15 OCT 16: 6-9.30PM + 16 OCT 16: 1 1AM-3PM A WEEKEND OF DANCE, DRAMA, MUSIC, PHOTOGRAPHY, ARCHIVES AND ARTIST’S FILMS CELEBRATING THE CULTURAL LEGACY OF THE ARTIST DIVA MARGARET MORRIS (1891-1980) – A CROSS BETWEEN ISADORA DUNCAN AND DAVID BOWIE CURATED BY: ILIYANA NEDKOVA & WENDY TIMMONS
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BEING NATURAL, BEING CONTEMPORARY, BEING MARGARET MORRIS Margaret Morris is a true pioneer who changed the face of contemporary dance in Scotland. She set up the Celtic Ballet of Scotland in 1947, which proved the first step towards a national company. A renowned and celebrated innovator of natural, barefoot, movement, she was also a forerunner of dance science and wellbeing as we understand it today. An icon of her time, often paralleled with Isodora Duncan, yet today her innovation and extravagance would steer more towards the master of re-invention David Bowie. This contemporary ‘Renaissance woman who did everything and knew everybody’ would have turned 125 this year. She still commands the respect and admiration of the grand dame of dance. No wonder Margaret Morris fired the imagination of all the artists and creatives featured in our Movement weekend of contemporary dance, drama, music, photography, archives and artist’s films. The weekend is just the beginning of celebrating the vast cultural legacy of the artist diva. The exhibition of the newly commissioned artists’ films and photography will continue showing on the screens and walls of the Threshold artspace until 15 January 2017 and thereafter as part of the dance strand in the Horsecross Arts museum collection of contemporary art before touring internationally. The humble beginnings of the Movement films could be traced back to spring 2016 when artists and academics took up residency in the Margaret Morris archive. The access to the archive was kindly facilitated by the guardians of the estate, the eponymous Margaret Morris Movement International. The only museum home dedicated to Margaret Morris – Perth’s own Fergusson Gallery – also offered acres of archives for the four artists-in-residence to plough through while conceiving their artists’ films as a collective moving image homage: Su Grierson’s Fresh Fresh Air (2016) combines Grierson’s long-standing interest in the tradition and politics of landscape with her newly-found fascination for the pioneering environmental aesthetics of Margaret Morris. Th ere s a P i c k l e s ’ cre a tive do cum e nta r y M o vemen t (2 0 1 6) is a n a tte m pt to ca pture M a rg a ret Mo rris’ flamboyant, colour-saturated personality with a nod to her deep relationship with Perth and Scotland. Brian Hartley’s signs of direction (2016) explores the modernity and vitality of Margaret Morris, the visual artist, with his own passion for dance through drawing, painting and photography. As a screen dance artist, Katrina McPherson identifies with Margaret Morris turn towards improvisation. Her collaborative film we record ourselves (2016) is an interplay between fact and fiction tracing archival practices and the archaeology of ideas. These new artists’ films are the latest acquisitions for our permanent museum collection established in 2005 with more than 130 works by 100 artists from 30 countries and still growing. Threshold artspace as Perth’s one-of-a kind museum, is home to these artworks born digital, defying the physicality of collecting and leaving a more dynamic and richer image of the 21 Century for future visitors to marvel at. The Movement weekend also culminates into an exclusive triple bill of dance, music, projections and light featuring a solo, a duet and a fourteen piece paying tribute to the woman artist who constantly reinvented herself and her dance over seven innovative decades. At the centre stage of this triple bill is The Incredible Brightness of Being (2016) – a new Horsecross Arts commission for 9 dance artists, 4 vocalists, multiple projections and 1 double bass player. Following her Movement artist’s residency at both Margaret Morris archive and the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Research Collections, Perth’s award-winning singer, songwriter and composer Debra Salem collaborated with a stunning cast of creatives including Vincent Hantam, the former principal dance artist of Scottish Ballet and long-term ambassador for the Natural Movement of Margaret Morris. Together they have created a cohesive and spectacularly bright reverence to Margaret Morris, Natural Movement, Natural Voices and immersive experiences. The film choreographer and former Director of Scottish Ballet, Stuart Hopps, who stars Stuart Hopps, who stars in his one-person play My Name is Margaret (2010), provides a dramatic finale to a Movement weekend extraordinaire. Stuart’s passionate re-enactment takes us on a journey through the life of his friend from being at the centre of the bohemian art world of 1930s to her old age when she continued choreographing and even worked on Hair (1972), the then controversial musical, when she was 81 years old. An epic finale to being natural, being contemporary, being Margaret Morris. ILIYANA NEDKOVA & WENDY TIMMONS
