First published in Spring 2004 Animated

Here Julia Potts reveals what Magpie Dance is doing to support choreography by learning disabled dancers.

In November 2003, to mark both the European Year of Disabled People and to showcase the achievements of its dancers, Magpie Dance gave two very successful performances of Reflections On… to much acclaim at its ‘home' theatre, The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Kent.

Reflections On… profiled five new dance pieces, ranging from a masked dance which was heavily influenced by physical theatre, to a piece for the full company entitled Every Body Talking, Any One Listening? which was premiered at Trafalgar Square in September. However, perhaps the most notable achievement of the production was the premiere of two dances, each choreographed by learning-disabled choreographers, Linda McCarthy and Karen Grandison. Their pieces were the result of work developed via a mentoring project instigated by Magpie in 2003, and funded by Grants for the Arts, which enabled both women to work closely with professional choreographer David Nurse of ad hoc Dance Company over a six-month period.

The principles of the scheme were to enable both of the participants to discover more about their creativity and broaden their dance skills in a supportive, but crucially not dictatorial, environment. Avril Hitman , Artistic Director, outlines the project:

“When Karen & Linda both came to me to say they would like to make new work for public performance at the Churchill Theatre, I thought that it was important that Magpie offered support to the new choreographers. It's hard to choreograph new work and to expose oneself to public criticism, especially for the first time!” David Nurse, the project's mentor, is a professional choreographer and dancer who had delivered a successful pilot training project to all the dancers the previous year; Magpie then commissioned Nurse to make a new performance piece to celebrate the European Year of Disabled People as the dancers had expressed a desire to develop their work with him. Karen and Linda trusted and respected David and when asked if they would like David to support them in their choreography, they were both delighted. The project was so successful because there was a mutual feeling of trust and respect between all involved in the project with David really encouraging the new choreographers to develop their own ideas. As he says:

“It was very important to me that I should not exclusively influence the choices made by Karen and Linda, and that their pieces were a result of their own artistic choices. Watching the dances, I was struck by how individual and distinctive they were and how clearly the themes were followed through.”

Linda McCarthy has been a member of Magpie almost since it was founded, over ten years ago. Her skills and confidence have developed so much over this period that Linda was extremely eager to take on the challenge of choreographing within the company setting. Linda describes the mood of her piece, Reflections , as “Outside is winter, where there is thunder, rain and sunbeams with the stars. Black, very grey and rainbow colours are mixed together to make patterns and reflections”.

Reflections was danced by Alison Lapham and Suzie Mitchell, both of who are non-learning disabled, and Linda herself. In conversation with Claire Major, a Trustee of Magpie Dance , Linda described the complex experience of choreographing: Claire: ‘ What was the hardest thing about making the piece?' Linda: ‘ It was difficult to tell people what to do. I really enjoyed working with Suzie and Alison, and the shape when Alison and Suzie were close to me when I pulled them in.' Claire: ‘ Have you always been artistic? ' Linda: ‘ Yes. It was very good to do my own piece – I found it hard to think about how to move it on. I liked David helping me – he gave me support at the end of the dance. He wasn't bossy. I would like to work with him again.' Two video links were used in the performance that both explained the creative processes involved, and simultaneously gave the audience an insight into the way the learning disabled choreographers worked with their mentor. This is an extract taken from the videos with David Nurse, talking about McCarthy's Reflections :

“From the beginning, the piece is very distinct and clear, and Linda was very definite about what she wants to happen with the piece. As there are only three people in it it's quite strong structurally and I think the themes come through really well; her imagery is strong throughout, so it was quite easy to work on the piece and make it clearer to the dancers and everybody watching. It reminds me quite a lot of Martha Graham, a lot of imagery and use of the spine throughout. It's very definitely Linda's piece – she was very strong throughout the whole period of what she does and doesn't want. All the choices have really been hers from costumes, music, who she wants to dance with and the choreography.”

