Back to Myself

“It’s so deep within me, dance, even when I’m still, even when I’m not moving in that way. But actually it’s moving through me in different ways that I could have never imagined. I like to see the body as a companion, and a source and a tool. You may not always love your body, it doesn’t have to be a friend, not always. But it’s alway there. You came with your body and your body came with you, and so I can dance with my body and my body can dance with me - but in ways I didn’t expect.”

“Now I want to really feel something and develop more not just as an artist, but as a person. I think I’m trying more who I am just as a human being outside of dance, because for so long I put all of my identity into it, and now I’m older I’m realising that once you’ve achieved certain things, that doesn’t fulfil you anymore - and putting all of your identity into one thing is really dangerous. I want to find work, and even to create work that really makes me think in all different ways and use all parts of me, be that my body, my mind, my personality, all of it.”

“I think there’s something about the research - that you’re not just repeating things, you’re researching your movement and your body, and constantly trying to find ways to make it sing more. And that was the biggest distinction, about the environment asking you to research, not just make the shapes. I think for me dance is somehow about constantly trying to understand more about my body and about myself. It brings me back to myself, because if I’m truly thinking about my whole body, then it’s impossible to be anywhere else.”

With Cassie Adams, Alys Davies and Anoushka Jago
Photos and video by Imogen Mansfield