Tag: Shelley Hodgson

thriceness for The Convivial on 6th February

thriceness: Name, Voice, and Gesture – who it is we are and how we tell this

In a development of my work with Shelley Hodgson we will present a performative conversation as part of The Convivial series hosted by Sophie Craven in Penryn, Cornwall. For this iteration of Convivial, we will open out some questions around bodies, names, and communication. The conversation develops ideas and actions we presented in the performance work ‘twiceness’ (Plymouth, May and July 2024), as we pick up on threads and themes that emerged from our working together.

Acknowledging the people in the space, as we gather together to listen, to share, to exchange, the conversation will begin with names and naming. Then considering connections to voice and to identity we will raise questions around how we tell who we are, how we connect to others, how we bridge gaps between us, us humans, and the other-than-human. The discussion will attend to matters of value, of exclusion, and how we are variously valued, differently excluded. Mixing action, gesture, talking and recording, ‘thriceness’ will address who it is that we are and how we tell this.

Thriceness: Name, Voice, and Gesture – who it is we are and how we tell
The Convivial, Thursday 6th February 2025, 1800 to 2200hrs
Three of Cups, 20 Lower Market Street, Penryn High Street.

Tickets via Eventbrite

‘What shall we call it?’ for First Spark

Shelley Hodgson and I are making a radio show for Soundart Radio’s First Spark Festival 2025. For broadcast on Sunday 2nd February starting at 12 noon, the programme will mix recordings, conversation and songs. Playing with ideas of names and naming as a point of beginning, connecting to First Spark’s occurence at Imbolc, a new year, a new beginning, we will look at naming ceremonies, giving names and changing names, and the idea of naming a year. The mix will include references to the film Morvern Callar, the novel 4,3,2,1 by Paul Auster, Ali Smith’s latest novel Gliff, and we will play songs with references to names and beginnings. 105.2fm

https://soundartradio.org.uk/firstspark

‘twiceness’ at SOAK Live Art

Shelley Hodgson and I performed ‘twiceness’ as part of a very full programme for SOAK Live Art at Leadworks, Plymouth on Thursday 25th July. There was a large and enthusiastic audience, and the other performers included Sam Richards, Cristina Varga, Charlie Cornforth and others. Shelley and I will now put ‘twiceness’ to one side as we consider what we want to do next; though one plan is to make a radio version of the piece.

Thanks to Kerry Priest and Sarah Blissett for organising the event. Photos by Natalie Raven.

‘twiceness’ with Shelley Hodgson

On Wednesday 22nd May as part of the student organised Mayfest at Plymouth University, Shelley Hodgson and I will present ‘twiceness’. This is a new performance work we have been working on over the past while. It isn’t ‘finished’ at this point, but it is at a stage that we are happy to share it.

Two performers are present, in the space, as themselves, and as participants in an act of communication. Blocks of information, of narrative, of action, combining the found, the given, and the made, are built into a sequence of telling and showing. The performance questions interaction, engaging with gesture, with doubling, with repetition, with exchange. Underlying the performers’ relationship is awareness of loss and gaps, what is missed or missing, what doesn’t carry across.

The work asks questions that the performers unpick, rework, worry at. How do we tell each other things? How do we know we mean the same? How do we move between registers and codes, adapting and adjusting to fit, to ease, to stick? What happens if we try to do it again? Moving between choreographed passages and improvisation, the piece engages the audience with consideration of what it takes to get along with each other.

‘twiceness’ is a new performance by Shelley Hodgson (writer/sound artist) and Mark Leahy (performer/writer). The two have been aware of each other’s practice for some years but had not found a way to work together. This piece arises from collaborative working, the joint development of ideas, and finding a form for live presentation.

Performance details: 1930hrs on May 22nd 2024 at The House Studio, University of Plymouth. Free tickets available via Eventbrite.