An Interview with Jan Wood & Laurie Case
How old were you when you started dancing?
Laurie: One of my earliest memories is watching Top Of The Pops with my family and dancing around the living room to each act. My mum put me in baby ballet class, but I actually ended up quitting to play football! It wasn’t until I was 9 years old that I found my way back to dance and started jazz, tap and ballet classes at my local school. I was a very energetic and creative kid and would often make up dances in my head, listening to music when we had long car rides. I’ve always enjoyed the choreographic aspect of dance; I think my mum inspired this as she used to teach Zumba classes and would often teach me the counts to her routines.
Jan:You could catch me dancing around the house from a very young age, I remember setting up shows in our living room for my parents to watch. I loved improvising to different types of music from rock to pop (a lot of my dad’s favourites). I took a few baby ballet classes when I was very young but my training started properly at the age of 8 when my parents signed me up for a weekly contemporary class. I remember my first dance teacher’s lessons well, she really helped me develop my love for movement.
Is there a particular dance project you've been involved in that stands out as being the most rewarding/enjoyable?
Jan & Laurie: We would have to say our first performance as a collective, with Bodies in Action. To have the opportunity to showcase our first full-length piece in front of a live audience was so rewarding. Since most of our early work was created for social media, it was nice to actually connect with an audience having spent so much time performing for a camera. The space at WappART felt very open and understanding, I think that’s part of why we enjoyed performing there so much. Julian (Artistic Director of Bodies in Action) facilitated a really inviting space, and provided a platform for us to push ourselves creatively.
Do you often collaborate with other artists in and around London and abroad?
Laurie: Yes, I really enjoy collaborating with other artists especially across different mediums. I’ve really enjoyed exploring choreography within video format- I’ve worked with director Bertie Gilbert on a couple of projects now and have learned a lot from his approach to directing. I love that the camera can highlight movement in a way that live performance can’t, capturing nuances in facial expressions or the smaller, more intricate movements of the body. I also find a lot of creative fulfilment through collaborating with other dancers, I like learning from others processes and finding cross overs in our individual approaches/ practises.
Jan: I started posting dance videos on Instagram last year, these short reels were something I did by myself but I started opening up to more collaborations with various creatives. The concept is simple, we both meet up and either improvise or choreograph (it’s completely up to the other dancer). We then come up with 30 seconds max of material to post on social media. Every person I create with brings their own character and artistry to the videos and it’s honestly such an inspiring task for me to do. I find myself heavily influenced by the individual’s energy and movement quality, not just within the video we make but also within my on-going creative process.
When was Twofold Dance Theatre established and what was the inspiration behind the company?
Laurie & Jan: We met back in January to choreograph some material for a short reel. The creative process felt very organic at the time, and we were surprised to find we had a lot of similarities in our artistic processes and the type of movement and subject matter we wanted to explore. The response we had from posting the video was extremely encouraging and pushed us to create more content, eventually leading us to choreograph a lengthy series of short form videos. This process further highlighted how well we work together creatively, and we soon decided to develop our choreography outside of video format, performing at various scratch nights and open sharings. In May, TwoFold Dance Theatre was established, and since then we have enjoyed the process of developing our practise, finding opportunities to collaborate with other artists and share our work in different performance spaces.
Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind your work for The Pomegranate?
Laurie & Jan: We found the poem Not quiet as in quiet, but by Victoria Adukwei Bulley when listening to the Poetry Unbound Podcast. We were moved by its ability to express how one word can hold so many different meanings, exploring the idea of ‘quiet’ within a personal, political, social and artistic lens. It explores how words can have different definitions within different contexts and communities. The poem explores the idea of ‘quiet’ in 31 ways, and each has its own underlying meaning that can be interpreted by the listener/reader. Choreographically, this poem intrigued us because of its sense of rhythm and repetition, and its simple imagery. Through our movement we wanted to capture the cadence and intonation of the poem, but also leave
each motion up to the interpretation of the viewer.
What do you find the most exciting and/or challenging about living and working in London?
Laurie & Jan: I think the contemporary dance scene in London is particularly exciting at the moment. There’s a hunger felt amongst the community that helps us feel more supported as creatives. There’s a real desire to stay creative no matter what, a feeling that we deserve to be seen. I think London encapsulates this feeling, everything feels very close and connected, a real sense of community is felt. On the flipside, the city sometimes feels slightly claustrophobic with everything happening at once, taking a break is often needed.
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