Today I was hung in a gallery as art. Well...almost...the truth's a little stranger. I joined renown dancer and contact improvisation teacher Charlie Morrissey for an hour within the "Indelible" exhibition at the Fabrica gallery in the heart of Brighton. This was a bit of a first for me so was a didn't know what to expect but had a lot of fun and a very interesting time. We moved together in a more or less contact improv type way, while discussing the exhibition's content and answering questions from the audience - creating an embodied dialogue if you will.
The jumping-off point for the exhibition was the quote below relating to forensics and we were surrounded by blood-stained clothing and videos relating to Fred and Rosemary West.
"Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value."
We discussed how trauma lives in the body, how breathing exchanges ourselves with the world, psychopaths, non-verbal communication, how people coordinate, my notorious hometown of Soham and a range of other things. Talking while dancing felt strange at first as normally your attention is 100% on your partner and not in your head or on an audience while in contact. Seeing how what we discussed affected our movement and vice versa was really fascinating.
We talked about how our environments shape us and how we are gradually both worn down and wearing down even stone steps we walk on by tiny increments. Also the flip-side to this how we are constantly renewed. Feeling Charlie develop aikido-like movements and actual moves that I'm familiar with but he has never been taught demonstrated a point I made: We leave a trace on everyone we encounter, and they on us.
More from Charlie who is engaging in this way with a series of people here. I hope to catch the next one with respected yoga instructor and osteopath Pete Blackaby.
