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An Anatomy of a Phoenix

A dance film with an intricate improvisation score
calling upon cycles of repair for processes of returning to intimacy
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Outsider anger streams and mingles with my own.
Fractured into many knots, now surfacing unshakable.
Base chakra healing in the key of D
Dead pelvis. Dead breasts. A body trapped in time.
In April-May 2021, Yewande 103 were commissioned to curate a performance module for the entire Third Year BA students from Northern School of Contemporary Dance. We worked together on an image-based score that centred embodied multiplicity. This resulted in the film work ‘An Anatomy of a Phoenix’ and a publication including new dances, writings, photographs, films and collages by the students.

The movement score cycles through four stages: descent, burning, rising and flight, holding tensions between beginnings, endings and transformation.

This film is 18m27s.

Audio described and captioned versions available.

 
An Anatomy of A Phoenix
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The score calls upon dancing as a process of making sense to ourselves, as active witnessing and listening. Phoenix’s live for 500 years, beyond human time…more like nature time, geological time, a reassuring amount of time in terms of personal growth, the processing of trauma and of time taken to heal, surface courage and processes of recovery.

Together we also made a group interactive publication centring multi-disciplinary practice through felt-level engagement across choreography, improvisation, text and advocacy. Please visit Yewande 103 Press for more info.


To book screenings for An Anatomy of a Phoenix, or any other Yewande 103 digital works please contact
production@yewande103.com

Collages

Below are collages Alexandrina made as part of visualising and developing the movement score.
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People Involved

Choreography and Creative Direction: Alexandrina Hemsley 
Production: Nancy May Roberts
Filming: David Lindsay
Filming Assistance: Jemma Stein, Luke Hodkinson
Editing: Katarzyna Perlak
Sound score: Xana with ‘Embers’ poetry by Alexandrina Hemsley (2016-2019) 
Guitar composition: David Archer 
Additional Texts by Tammy Tsang, Yasmina Patel and Isla Hurst
Support Work: David Archer 
Captions: Katarzyna Perlak and Yewande 103 
Audio description: Alexandrina Hemsley 
With support from Joseph Mercier and staff at Northern School of Contemporary Dance 

Dance Artists: Nora Ellevold Aas,Vár Bech Árting, Cameron Bennett, George Bishop, Amber Bosteels, Lisa Chearles, Caitlin Kai Lin Chiang, Naomi Chockler, Puté Chomchan, Chiara de Craene, Denise Dannii Tan, Luis Dunn, Kieron Donohoe-Faller, Grace Ford, Alexander Gosmore, Jamie Reynolds Granner, Martine Grolid, Rickay Hewitt-Martin, Luke Hodkinson, Kate Hooley, Isla Hurst, Angharad Jones-Young, Niamh Keady, Harriet Leaf, Yu Ting Lee, Zara Lee, Kamal Macdonald, Alice Marriott, Maya Marsh, Sarah McCann, Alexandra McPherson, Neema Mwande, Isobel Moloney, Thomas Noble, Yasmina Patel, Syanindita Prameswari, Fay Reilly, Gianna Rotkvich, Harry Rule, Shahada Nantaba Sekajja, Jemma Stein, Cushla Sutherland, Marina Tubau Burción, Ayça Turgut, Tammy Tsang, Sophie Thomas, Kieran West, Imogen Wright, Brannon Yau, Holly Yu
 
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