In Motion – The Work Room

View the films here

The Work Room’s new online screendance film series, In Motion, showcases Scotland’s dance artists making work for the screen.

Glasgow-based dance organisation The Work Room have created 4 new films to showcase work from artists experimenting with dance and film, in a new series called ‘In Motion’.

A series of works commissioned by The Space and created specifically for screen, commenting on diverse subjects such as Brexit, civil disobedience, the uncertainty and stress felt when continually being forced to move house and women reclaiming the streets at night. These films highlight how Scotland’s choreographers and dance artists are combining film and dance to make powerful creative expressions about the world we live in.

Produced by Katrina McPherson (TWR member and an award-winning director, screen dance artists and author of ‘Making Video Dance’), Lewis Landini, Owa Barua & Monika Smekot. In Motion will distribute 4 screendance works along with new films interviewing the creative teams about the process behind making their films.

All the films are available to watch online for free via The Work Room’s new YouTube channel:

Faux Pas, by Stasis
Shot in Glasgow’s Barrowlands, this film reacts against the visual stereotypes of young women often portrayed in mainstream film by showing how the female form can reclaim the streets at night. These women are far from vulnerable as they work closely and collaboratively to make space for themselves and have a riotous time among the industrial backstreets.

Never Walk Alone, by Bridie Gane
A timely piece that explores the UK’s relationship with Europe, Bridie uses extremely slow movement infused with a retro theatricality to produce a wry commentary that will resonate with many.

Movement in Progress, by Lucas Chih-Peng Kao
Taiwanese dancer Kai ended up moving house twelve times in a mere two years whilst living in Glasgow. This part-documentary part-dance performance is a touching story about how it feels to continually be on the move and how we hold onto memories attached to where we live.

Cells of Illegal Education, by Farah Saleh
Between 1988 and 1992, schools and universities in Occupied Palestine were closed by Israeli military rule and those who refused to abide were labelled as ‘cells of illegal education’. In this film, Fareh Saleh reenacts, transforms and deforms gestures that were exercised by students at Birzeit University to take a closer look at the role of civil disobedience in instigating societal change and how their echoes are felt in contemporary times.

 “For nearly 30 years, based in Scotland and often working internationally, I have made work in collaboration with many different dance artists, and taught the subject all over the world. It makes me particularly happy to see the wealth of activity in this area now happening in Scotland. Dance artists and filmmakers are using whatever technology they have to make movement-based work for screen that explores and communicates ideas, themes and stories they feel passionate about. I am very excited to have the opportunity to share some of this work with you through In Motion, a curated selection of original screen dance works, made in Scotland, and available to watch worldwide online.” – Katrina McPherson, Filmmaker and director of In Motion

“We are very excited to be working with The Space to bring screendance from some of Scotland’s independent choreographers to new audiences. The Work Room empowers artists to lead in their practice, and In Motion is enabling us to develop this digitally.” Anita Clark, Director of The Work Room

Find The Work Room on their website: theworkroom.org.uk, Facebook @theworkroomglasgow and YouTube Channel The Work Room.

About this artist

The Work Room (TWR) is an artist-led organisation, committed to supporting a sustainable environment for independent artists working in dance in Scotland. Our mission is to empower artists to lead in their practice, enabling them to make high quality, pioneering dance for diverse contexts at home and internationally. We are based within Glasgow’s Tramway where we have a studio for choreographic residencies.

The Work Room is supported by Creative Scotland as an RFO and by Glasgow City Council.