Research and Development, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, focused on the experimentation of materials, aesthetics and design to create a life-sized object/puppet forming the centerpiece of this new work.
Collaborating with Jonathan Watkins of the Royal Ballet, this innovative work explores new methods of puppetry and dance whilst examining body distortion, form and function, seeking out a new language of choreographic movement and animation. By fusing puppetry and dance AnimationDance examines the relationship between animation of object and choreography of body and how they can be applied to both disciplines.
The research included a two-day workshop at the Broadway Theatre in East London, giving young people a rare opportunity of handling and operating one of Skerritt's newly constructed life-sized puppets. They were also asked to create their own moving objects/puppets, which, through the help of Gavin's expertise, they brought “life” to, looking at movement and manipulation and how dance and choreography can be applied to a moving object/puppet.
“The initial concept for this new project was first planted whilst developing my production Y Weledigaeth. The main puppet explored its movements through the outside static tensions of its strings. This developing technique gave a quality very different from a puppeteer’s hand manipulating stings, offering me a new vocabulary from which I could choreograph and animate an object/ puppet.”
Gavin Skerritt
R&D
Supported By
