Just over two years ago, on 27 September 2019 we opened a call for proposals as part of the 3 x 1 minute Screen.dance commissions, soon to be known as 3 x 1 – an opportunity for 3 Scottish choreographers to develop new interdisciplinary collaborations with filmmakers and create 1 minute screen dance works.
There were 28 submissions and 8 made it to the shortlist. The final 3 commissioned projects were a near unanimous decision by the panel based on the project teams’ submissions and strengths in matching the range of our Screen.dance criteria.
Fast forward to 14 October 2021 – the world premiere of High Winds & Slippery Surfaces by Pernille Spence, Corinne Jola and Zoë Irvine – the final of the 3 x 1 minute Screen.dance commissions following Deer OH by Natali McCleary and Siri Rodnes and Floor Falls by Jennifer Paterson, Abby Warrilow and Lewis Gourlay.
We caught up with the trio of co-directors Pernille Spence, Corinne Jola and Zoë Irvine ahead of the world premiere of their 3 x 1 work and asked them what High Winds & Slippery Surfaces is about:
“Our one minute film is about a fleeting body who fights to maintain control of their movement as they find themselves in an unstable and unpredictable environment.
We wanted to experiment with the friction between physical action, sound and space in order to awaken the kinaesthetic sense of the viewer. We introduced repeated disruption in the flow of action and sound. We also emphasised the abrupt changes between involuntary and choreographed movements to create a dark, unsettling viewing experience.
We hope that within a minute, High Winds & Slippery Surfaces will take our viewers to a sonically immersive environment, somewhere beyond the screen, somewhere where there is a greater sense of awareness of the space surrounding us.”
What better way to celebrate the world premiere of High Winds & Slippery Surfaces and the finale of the 3 x 1 Screen.dance commisisons but in the context of Outwith – one of the the four curated programmes of Scottish short dance films selected to be presented at DanceLive 2021 Festival both online worlwide and onsite at Citymoves Dance Agency’s HQ at the Anatomy Rooms. Outwith features nine screen dance works drawn from a juried open call and livestreams on 14 October 2021, 21:00 BST. Book your front row seats here and stay on for the post-screening Q&A with the artists, including Pernille Spence and Corinne Jola.
As we prepare to roll out the proverbial red carpet for the world premiere of High Winds & Slippery Surfaces, let’s take a moment to remember Simon Fildes (1962-2021) to whom this work is dedicated to. Simon would have been proud of this grand finale of 3 x 1 – his brainchild project which we launched in 2019.
Here is to you, Simon with a trailer of Floor Falls by Jennifer Paterson, Abby Warrilow and Lewis Gourley – the first completed 1 minute Screen.dance commission produced with your mentorship and premiered at our Screen.dance Festival on 20 June 2020 and since screened in a range of international festivals.
We are also very excited to announce that Simon’s final project Do you mind can I ask you…(what happened to your legs)? which is supported by Creative Scotland, Eyebolls, Cagoule, Goat Media and a community of 139 backers is being completed later this year. It is a semi-narrative moving image work that reflects on what it’s like to experience having a progressive degenerative condition. For further details about Do you mind can I ask you…(what happened to your legs)? please contact Wyn Pottratz at Goat Media info (at) go-at.co.uk.
