Over the past week I have had the honour to be part of Ffin Dance's annual Easter Intensive. The week contains a master class every mourning with senior dancer Lisa Hood, who challenged all involved both technically and mentally. Throughout the afternoon artistic director Sue Lewis would take control and choreograph a brand new work on the 11 individuals who participated.

This would be my second year that I have taken part in this event and for the second year in a row I have been challenged as an artist and learnt valuable lessons as an individual that will help me as I progress in my career. Working in such a professional environment is always exciting and working with different individuals than I would in Scotland always take my creative mind to another level. This year I had the opportunity to work with graduate dancers from Northern, London Contemporary, Laban and also a current dancer of EDge. Closely watching these dancers I took on board the qualities that made them eye catching to myself and tried to execute the same qualities in my own performance.

During the weeks intensive as a unit, Sue Lewis choreographed a brand new work, 'Florid.' As a intellectual choreographer, Sue challenged me not just physically but allowed me to explore my creative mind on a more intelligent level. Working closely with the 13th century music that Sue had chosen challenge my timing ability and open my creative mind for the future of possibly working more with this art form. Future plans for this work is to tour it nationally, giving dance graduates experience of working and touring as part of a professional company and also getting to perform. So keep a look out for Ffin 2 in the coming months.

Andrew

Ever since I had to research nudity on stage I have always been very wary of why choreographers need to use a naked body to make a point to the audience. Isn't there other choreographic tools to use that could get the message across just as well? But from extensive research I came to the conclusion that it was just my narrow minded look upon such a topic which made my views they way they were.

However, for a long time through my life the media has always made a big spectacle of strong women who want to be strong in their sexuality, labelling them as nothing less than prostitutes. So my question now is why in a stage product of instillation by a choreographer is nudity accepted in society because it's classed as art, but women in underwear is classed as slutty and not worth the time of day?

This topic was raised because of the release of Lady Gaga's new music video. Yes a tabloid favourite but no-one can argue that this woman is just as artistic as anyone working in an 'Art' situation. From the outfits she wares to the in your face performances she is making a statement and whatever anyone says in her eyes she's making art.

From reading reviews and articles that individuals have wrote about the video it is clear that some people have massive issues with a female performing a dance routine in her underwear. Why? Your more than happy to take your child to the beach for the day were I'm sure they'll see far more than what they would from watching this video. Am I just being narrow minded again or does societies views on strong female empowerment need to change? It is true that she didn't need to perform this routine in her underwear and could of chose a different outfit but couldn't the same questions be asked to choreographers that put nudity on stage? She made her artistic decision so shouldn't that be enough and we should just accept it? Would you look differently upon her if the it wasn't a music video but a stage production?

Obviously Miss Gaga isn't the first women to receive this treatment from society but it just spark the issue back up for me. Maybe it's a personal thing I don't know, I just feel that as a male we can walk around in underwear and flaunt ourselves in anyway we want, why can't women?

On one particular blog an individual has commented on the way she clears up a rumour by using an 'in your face' image of her and having a voice proclaim that she doesn't have a 'D***,' is this a massive deal? Maybe putting it into the media spotlight wasn't the best way to go about it but it was fine for the rumours to begin so why can't she clear it up? As a student who gets the chance to choreograph, shocking people or making a public stir doesn't enter my mind, i just make my statement, don't you think she was doing the same? In the same blog it was mentioned that they didn't want their six year old to look up to someone so raunchy and explicit, to that I say wake up. We live in a world were much greater things are happening that your six year old has to witness everyday. I guess it's just another excuse for people to slander the more successful. Jealousy is a terrible trait to posses.

Maybe i'm one of a minority and many people share the views that these people express online.

Andrew

Well haven't the students of SSCD been busy this past month. Our annual production of IndepenDance Day and New Works have gone down with raving reviews. Even though this is most probably the most stressful period of the year as far as time tables go, it's also one of the most enjoyable.

First to hit the stage was IndepenDance Day.First introduced to the Degree and HNC program last year, it's still a new experience for everyone involved. This year it seen 20 new choreographies from the degree students which were professional performed by the HNC's. Being a HNC myself last year I had the privilege of being involved in the debut of this special show and this year the students defiantly push the boundaries to another level.

