RJ Thomson
As collaborators we were thinking about:
- where do myths come from and how do they persist so powerfully?
- how can the overlapping of different forms of artistic communication be stretched to seek out new meanings or resonances?
- how does Paul’s body, that of an ageing dancer and bodybuilder, relate to our ideas of a minotaur?
- labyrinths essentially offer us a dual perspective: the inside, trapped or disoriented view; and the external, pattern-seeing, god-like view; how can we represent both in our films without being too explicit about it?
(perhaps mentioning it in the blurb does the trick…)
A dreamlike pair of black and white short films, Minotaur/Labyrinth layers text, image and sound in a disquieting reconsideration of one of our most enduring mythologies.
RJ Thomson & Dudendance
As collaborators we were thinking about:
- where do myths come from and how do they persist so powerfully?
- how can the overlapping of different forms of artistic communication be stretched to seek out new meanings or resonances?
- how does Paul’s body, that of an ageing dancer and bodybuilder, relate to our ideas of a minotaur?
- labyrinths essentially offer us a dual perspective: the inside, trapped or disoriented view; and the external, pattern-seeing, god-like view; how can we represent both in our films without being too explicit about it?
(perhaps mentioning it in the blurb does the trick…)
A dreamlike pair of black and white short films, Minotaur/Labyrinth layers text, image and sound in a disquieting reconsideration of one of our most enduring mythologies.
Labyrinth
Minotaur
Dramaturg's Notes
The films Labyrinth and Minotaur offer a vision of what the mythological creature the minotaur could represent in current times. Written and conceived by RJ Thomson and filmmaker and choreographer Clea Wallis, with performance artist Paul Rous and sonic artist Ela Orleans, these monochromatic films seek to do the impossible – to capture the minotaur. As a result, we get fragments of what that beast could be, sounds of breath amplified and glimpses of its habitat – explicitly suggesting that somehow the Labyrinth might beget the minotaur, perhaps across time and geological-biological spaces.
In Labyrinth, the tight shots of rocks, structures, seaweeds and waves give a sense of both the geography and geology of the landscapes from which the minotaur had emerged. At the same time, could these textures also throw into relief ideas of pathways and the anthropocene – both in the landscape and within the human/minotaur body? As a continuation, Minotaur offers the audience a commentary on the minotaur as an untameable creature that still lives through mankind. The vastness of the oceans and caves further adds to the mysticism surrounding the myth.
The stylistic use of intertitles and the film aesthetics also give ode to films from the early era. Labyrinth offers expository intertitles, which provide supplemental narrative material and a commentary on the subject matter. On the other hand, the dialogue intertitles used in Minotaur add another layer to the voiceover. Acoss both films, the music score further reinforces the mood and offers the audience emotional cues.
About Artist(s)
RJ Thomson & Dudendance
RJ Thomson
RJ Thomson is a Writer and Director, working across text, film, installation and performance.
Recently he was co-director of Glimpse (2023), a large-scale installation, film and performance work at National Gallery Singapore. His performance works have been presented at Edinburgh Art Festival, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Dance Base, Battersea Arts Centre, and Edinburgh International Science Festival. His work Edinburgh (2012) received particularly laudatory reviews from the Scotsman newspaper and Exeunt magazine.
In November 2014 he was named as one of the Hospital 100, a list of the ‘most influential and innovative' cultural workers in the UK, in the 'Theatre and Performance' category.
He has worked in a number of creative leadership roles: currently he creates immersive experiences as Design Director at Neon (2023-); also in Singapore he was Director of Programmes and Producing at AHL (2019-2021). In the UK he was head of Performance and Dance activities at Southbank Centre in London (2015-2019), and from 2011 to 2015 was founding Artistic Director at Summerhall, a multi-arts venue in Edinburgh described by the Guardian in 2014 as ‘one of the world’s great arts centres’.
Rupert’s programmes have won over 40 major awards, and he has created projects with Oscar-winners (Tim Yip), Nobel Prize-winners (Dario Fo, Peter Higgs), and major artists from Jean-Paul Gaultier to Mica Levi, English poet laureates to outstanding Tunisian breakdancers.
Clea Wallis
Clea’s first dance training (1980-1983) was at the Indian Academy of Dance at the Commonwealth Institute in London with maestro Indian dancer Tara Raj Rajkumar which included performing in UK tours with her troupe from the south Indian Kathakali Kalamandarum. During this period Clea also studied ballet under Kirov ballet’s Zina Navratilova and American tap with Gregory Hines, Will Gains and Honey Coles. In 1983 Clea attended Camberwell Art School Foundation course where she met Paul Rous. Together, along with German writer Anne Duden they founded Dudendance Theatre.
During Dudendance’s early years Clea spent time in New York (1984-1985) studying choreography under Bertolt Brecht collaborator / expressionist choreographer Anna Sokolov at the Mary Anthony Studio. She also attended Martha Graham Studio and trained at the Alwin Nikolias school as well as painting / colour technique with students of painter Joseph Albers. Under the recommendation of East German play-write Heiner Muller, Clea undertook a residency at the Dance Theatre of Wuppertal with Pina Bausch where she attended rehearsals, company class and local touring in Germany Between 1985-1989. She returned to Wuppertal several times, including performances with Dudendance.
Pina Bausch’s creative method, which involved devising with her group through improvisation, was the inspiration for Dudendance’s early works. Clea continued to develop in a slightly different direction working on a smaller scale with groups of 7-10 people and combining poems and prose texts of Anna Duden in non -narrative, poetic soundscapes. Clea started to get more inspired by film, especially directors Jean Cocteau, Luis Bunuel and Alain Resnais.
Paul Rous
Influenced by American Abstract Expressionism Paul attended Camberwell School of Arts degree course (1982-85) where he also developed an interest in the performative dynamic within his painting and drawing. He created large scale drawing installations that would cover the studio in a dynamic painterly movement. This lead him to develop an interest in pure dance and performance. As well as his work with Dudendance he went into full time training at The Dance -Theatre Academy Putney training in classical ballet and contemporary dance (87-89).
He also worked as a stagehand at the Apollo and Globe Theatres in London before moving to St Albans in Hertfordshire to raise his family. He continued to perform including with Dance Unlimited in several physical theatre productions including “George and the Dragon” which premiered in London at The Place before touring extensively in the UK. Whilst living in St Albans he worked for the Hertfordshire Youth Service as a member of their Arts team. This involved working with young people on arts projects throughout the county developing and touring dance productions to youth festivals across Europe. He also continued studying contemporary dance with Motionhouse Dance Company, V-Tol as well as Laurie Booth and Lloyd Newson. This culminated in producing solo work that premiered at The Place as part of the “Resolution” season.
Between 1990-1994 Paul was offered a position within the educational unit of the Mount Prison in Hemmel Hempstead. This was a correctional facility for young male offenders and long term prisoners. He was taken on full time to teach dance and theatre studies and would regularly create productions with inmates for performance within the prison. The teaching of “dance” within a prison environment led to some very interesting challenges but Paul used improvisation and slap- stick to make fast paced, often comedic, anarchic works with the prisoners.
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