The Dispersed Dance Company
Instant Dissidence
CLAY is supporting Instant Dissidence to present The Dispersed Dance Company Project as professional development running parallel to the CHASM commissions for the Instant Dissidence dancers who were awarded micro commissions to create their own work from where they happen to be.
Friday 2nd October
Available to watch from Friday 2nd Oct -9th Oct Here
Holly Yu
“No Makeup” makeup tutorial
Are you looking for a daily makeup tutorial? Are you interested in asian beauty hacks? Here’s a special makeup tutorial for those of you who’ve been told to get eyelashes done, keep opinions to yourself, and of course, please your man. Holly shares her own beauty hacks that she built up from South Korea’s K-beauty world. You can get everything you(your man) wan and more from this 7 minutes of tutorial. It will guide you to a different aspect of makeup, opening a brand new would through Holly’s viewpoint. So just click and play, like and subscribe!
Jemma Stein
US
Do you remember the faces you saw walking down the street two months ago? Two weeks ago? Two days ago? Two seconds ago?
Available to watch from Friday 2nd Oct -9th Oct here
As a dance artist I am interested in everything and anything dance has to offer. When making work I enjoy looking into humans, what makes us people and not just a body in a space or on a screen. My film ‘US’ explores the inner workings of people and how our emotions and thoughts are shielded in our body.
Kieran West
Light
Light encompasses everything. There is natural and artificial light, in a way that is positive and negative to the Earth and everything around it. Indeed light allows us to experience the night in different ways, but do we know the true effect of it? Do we know how it is affecting natural habitats, how everyday it changes the way animals live? Nocturnal animals struggle because unless the land in which they live is untouched by humankind, they will not exist…
Available to watch from Friday 2nd Oct -9th Oct here
I am a dance artist but also have a high interest in seeing films created for the arts in different ways. That's why going into this film Light I wanted to create a piece of film that was beautiful and you could follow easily. With these choices I set out to create this film alone with no other human interaction or help, by going out at night during lockdown alone visiting locations I wouldn't normally go to. Just to show you the pure beauty of light.
Neema Mwande
Crowned
We watered ourselves with self love, cleansed ourselves with understanding, rebuilt our broken self esteem through the repairing of damaged hair. We shed the burden of cruel comments, let go of internalised hate, released ourselves from an intergenerational curse that dulled the shine of our crown. Nevertheless we survive with elegance and beauty to teach our siblings and children to love their hair, we dedicate the roots we set down and the growth we have made to the next genre ration of little black girls born to a world that does not teach them they are beautiful. We have founded community and learnt to bloom and wear our crown with pride.
Available to watch from Friday 2nd Oct -9th Oct here
This work was born from conversations I had with many different black womxn from all African diasporas, who discussed with me their experiences of growing up black and as a womxn. Through conversation we discussed how the policing of our hair was one of our first conscious experiences of racism. Mocking and bullying from a young age and the indoctrination from society teaching us to hate ourselves... in particular the aspects that come from our black heritage. We spoke about the ways we as individuals started to overcome those obstacles and how we found confidence, unity and space to nurture and love our hair the way it is. It was amazing to talk about how we embraced the versatility of our blackness and started the rebuild with self love.
During these conversations I met so many interesting people including poet Marina Rose, who wrote and voiced the beautiful words in this work.
I based the movement concepts on the version of myself I connected too when filming outside surrounded by nature and with whatever hair I had that day. I spent time exploring the versatility that comes with having black hair and the confidence that comes from the shared community created by black women joined together by our hair experiences.
Sunday 4th October
Yoodaloo Dance Theatre
SCANT
SCANT is a fast-paced guerrilla-style happening that explores multiple aspects of the current environmental emergency. It is effectively two pieces in one, the first being a film that is captured by the performers during the event itself and then uploaded to the internet, the second being the live happening which may be glimpsed by passers by.
This was a Guerrilla Performance
The audience were be incidental but you can watch the documentation here
Click here for an audio described version
The satirical nature of our work reflects how we are confused and troubled by the world right now, particularly in terms of climate. Though our work is political, we aim to appeal to all ages and backgrounds by using physical theatre to comment on society non-literally. This way, we avoid alienating people and instead try to open up a space for discussion to bridge the gap between art and activism.
Thursday 8th October
Amber Bosteels
Interwoven
Interwoven is an interactive installation about the separation and connectivity created between each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this work, I want to highlight the distance between each other, but at the same time show the fragile bond between each other through the means of a thread. A bond that lasts despite the physical distance from each other. This playing with distance and proximity must be felt and seen in the installation trough sound and photography.
Installation at happened at CLAY from 3:30pm until 6:30pm
You can watch a recording of the live stream and find further information here to understand workings to the the installation including access to the audio and visual components of the experience
I am Amber Bosteels, a dance artist from Belgium. I developed a strong passion for dance when I started doing Indian dance at a young age. After my studies at the MUDA arts campus, I moved to Leeds to commence my training at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance where I’m currently in my final year of the BA. Besides dance and performing, I have always been passionate about photography and I love making my own work.
Friday 9th October
Funkified Fried Funk Fries
The humans… Now have beaks
“The humans… Now have beaks.” is our take on the absurdity of everyday life in a world in lockdown - wherein people are hidden away in their homes, grocery shopping has become the highlight of the week, and pigeons are the predominant patrons of deserted city centres. Two aliens from a foreign planet arrive on Earth, assigned with the mission of determining if Earth is suitable for invasion. They struggle to make sense of the state of the planet, relying on outdated information from a prior visit. In the process, the aliens befriend a pigeon (temporarily), learn to run (badly), showcase their disco dancing skills (abruptly), and learn of the presence of the pandemic (gradually). What will be their ultimatum for the planet?
This was a Guerrilla Performance
It took place at 5:30pm and repeated 3 times in public space
Guerrilla Performance
The audience were incidental but you can watch the documentation with subtitles here
Click here for an audio described version
We are Funkified Fried Funk Fries (FFFF), a collective comprising Luis Dunn and Lisa Chearles. Our works focus on creating characters, and building an absurd world for them to live in. We enjoy testing the boundaries of reality and often allow our imagination to navigate the creative process. We’re fans of not taking ourselves too seriously and amusing ourselves to amuse you. So have a laugh, on us.