Dance after lockdown - living with paradox
Mar 20, 2023
practice
This writing explores the experiences of people in the UK’s contemporary dance sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.1 It draws on qualitative data
Editorial: Making choreography, making community
Dec 22, 2022
practice
Amaara and Simon are choreographers who co-edit Choreographic Practices (along with Dani Abulhawa and Lee Miller). In this editorial they peer into
Fading out the human presence: A conversation between Barbara Stimoli, Titta Raccagni and Simon Ellis
Dec 22, 2022
practice
This is a conversation between Italian artists Barbara Stimoli and Titta Raccagni with Choreographic Practices’ co-editor Simon Ellis. The
Attention
Oct 14, 2022
practice
Everything in you will want to do the habitual thing, will want to pursue the story line. The story line is associated with certainty and comfort.
Lithium Dancing (in plain sight)
Sep 10, 2022
practice
In this article I explore screendance’s affair with social media, and the logics of production and consumption endemic to dancing for and with
Children of the Soil
Aug 15, 2022
practice
is a short film that emerged from a practice of falling slowly to the ground. It uses text and still and moving images in a
Force Majeure
Feb 28, 2022
practice
A film by Magali Charrier and Simon Ellis Voiceover: Joanne “Bob” Whalley Force Majeure is both documentary and animation. It draws on a series of
Dancing their unhappy freedoms
Feb 10, 2022
practice
A text written in collaboration with Paul Paschal that draws attention to the paradoxes and contradictions in the thinking-working-desiring-body of
the body in time
Jan 20, 2022
practice
A computer desktop performance that explores the question: Where so many body-based practices are predicated on nuanced encounters with being
Editorial: Shifting Dependence
Dec 1, 2021
practice
An editorial for Choreographic Practices by Lee Miller and Simon Ellis. Reference: Ellis, Simon and Lee Miller 2021. “Editorial: Shifting
Cellule d’Essai 2021: A biography of sorts
Sep 13, 2021
practice
In August 2021 I was invited by Cellule d’Essai to be part of a few days of open research into choreography and dance in Lyon, France. What follows
Editorial: Opposite Sides of Something
Jul 1, 2021
practice
An editorial for Choreographic Practices by Lee Miller and Simon Ellis. Reference: Ellis, Simon and Lee Miller 2021. “Editorial: Opposite Sides of
lil making postcards
Mar 6, 2021
practice
A video document of Lil Boyce making Postcards from Before Supported by C-DaRE — the Centre for Dance Research — at Coventry University
Editorial
Feb 19, 2021
practice
An editorial for Choreographic Practices by Lee Miller and Simon Ellis that thinks through tribalism, us and them, and sympoiesis. Reference: Ellis,
chasing elvis
Nov 20, 2020
practice
A film by Hamish MacPherson and Simon Ellis Supported by C-DaRE — the Centre for Dance Research — at Coventry University
midlifing
Nov 11, 2020
practice
www.midlifing.net/ Eavesdrop on two friends having serious conversations about silly things, and silly conversations about serious things. A podcast
Corporeal Epistemics
Mar 13, 2020
practice
A desktop presentation exploring the datafication of experience and the ways in which choreographic practices — and the radically analogue human
two people together
Mar 4, 2020
practice
A film by Simon Ellis, Igor Urzelai & Moreno Solinas. Filmed during Igor and Moreno’s Bora Bora residency at Odin Teatret in Denmark, April-May
Currency of Play
Sep 27, 2019
practice
In the European summer of 2019 the choreographer-dancer Shaun McLeod (Australia) and I worked for four weeks in a studio in London. We worked with
Full Responsibility
Feb 8, 2019