The show, as you can imagine with so many pieces, had something for everyone. The choreographers defiantly took full advantage of different skills and abilities of the dancers they were choreographing on. On the whole the show had a large emphasis on dance theatre. Personally this isn't what I like to see at a contemporary dance performance, having said that there were certain pieces that captivated and entertained me greatly.

Not a week later it was time for the HND students to choreograph and perform in the annual showcase of New Works. As a year group we are very close and take everything on the chin, heading into this period of development was no different. After the 12 choreographers were chosen it was straight to work to produce the best show we possibly could in the incredibly short period we had.

As a choreographer and dancer It was an interesting and positive experience to have under my belt. Managing rehearsal schedules, trying to approach everyones rehearsal in a positive and professional manner no matter how tired I might of felt, and taking a mature approach to difficult situations during my own rehearsals taught me a lot about myself as a person and choreographer.

Upcoming events to look out for is the Nearly End of Year show. This will showcase new works from several choreographers and give Intros, NQs, HNC's, and HND's the chance to give their biggest performance of the year.

Andrew

From Wednesday 17th February until Saturday 20th February Scottish Dance Theatre presented their latest double bill to audiences in Dundee's Rep Theatre, I was privileged to attend on the Saturday Evening. The evening would consists of two pieces, one choreographed by established choreographer and performer Ben Duke, and the second choreographed as a collaboration between Janet Smith, Caroline Bowditch and Marc Brew. Life and Times of Girl A and NQR seemed to have something for everyone to connect with.

From the outset of 'The Life and Times of Girl A', Duke set up a theatrical environment for a dance piece to exist in, with the main female role hardly ever 'dancing.' In past experiences with dance theatre productions that I have seen I would of frowned upon such an idea, but for the first time since seeing Jasmin Vardimon's 'Yesterday,' this mixture of art forms blew me away. Setting the audience's imagination up by looking upon the piece as a film was genius. It made me look at the dancers differently to what I did previously. I now looked at them as characters and people rather than performers and athletes. This is a refreshing concept to understand and one I would love to explore as a choreographer myself.

The female lead was sensational, and even though you didn't see her actually dance, you respected her as a truly sensational performer. The way in which Duke used a female quartet and a male trio during the performance spoke to me on a deeper level than just the narrative which the lead female was delivering. The choreography of both sections was intelligent and mature and executed perfectly by every dancer involved.

Everyone who was an audience member for these performance would come go away with something new to think about. Duke stirred a lot of raw emotions within quiet a few members of audience that I have spoke to after the performance and that is always nice to see. As i'm in the process of creating work to be presented both in Scotland and Wales it's always good to know what connects with the majority of an audience and what makes work have a 'marmite' reaction.

The second instalment of the night was N.Q.R. The piece was very mature and obviously you could see that a lot of time and effort had gone into the choreography and staging of the dancers for it to work. However, personally I didn't connect to its intention and parts offended me. This I feel was partly because I'm not very open minded to its theme and my personality didn't respond to some comedic moments well. Having said that the dancers performed the choreography with true conviction and individuals with more experience on such a topic would be able to give a more varied opinion than myself.

I strongly recommend for anyone to attend if the performance is at a theatre near you. Even though I hold a varied opinion, the evening still showed Scottish Dance Theatre to be one of Britain's most exciting rep company's.

Andrew

Over the past several months I have seen a number of degree students from SSCD audition at numerous facilities and for many different company's. As a student in their third year, this strikes the fear of god to my soul as I will be in the same position in under a 12month. Throughout a dancers training advise on what to do and what not to do in audition situations is thrown at you almost every day, but with the best advise in the world does it really prepare you for what you'll actually experience.

Some people are just born with a natural ability to shine under pressure, while other excel when they believe their not being watched. Surely this is a state of mind that an individual could learn to tap into when they encounter situations their not comfortable with? Some dancers never get noticed in a technique class but BOOM man don't they shine when they get on stage. And some dancers are just average joe's at most things thrown at them, not the best and certainly not the worst. So how can one 45 minute audition separate all these different personalities into categories and prove to a panel their choosing the right dancers for their company? Doesn't every company need a combination of everyone?

