FRIEND
Gillie Kleiman
SPILL Festival and Gillie Kleiman is putting on a special project called friend.
In Summer 2024, we put a call out for five people to work with Gillie to learn a new dance performance, to be performed in their own homes to an audience of their friends. To take part, they could not be a professional dancer, and in fact they might never have performed before.
Participants will be supported to learn and develop a solo dance by Gillie and her colleagues, and there were specially created information packs provided to everyone who takes part. All the participants will learn the dance at the same time, and if they choose to, will join together for a professional photo. Everyone who is taking part will receive a stipend of £500.
Stay tuned for further updates as the dances commence!
Friend | GILLIE KLEIMAN:
‘friend is a performance for a non-professional dancer to present in their home to an audience of only their friends. The fixed score, made up of distinct components, comes together into a 30-minute choreography which playfully folds the performer and their performance into cultural history. Rather than asking the performers to talk about their lives, friend is a form of portraiture that allows the audience to see their dear one completely anew, invoking the strange potentialities of contemporary dance to tenderly invite the friends to see and be seen in a novel way. It involves iconic post-modern American dance performance Trio A, two versions of I Will Always Love You, karaoke, and a small but effective smoke machine. It gestures to existing practices of domestic performance (beatnik poetry recitals, children’s pop concerts) whilst creating the context for introducing performers and audience alike to the skill and joy of watching contemporary dance through a series of carefully-designed discussion prompts over a shared post-show meal. It is craftful, ridiculous, and very very friendly.’ - Gillie Kleiman
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