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6ed o Ragfyr 2020
Mae’r dawnswyr rwyf wedi bod yn gweithio gyda dros y naw mis diwethaf i gyd wedi cael profiad o aflynoddwch yn eu bywydau proffesiynol, aml yn cadw eu harfer yn annibynnol mewn gofodau dros dro, gan fod defnydd stiwdio wedi’i gyfyngu a gweithgareddau wyneb yn wyneb wedi’u hatal. Dw’i ddim fel arfer yn meddwl gormod am gefndiroedd yn fy ngwaith, ond ‘chydig wythnosau’n ôl dechreuais awgrymu ymylon y lloriau dawns byrfyfyr hyn mewn lluniau – yn dechrau gyda darlun o Izzy Holland, a oedd wedi creu darn ei hun o ddawns i mi weithio gyda, ac yna mewn lluniau o Emma Slater ac Ann Louise Wall, a oedd (mewn darn o’r enw Grow) wedi creu coreograffi i’r llall.
Yn gwneud y lluniau hyn o ddawnswyr unigol, fe’m trawyd gan ba mor effeithiol yr awgrym o’r ardaloedd caeedig o’u cwmpas yn rhoi cyd-destun i’r ystumiau, o ran y gofod llythrennol, ffisegol lle gallant symud, ac hefyd efallai fel ran o’r cyfyngiadau ehangach y maent yn ymateb iddynt, megis colli cydweithio wyneb yn wyneb a chamaraderi ymarferion a pherfformiadau, ac ansicrwydd parhaus am y dyfodol.
Mae’r thema syml hon – ffigurau unigol gyda chornel motiff yr ystafell y tu ôl iddynt – yn dod yn gyfres yr wyf yn gobeithio ei datblygu ymhellach. Yn gwahodd y dawnswyr i archwilio eu meddyliau eu hunain o ran hwyliau, mynegiant, dillad ac yn y blaen, fy ngobaith yw creu casgliad o luniau sy’n bortreadau o unigolion, er bod yr unigolion wedi’u cysylltu’n agos â disgyblaethau artistig a rennir a’r dycnwch i barhau i weithio drwy amgylchiadau mor heriol.
Cefnogir y gwaith hwn gan Ballet Cymru a Chyngor Celfyddydau Cymru.
The dancers I’ve been working with over the past nine months have all experienced acute disruption in their professional lives, often keeping up their practice independently and in makeshift spaces, as studio access is restricted and in-person activities suspended. I don’t usually think too much about backgrounds in my work, but a few weeks ago I started suggesting the edges of these improvised dance floors in pictures – beginning with a painting of Izzy Holland, who had created her own passage of dance for me to work with, and then in pictures of Emma Slater and Ann Louise Wall, who (in a piece called Grow) had each created choreography for the other.
Making these pictures of solitary dancers, I was struck by how effectively the suggestion of the enclosed areas around them gives context to the poses and gestures, both with regards to the literal, physical space in which they are able to move, though perhaps also in terms of the wider restrictions they are responding to, such as the loss of face-to-face collaboration and the camaraderie of rehearsals and performances, and continuing uncertainties about the future.
This simple theme – solo figures with the corner of the room motif behind them – is becoming a series which I’m hoping to develop further. Inviting dancers to explore their own thoughts with regards to mood, expression, clothing and so on, my hope is to create a collection of pictures which are very much portraits of individuals, though individuals closely connected by shared artistic disciplines and the tenacity to keep working through such challenging circumstances.
This work is supported by Ballet Cymru and by the Arts Council of Wales’s National Lottery Fund.