Every company that holds auditions are evidently looking for the best dancers they can find, that would be most suited to their company. This for some might be how high they can hold their leg in a perfectly turned out position, or even how creative an individual can be at the drop of a hat. For others it could be about how grounded a dancer is and where they hold their centre of gravity and for others it could simply boil down to hair colour or waist size. Whatever the case, in a room filled with a 100 people, how can anyone possibly see the potential in everyone in the room?

Looking ahead to when I will be sending off applications, I now fear not so much about my technical ability as i do about my personal appearance. Could the fact that I don't have the right look possibly make my chances of being in company's I have dreamt about for years be just that, a dream?

Whatever someone is looking for, and whatever a dancer needs to be, auditions are something you can't predict or right a rule book for. Life is full of extraordinary challenges and objects to throw you off course and auditions are just another to over come and enjoy in the process,

Andrew

What an exciting few weeks I have in store. As part of a unit I will undertake at SSCD, I will have the opportunity to get inside not only my own creative mind but also the mind of a fine artist. As part of the unit I'm going to create work to represent a historical character that is very close to the history of the surrounding area in which I grew up, and ultimately reshape Britain unlike anyone ever has. Never before have I collaborated with a different art form and I couldn't be more excited.

The collaboration idea came to be a few months back when I became aware that such unit would be fast approaching my timetable. I've always wanted to created work representing my feeling and opinions on such an influential character in British history and now I can contemplate idea's that I never would be able to alone. Nathan Wyburn, a freelance fine art student from Cardiff has agreed to produce a wall size portrait of Margaret Thatcher in a way that inspires him from watching practical rehearsals from me and 4 dancers.

Unlike most collaboration pieces I have been an audience member to, myself and Wyburn have decided we don't want to make both art form's to appear completely infused, but separate entity's that co exists on the same stage representing the same idea. This I believe will work well with the selected subject as for a lot of Thatchers rein in my opinion, she never seen Britain from both sides and every decision and action she took and made she did through tunnel vision.

So who know's what form of exciting partnership will be created in the coming weeks

Andrew

Behold Miss Janis Claxton. An inspirational lady who always speaks her mind. How refreshing. Being so far north of the boarder, we at SSCD sometimes forget there's an outside world down south. For the past week and the forth coming future I will have the pleasure to take advantage of her knowledge and learn everything i can.

This isn't the first time i've had the pleasure of being taught by Janis Claxton. Our first engagement was two years ago while I was a bright eyed first year and since then she has taught me how to find my 'fold'. I hope. The way in which she works is something of a breath of fresh air and something I would like so much more of. Her carefree and 'laid back' sense of humor and teaching style just makes a hardcore technique class seem to fly by.

SSCD had the pleasure of working with Janis and her company for two days, learnt rep and created small 'pieces' which we shared with the student body. Learning how Janis's creative mind works and what life is like within her company was educational and something to inspire towards.

Andrew

2010! If you listen to certain people and some theories on life and our planet then we shouldn't still be here. Wasn't we supposed to become the abyss in 06.06.06?? None the less were still here and the world is still spinning :)

As i have missed a rather large chunk of time since my last post i think it's time to look back over December and inform everyone of what's been going on up north.

December 16th and 17th 2009, The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance hosted their annual christmas production at The Space. Guest choreographers Sarah Blanc and Matthew Robinson were brought in to choreograph two new and excited works on SSCD's Degree students. Each piece in it's own right was full of new and excited ideas, one concentrated on the technical ability of the body, and how movement, light and emotion can work as one, and the other a complete contrast. For a moment in time the audience was aloud to go back in time to the 1970's and express their punk history at club 'Masque.' Miss Blanc definitely pushed the boundaries of contemporary dance and challenged each member of the Degree's, taking them out of their comfort zones and straight into what can only be described as Sarah's mind!

Peter Royston and Laura Scott choreographed a sensational piece on the HND students which included myself. They took a simple idea and turned it into something truly beautiful.

With all this said and done its time for a fresh start. New year means new term and there's no better time to put the past in the past and just look straight into the future. After all what good will come of dwelling into the past? I can't do anything about the 'What could of beens' but i can do something about the 'What will be!

