Dance Ireland is 21 this year and the organisation marks its entry into adulthood with a year-long programme of events, including commissioning twelve short dance films. The remit? Filmmakers have a budget of €1,000 and only 60 seconds worth of air-time for the final product.
Megan and Jessica Kennedy of company junk ensemble, and choreographer Fearghus Ó’Conchúir, curator of the Firkin Crane in Cork, talk about meeting this challenge and the ideas behind their films.
Megan and Jessica
So your film, Blind Runner, will be aired in August 2013. Can you tell me what it’s about and where the idea came from?
The film will feature two women, identical twins (us), running while joined together at the wrist. We were inspired by images of blind Paralympic runners and their guides. All the blind runners have to wear blindfolds so that they all have the same level of visual impairment. So in the film, one of us will be blindfolded from the beginning. Obviously, the guide is the one that can see, but it’s all about the blind runner: they’re the one that has to finish [the race].
One of the things we’re really interested in is the way the body moves when you’re blindfolded. One way is trepidation, but another is blind oblivion, where you’re just going for it and running as fast as you can and you don’t care or know where you end up. So trying to get all of that across in 60 seconds is… challenging.
And apart from the quality of movement that changes when a person is blind, you’re also interested in the relationship between the runner and their guide?
Yes, particularly how, if a runner or his guide stumbles, the relationship can turn into a fight, take on a grappling quality – it takes on this precarious edge. And there’s also a tension there, because the runner has to finish [the race] before the guide.
It’s very emotional of course. Because when you can’t see you’re vulnerable and this person is pulling you in different directions, so there are a lot of different emotions that come up. We’re trying to get the balance of that in 60 seconds, one that also includes the beautiful moments, you know, a close up of the hands [tied] together, a close up of the blindfold…
And what about setting?
We’re looking at dilapidated urban environments for the location, like maybe some kind of dumping ground to run through.
Fearghus
Your film, Closer, is showing in December 2013. Could you describe it to me a little bit?
Well, I’m interested in the relationship between the performer and the viewer. So, it’s set in a theatre, with the performer on stage and the viewer in the traditional audience position, and there’s that distance. And a voice is encouraging the viewer to come closer. So there’s this simple progression of the viewer coming closer and closer to the performer and then… [SPOILER OMITTED!].
For me it’s all about trying to stretch people a little bit, taking them a little bit beyond where they thought they were going to go.
And what is particularly interesting in the relationship between performer and audience to you?
I’m particularly interested in the idea that a work isn’t just made by the performer or the choreographer. The work is only completed in that moment where it’s shared – something else is happening then.
For me it’s quite important that the artist thinks about that, but also it’s important to remind the audience that they have that role, that when they come to watch, it’s a kind of active watching… because actually, the thing doesn’t happen until people give their attention [to it]. So, in a way, it’s about complicity; reminding the audience about their complicity in live performance.
One film from Minutes in Motion will premiere on the 21st of each month, throughout 2013. The films can be seen at the Dance Ireland website.
