Words by Sophie Chinner and Katie Hagan.
Impermanence Dance Theatre‘s Lady Blackshirt is an experimental, dance-collage film exploring the development of modernism and radical ideologies in the early twentieth century. This abstract film, which ran in May 2021 as part of Bristol Old Vic’s programme, was borne out of a research project in which 100 artists responded to resources from the Modernism period. Although the film is no longer streaming, there is a digital gallery on Impermanence’s website which holds all 100 responses.
Considering Lady Blackshirt is an experimental film, here at dance art journal we wanted to honour that and respond in a slightly different mode to a traditional review. Our poetic, experimental response written by Sophie Chinner and Katie Hagan encapsulates the tone and moods of each chapter within Lady Blackshirt and in a way, allows the film to be documented in a style that complements its abstract aesthetic. Responding to Lady Blackshirt in this manner felt very liberating, particularly as Sophie and Katie were not working within the constraints of a traditional review.
To read our response, please download the document below:
Dance art journal is actively responding to dance work in alternative ways. To see other examples, read our response to Darcy Wallace’s Skin & Scales and to see our ongoing research into new writing models, visit our Percolate page.
Header image: Tom Cassani.