Initiated by Jennifer-Lynn Crawford, Tom Goodwin and Amy Voris, peregrinations brings together elements of ritual, dreaming and travelling through different body systems to invite the gathering of movement-imagery which springs out of our shared field of awareness. We have been collaborating intermittently for several years, growing a shared understanding of how our distinct approaches to dance-making might intersect and synthesise. The project has evolved through hybrid modes of working (in-person and online) rooted in a studio in a former cotton spinning mill in Manchester.
Early stage sharings have included the invitation to join us for afternoons of ‘slow practice’ which include a whistlestop-embodiment-tour of the endocrine system followed by the witnessing of a durational improvisational event. This is then followed by a collective after-telling and meaning-making. We have discovered that ‘being seen’ while practicing might become our method for generating a collectively-devised work.
We are curious about the relevance and need for imaginative and embodied work around themes of ‘place’. What tools for practice can we develop that support familiarity and intimacy in/through a site? How can we embed in and relate to new environments perceptually and creatively?
We are now at the stage where we are seeking alternative sites to explore this process.
A transatlantic transplant, Jennifer-Lynn Crawford trained in Canada at Quinte Ballet School and the School of Toronto Dance Theatre before gaining her Pg-Dip and M.A. at London Contemporary Dance School. She completed her Rolfing training at the European Rolfing Association in Munich and continues her study through ongoing workshops in both Rolfing and other modalities. She has a long-standing involvement in the UK’s conservatoire system for HE dance training and was on faculty at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance 2007-2016. She has taught and performed throughout the UK and internationally, working with choreographers such as Charlotte Spencer, Hagit Yakira and Hofesh Shechter.
Tom Goodwin is a dance and movement practitioner based on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, working as a performer, facilitator, teacher and rehearsal director in professional and community settings in the UK and sometimes further afield. His training and influences include Bartenieff Fundamentals, various release-based and floor work contemporary dance styles, Body Weather, Ido Portal Method, Tai Chi, and deep ecology practices. He focuses his practice on how easeful collaborative processes facilitate welcoming dynamic exchange in formal, informal, designated and wayward settings. These collaborations often involve landscape, other species and movement-practicing humans. He has a keen interest in wildness, in our inner and outer nature. This has taken root in projects such as the seasonal roaming Kinship Workshop and scored improvisational performance contexts with artists such as Charlie Morrissey, Meytal Blanaru, Joan Clevillé and most recently with collaborators Amy Voris and Jennifer-Lynn Crawford. Wildness and nature-connection practice support finding his place in creative, choreographic and landscape ecologies. In the crossover of livelihood and life, he has an ongoing practice of embodiment, community-building, allyship, nature connection, straight-talking and diving into the heart of the matter.
Amy Voris is a dance-maker and facilitator based in Manchester, UK. Her practice is process-oriented and collaborative, driven by the desire to develop enduring relationships with people, places and movement material. In addition to peregrinations, examples of current work include a site-responsive project (enter & inhabit), a collaboration with a jewellery maker (flockOmania) and a collaboration exploring artist-led curation for experimental performance practices (Accumulations). She has completed training in Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy with Linda Hartley which informs her approach to dance-making and facilitating.