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ResDance S2: Episode 4: Reflections on the dancing body with James Hewison
ResDance S2: Episode 4 – Reflections on the dancing body with James Hewison
James offers insights into his journey as a dancer, choreographer, educator and researcher, reflecting upon his training and professional experiences, and his current areas of research focus. Through discussion around his different ways of working, he shares thoughts on the role of decision making in his practice and the value of process in improvisation and creative tasks. Throughout this rich and well-considered episode, James reflects upon the questions he asks about his own dancing body.
James Hewison (MA, FHEA) is a Senior Lecturer in Dance in the Department of Creative Arts at Edge Hill University. He has made, performed and toured nationally and internationally in professional dance and physical theatre work since 1991. He was a co-founder and Associate Artistic Director of Vtol Dance Company (Dir. Mark Murphy) with whom he performed from 1991 to 2000. James also has extensive international performance credits with Volcano Theatre Company with whom he has worked in a variety of creative roles since 1993. James has additionally performed with CandoCo Dance Company, Emilyn Claid, Adam Benjamin, Kirstie Simson, and Steve Kirkham, and he was a key collaborative artist and researcher in a series of practice-based and professional dance-theatre projects with Helen Bailey and Ersatz Dance from 1999 to 2010. More recently James has created solo performance work and has collaborated on new creative research projects with professional dance and circus artist, Michelle Man, resulting in a series of international performances including most recently, Luze (2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtkDoJNOow0.
James’s teaching expertise focuses on embodied practices in dance techniques, improvisation and composition, and performance-making and direction and he has previously worked as an External Examiner at the University of Chichester, Trinity Laban Centre London, and for London Studio Centre. Current research includes contributions to The Shakespeare and Dance Project (USA) on choreographic adaptations of The Sonnets: https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/choreographing-the-sonnets-volcano-theatre-companys-love. He is currently leading on a place-seeking choreographic project that explores the experiences of male dancers in the North West of England, and specifically in his home town of Warrington.
Email: [email protected]
Other links:
1) Explorations of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory and its application to Contact Improvisation: https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/risk-and-flow-in-contact-improvisation-pleasure-play-and-presence-2.
2) Practice-based research with Michelle Man on the work of surrealist artist and author, Leonora Carrington: https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/imaginarium-2
3)Co-editor for the edited collection, Leonora Carrington: Living Legacies. Wilmington: Vernon Press, USA. Cox, A. Hewison, J. Man, M. Shannon, R. (2019).
Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action.
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By Dr. Gemma HarmanResDance S2: Episode 4 – Reflections on the dancing body with James Hewison
James offers insights into his journey as a dancer, choreographer, educator and researcher, reflecting upon his training and professional experiences, and his current areas of research focus. Through discussion around his different ways of working, he shares thoughts on the role of decision making in his practice and the value of process in improvisation and creative tasks. Throughout this rich and well-considered episode, James reflects upon the questions he asks about his own dancing body.
James Hewison (MA, FHEA) is a Senior Lecturer in Dance in the Department of Creative Arts at Edge Hill University. He has made, performed and toured nationally and internationally in professional dance and physical theatre work since 1991. He was a co-founder and Associate Artistic Director of Vtol Dance Company (Dir. Mark Murphy) with whom he performed from 1991 to 2000. James also has extensive international performance credits with Volcano Theatre Company with whom he has worked in a variety of creative roles since 1993. James has additionally performed with CandoCo Dance Company, Emilyn Claid, Adam Benjamin, Kirstie Simson, and Steve Kirkham, and he was a key collaborative artist and researcher in a series of practice-based and professional dance-theatre projects with Helen Bailey and Ersatz Dance from 1999 to 2010. More recently James has created solo performance work and has collaborated on new creative research projects with professional dance and circus artist, Michelle Man, resulting in a series of international performances including most recently, Luze (2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtkDoJNOow0.
James’s teaching expertise focuses on embodied practices in dance techniques, improvisation and composition, and performance-making and direction and he has previously worked as an External Examiner at the University of Chichester, Trinity Laban Centre London, and for London Studio Centre. Current research includes contributions to The Shakespeare and Dance Project (USA) on choreographic adaptations of The Sonnets: https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/choreographing-the-sonnets-volcano-theatre-companys-love. He is currently leading on a place-seeking choreographic project that explores the experiences of male dancers in the North West of England, and specifically in his home town of Warrington.
Email: [email protected]
Other links:
1) Explorations of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory and its application to Contact Improvisation: https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/risk-and-flow-in-contact-improvisation-pleasure-play-and-presence-2.
2) Practice-based research with Michelle Man on the work of surrealist artist and author, Leonora Carrington: https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/publications/imaginarium-2
3)Co-editor for the edited collection, Leonora Carrington: Living Legacies. Wilmington: Vernon Press, USA. Cox, A. Hewison, J. Man, M. Shannon, R. (2019).
Please share this episode with students, educators, practitioners, performers, and interdisciplinary researchers curious to learn more about dance research in action.