Court

A duet for an audience of three. Funded by Arts Council England with the support of Middlesex University. This piece was made in collaboration with Jerwood Prize winning artist Caroline Broadhead.

Court is a touring dance installation. Three audience members are invited into a confined space reminiscent of a courtyard with adjacent and interconnecting ‘rooms’ in which the viewers happen upon the performers. The walls infer layers of wallpaper or curtains playing with the dual experience of inside and outside. The piece centres on the witnessing of events that unfold between two people; the tale unravels, however, in the actions of all.

Court premiered at Barrett Marsden Gallery in London and then toured nationally to galleries and theatres including Sadler’s Wells, London (Live Screen 2006), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (2005), Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham (2005), and The Place Theatre (2004)

Reviews

An unusual and thoroughly refreshing work of quiet seduction” Donuld Hutera, Dance Europe 2006

In its own calm and quiet way, Court challenges the status quo of dance performance. Why? – because it poses some fundamental questions about space, intimacy and the audience/performer relationship, and it redefines a refreshing dance/art aesthetic.” Josephine Leask, The Dance Insider. (full review…)

A description of this special, deliberately small-scale (yet, in impact, potentially profound) piece pales next to the experience of it. It’s about seeing the pulse in a dancer’s neck, or hearing his or her breath. It’s about stillness, and the sharing of something direct yet elusive, and the thin skin that surrounds the living soul.” Donald Hutera, Dance Europe 2006 on Court, Sadler’s Wells 2006.

Josephine Leask, The Dance Insider. (full review…)

Jan Parry’s Observer review of Court.

A review of Court at London Dance.com by Catherine Hale

Carol Brown Writes about Court.

A mention in the New York Times.

Court – Guardian “Pick of the Week”