'Glimpsing Air Pockets' by Christina Liddell
Glimpsing Air Pockets is an interactive dance performance that Christina wove
together to honour the young people at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children
in Edinburgh. During the performance the audience are invited to explore the
magical set where they can find interactive toadstool mushrooms, fish swimming
in a light-projected pond, hempseed maracas to play with and little felt bees
and other beasties in amongst the set pieces.
It was such a joy to construct the set pieces from as much reused and naturally-
regenerative materials as possible! We also had living plants in the set which
gave a uniquely organic, intimate feel to the performance. The children from the
hospital made woven 'wishes' and, during the show, the audience were invited to
hang the wishes on the trees that we had woven out of willow.
During the performance, Christina invited a young girl from the hospital to do a
short dance duet with her. This lovely detail tied the whole piece together. It
was a truly beautiful and heartfelt performance that touched the hearts of many
and shone a light on the remarkable young kids at the Royal Hospital for Sick
Children.
As designer assistant, I wrote a reflection paper with designer Mona Kastell on
'Glimpsing Air Pockets' that has been published in the peer reviewed journal
Scene:
Kastell, M. and Myers, H. (2019), 'Ecoscenography in action:
Bridging stage design with nature connection to shape sustainable communities
and wellbeing', Scene, 7:1+2, pp. 29-44, doi: 10.1386/scene_00004_1
Concept & Dance: Christina Liddell
Ecoscenographer: Mona Kastell
Sensory pads/projections: DLSV
Music: Greg Sinclair
Video: Tao-Anas Le Thanh
Designer assistant: Hannah Myers
Photography: Mona Kastell and Hannah Myers
Funded by Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity & Creative Scotland
Premiered at Dance Base, Edinburgh.