15 OCT 16 EXHIBITION PREVIEW 6PM: NORIE MILLER STUDIO WELCOME NOTE: Iliyana Nedkova & Wendy Timmons
FEATURED ARTISTS IN ATTENDANCE: Brian Hartley, Jacqueline Harper, Pip Hill, Stuart Hopps, Su Grierson, Katrina McPherson & Theresa Pickles
ONE NIGHT ONLY: Artists’ films premiering on the big studio screen
WORLD PREMIERE: Artists’ films on the Threshold Wave of 22 screens + Threshold artspace single screens. FREE exhibition guide available
MOVEMENT WEEKEND ONLY: Exclusive 10% off new limited edition artist’s print by Brian Hartley
LIVE PERFORMANCE MOVEMENT TRIPLE BILL: 7.30PM GANNOCHY AUDITORIUM THE BIRD (1990S) 4 MIN CHOREOGRAPHY: J im Hastie DANCE ARTISTS: Vincent Hantam and Yifeng Zhu ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION: Jacqueline Harper MUSICAL SCORE: The Firebird (1910) by Igor Stravinsky Jim Hastie, the late Artistic Director of Margaret Morris Movement International and a close friend of Margaret Morris started creating The Bird as the final set of 14 exercises embodying Margaret Morris Natural Movement. The process of creating this set of exercises took about 20 years and still retains the magical glow of the Russian fairy tales that inspired Igor Stravinsky to write The Firebird for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
‘ Th e p s y c h ol o g i c a l a n d p h y s i c a l d e m a n d s of Margaret Morris Movement are unlike other dance forms. My aim with the coll aborative choreography of The Incredible Brightness of Being was to bring together this established, yet uncharted, movement approach with my own expertise and joy for dance, with the playfulness of just being natural.’ Vincent Hantam
NEW HORSECROSS ARTS COMMISSION
‘Margaret Morris philosophy that dance is for everyone resonates with my own belief that singing is for everyone. I developed the musical score of The Incredible Brightness of Being for four vocalists and one bass player. The three short movements of this score are inspired by Margaret Morris Natural Movement technique where the bass sits below it all keeping us grounded.’ Debra Salem
TH E I NC R E D I B L E B R I G HTN E S S OF BEING (2016) 12 min
STEAL AWAY AND PRAY (1967) 10 min
MUSIC COMPOSITION: Debra Salem VOICE ARTISTS: Karen Dietz, Rachel Lightbody, Irene Railley and Debra Salem DOUBLE BASS: Tam Hardy CHOREOGRAPHY: Vincent Hantam with Wendy Timmons and featured dance artists DANCE ARTISTS: Chaoxue Dong, Laura Gilmour, Lisa Guild, Susan Harvey, Jiasi Hu, Kasumi Momoda, Jiayi Song, Tingzhen Wu and Yifeng Zhu LIGHTING DESIGN: Patrick Dalgety
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jim Hastie DANCE ARTIST: Vincent Hantam MUSIC: The Golden Gate String Quartet
Multiple projections featuring artworks by Theresa Pickles, Natasha Todd, archival film footage from Garden Dance (1930s) courtesy of Dunfermline College of Physical Education Archive at Centre for Research Collections, University of Edinburgh and from Edinburgh College of Art Revels (1936, 1945 and 1946) courtesy of the Edinburgh College of Art Archive at the Centre for Research Collections, University of Edinburgh.
POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS
WITH THANKS TO: Barrie Barretto, Simon Fildes, Rachel Hosker & Iliyana Nedkova
This Margaret Morris-inspired solo from the Spiritual Suite was destined for Vincent Hantam whose diffident yet powerful performance embodies Jim Hastie’s stirring choreography.
UNTIL 9.30PM: THRESHOLD ARTSPACE & NORIE MILLER STUDIO with exhibiting and performing artists
ENJOY A DRINK OR TWO IN OUR BAR, GLASSROOMS AT PERTH CONCERT HALL
OPEN 6-9.30PM
16 OCT 16 ONE TOUR TWO EXHIBITIONS: MOVEMENT AND 125 YEARS OF MARGARET MORRIS 11AM: THRESHOLD ARTSPACE AND OFF-SITE AT FERGUSSON GALLERY, PERTH TOUR GUIDES:
Iliyana Nedkova & Amy Waugh | FREE exhibition guides and Sunday brunch provided
LIVE PERFORMANCE: 1PM NORIE
MILLER STUDIO
MY NAME IS MARGARET (2010) 45 MIN WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY: Stuart Hopps DIRECTED BY: Barbara Rafferty ‘Stuart’s recreation of Margaret’s story is absolutely charming and I’ve enjoyed helping to resurrect this amazing woman.’ Barbara Rafferty ‘Exploring the frailty of talent and celebrating the invaluable contribution of a dynamo woman through her life’s journey.’ Broadwaybaby
UNTIL 3PM: THRESHOLD ARTSPACE & NORIE MILLER STUDIO POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS with exhibiting and performing artists
FREE BUT DONATIONS WARMLY WELCOME
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Moray House School of Education
MARGARET MORRIS MOVEMENT