- Title: ROTOR
- Summary: ROTOR is an ensemble of performances, sound, and installations created by Siobhan Davies Dance. A new dance work by Siobhan Davies was filmed from above and its patterns created The Score. Distinct elements of The Score triggered new work from eight commissioned artists, which responded not only to images from the dance but also to the energies, counterpoints or characters developed by the dancers' actions. The work was initially presented at Siobhan Davies Studios, and South London Gallery, London, and has subsequently been shown at The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester and Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh and Turner Contemporary, Margate Dance & Artworks: A Series of Appointments - Siobhan Davies Cor - Massimo Bartolini The Conversation Revolved - Sam Collins Live Feed - E V Crowe Stuck - Angela de la Cruz Songbook - Matteo Fargion Interval - Alexandra Hughes The True Story of Someone Putt Only Half Heard - Alice Oswald Is it madness. Is it beauty - Clare Twomey Vortice - Ben Tyers In the final presentation of ROTOR The Score was projected onto the floor.
- Work: 2010
- Choreographer: Directed by Siobhan Davies. A Series of Appointments choreographed by Siobhan Davies alongside Andrea Buckley, Lindsay Butcher, Annie Pui Ling Lok, Charlie Morrissey.
- Artist: Siobhan Davies, Andrea Buckley, Lindsey Butcher, Annie Lok, Charlie Morrissey, Massimo Bartolini, Sam Collins, E V Crowe, Angela de la Cruz, Matteo Fargion, Alexandra Hughes, Alice Oswald, Clare Twomey, Ben Tyers
- Analysis: 'The initial concept for ROTOR comes from my own interest in dance and choreography as expressive and constantly evolving art forms, and as generators of ideas and activities.
Nine artists from different disciplines were sent The Score, a short film which I choreographed with four dance artists, Andrea Buckley, Lindsey Butcher, Annie Pui Ling Lok and Charlie Morrissey. This compact dance, filmed from above, shows the four walking together, as a line, in concentric circles. Each dancer has his or her own speed depending on where they are in the circle, so that the central point barely moves from the spot, whilst the outside dancer has to lengthen their strides in order to avoid creating a curve in the line. This is repeated, building into a relentless and almost hypnotic cycle, until the dancers begin to challenge this by introducing small disturbances that create new movement patterns and shifts of behaviour. The artists also watched rehearsals as The Score was being made, and many of the works came from this closer observation of each negotiated movement as the dancers attempted to make the right connections within the never ending circles.
The film and rehearsals were then used as a trigger for the artists to explore, undo and question, so that the resulting works would stem from different components of the same root. Instead of mixing or fusing art forms to contribute to the making of a work, here dance and choreography tease other artists' creative processes. All these new commissioned works fit together, not as different variations of the same piece, but as distinct works that share a common ground. They stand alongside the dance, betraying that is at its heart' (Siobhan Davies, November 2010, ROTOR catalogue).
'The Score for ROTOR is the abstraction of a choreographic form or idea, filmed from above to convey its structure, on the simplest level, to other artists. The choreography engages four dancers in a circular rotation, which suddenly breaks into linear pathways derived from the various forms of a knot. In this graphic image the dancers seem like atoms moving at their own wayward and varying paces, though they frequently re-enter the circular system, where the rotation continues like a dial or a clock. "I was interested in paring something down to its vital energy", says Siobhan Davies, "and seeing if with generosity it can generate or lead to other things" ' (Helena Blaker, ROTOR catalogue).
- Production Date Original: 2010
- Tour: 03/11/10 - 14/11/10 - Siobhan Davies Studios & South London Gallery, London
28/01/11 - 06/02/11 - The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
12/07/11 - 16/07/11 - Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh
