on the shores of Asia, or in the Edgeware Road

2003. Performance work for students at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds.

Choreography: Sue Hawksley with the dancers.
Music: Dolmen Music by Meredith Monk.

"When there is distress of nations and perplexity
Whether on the shores of Asia, or in the Edgeware Road.
Men's curiosity searches past and future
And clings to that dimension" (T.S. Eliot)

Significant inspiration for the imagery and structure of the piece derives from the Four Quartets poems by T.S Eliot.

The performance comprises three quartets, each exploring a different quality an dynamic of human interaction. In the fourth section of the work the three quartets are re-performed together in the same space at the same time, with all the ensuing difficulties, conflicts and negotiations that this task presents. The performance takes place within a square marked out on the stage which defines the frontiers and boundaries of the dancers' "territories".

The student dancers contributed throughout the creative process. Chance procedures were applied to generate much of the movement vocabulary and structure.

Performances at the Riley Theatre, Leeds, April 2003.