ARTISTS & FACILITATION / VELOCITIES

The Velocities enquiry into the disorientation felt by individuals has yielded rich resources on how artists can orient themselves within the relational dynamics that arise in the professional landscape. The Velocities team has facilitated a variety of artist-facing workshops and courses, and continues to hold space for professionals as they navigate their own practice. This artist-facing facilitation work draws on our central enquiry as much as our public-facing workshops.

Image Credit: Rachel Cherry

2023: 1-day workshop for professional dance artists: Pro Dance Oxford

The team taught a day-long physical workshop using Velocities’ improvisational frameworks, delving into the collective experience of speed, disorientation and sound-making.

2023: Community Commission: London Contemporary Dance School + Body & Soul Charity

The team tutored a group of BA2 students at London Contemporary Dance School on a new module introducing students to community dance practice. They worked at Body & Soul Charity to deliver a 6-week course to members of the Body & Soul community that looked at ritual and co-creation.

2022: Guest Facilitation: Next Choreography Course, Siobhan Davies Dance

The team facilitated a physical and discursive session as part of the Next Choreography Course for adults aged 18-25, sharing Velocities’ approach to entangling choreography and activism.

2022: “On Practice, Participation, Disorientation”, Artist Resourcing Day: Akademi

The team delivered a 1-day course to professional dance artists working with South Asian Dance forms, using discursive and embodied tasks to address the questions:

  • How to grow your artistic practice from your experience in community facilitation

  • How to negotiate the unfortunate hierarchy between 'community' and 'artistic' work

  • How to use artistic frameworks to broaden the idea of 'inclusivity' and 'participation'

  • How to ensure personal wellbeing while holding community spaces

2022: “Wellbeing in Practice - Your Needs, My Needs, Our Needs”, 1 Day Course, People Dancing UK

The team delivered a one-day course for dance professionals working in the community context, sharing Velocities research on the tensions that arise between autonomy and collectivity in community dance settings, and addressing the following questions:

  • Where do you locate yourself in your practice? How do you locate your practice in our landscape?

  • How is your facilitation practice and artistic practice connected?

  • How does community feel to you?

  • What can participation look like in its widest possible form?

  • How do we attend to ourselves and others at the same time?

2022: Morning Class for Professional Dance Artists: Independent Dance

Over 5 mornings, Shivaangee taught improvisational frameworks derived from Velocities research, delving into the experience of moving collectively and the relational states that arise between us as a result. The class used Velocities’ rhythmic scores to map the disorientation / orientation too being in collectivity.

2022: Guest Tutor: MA Expanded Dance Practice, London Contemporary Dance School

Shivaangee shared + facilitated choreographic frameworks underpinning Velocities research, focusing on collective experiences of speed and disorientation.