Forest Within

I’m at the place of a massive cut down, of trees… 

Do not climb the timber stacks! – the sign says.

All cut down on the nearest horizon… at the trunk’s base, where the roots meet the ground… 

A sea of broken branches, twigs and chipped off wood pieces.

 All exposed to the weathering. 

A strong scent of soft, mire-like ground meets my senses. The smell hugs me, bottom up.

 It fills this space. 

All I see is roughness and cruelty mixed with the gentle, green moss.

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Planet Covid-19. Year 2020. We are just emerging from prolonged lockdowns, stuck at homes. 

Cut off, from tangible life experiences, but plugged in.

The biggest joy is a fresh return to the local Nature Reserves. They have been closed for too long. 

Human action is visible everywhere though… 

Our human mindset has to change. We need to re-connect the past to the future, in the present.

I feel like I owe this tree a hug. 

In the world deprived of touch, it is this one thing I can offer to the forest. How can I embrace its timely presence? How can I share the joy of living different time frames, side by side, and celebrate the many relationships with the Earth’s dynamic? Who am I here…? Why do I come here at all? 

Forest Within is a dance production to be created in response to a place. It is a site-specific work planned as an open collaboration between the engaged movers/performers and the responsive forest site at Countesswells, Aberdeen. 

Through the four weeks of devising the work a number of somatically felt and choreographically emerged dialogues will be taking place. The score is open. 

Under artistic direction of Anna Dako, the project will seek to unearth multiple entry points into creative co-exchange between the movers and the place, and the shaping stories in movement and expression. 

The filming of this lived choreography will take place on the last three days of being on-site. The work will include working alongside the weather conditions and embracing that experience within the danced. 

All income raised in the process of devising and sharing the filmed piece will be donated to a local charity of the crew’s choice. 

We want arts to help. We want dance to be part of natural landscape.