Ithalia Forel performing Underneath our Skin
Was this your first piece of choreography?
Movema (meaning ‘to move’ in St. Lucian patois), a new dance collaborative I am currently setting up to explore various cultural movement languages, assumptions and expectations.
Since deciding to change my career in 2005 when I first began to study dance, I was instantly curious in directing and choreographing dancers through space to create something with meaning. I have created three pieces previous to this that have all addressed culture and identity varying from a personal journey, then looking at the multi-cultural face of the UK as it is today, celebrating Chinese culture and integrating it with UK cultures, then arriving at this piece ‘Underneath our skin’ a piece that challenges the relevance of it all. I think exploring movement, patterns, relationships and emotions is a powerful and universal form of communication.
What was the inspiration for the piece?
I was invited to create a piece for LEAP 09 (Annual Contemporary dance festival in Liverpool) which was focused on words in motion. I spent nine months in New York last year, studying at the Limon Institute. My time there allowed me to realize a lot about myself - who I identified with and why. I realized that as human beings we all have something to share with each other, it just depends if we want to see it or not.
This also took me back to my first choreography Who Am I? which addressed the feelings I had when I first went to my father’s birth place, St.Lucia. I think that as a mixed race female born in Liverpool I felt in search of something - incomplete. The time there was important and I think that we as humans evolve with experiences, life, affected by people, circumstances and cultures - we are what we live.
Together with this I am a follower of artist Kara Walkers, a visual artist and poet, her words resonated with what I wanted to express. So from her words:
African
African't
Africouldn't
Afrioud've
Africould
Who were the collaborators and how did you choose them?
It was an organic development that fulfilled my original plan, as I wanted the dancers to be female and have a link with African and/or Caribbean roots, I decided to invite a choreographer to guide and set movement but until speaking to Francis Angol was unsure of who was the best option for a trio female piece.
On Francis’ recommendation, I approached Cecile Bushidi - Dancer, Choreographer and teacher, and after hearing the project concept she agreed to be involved.
The dancers who performed with me were: Natalie McFarlane (former dancer with Jamaican company L’ Acadco); I met Natalie at ADAD and gradually persuaded her to get involved; Bianca Cordice (performer, currently studying dance at Surrey University) and Pei Tong - ( dancer/choreographer and friend who has been travelling a similar journey to mine, who I have danced with since I began to study dance). I also worked with a sound technician, Paul Skinner.
I am thankful for everyone’s involvement, flexibility and time that they have put into this project as it was a challenge to find collaborators using more traditional networks.
What issues/themes does the piece explore?
- Questioning who we are, who we think we are, and how we are perceived.
- The importance yet insignificance of colour, sexuality and culture
- The journey of being a colour, the journey of being a woman, the journey of being a human.
Here's an excerpt from one of the poem's in the piece:
Is it a big deal if I am Black?
And I am White?
I am female,
And I am male
I am today, yesterday and tomorrow
I believe….
I want to believe…
As to believe means that you live within it
But what about these cultures, these experiences, these beliefs do they accept I, as I accept thee
Do they accept me without judgment or thought?
With love and not hate
For why do I have something to prove, someone to impress
Is not the skin I embody enough to show the world I am just like any other
I am me, I am you, I am everyone
Ithalia Forel
Did you have any fears/apprehensions going into the process?
Not at first, although it was the first time for this group of women to be working together I was confident that after explaining the concept and ideas for the piece, everyone was up for the challenge. Only having January and February to produce a 12 minute piece, each session was intense and productive. For me it was a huge learning curve of how directing a piece, managing all the administration elements and company manager roles as well as being involved in the creative process and performing the piece was not ideal. In addition to this, as most performers will know, there were other work commitments to other jobs that allow your cashflow to continue. Overall, it was a challenging, but productive process creating a piece I hope to share with many.
What's your next step, creatively?
I am currently in the process of developing Movema, establishing what it is and what it looks like in terms of structure, people, productions/events/education. I want to establish platforms and performance opportunities for ‘Underneath Our Skin’.
Once I have established the direction of Movema, I will be looking for the next collaboration and/or partnership opportunity. I think synergy is the way forward. There is so much happening in dance, however to improve the impact, development and quality of outcomes I think working together is key and I am keen to hear from people with ideas, proposals and suggestions.
In between all of this I will be performing with VOCAB dance in London, touring the US with Cynthia Oliver and hopefully bringing her production to the UK.
Ithalia Forel
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