Body Language

Is it possible to choreograph a work based entirely on body language, being true to the spontaneous nature of our physical behaviour? For Body Language, CoisCéim Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director, David Bolger set himself a task with this question.

“It is said that over 65% of all our communication is non-verbal, made up of our gestures, posture, how we sound, how we look. As a choreographer I am naturally inquisitive about body language. The tells and clues that are sent out from our limbic system (the emotional brain) are unplanned, natural, honest. They make up our everyday kinetic conversations, which are naturally organised but not pre-planned. Choreography is dance-writing. A choreographer is someone who organises and designs sequences of movement patterns and creates choreography by writing with the body. Dancing is body language and body language is dancing.” DAVID BOLGER

Click here to see more reviews from critics and audiences.

… It shifts in the mind:
A strange gameshow with social media stars;
a high-tech new media gym;
a 24 hour news channel broadcast with the sound turned down;
a dream where all the characters are you… Strictly meets poststructuralist linguistics…

The imagery of this performance has audiences mesmerised

Body Language is beautiful – like stepping inside a photo album. To experience it is to float on the surface of the ocean – safe, supported by the brine and blue.

Blurring the lines between dancing and body language, it created both a fascinating exhibition and memorable performances.

visually layered, quietly pulse-quickening collaboration … The pleasure of Body Language is that it’s about the person invited to be filmed live, but it’s also about us.

Body Language offers a tantalising glimpse into a stranger’s inner life

Gallery

Edinburgh | 2019

Ivonne Kalter in movement as projections of her movement are cast to the wall behind

Two figures in movement in a darkly lit blue space

Jonathan Mitchell in movement in front of a screen showing his movements live as he is filmed

Two dancers in movement being filmed and projected live to the walls behind them

A line of four dancers cast in blue light in movement

RHA Gallery, Dublin | 2017

Three dancers in the distance in movement against a wall cast with projections

Justine Cooper in movement with a gallery space stretching out behind her

Three dancers in movement lit in the centre of a gallery space

An empty gallery space with projections along all walls

A gallery space full of audience members with projections along all walls

A child audience member dancing in front of a wall of projections

Projections of many still shots of a figure in a grid cast on a gallery wall

Ivonne Kalter facing the wall with a man's face being projected on her back

A gallery space with audience and dancers spread throughout

A gallery space with audience and dancers spread throughout the space

Christopher Ash sitting on the floor with a camera with a dancer moving in the background

An ensemble in formation moving in space with projects on the walls behind them

An audience member sitting on the floor beside projections on the wall

Ivonne Kalter lit in blue pointing and looking to the camera with others dancing behind

Development | 2016

Still images of David Bolger projected on a wall in a grid

David Bolger in movement reflected in the studio mirror as he is filmed

Ryan O'Neill standing against a wall with projections cast over both

Ryan O'Neill's torso as he writes words on his skin with a marker

Ryan O'Neill in movement with still shots of himself in a grid projected on the wall behind

A figure in movement facing still shots in a grid projected on the wall

Two dancers in movement with projections along the wall behind them

Two faces projected on the studio wall in orange with two figures in movement in front of them

Development | 2015

A figure in movement with a face projected on the wall beyond

Jonathan Mitchell in movement in a studio with his face projected on the wall beyond

Two figures in balance leaning into each other with their projected forms behind them

One figure standing and one seated in front of a camera with projections cast on both

David Bolger seated on the floor in conversation with Christopher Ash in a chair

Justine Cooper's face projected on the studio wall in darkness

Body Language 101 | 2014

Justine Cooper in movement on the floor seen between audience chairs

Justine Cooper standing among screens showing her face cast live from a camera feed

Justine Cooper walking around an audience member seated at the side of the performance space

A figure silhouetted dancing on a dark stage facing three screens

Two dancers in an embrace with audience seated on 3 sides

Three dancers in movement with audience seated on 3 sides

Three dancers in movement among audience seated to the side of the performance space

Three dancers in movement, seen from above, with audience on 3 sides

David Bolger standing in the performance space speaking to audience

An ensemble of dancers standing with audience on 3 sides of the performance space

Three dancers standing in space with audience on 3 sides

Three figures each standing beside a screen lit in the dark

Performed at

UK Premiere

Dance Base

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

15 - 25 August 2019

Premiere

The RHA Gallery

Dublin

17 November - 10 December 2017

Body Language 101

St. Patrick’s College

Drumcondra

25 November 2014

Part of CoisCéim’s Residency at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.

Body Language 101

Smock Alley Theatre

Dublin

21 November 2014

Body Language 101

The Lab

Dublin

20 November 2014

Body Language 101

South Dublin Arts Centre

Tallaght

19 November 2014

Body Language 101

St Patrick’s College

Drumcondra

18 November 2014

UK PREMIERE | DANCE BASE, EDINBURGH | 2019

“Strictly meets poststructuralist linguistics…” We were delighted to return to Dance Base for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019 with a new evolution of this multi-layered exploration of non-verbal communication. Each day saw a spontaneous performance created in real-time from live interviews, photography, video projection, music and choreography.

CREDITS

DIRECTION/CHOREOGRAPHY David Bolger
DESIGNER/MEDIA ARTIST Christopher Ash
COMPOSER Michael Fleming
COSTUME DESIGNER Arran Murphy
DANCE ARTISTS Lee Clayden, Ivonne Kalter, Jonathan Mitchell, and Emma O’Kane

PREMIERE | RHA GALLERY, DUBLIN | 2017

In the first collaboration of its kind, CoisCéim Dance Theatre and RHA Gallery presented a multimedia exploration of body language in a durational project that evolved over 3 exciting weeks. Each day brought a unique, immersive experience, as a new art work was created from live interviews, choreography, video projection, photography, music and dance.

This open, durational performance at the RHA Gallery was the culmination of 4 years of creative development. In parallel with BODY LANGUAGE, BROADREACH conducted ARMOUR, a participation performance project led by Philippa Donnellan.

Body Language was developed in collaboration with the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin and presented in their exhibition programme in 2017.

CREDITS

DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY David Bolger
DESIGNER & MEDIA ARTIST Christopher Ash
COMPOSER Michael Fleming
COSTUME DESIGNER Arran Murphy
DANCE ARTISTS Justine Cooper, Ivonne Kalter, Jonathan Mitchell, Emma O’Kane, Jack Webb.
GUEST ARTISTS Deirdre O’Leary (Clarinet) and the La La La Choir led by Sam Kavanagh
PRODUCTION MANAGER Lisa Mahony
STAGE MANAGER Corentin West
INTERVIEWEE LIAISON Léa Weber

AT THE RHA | 2017

The Body Language project was an exploration and interrogation of non-verbal communication in the digital, aural and physical realms. It was a process. With choreography, video/photography by artist Christopher Ash, music by Composer Michael Fleming, and dance artists Justine Cooper, Jonathan Mitchell, Ivonne Kalter, Emma O’Kane and Jack Webb, it was a process of detection and consisted of three unique cycles made up of DAILY, WEEKLY, and RESIDUAL:

The genesis of the DAILY CYCLE was an interview with a member of the public. The subject’s body language was captured on film and became a physical score made up of still images. This was followed by live composition in real time with artists in the process of CREATION as they extracted meaning and responded to the physical score. The cycle ended with a PERFORMANCE of the new choreography, film, photography and music.
The WEEKLY CYCLE culminated each Sunday in the gallery with a look back at the interviews from the past week followed by a new CREATION and PERFORMANCE. Each week saw new developments as the work diversified and grew. On Sunday 3 December a final presentation took place.
The RESIDUAL CYCLE, from 4 December to 10 December, was an installation reflecting the lifecycle of the work.

Each day brought more interviews, choreography and other artists, and was an opportunity for you to see something new.
(PLEASE NOTE | Times are approximate. Cameras were live in the gallery and images may be used as part of the project.):

17 NOVEMBER – 3 DECEMBER 2017

Mondays
11am-5pm: PREMIERE SCREENING OF LATEST WORK – Video and sound installation of yesterday’s filmed choreographic response.
Tuesdays/Thursdays/Fridays/Saturdays
From 11am: PREMIERE SCREENING OF LATEST WORK
From 1.30pm: CREATION & PERFORMANCE – Live composition in real time.
From 3pm: SCREENING OF TODAY’S INTERVIEW
NEW | Wednesdays | Gallery Open Late
From 11am: PREMIERE SCREENING OF LATEST WORK
From 6pm: CREATION & PERFORMANCE – Live composition in real time.
Sundays
From 12pm: PREMIERE SCREENING OF LATEST WORK
From 3pm: CULMINATION OF WEEKLY CYCLE – CREATION & PERFORMANCE with guest artists.

4 – 10 DECEMBER, 11AM-5PM (SUNDAYS 12PM OPENING)

Daily
SCREENING OF THE RESIDUAL CONTENT – Explore the video and sound installation of interviews and filmed choreographic responses.

DUBLIN GALLERY WEEKEND 2017 EVENTS

IN CONVERSATION: DAVID BOLGER AND CHRISTOPHER ASH WITH AMANDA COOGAN AND FIONA NEWELL
24 NOVEMBER 2017 | 4PM–5PM | ADMISSION FREE | RHA GALLERY I

This exciting interdisciplinary event brought together a number of voices to talk about dance, visual art, performance and the psychology of sensory perception. We were delighted to welcome performance artist Amanda Coogan and Professor Fiona Newell, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, to engage in a conversation with choreographer David Bolger and designer/media artist Christopher Ash about Body Language.

RHA LEARNING EVENT | CREATING BODY LANGUAGE
25 NOVEMBER 2017 | 3.30PM–4.30PM | ADMISSION FREE, SOLD OUT | RHA GALLERY I

David Bolger invited children to join him and the cast of professional dancers to explore body language and ways of communicating through dance. Using specially designed ACTIVITY SHEETS participants were guided through a range of fun movement-based tasks and a relay process with others in the group. Together, participants created moves and short sequences and discovered more about how you use your body to express yourself!

Open to all children aged 6-10, no dance experience necessary.

2016 DEVELOPMENT NOTES

David Bolger and Christopher Ash came back together in the CoisCéim studio for a week in November 2016, this time working with dancer Ryan O’Neill and non dancers. These sessions concentrated on stripping back the conundrum of choreography (planned movement) and body language (unplanned movement) to consider the structure of the performance mechanisms. Using multuple projectors with live and recorded feeds these sessions also aimed to define the overall form of the final work.

2015 DEVELOPMENT NOTES

Following on from BODY LANGUAGE 101, David Bolger spent two weeks in the studio in November 2015 with designer and projection artist Christopher Ash and dancers Justine Cooper and Jonathan Mitchell to explore the subject of non verbal communication further in the digital as well as physical realm.

Nuance, detail, subtle themes and contrasts picked up by the camera were explored and studied together with looking at how body language changes as we age. David Bolger and Christopher Ash will now reflect on this process with the intention of coming back together with the dancers this time next year to move the creative process forward. Final production of this work is now anticipated in 2017.

2014 DEVELOPMENT NOTES

BODY LANGUAGE 101 | INITIAL DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS & SHOWINGS IN NOVEMBER 2014

DIRECTOR’S NOTE by David Bolger from BODY LANGUAGE 101 Programme:

“It is said that over 65% of all our communication is non-verbal. We receive information through body language, gesture, posture, how we look, what we sound like and the clothes we choose to wear. The tells and clues that are sent out from our limbic system (the “emotional brain”) are unplanned and natural. It is difficult to make our body language lie. As a choreographer I am naturally inquisitive about body language. Is it possible to choreograph a work about it and be true to the spontaneous nature of our behaviour? Today we are sharing some of the work and sketches that we have made over the last three weeks of studio research. They are not finished, but rather the start of our journey into the fascinating science of the body. ‘The flesh made word’ as it were.
I would like to thank the dancers Emma, Justine and Mitch for the passion they bring to our daily research, to all at CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Science Gallery Dublin, St Patrick’s College and everyone who has help us get this far. I look forward to and welcome your feedback, which will help form part of the findings and outcome of BODY LANGUAGE as we continue development over the next two years.”
David Bolger, 14 November 2014

BODY LANGUAGE 101 was part of a collaboration between CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Science Gallery Dublin and Shimmer to investigate and further understand non verbal communication. It had a special focus on audience experience and how to measure this in a meaningful way.

Credits

Choreography, Design & Video Sequences David Bolger
Dancers Justine Cooper, Jonathan Mitchell, Emma O’Kane
Sound Ivan Birthistle, Vincent Doherty
Intern Fiona Patten
Photography Luca Truffarelli
Special Thanks to Stephanie Ryan, Patrick Sutton & Smock Alley Theatre, Rua Red Gallery, the LAB and St Patrick’s College