In the near future I will have the pleasure of working with some truly talented dancers and have the opportunity to create my own work and hopefully debut it at Ffin Dance's annual Easter intensive show case this coming April. Also another opportunity to create my own work will come my way but this time from SSCD as part of new works. So from the outset 2010 looks to be an exciting and interesting year. :)

Andrew

First of all can I apologise for not writing in such a long time, it's shameful and inexcusable, but life has been hectic and now I have a good story to put forward. On Thursday 29th and Friday 30th of October I was honored to watch the B.A hons Degree students of SSCD in their annual production of 'Preci-pieces.' Throughout the cause of these two evenings, 20 individual and unique dance pieces were revealed, with the boundaries of contemporary dance being pushed to it's limits.

Over the past several weeks, the tension at SSCD has been quiet intense, with the Degree first major show of the year looming, and a very tight time scale to make their pieces nothing less than sensational, emotions were running high. Mad rushes to get costumes made, rehearsals going on throughout the evening, and seeing everyone go almost insane makes you think why on earth do we put ourselves through it??? Maybe it's for the love of the drama, or even the love of excitement. Sometimes it could boil down to the passion of your art form, or even the thrill of success, but one thing is sure these students wanted to make a statement and boy didn't the succeed in doing so.

'Preci-pieces,' had something for everyone. Comedy, drama, emotional exploration, singing, XXX, whatever you was in the mood for you would of been more than satisfied. As I share a working environment and have close friendships with a lot of the performers, it would be almost biest of me to give the show to much congratulations, but from an outside point of view, it was truely sensational.

To kick of Thursday evening were comical pieces exploring models, catwalks, saturday nights in front of the television, love (the breakdown or build up), and war, so from the outset it was going to be quiet a divers show. Only to be topped off with an in site into festivals, relationships with an individuals mother (for F*** sake were are my keys, PETAL!,) and for the first time in the evening pure dance pieces, showing off the performers to have great technical ability and strength.

Friday night went even further into the realm's of, what can only be described as 'UNIQUE'. Dancers locked in cadges, Killers bees on the loose, the power the mind has over your existence, and a comical edge on nuclear war. By the interval I was mentally exhausted. As i imagined the second half didn't give me any breathing space. I was taken back to the 70's with a Look into clockwork orange, I experiences the myth of the population that live in the underground of NY, personalities thrown at me from every directions (High D or is she a High C), and a stunning Duet in silence was all i thought I could handle. and then...

BOOM!

Topping off the evening was nothing short of fascinating. On a personal level if I'm ever confronted with a piece that explores adult nature, or explicit scene's I usually get offended easily or not entertained, but on this occasion I was pleasantly surprised. What the choreographer did was put a comical edge on topics that are in your face and powerful. This for me took the edge of what could of been in your face and shocking.

All that's left to be said is well done, and in my eyes you've successfully made the transformation to professional artists.

Andrew

Is it your perfect technique? Is it your outstanding ability to stand on one leg and look stunning? Is it someone's captivating performance quality that makes you watch them when there's 20 other body's on stage? Perhaps its a combination of everything?

From the moment someone enters training it is DRILLED into them that, 'in three years we have to make you ready for the professional world.' Now a third year myself this message has never been drilled so hard. Everything, naturally, has been pushed to another level with praise and a little respect being taken away and replace with 'Army' like leaders, that wont let a single mistake go. Hard work and discipline is what makes you push harder, learn faster, respect what your trying to achieve, and show's you the boundrys and rules you can't cross. But does this mean daily rants on not pushing hard enough, not achieving what 'someone' else thinks you should be achieving, and how your not going to become a 'professional' fall into this category. This, in my eyes isn't discipline or tough love but merely crushing a persons soul and making them feeling in adequate.

One day I want to become a professional but I don't tick any box with full marks. My technique is not bad, my performance quality is better than average, but my ability to stand on one leg and look fabulous is slightly SHOCKING, (not going to lie,) but i know in my heart one day I will achieve what i have set out to do. I guess you'll never change what other's think, when everyone has the ability to reach their goals.

Andrew