Dancer and Choreographer Louise Ahl was in residence at iC4C for 2 weeks during June. Louise developed material for a new dance performance Heavy Metal. The work is a Tramway co-production with BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Informed by a period of choreographic research residencies at Tasdance and Critical Path in Australia in June/July 2018 (funded by Creative Scotland and Australia Council for the Arts). During this time Louise researched a feminist approach to alchemy, and visual description as a method to create layers of meaning to abstract content. One of these weeks was spent with Sydney-based choreographer Angela Goh, where they were developing a method to make sculptures that slowly decay inside, through a process of burying a mixed content that could decompose (garlic, blood, vinegar, flowers etc.) inside sheets of aluminium that was then beaten into a sculptural form.

This period of research shaped ideas for a new durational performance work, which Louise will now be working towards in the Dance4 residency. Louise is interested in creating what alchemists talk about as ‘thought images’ – abstract imagery filled with symbolism which was made to cultivate a person’s intuitive insight into matter and form, in order to disrupt any rationalising and ‘making sense’ of a piece of art.

Her residency culminated in a studio sharing of the developed work up to this point.

Studio Sharing of Heavy Metal

Glasgow-based choreographer and artist Louise Ahl developed a new durational dance performance with a group of Scottish, English and Australian collaborators.

Heavy Metal will draw on a feminist approach to alchemy and transformation to explore matter and form. A durational work of up to six hours incorporating alchemical methods of repetition, distillation and decay within the choreographic process, the work will involve dance, scented sculptures, a vocal composition, elements of visual description and an integrated touch tour.

Ultimate Dancer (Louise Ahl’s dance alias) and collaborators will create imagery that transforms over time, working with slowly shifting bodies, sculptural material changing shapes and accumulating in the space, a drawn out vocal composition and the visual description continually changing the interpretation to evoke new imagery.

Supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Louise Ahl

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