Nadenh and Christian rehearsing a duet. Nadenh is lying on his side in his wheelchair, with his back to the camera, on the wooden floor of a dance studio. He is wearing a dark tank top with "The Wall" written across its back, and light blue trousers. Also with his back to the camera, Christian is lying front-down on the top wheel of Nadenh's chair. His knees are bent, sending his feet up, parallel to the ceiling. He is pressing down on the wheel with both hands, looking down on the floor. He is wearing a blue t-shirt and dark trousers.
Chris has been working on creating a new duet, The Journey Between, with Christian & Nadenh! Here he shares details on the duet, his choreographic process and his aspirations for the piece…
Can you explain what your new duet is about?
The piece is based on two separate planets. Christian & Nadenh go to the planets to discover something interesting and they both explore looking round the planets and looking into the distance as well. They have to take in the air and feel a bit of gravity as they land on their planets. As they explore the planets I want them to feel like they have been uplifted and for them to follow and imagine that they are completely lost and they both have to find each other and try and find somewhere off their planets. My inspiration for the piece came from influences I took from films, which I find very useful to include in my work.
Why did you want to work with Christian & Nadenh?
The reason I wanted to work with Christian and Nadenh is because I feel they are incredible dancers and that is why I wanted to work with them on a new duet. I also find them great to work with and they both work together well and that is why for me I find it more interesting. I came with new ideas and wanted something new in the piece and I wanted something that is more surprising and uplifting.
Have you enjoyed working with collaborators?
I feel honoured to work with others within Stopgap and getting to collaborate with composer Andy Higgs, because he is such a great composer and I like listening to his music. I enjoy working alongside him as he does seem to really understand and include my ideas, which is really helpful for me. I am looking forward to seeing the costumes as I think that they will look realistic for the new piece and that will be very interesting because I think it will blend into the projections very well.
Have you enjoyed making the duet & felt like you have developed in any way?
I’ve enjoyed creating and making the duet and I feel like this will be a great piece. Some of the things I have done throughout the process of the duet I feel I have developed well on the choreography front and I am very impressed with how it has come together. I have a fantastic team as well and I have brilliant support from Amy, Christian, Nadenh & Callum from the Stopgap team, as well as Andy Higgs, David and Jason from Carousel.
Where would you like it to tour?
I think I’d like the piece to tour in Bournemouth, Plymouth and Glasgow as well. I’d like the piece to tour to those places because I really think the audience will like it and I hope they will enjoy it.