MPT: The Big Freeze

The Hide 'n' Seek Festival, The Southbank, London
June 2008



On 28 June, London was transformed. The banks of the river became flooded with hundreds of people, all waiting for the signal to freeze. The largest freeze yet to descend on London.
Not frozen but poised, and ready to play big games with passers by and the community.

Coney and body>data>space organised this great event for the festival, sent out through Myspace, Facebook, word of mouth, people could sign up to as much or as little as they wanted via the internet. Each person was asked to bring a prop or maybe wear a colour to the groups they picked from the red adventures to the yellow movers.
As project co-ordinator for this project I lead a yellow snake of people along the Southbank, down to play Grandmothers footsteps in Jubilee Gardens, with a final clock chime from Big Ben.

Crewe Railway Station

Platforms 12 &13
May / June / September 2008

Pollen8
The beginning of this project took place in May, at the Oblate Retreat Centre , Crewe. It was a six day residential retreat that allowed 18 dance artists the time and space to reflect and deepen their approaches to site based dance work, alongside creating work for the performance due in September.

Body Cartography; Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad; came together with Cheshire Dance's Dance Director, Jacqueline McCormick and USA-based master practitioner in Yoga, Trisha McAvoy to take dance artists, facilitators and practitioners on a journey.


Research and Development Week
Following on from Pollen8, we gathered together for a week in June, this week included a number of visits to the station where investigations of the site took place. We spent time collecting information from passengers and staff, collected pedestrian movements off the public; in a rush to catch the train or waiting. Spending time on our own collecting movement from architecture and sounds that occurred in the train station and really clarifying each motif.
We collected large amounts of information by the end of the week, to remember and put into use for September.
The Pollen8 artists had increased their knowledge of the site and facilitators had roots to begin work with there youth & community groups.

Filming Week
Some of the artists gathered to take part in the filming process for the Installations. This took place at Cheshire Gardens for the film installations.



Station/ Stationary: The Performance: 25-29th September
The world premiere of Station/ Stationary finally fell upon us all and it was truly successful. Cheshire Dance, The Body Cartography Project and up to 100 performers redefined and explored Crewe Railway Station.
This performance was to encourage audiences and commuters alike to reengage their sensory curiosity in this regional gateway through performance and installation works.




It was broadcasted on North West BBC news on the 25th September;
Dancing Room on the Platform, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7636751.stm
and became part of the Cultural Olympiad.

A couple of Videos from the Performance (good quality)


Station/Stationary from Olive Bieringa on Vimeo.


Station/Stationary: wilding section from Olive Bieringa on Vimeo.

The Station / Stationary Performance
Small movies in order of the performance.
(It gives you an idea, not the best quality)









"Station/Stationary is probably the most ambitious performing arts project ever to be undertaken at a railway station in this country."

Daydream Nation: Good Night Deer

February 2008

Daydream Nation is the exciting collaboration between the Royal College of Art Textile graduate Kay Wong and the Central Saint Martins Theatre Design/Directing graduate Jing Wong.

The Making of Good Night Deer

The Story
Once upon a time,
there was a hunter,
he killed deers,
One day he killed a deer with a golden mane,
"Good Night Deer," he said.
He went to a lake to wash off blood stains,
When he saw the spirit of the dead deer,
He was cursed and was transformed into a deer,
Wolves and then hunters started chasing after him,
He hid but soon he heard footsteps,
It was a deer,
who turned out to be a hunter in disguise,
"Good Night Deer" he said.
Kill and be Killed.

Daydream Nation was part of Fashion Week on the 14th-15th February 08 at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts). I was the 2nd Movement Choreographer of the production and a Tree Spirit.

Free Running Championships

The Real Spiderman's of the Century!

(It was held at The Round House in Camden on the 3rd September 08.)

Five Ways To Walk Towards Yourself

A unique and exciting movement based research project into landscape, body, memory and autobiography. This was led by Angus Balbernie and Rosalyn Maynard.

Each day we worked with somatics exploring new paths within our inner-self, and then communicating to each other through our five senses.