CUH Arts Producer Alice Woodhouse gives us an insight into the process of commissioning an artist to respond to the Dance for Health programme.
When our celebration of the 10th anniversary year of Dance for Health was first conceived, an exhibition and visual focal point was a very important element. Over the years, there have been many photographers documenting the programme, and a couple (opens in a new tab) of films (opens in a new tab), but there hadn’t been an attempt to capture the spirit of the sessions. Our goal was to make an exhibition that encapsulated the rarely seen and often quiet and emotional work the programme delivers.
In development discussions between Filipa and myself, it became clear that we needed to commission an artist to be ‘in residence’ with Dance for Health. By setting up this context, and acknowledging the essential element of collaboration between the appointed artist, Filipa and the hospital, I was confident we had the right approach.
Next came the artist research. While I knew this was a dream brief for the right person, it took awhile to land in the right hands. The artist would need to; live/life draw, be comfortable with an audience, potentially dance, be comfortable producing work in an extreme context, and understand the ethos and aims of the programme. And, be happy with the as yet unknown outcomes forming the visuals of an exhibition, with quite a short timeline.
I was introduced to Lena Yokoyama through a friend who is an illustrator*. Lena’s work is intuitive and revolves around visual translation; endeavouring to express movement, meaning, place and narrative. In our first discussion, she explained she moved a lot growing up and the first thing she would hunt out when in a new place was a dance class and studio. Dance has been the medium through how she relates to a new place, and how she learnt to make connections. Lena also explained that my email about the project had landed with her just days since she had returned from a residency in Mexico. There she had been spending the last six weeks exploring and experimenting to incorporate movement into her mark making. A good sign I thought, and Filipa agreed!
The Wards that Filipa works with were excited to have Lena join. Although fitting into the schedule of the usual Dance for Health programme, we needed to structure these special sessions to accommodate the drawing, doing this takes time, and staff support, so to maximise the potential but minimise the input, we were stationed in a ward for a whole day. Each ward has their specific specialism and we needed to respond to a mix of groups and places. In the mornings we organised group dance and drawing sessions, and the afternoons were dedicated to one-on-one or bed-based sessions.
Developing on from her current drawing practice, the speed and style of her marks reflected the music and action in front of her, and she aimed captured the feeling of the moment. For example, a representation of Bill from Ward G6 shows him belting out the Tina Turner song, and not his oxygen mask. Lena was extremely generous with her working style and often came down to the floor to sit and draw amidst the session. This gave different angels, but also the participants the opportunity to see, in real time, the work being produced. Over the days Lena spent at the hospital, she developed and shifted her focus and styles to focus on different elements. She double the size of her paper, and brought pre-prepared collages inspired by the architecture of the children’s Oncology ward (C2). We were also able to utilise our Arts Trolley (a repurposed medical cart, covered in stickers to avoid confusion) as a portable desk.
We are delighted with the work Lena has produced. Her flexibility, attention and eye has produced some drawings and live sketches of workshops, dance duets, conversations, sing-alongs and one-to-ones. These works directly influenced the core ‘sections’ in our exhibition – Relationships, Improvisations, Connections, Stories and Touch. Lena’s drawings are visual moments of movement, echoing the spirit of the sessions and encapsulating those fleeting and unexpected encounters of emotion which occur when we bring our whole selves to dance.
*Shout out to the wonderful Alice Bowsher (opens in a new tab), thankyou!