SCOTLAND’S leading contemporary dance duo Errol White and Davina Givan are to go on tour with the world premiere of their new show.
Originally due to tour during spring 2020 but postponed due to Covid, Worn draws inspiration from the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken pottery is mended with gold or silver, making the cracks into a beautiful and valuable part of the object.
Referring to kintsugi, the show raises questions about the acceptance of transience and imperfection in society’s current Instagram culture.
“We think there is a conversation somewhere about us being experienced performers and choreographers who don’t want to be put in a box” said Givan. “We are dance artists and our age is part of our journey and extremely important as that brings a wealth of experiences and knowledge.
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“However, we don’t want it to be the thing that defines us, steering people away from the deeper layers within the heart of Worn that are complex and subtle.”
White said kintsugi reclaims and re-imagines broken porcelain, “transformed and unapologetic about its past and how time has affected it”.
“A phrase that we have been working with in the studio is ‘the beautiful broken’ – accepting who we are now, embracing change however this may mark us,” said White. “We use our bodies to explore physically how these experiences live within us, a living breathing vessel holding a lifetime of experience and memories.”
He added that personal memories had also influenced their new work.
“One that stands out for me is receiving my father’s leather jacket as a young man,” said White.
“It was from the 60s or 70s, the colour a strange, almost-orange with the lining beginning to degrade. It had a smell that brought back memories instantly; the past became the present, releasing a flood of emotion directly into my body as though time had ceased to exist.
“There was a letter in the top left-hand front pocket from my mum to my dad. When I found it, I felt as if it was only yesterday that the letter was written and placed into his pocket.
“The leather had taken on the marks and creases of a lifetime of experiences. Like skin these marks were now part of its hidden story.”
The show can be seen at Edinburgh Fringe from August 16-21 then around Scotland from September 20 to November 11.
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This year is a busy one for White and Givan as they are researching and developing two new pieces alongside the largescale tour of Worn.
Hush is a new group work for four dancers on the themes of isolation, defiance, obedience and silence and will mark the company’s first performance not featuring the couple on stage. Grace is a duet for White and Givan, conceived during lockdown and inspired by the vulnerability and strength of the body as found in paintings from Caravaggio to Paula Rego.
The 2022 tour of Worn is funded by Creative Scotland.
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