Manchester Premiere
A dancer moves inside a box;
A boat sails by;
The map is drawn and the territory staked out;
Messages in bottles and survival tactics;
All washed up and nowhere to go;
Wendy Houstoun wonders about home and where the heart is.
Both funny and melancholy, combining text and movement, Desert Island Dances explores notions of absence and presence in a piece inspired by the popular BBC 4 radio programme, Desert Island Discs. As Wendy remembers conversations and movements from a life left behind, we wonder what gestures we might take with us to a desert island.
Words to take you back, moves to calm you down, dances to remind you of home. Wendy Houstoun works with the words and movements that have come from many situations and people – a dialogue in Düsseldorf, a private dance in a front room, a wedding, another reality show – that will get her through a spell on the island.
Working with established collaborators John Avery, Lloyd Newson, John Rowley and Rachel Krische, the process of making Desert Island Dances began by playing with the idea of the radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, creating spoken introductions and dances for a variety of individuals and grew from there.
Within the piece is a tribute to Wendy’s mother, she was a very feisty person, a non-stop talker, big on jokes and incessantly kind. Wendy says that she views the piece as a kind of thank you to many people and places that have inspired or had an influence on her over the years.
The piece is very witty, sharply observed, profound, funny and sad all at once.
“A maverick to the tip of her toes, [Houstoun] seems to reinvent herself for each new work…it’s daringly brilliant.” (The Independent)
Jerwood Choreography Award recipient (2003), Wendy Houstoun is a movement/theatre artist who remains committed to finding new forms to address her themes. Over the years, her work has developed a uniquely distinctive style that combines movement with text, and meaning with humour.
Wendy has worked extensively as a solo performer most notably with Haunted, Daunted and Flaunted, Happy Hour (performed at greenroom in a triple bill with Russell Maliphant and Jonathan Burrows in 2001) and The 48 Almost Love Lyrics (presented at greenroom in 2003). She is also well known for her collaboration with companies and artists whose work challenges, enriches, and extends the boundaries of dance and theatre including DV8, Tim Etchells and Forced Entertainment, film-maker David Hinton, Nigel Charnock (Wendy performed in a duet with Nigel Charnock called Heart Attack at greenroom in 1998) and Ludus Dance Company.
For more information go to: www.wendyhoustoun.com
Co-commissioned by the South Bank Centre and Danceworks UK. Co-produced by Sheffield Theatres Trust with additional support from Arts Council England and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
Please note that although parental discretion applies we are suggesting that this performance is not suitable for people under 14.
