Janice Parker

So, we are in October already. It rains as I write this, and Edinburgh glistens. I’m unusual in that I love both the rain and the dark and always feel more settled and at home in these kinds of days. An introverts paradise is how I think of them. However time does fly, work continues to blossom and here is some info on the three shows I worked on way-back in August as part of the Edinburgh Fringe and The International Book Festival.

The Basque Showcase at Dance Base in the Edinburgh Fringe went well. Earlier in the year I spent a week with Proyecto Collectivo HQPC in Donostia-San Sebastian mentoring and supporting them in their preparations for Edinburgh. After 3 days of Fringe performances they went off renewed in the politics and practice of their work, having made connections and contacts that will support and sustain their future, and were  also renewed in their sense of cultural identity and where and how it overlaps with other spaces and places. A wheelchair using choreographer, Maylis Arrabit,  is a rare phenomenon indeed. Bravo to Dance Base’s Morag Deyes for programming this diversity in and amongst an already gloriously diverse programme of work. It was a pleasure to be a small part of it.  Here we  all  are  after  the final  rehearsal  in San Sebastian

I also had the pleasure of witnessing musician Rowan Rheingan’s performance of “Dispatches on the Red Dress”. A few months earlier Rowan and dramaturg         Liam Hurley had invited me to spend a couple of days working with Rowan on the movement and physicality of the newly-forming show. I’ve started to language this work as facilitating artists to become embodied and emboldened – to discover and bring to the surface the movement language that they are searching for, a language that already exists somewhere in the body but is as yet undiscovered, unknown and sometimes hiding itself from the limelight. Anyhow, this was Rowan’s first piece of gig-theatre and I’m delighted to say that this self-funded bold and passionate adventure went on to win a Scotsman Fringe First Award (and also nominations for The Carol Tambor ‘Best of Edinburgh’ Award and the Filipa Braganca Award for Best Emerging Female Artist.) Thanks to the wonderful Karine Polwart for connecting us.

The next and final August sojourn was to work with the ever amazing Linda McLean and Orla O’Loughin on Playing With Books, a partnership between the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Linda adapted Canadian author Miriam Toews’ novel ‘Talking Women’ into a stage play and together with 8 stellar Scottish actors, directed by Orla we worked together over 4 days  to create a sold out public sharing of the work in the Spiegaltent at the Book Festival. The book is tough, harrowing and ultimately supremely hopeful. Based on true events, ‘Talking Women’ is a testament to women and their means and mechanisms of survival and contribution to the world. The author has given each of the women characters a deep and particular gestural and movement language which is why I was there, supporting the understanding and embodiement of  its place in the overall work and in each of the characters. The world needs these women and I’m delighted to say that at the end of this month Linda, Orla and I are going to the Toronto International Festival of Authors to repeat the process and this time with 8 Canadian actors.

HQPC collective is preparing a new version of it's "Habrá que ponerse cachas" show to perform it in @edfringe . For that, as an iniciative of #ScotlandGoesBasque they have been working for 5 days with the Scottish Choreograph @janicemparker . pic.twitter.com/4JNxaUr7R4

— [EN] Etxepare Basque Institute (@etxepareEN) June 29, 2019

SO great to share this and to have been a small part of making it happen and bringing it into being, thanks to the brilliant Emmie McLuskey and 1973 – Archiving The Live. The traces of 40 years of practice continues to make unexpected connections

To: my future body

Truth be known I’m not so good at all this social media and putting things out in the world stuff. I’ve just this minute published a post from a few months back that I’ve only just realised had gone unpublished. I have a very brilliant web-site creator – Richard Cross of  Controlx – who  patiently teaches me the same things over and over again, and keeps hearing me say the words I’m going to be working on the web-site soon!

Anyhow I guess I’m working on it now, in this moment. What has struck me is the inconsistency in all the posts under works – the amount and type of information available, the quality of the images and all the work that is missing. I see this as a reflection of what resources were available at the time e.g. I have no digital photos prior to 2003 (although my iphoto library does register something as 1923!?) and hardly any photos at all prior to that. The images used are very poor quality screen grabs from film footage. My iphoto library also shows me that my first good(ish) phone camera arrived around 2009 when the volume of photos in my library becomes abundant.

Also affecting the amount and quality of information and imagery in each works post is the resources which surrounded each of the choreographies and projects. Often work with non-traditionally trained dancers is not particularly valued or well resourced so there is literally no budget for a photographer or photos. When I started working in Germany a lot around 2005 developing Community Dance with Royston Maldoom, Tamara McLorg, Mags Byrne and Suz Broughton our work was really valued and starting then I have an abundance of very gorgeous photographs of the work and the people in it – those glorious dancing people.

The question is – what to do with them all? I feel I owe it to the dancers and the work that they made to have their photographs live in the world somehow

It’s been a while. Truth be known I find it hard to keep up with all the social media outlets and as a natural introvert am never quite at ease writing and posting. But the folks and organizations I work with and collaborate with deserve it. So here’s a wee update on An Audience With…

An Audience With… at the Festival Theatre is going strong. These women, professional dancers from the Variety Era are strong and feisty! We dance regularly, teach tap class, run a workshop for a local care home and are working with the Festival Theatre on their archive – naming the performers in the photographs and bringing life to the acts in which they performed. Bear in mind Marie Duthie, Doreen Leighton-Ward, June Don-Murray and Betty Clarkson are aged between 86 and 98 and know, or performed in and with, many of the acts on the playbills that line the walls of the Festival Theatre. It’s exciting, heady stuff!

We also had a visit from Jackie Dennis, Scotland’s first pop-star, what a generous and gracious man he is, with many a story to tell. It was a pleasure to meet him

And we are looking for TAP SHOES – any size, style, colour, condition. If you’ve a pair going spare please hand them in to Festival Theatre STAGE DOOR or contact me directly. We want more folks to tap without fear and with joy and style !

So, at last I’m giving some priority to sitting down and reacquainting my self with the website. I hope to be working on it over the next few months, up-dating its content, trimming it down and thinking about its point and purpose in these times of overload and need to be known on-line. I think for me the website is a way of acknowledging and recognizing the people, the partnerships, and the collaborations that I have met and worked with over the years. And perhaps it is a way of knowing the shoulders we stand on. I do know that if the website exists at all then for me, it will have to be detailed, accurate, nuanced and personal. Talking of shoulders we stand on here’s a video of  An Audience With… Variety Era Dancers Doreen Leighton-Ward and Marie Duthie, aged 86 and 95 respectively. I am privileged to know and work with these women. We recently had well over 3,000 views for a slightly longer version of this video on twitter (@janicemparker ) and are quite overwhelmed at the response to one of our regular Monday gatherings at Edinburgh’s, Festival Theatre. Enjoy!

We are delighted to share these presentations from our two Saltire Society Bursary artists – Aby Watson and Julia McGhee. What’s been exciting for us is to witness how both artists, as a result of the bursary, have moved into unexpected places and directions and have also developed the participatory and community aspects of their practice. Dance and people – nice!

The bursary finished at the end of 2017 and we wish both Aby & Julia much luck for the future. Look out for them!

Aby Watson Presentation (PDF)

Julia McGhee Presentation (PDF)

Pic Greg Macvean 

We are at capacity for our three shows of ‘An Audience With…‘ at the Empire Rooms at Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Janice, June, Doreen, Marie, Daisy and Katie are ready to dance (and chat!) on 21, 26 & 28 October. Read all about the project here.

We are looking for new members to join our Board of Directors.

We welcome applications from individuals with a variety of experiences and backgrounds in:
– dance world;
– small arts organisations and their strategic development;
– artistic participatory practice;
– marginalised and under-represented communities;
– D/deaf and disabled people.

