In the Fall of 2020 Jenny Hazelton and Lauren Foy, in partnership with Branch Collective, were awarded a Theatre Recommender Grant from the Ontario Arts Council. Jenny is a performer, director, teacher, clown, movement and physical theatre creator. Lauren is a teacher, choreographer and dancer based in Sudbury. We decided to use these funds to spend some time in the studio working and creating movement together. We were particularly interested in colliding our respective skill sets to discover a methodology of working together that blends dance and physical theatre.
The fluctuating landscape of the pandemic made it so that we weren’t safely able to get into a studio until the following fall in 2021. After the long wait, we soon decided to bring on a third collaborator, France Huot. France is a bilingual actor, clown, director, and community arts builder. Having a third person allowed for Lauren to be more of an outside eye and choreographic consultant for the movement work of Jenny and France.
In this collaborative exploration Jenny and France met many times in-studio to experiment with diverse theatrical forms exploring alternative methods of storytelling beyond text-based realism. We experimented with structured physical exercises, movement improvisation, object manipulation, use of music, filming, and then choreographing selected selections from these explorations. The process involves a kind of reverse discovery. As opposed to imposing a dramatic structure/plot from the start, we discover the story and themes and craft it throughout our creation process. Lauren re-joined the collaboration for several sessions towards the end of our creative development process. She was able to bring her choreographic eye to look for moments in the work that could be workshopped, evolved and solidified into movement sequences. This involved playing with rhythm, speed, stillness, repetition and breath to add dynamism to the movements.
From these explorations and developments, France, Jenny, and Lauren created some exciting new work that has become the springboard for another creative endeavour where we hope to apply for more funding to continue the work in the coming year. This experiment has ultimately resulted not only in productive new movement material but also the gathering of knowledge and a vocabulary for working together in this new way. The physical theatre and dance worlds have a lot in common, but also a lot to learn from each other. In colliding these skill sets together we have found joy and common ground in our creation process together.