practice
Sincerity takes practice A film by Rebecca Salzer and Simon Ellis. Supported by the University of Alabama Arts and Sciences College Academy of
Pause. Listen: Visibility and Freedom in Choreographic Practice
Jan 15, 2019
practice
This writing is about the working relationship between a dancer and a choreographer. In it I consider some of the ethical values of making and
Between Faces
Nov 14, 2018
practice
Human practices, rhythms, and habits are all being changed by the hyper-presence of screens: we choreograph them as they choreograph us. It is now
That Thing Produced
Jun 1, 2018
practice
Practice-as-research continues to struggle with its epistemic value. For the most part we seem to have stopped grappling with the complexity of what
We Took Photographs
May 20, 2018
practice
In May 2018 Paul Hughes, Hamish MacPherson and I had an artistic residency at S’ALA in Sassari, Italy. It was an open-ended residency and we wrote a
and that is what you see us by
Mar 8, 2018
practice
A performance installation by Natalia Barua, Katrina McPherson and Simon Ellis. We took photographs; a lot of photographs. We wanted to know what we
some things about dance
Feb 1, 2018
practice
Some Things About Dance is a digital book. It is a collection of playful ideas or things about the art of dance. Each brief chapter is
We Like Lists Because We Don’t Want to Die
Nov 27, 2017
practice
A choreography of words for ten people by Shannon Bott and Simon Ellis. We started working together as dance-artists in 2003. The collaboration
not for choreographic purposes
Sep 11, 2017
practice
We all have things or people in our lives that just shouldn’t — or won’t — be used for choreographic purposes. This is a set of stickers to mark
Sprawl
Jul 8, 2017
practice
A scratch performance by Shaun McLeod and Simon Ellis presented at the Dance and Somatic Practices Conference, 8 July 2017 Photos courtesy of
portrait
Dec 12, 2016
practice
52 Portraits is a project by Jonathan Burrows, Matteo Fargion, and Hugo Glendinning. Colin, Simon and I was invited to perform a portrait in
We Record Ourselves
Oct 15, 2016
practice
[single screen film (8 mins/stereo/2016) + 22 screen installation (5 mins/2016)] In 1997 film-maker Katrina McPherson tried to get a film
woman is fire bearing fire
Jun 7, 2016
practice
is a 10 second film or vision that was created as part of Siobhan Davies and David Hinton’s project The Running Tongue
women will always be blamed for everything
Jun 7, 2016
practice
is a 10 second film or vision that was created as part of Siobhan Davies and David Hinton’s project The
Our White Friend
May 21, 2016
practice
is a performance project by Colin, Simon and I. It premièred at Independent Dance London on 21 May 2016. Tim Wise is an American
Attitudes and Principles of Making
Apr 1, 2016
practice
This is a list of principles — or perhaps attitudes — of choreographic practice and making. The list is not exhaustive, and indeed comprises many
Jealousy, Transmission and Recovery
Nov 26, 2015
practice
is an article for Performance Research that reflects on the performance project Recovery in relation to
Attention, friendship and dramaturgy
Oct 17, 2015
practice
I am watching Igor and Moreno disagree — maybe even bicker — as they struggle to sort out a particular transition in the work. They are tired, and
Recovery
Dec 3, 2014
practice
Absence may hover over this piece, but it is coupled with the ever-present hum of life. At the end, we are guided up to where we began, but we are
Collaboration, Violence and Difference
Oct 31, 2014
practice
We are Colin Poole (UK) and Simon Ellis (NZ) - two dance artists who collaborate as Colin, Simon & I. In this chapter we reflect on the nature of
Pause. Listen.
