Moving pictures

Two academics from Edge Hill University are hoping for international recognition after winning a new regional dance prize.

Julia Griffin, Programme Leader for Drama, Physical Theatre and Dance, and Associate Lecturer Kate Engineer joined forces with fellow dance professional Bridget Fiske to win the first North West Turn Prize with a new dance work, Three Crows on the Roa'. Under the title The GEF House Experiment, which takes its name from the initials of the women’s surnames, the trio is now making preparations for the premiere this month before taking the work on tour.

Comprising part performance and part video-installation, Three Crows turned Manchester’s greenroom into a swirling mass of colour and imagery.

Julia said: “This is the first time we’ve worked together so we were really pleased when it was announced that we had won. I don’t think the judges realised the diversity of work that would come out of the region and it made their job very difficult.”

Three Crows expands Julia’s research, which is primarily centred on the juxtaposition of dance with cross art form collaborations. She added: “I am interested in the hybridity of dance with the other arts and Three Crows was very much a multi media experience. My other research interests have been with photography, to see how movement could be captured through still imagery and to then develop those pictures into moving images, using video techniques to translate them into movement, then back to stillness. This has been an ongoing project with Vincent Abbey, a Manchester-based photographer, over 10 years.

“The Three Crows story has a multiple narrative. The performance is in layers, allowing the audience to step into the story as well as being an observer of the journey that takes these characters from childhood through to adulthood. It is a contemporary take on folk stories, fairy tales, myths and legends.

“The theatre is transformed by moving images. Our first performance resulted in questioning and challenging the audience’s involvement and we wanted to see how the audience would react to this. Once we started to move they crowded around us and moved with us – like the parting of the seas.”

Three Crows is now being developed into a full-length 60-minute piece made possible by funding from Edge Hill University, greenroom, Hab, DiGM and the Arts Council. The aim is to take the work on a national and European tour, then plans are being made to go to Bridget’s native Australia.

The premiere of the full length performance takes place at greenroom on Friday November 27. Tickets are limited - buy now at 0161 615 0500 or visit www.greenroomarts.org