Full details here.

In November 2015 Janice began work on a mentoring project in Barcelona aimed at supporting the professional development of local disabled dancers in choreographic practice. The project is led by British Council Spain.

Janice reflects on the project in this extract from Disability Arts International: “The politics of my practice lies in the area of ‘who and what is not yet valued, why is it not and what are we missing because of this?’  When the British Council invited me to lead this nine-day workshop aimed at supporting the professional development of local disabled dancers in choreographic practice, I thought this was right up my street… the start of a new revolution,  new voices and visions,  investment in the next generation of innovative, provocative dance-makers, aiming for excellence… I could go on.

“Ten dancers signed up. We began with questions about choreography.  We talked about the politics of disability-led dance and where it sits in the world currently and historically. And we looked at each person’s kernel of an idea as the start of an enquiry, as an investigation and as a deep desire to make and create dance.  It was a process, not of training as such, but one of sharing and exchange, a dialogue and collaboration that unfolds, where the emergent choreographers were authors from the start.

“The vocabulary, because of the bodies creating it, was deliciously diverse and innovative. I witnessed people work deeply and thoroughly into their own movement possibility.  Some of that vocabulary was breathtaking and hugely exciting. Some of it was funny, or politically pointed.  My belief is that dance needs these new vocabularies. We need innovation in form and function. Art is not and never has been in its essence, something that has stood still. Diversity and difference in body types, languages and vocabularies of movement, and in life experience bring with it the potential for deep innovation, radical challenge and a development of current contemporary practice.

“For me, what was particular about Barcelona, was the sheer number of disabled dancers attending the workshop,  along with their confidence in and awareness of the landscape of their own bodies. They are hungry and on fire, ready to go further into choreographic practice and thinking, and to take risks. There is also real potential, and interest, within the city and its cultural organisations to further develop the existing infrastructure, resources and opportunities for these emerging choreographers to continue on their journey.  Through sharing practice, politics and experience we can do this on an international level and on a local level at the same time, building partnerships and working collaboratively together.”

You can read the full article from Disability Arts International, here.

Influential feminist artist Suzanne Lacy visited Scotland in 2007, and invited sixteen artists, theorists and curators to form an intense, unique learning space entitled Working in Public. Records of this gathering found in Janice’s archive are the starting point of a discussion between Adele Patrick (GWL), Janice and other Working in Public participants about creative legacies and feminist archiving, as Glasgow Women’s Library celebrates its 25th anniversary.

1973: Reflections on ‘Working in Public’

Janice Parker Projects are delighted to announce their new Dance Artist Development Bursary in partnership with The Saltire Society.

 As part of The Saltire Society’s ‘Inspiring Scotland” programme and 80^th Anniversary celebrations, Janice Parker Projects are thrilled to be offering, for the first time, a Dance Artist Development Bursary to support an emerging artist who puts people, place and collaboration at the centre of their work. The bursary recipient will be awarded £2,500, enabling them to undertake a project over the course of a year. In addition, the artist will be offered a one-year membership to the Saltire Society and regular support from Janice Parker Projects.

Janice Parker Projects are known for their passion for and commitment to diversity in dance. They want to work with dance artists who are different, who are inspired by people, place and collaboration, to put forward proposals on how they would use this bursary to develop their practice and contribute to the current and future ecology of dance. The artist will have the opportunity to develop a project of their own in response to this call out, with support from Janice Parker Projects over the course of the year. The award will be made to an emerging dance artist, of any age, who offers an imaginative and searching enquiry and can demonstrate how the award and working with Janice Parker Projects can benefit their artistic development.

