone’s profound work has compelled us to move, urged us to respond, and impacted on our creative selves.
We’ve become a company, an ensemble of dancers, each with an individual voice and a collective sensitivity; creating work to share, to mean something and to remember."
Excerpt from the book "Rachel Kneebone - The Dance Project."