Moving bodies and moving machines. Cailleacha damhsa (Dancing Hags)
The body is round, soft and malleable. The machine is straight, hard and will not give unless it fails. The body begins with failure.
This is a Journal of the project Cailleacha Damhsa (dancing hags), the dance element of my PhD Cuimhne, Corp agus an Íomha Ghluaisteach (Memory, Body and the Moving Image).
Pushing something until it fails is an act of testing, particularly machines. Failing something until it lands is an act of body memory. The body does not hold it failures, unless the act is not completed. You are what you practise, and in my mind I can dance any dance, move to the groove, but I did not realise until too late these things can be lost, in age, in a lack of failing that is a lack of actually trying. I have a vision for this project, this PhD as a film, and I need to be failing a lot.
After my first session with Robyn Sedgwick, read about it here, I am filled with questions about this project that envisions me dancing endlessly with moves that are made of me and of my ancestry. I’m not sure where to start. How do you find something that is lost, something you never had, something that you sense, something beyond words? This some thing must be excavated. It’s here somewhere. We book an old church hall that has a more forgiving wooden floor to dance on. The hall is part of a campaign by the arts community to be purchased, along with surrounding buildings for art, support it any way you can Ballarat Performing Arts Community. I bring an analogue 16mm camera, tripod, small speaker and the beginnings of a costume. Testing trialling and piloting. Failing better each time.
At the end of the session we have more moves with meaning that we record for memory and rehearsal. And a costume idea that is dead in the water!
- Arrival – what happened when you landed in Ireland the first time
- Drop the baggage – what did you carry?
- Drawing in the sand – how did it look?
- Extend – how did it feel?
- Stamping – feet connecting my heart to my ancestors
- Twirl – always a twirl
Whats next are a series of workshops, one hour of dance, one hour of talk every fortnight for a bit. Trying to fail bigger each time! You can follow this project journal by the #cailleachadamhsa tag at the end of this post or by this link – https://yumcreative.yumstudio.com.au/tag/cailleachadamhsa/
Thank you for reading along, you can join us by subscribing to this blog, or asking questions where there is a social media spill over – insta, substack and vimeo. @erinmccuskey
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