GROUNDWORK
At The Work Room we know that over the past ten years, a groundswell of artists within our membership have been dedicating their attention and practice to environmental and ecological concerns; climate emergency and activism. Not just in concept or content, but by explicitly interrogating, and altering, ‘the how, the way, the why’ of dancing and making work. The Ground Work working group brought together a working group of six artist members who have been exploring such ecological practice within their artistic work. The selected artists responded to an open call to join the working group in December 2023 ad come together at several points throughout early 2024, with Luke Pell, for a series of group meetings and practical research trips to explore the following questions from the perspective of independent dance artists, their practice and as members of The Work Room: - What does ‘an environmental policy’ mean for independent dance artists in Scotland today and tomorrow? - What does careful resource management look like for us? - What’s unique and/or particular to our needs? How can we make change through acts of reciprocity? - What and how can this be shared across our membership; Glasgow, Scotland and beyond? - What can we do, together, that is tangible, timebound and relevant? This podcast series traces some of that time and shares their findings in a new format for The Work Room. Drafted following a series of conversations and research activities undertaken by the Groundwork working group, they are intended as offers for The Work Room artist-members and the organisation to consider as part of approaches to greener working practices, environmental ethos/policies and sustainability in lieu of the climate emergency.
Listen on:
Episodes
Sunday Oct 13, 2024
Sunday Oct 13, 2024
Following six months of conversation as the Groundwork working group, Amy, Melissa, Hamshya, Penny, Hannah, Emily and Luke sit down together to review actions and offers to share with the membership and an intention setting - as a sort of space for dreaming in or drafting of a manifesto, towards a more embodied approach to climate justice and sustainable working for our members and The Work Room - it's arranged by Sonia Killman, who brilliantly edited this series with us, and designed the beautiful sound that you've heard throughout.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
Emily talks about circus solidarity, paying attention and, leaning into one another and the reality that could be. Emily shares approaches to nurturing our embodied relationships with our natural surroundings, and centering ecological justice into the how of the practicalities of producing, touring and sharing practice and performance.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Hannah discusses what resources you; what keeps you grounded; bodies, land and being alive in aliveness. Hannah introduces us to the Greendykes Bings, to dealing with scars on the land, asking questions about slower processes in an accelerated world, and how we might find hope in unlikely places.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Penny talks about wild swimming, our connection to water, resources and responsibilities, recognising resilience, shaping things together, sustainability planners, and how we might better engage with eco-anxiety and distress by leaning into embodiment, imagination and opening up to what's needed.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Hamshya talks with Luke about finding a better balance, about other ways of perceiving, perception and the presence of all life. Hamshya brought to the group a rich knowledge and keen interest to continue to learn about how we can consciously participate in the movement ecology of Glasgow.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Melissa shares her thoughts on what it is to be a beginner when it comes to climate justice, about getting outdoors, getting connected, and the knowledge amongst us to make work in sustainable ways-how we don't need to be the first or duplicate what others are doing, but can provide one another with the support, hope, and awe we urgently need.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Friday Oct 11, 2024
Amy centres her research ideas and practices around mutual aid, rest, interception, and conversation with land. Amy discusses her intension to share tools for situating our collective experience of ecological destruction in our growth oriented society and hopes to propose rituals for moving through difficult emotions arise from this together.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
Thursday Oct 10, 2024
This a new pilot series of podcasts from The Work Room. In this episode, Luke Pell introduces the Groundwork working group of dance artists who met to consider approaches to greener working practices, environmental ethos, policies, and sustainability.
At the heart of every conversation was an intention to work towards more embodied approaches to responding to climate and biodiversity injustice, in our work and our daily lives.
Download or view a transcript of this podcast episode here
The Work Room is an artist led membership organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. Our members are independent artists in Scotland who work in dance, movement or choreography.
Groundwork was a project by The Work Room, led by artist, facilitator and dramaturg Luke Pell, which brought together a working group of six artist members based across Scotland, who explore ecological practice within their artistic work.
More on Groundwork:
About Groundwork
Read the Groundwork Manifesto
Meet the Groundwork Artists
Listen to the Groundwork Podcast Series
Groundwork Artists: Amy Dakin Harris, Hamshya Rajkumar, Penny Chivas, Hannah Draper, Melissa Heywood, Emily Nicholl
Groundwork Facilitator & Podcast Host: Luke Pell
Editing & Sound Design: Sonia Killmann
Artwork: Laura Fisher
Distribution support: Nancy Jacinto
Produced by The Work Room
Groundwork Manifesto
Alongside this series of podcasts, the working group produced a Manifesto. The Manifesto is intended as an offer for The Work Room artist-members and the organisation, to consider in their approaches to greener working practices, environmental ethos/ policies and sustainability in light of the climate emergency. The Manifesto is made up of three core sections: 1) ACHIEVABLE ACTIONS 2) RECOMMENDED RESOURCES 3) GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
You can view or download a the Groundwork Manifesto on our website