Download the application form here: JPP Bursary Application Form Final

Everybody Dance rehearsals

Janice returned to Romania in May 2016 to rehearse a new disability-led community choreography called ‘Everybody Dance’ in the Casa de Cultura in Fagaras, with Pete Ayres, Kirsteen Mair, Anke Böttcher, and film-maker Martin Clark

“Working in Sercaia and Fagaras I’m so impressed by the huge passion, enthusiasm and energy of the dancers.  We had so many different people dancing – well over 200!  So great to collaborate with.  Fabulous!  I look forward to sharing this in Scotland.”

Board of Directors,
Janice Parker Projects CIC
(part-time, voluntary)

We welcome applications from individuals with a variety of experiences and backgrounds in:

Finance;
Legal;
An interest in arts & equalities.

Time commitment:

– A maximum of 6 meetings’ a year (minimum 4) in Edinburgh for 2-3 hours at a time.
– Papers will be sent approx. seven days in advance to give Directors the chance to review.
– Occasional email conversations between meetings if an important area needs actioned (recruitment, funding news, etc).
– An occasional phone call where specific advice is needed on an area that the Director has specialist experience/knowledge of.

Application: please download the JPP Board JD here (next deadline is 30 April 2016).

We are a seeking a
General Manager
(maternity cover: 1st June – 31 December 2016)
Part-time contract for 7 months
21 hours per week / 0.6 FTE / 3 days’ a week
Hours: Flexible.
Location: Edinburgh

Responsbilities:

• Working with the Artistic Director and Board of Directors to manage the implementation of the business plan
• Processing payments and keeping accurate records of income and expenditure, including payroll, bank reconciliation, HMRC reports and payments
• Managing project budgets, producing quarterly management accounts and budget reports
• Managing all aspects of day-to-day company / office management, maintaining equipment and stationery and dealing with leases
• Working with the accountants to prepare year end accounts, reporting these to the Artistic Director and Board of Directors
• Ensuring annual accounts and the annual return are filed with Companies House on time
• Coordinating and ensuring timely reporting, and compliance with any conditions, of all grants, donations or other funding received
• Ensuring that company policies are shared with relevant people
• Managing communications & contributing to company & project marketing plans as appropriate
• Making fundraising applications for grants that support Community Interest Companies
• Fundraising and maintaining relationships with funders
• Sourcing opportunities, initiatives and funding for the company’s work

Full info and job spec: JPP General Manager JD (1)

This new film, ‘Mutual Curiosity’, made by Martin Clark and Cara Connelly, looks at some of Scotland’s participatory arts practice. Catch Janice on there, alongside fellow practitioners Drake Music Scotland, Junction 25, Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre and Glasgow Women’s Library.

Badge and excerpt from DanceAble conference

Following her visit to Barcelona with the British Council and Institute de Teatre, Janice went on to visit Holland Dance’s DanceAble conference in The Hague.

Janice said of her travels:

“Everyone is pushing for more and better recognition for disabled dancers. It was great to meet so many enlightened colleagues, and to see so much exciting, quality work. Thanks for the opportunity to contribute.”

Janice outside the Institut del Teatre, Barcelona

In mid-November Janice began work on a mentoring project in Barcelona aimed at supporting the professional development of local disabled dancers in choreographic practice. The project is led by British Council Spain. She was also invited by Institut del Teatre to participate at a Forum of Applied Arts on generating well-being through creativity. Here she is outside the building enjoying the Barcelona sunshine.

Text by Craig Simpson about his workshop

In November JP enjoyed being in the studio at Dancebase with Craig Simpson and Alan Greig. As part of Talent Hub’s dance artist development programme, Craig was mentored by Alan to develop his teaching and workshop leading skills.

Here We Are Dance Company, Hamburg

In September, Janice was in Hamburg with dancers from ‘Here We Are’ Dance Company and director Anke Boettcher, working on their new piece ‘Do It Yourself’.

From Janice:

“It was great to work at such depth and detail with each individual on the processes of making work for performance. It was particularly meaningful because I first worked with some of these, then, first-time dancers, nine years ago as part of of a big development project by Royston Maldoom. Powerful legacy. They’ve gone from strength to strength!”