I was able to contribute a song to ‘Dwell’, a Happening with Grand Gestures Dance Collective (GGDC). They are a company who highlight the artistic qualities of older dancers and especially the culturally disruptive tendencies of their dance work.
GGDC seeks to question normative conceptions of the older dancer and to be ‘politely disruptive’ in its occupations of public space. For this version of the song my friend and fine musician, singer and songwriter in her own rite, Bex Mather added harmony vocals.
I began writing the song when working as a youth worker in the Scotswood area of the west end of Newcastle and it was originally recorded down in London with jazz musician Gerry Hunt from The Grand Union Orchestra. That version can be found here www.vimeo.com/462382381.
In both cases the importance of home and place are crucial, I wanted the song to come from the lived in experience that others can only see but never really feel. Find out more about Grand Gestures on their website www.grandgesturesdance.uk.