Interestingly, McCarthy has never seen any of Martha Graham's work, so the similarities are entirely coincidental and very positive. Indeed, this sense of a very strong clear artistic voice was borne out in the review of Reflections written by independent dance writer Annie Wells. She says:

“McCarthy's Reflections , as David Nurse commented, was a particularly well-structured work of classically pure dance. It was also particularly well executed by Alison Lapham , Suzie Mitchell and McCarthy herself, who to the soulful strains of Hans Ferrao's jazz composition, moved gracefully through kaleidoscopic combinations of colourful movement. Elegant costumes designed by Elizabeth King echoed the soothing contours of this exceptionally pleasing piece. “

Karen Grandison has been dancing with Magpie for the past four years. During her time as a Magpie dancer she has gained immeasurably in confidence, interacts very well with others, and has developed in all aspects of her life. Karen particularly enjoys taking part in the outreach education projects that Magpie undertakes across London and surrounding areas, and she too was keen to progress her dance skills. She describes the essence of her piece with great clarity: “ In the beginning the wind is happy to be alone on stage, but wants people to join in. The wind makes people change to do different movements and needs company. The wind is saying… Come and dance with us, come and join us.” David and Karen were captured on film in discussion over The Winds of Change for a short documentary about Magpie made from the performance of Reflections On… Karen : ‘My piece is The Winds of Change ' David: 'Who made the piece up?' Karen : ‘ Me, by myself' David: ‘ How did you work it out?' Karen : ‘ Practised it on the floor' David: ‘ Practised it, practised it straight off?' Karen : ‘ Yes. That's my bit ( Karen describes a move in the dance) and the underarm bit is my idea, not Hugh's idea, my idea.'

Again, Annie Wells describes how Karen 's ideas came to fruition on the professional stage:

“Grandison's The Winds of Change inventively used the metaphor of the wind to explore positive and negative aspects of life. Seven dancers caught the mood well, twirling to David Jenkin's musical score as if blown through well-designed patterns in time and space. Motif-like swirls were sensitively performed with varying degrees of energy and tension; a channelling of the wind's force resulted in free-flowing, generously arcing movement forward whilst resistance to it broke, stalled and drove that same movement back.”

David Nurse, reflecting on Karen 's choreographic journey, goes on to say:

“I think that Karen found this process quite challenging, but now at the end of it she's much more confident than she was at the beginning. She's much clearer about having an idea and expressing and following it through. It's improved the quality of her dancing as well; having to put dance onto someone else has made her look at the way she moves and the way that she performs as well as looking at other people. Karen decided on a theme that she is the driving force and makes everybody move.”

Wells also identified the importance of the additional collaborations that are necessary to mount a professional production, and which further extended the experiences of Linda and Karen as choreographers.

Grandison worked with composer David Jenkins to create the right music for The Wind's of Change , an ambitious piece for six dancers that she says explores “the breezes, gusts and swirls” that blow us through life. McCarthy worked with Hans Ferrao on music for Reflections a piece for three dancers and, like Grandison, selected her own cast. Elizabeth King an independent costume designer who has created costumes for Richard Alston, Scottish Ballet and Henri Oguike to name but a few, helped the women design the costumes.

The project has been a tremendous success with the new choreographers, their families, and the other Magpie dancers all keen to see continued progress in this exciting area. The artistic director's aspirations are clear: “ I hope that we will be able to continue with the mentoring scheme in the future and encourage other new choreographers from the company to make performance work. This is a journey we would like to continue!”

These sentiments are clearly echoed by those associated with Magpie . Linda's mother gives voice to the feelings of many who attended the performances, and who were so struck by the dancers' achievements.

‘What a magnificent performance we were treated to…the whole show was superb, from beginning to end…everyone I have spoken to has given high praise, not only to the dancers but to the music, costumes and the presentation as well…a fantastic afternoon and evening… Thank you.'

“Photos by Phil Polglaze”