High Wyrrd 2008
An international showcase of disability, deaf and inclusive arts companies from around the globe took to the streets of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
The High Wyrrd Festival took place in seven different locations around the town centre over the weekend Friday 19 - Sunday 21 September 2008. This pilot showcase incorporated 20 dance, theatre and music events involving eight disability and inclusive companies from eight countries. Colin Hambrook had the honour of going as artist, journalist and guest; given the task of making an opening speech for the Festival. He recounts some of his highlights.
High Wyrrd was a street-art festival with a difference, giving the town a chance to witness disability and inclusive arts. The idea for High Wyrrd arose from Signdance performer, David Bower's interest in anthropoly. Wyrrd is an anglo-saxon word meaning a moment in which consciousness opens up to new and different perceptions. David told me 'The word weird is obviously derived from wyrrd. I wanted it to say that it's okay to be strange - that we could use this event as a way of breaking down international, cultural and disability barriers.'
What I enjoyed about the festival was the spirit in which it was put together; the sense of family that all the artists worked hard to create over a very short time. Artistic director and Signdance performer Isolte Avrila told me 'We could only have done this with artists we've built up a relationship with over many years.' Signdance spend at least half of the year travelling and performing all over the world.
From the Friday afternoon onwards there was a real buzz in the town. An excitement that here was something High Wycombe had never seen before. Friday evening in front of the Guildhall Undercroft began with Taste the Art - a street performance based on the idea of bidding to sell the dancers' art. 'Come on' shouts Jurij Konjar 'we're in the business of selling souls here. Who will give me £2000?' Tentatively he takes the four dancers through their paces; admonishing them; making them stop and start again. The musicians look shocked by Jurij's aggression, but respond with brilliant timing as the dancers submit gracefully. 'For £100 you can have a dancer perform especially for you. You can memorise their moves and take it home to put on your wall.' The price comes down to £5 or £10 as a bucket is passed around to willing punters. It's a disconcerting idea, but there's enough humour in Jurij's delivery to make it work.
David Bower and Isolte Avrila of Signdance Collective performing Travelling in the Guildhall undercroft
And it lead perfectly into Signdance's Travelling – an overture to the nomadic lifestyle of the artist, who is perpetually crossing physical and existential boundaries. Performer Isolte Avrila told me that the direction done by Ornella D'Agostino has left Signdance with a piece of work that is so solidly constructed that they could take it and perform it anywhere. The audience reaction was fascinating. There were consistent and loud shouts of approval from one or two people – especially during some of the humorous interludes in the show. Signdance somehow took hold of the intrusive language and used it to add to the energy and dynamism of the piece. That ability to take random chaotic elements and spontaneously use them to your advantage, is a skill that always amazes me.
I wondered what J G Ballard would have made of High Wyrrd. His latest psychopathological novel Kingdom Come has a similar setting to the Eden Shopping Centre where some of my High Wyrrd highlights took place. In the centre of Eden on Saturday afternoon David Bower set up to perform Listen – a hardcore disability arts piece about tinnitus and hearing loss. It opens with a projection of high pitched sounds put through visual imaging software to create a series of landscapes. Bower mirrors the tall towers projected onto the screen, acting out his experience of deafness with a powerful and charismatic performance. The delicate moment when Bower's signing of a flower opening, is mirrored in a graphic projection behind him, is etched onto my memory. An audience of passing shoppers gathered in amazement. What on earth was happening? They were intrigued, dazzled. Some asked questions about what he was doing.
They wanted to understand what was going on, which is a massive testament to the performance and direction of the piece. J G Ballard's novel is based on the Ikea riots of 2002. He talks about the shopping mall as a religious centre geared to the worship of the god Mammon, that is changing human attitudes and consciousness. He expresses an idea that the body of shopping centres built up on the satellite towns around the M25 are turning those communities into a uniform, mindless, brutal and prejudiced mass, devoid of humanity. The fact that town planners would even call a shopping centre Eden, implicates this theory. But into this land of milk and honey come Signdance using the environment to say something personal about the human condition. I couldn't say that it proves J G Ballard wrong – but the fact that the Eden allowed it to happen and their customers were engaged, illustrates that the extreme situations in the plot of Kingdom Come are not the whole of the story.
Antoine Hunter performing in All Saints churchyard
As I said before Signdance were one of eight companies who performed in the showcase. The most chilled out part of the festival for me was the Saturday afternoon dance performances which took place in the All Saints Churchyard. I was massively impressed by the dedication and sheer focus of Anjali Dance Company. They are so unique in look and feel. They performed Butterfly - a piece based on the language of superhero Japanese comic books. There is a sensuality to what they do that crosses boundaries. It reminded me of David Bowers comment repeated throughout Travelling where he interjects with the refrain 'you are not allowed to do that.' Anjali have set a precedent that shows just how skilled learning disabled dancers can be – proving wrong all the voices of dissent. Butterfly was originally devised as an outdoor piece - and it worked beautifully in the churchyard attracting an audience of over 200.
The spontaneity of the event was key to its success. Urban dance warrior Antoine Hunter from Oakland, California was a star of improvisation. Every movement he makes is imbued with intention. He works with a massive range of dance companies and can do everything from Jazz and Hip Hop to Ballet with a grace and definition that defies the imagination.
He did a piece called Black Satan based on his experience of 'otherness', as a Deaf, African American. The dance was painfully intense and provocatively engaging. He says he wants his audiences to 'taste the dance'. He can move through space like a leaf falling through a summer breeze or an object which has learnt to defy gravity. There was a lot of fun too – especially during the contact improvisation he did with Jenny Clitheroe. It was an adventure in communication as the two dancers wove patterns around each other in all directions.
Ana Monro theatre as the cleaning ladies in front of Eden shopping centre
There isn't enough room here to name check all the companies. I'd love to have caught more of the Ana Monro theatre from Slovenia. They were a wild street act whose hilarious efforts at cleaning up the streets of High Wycombe were very entertaining. It was also a real privilege to finally get to see Esther Appleyards' work in the flesh. Her exhibition 'In Response' in the foyer of the Swan Theatre was a significant add-on to High Wyrrd. She showed paintings from A Series of Lines alongside work by Adam Reynolds who collaborated with Signdance many times during his lifetime. The work dresses-up images of dna patterns to ask questions about genetic boundaries.
This pilot festival was a tour de force in balancing serious intent with family fun. Many of the locals may have found the event weird – but in an entertaining and thought-provoking fashion. All the partners involved in making it happen from the shopping and market centres to Arts Council, Wycombe District Council and Creative Bucks, must have been pleased with the outcome. The audiences totalled nearly 1000 over the weekend, excluding the multitude of shoppers who only briefly interacted.
So, here's to another High Wyrrd next year.
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last updated: 2008-10-01 13:33:39
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