Sep 17, 2014
practice
is a dance by Chisato Ohno (dancer), Simon Ellis (choreographer), and Jackie Shemesh (designer). It is designed to adapt and change
Untitled Project About Love
Apr 25, 2014
practice
A project about mundane and extraordinary instances of old love, by Bagryana Popov, Shannon Bott and Simon Ellis. The two performers are moving in,
A Separation
Mar 27, 2014
practice
If it crosses the line, if it goes too far, then it should do because it’s only by going too far that we know what the limits are. — William Drew
Dancing Words
Jan 26, 2014
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The many many words of dancing. This is an A2 sized poster, first released in 2014 and then updated in 2018. Some other information:
Dancing With Myself, Oh Oh Oh
Sep 1, 2013
practice
is an attempt to draw together a number of diverse ideas about information, curation, friendship and identity, and to
Because We Care
Jun 8, 2012
practice
is a performance project by Colin, Simon and I. It is about ways of relating: between men, and between audiences and performers
I Think Not
Feb 24, 2012
practice
What happens when you can’t do it? That’s where the dance is. What is revealed when you can’t do it? – Deborah Hay Deborah Hay is one of the
Booth: A Dance Fair
Nov 25, 2011
practice
by Simon Ellis, Amy Watson and Heather Caruso Booth: A Dance Fair comprised six dance-related activities — Solo, Social, Photo, Video, Talk and
pictures
Nov 1, 2011
practice
A biography in pictures, an old piece of video, and Bach. 1 November 2011. Photographs: unknown Music: J.S. Bach — Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV
My Name is Colin, and This is Simon
Jan 1, 2011
practice
In fragments of conversation, and in excerpts from their blog, choreographers Simon Ellis and Colin Poole talk about how their first collaborative
Anamnesis (remembered)
Nov 1, 2010
practice
remembers, constructs and questions aspects of Anamnesis — a screendance project exploring memory and loss that I initiated
Desire Lines
Sep 11, 2010
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… love, endings, and the lure of the screen A dance for two people and a camera operator. Desire Lines premièred as part of The Place Prize on 21
Leaving
Apr 23, 2010
practice
is a long duration performance presented in public spaces. It involves eight or more performers working in synchronised duets to explore the
Anamnesis
Nov 26, 2009
practice
All our will, our wishes, our hope cannot stop this. Anamnesis is a screendance project by Cormac Lally (videography/editing), David Corbet (sound),
Down (working title)
Apr 22, 2009
practice
He is resisting the subjective, presenting a fully wrapped package, a present, a small gift — ready to be sent. He is (he hopes) amongst friends,
Tuesday
Jan 8, 2009
practice
A dance film by Simon Ellis & Tim Halliday. One man’s obsession with solitude, dance and digital memory. Music: “Red Right Hand” Written by
Gertrud
Sep 10, 2008
practice
simple, imaginative and very bold — The Guardian A performed conversation through time. Gertrud is a solo performance project. It is an imagined and
The Timed Body
Jun 1, 2008
practice
This is a video archive of the Flash animation. The original web materials are presented below. The Timed Body was originally developed for ‘The
then/now
Sep 28, 2007
practice
is a one minute dance film. It was originally developed for ReelDance One Minute Reels in July 2007 using two imposed constraints: no
Four Acts of Violence Leading Up to Now
Sep 21, 2006
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“we must enter into the thickness of a duration where our memories are forged” — Marie Cariou Four Acts of Violence Leading Up to Now inhabits both
microflicks
Jul 1, 2006
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Micro50 video is two seconds/50 frames in length. A collection of moments and distilled events. The slights of mediated performance; cut, cared for,
dad.project
Jun 25, 2006
practice
This is an archive of a Flash-based project built by David Corbet in 2006. The site was an open gallery designed for people to upload their own set
Tight
Jun 21, 2006
practice
I saw him the other day. He looked middle aged. A bit too much weight, not quite enough hair. Nowhere near as … tight. He kept mentioning the good
Inert
May 10, 2006
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Two performers Two viewers Love in two parts How close is too close? A performance about intimacy and helplessness Inert is a performance experience
A Hypermedia Remembering
Dec 1, 2005
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Indelible: A Hypermedia Remembering (2005) examines notions of memory, remembering and representation within a movement and performance research
A Little Dance
Sep 1, 2005
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And do the things/Ah, do the things/That we like to do Performance: Colette Arnold, Rosey Feltham, Georgie Goater, Desmond Gul, Annabel Harrison,
Sleep. Wake. Dream.
Aug 20, 2005
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A small room. No doors. No light. Dank. Locked. No shouting. No movement. In your dream, I am breathing. And you are clenched in stillness. In my
Indelible
Feb 4, 2003
practice
She sat on the bank and drank oblivion of her former life. Suppose that a young woman passing between life and death, in an imaginary liminal
Lying
Nov 21, 2002
practice
She tried to hug me, I wasn’t listening. A movement and video performance developed by Simon Ellis and students of the Victorian College of the
Full
Jun 20, 2001
practice
With Full, independent dance choreographer Simon Ellis has crafted a minutely detailed and effectively flawless dance installation. – Ben Zipper
undone years
May 18, 2000
practice
I am the enemy you killed, my friend. A movement theatre work by Simon Ellis and first year students of the Victoria College of the Arts. Presented
Semi-detached (Poss. 2nd bdrm.)
Nov 17, 1999
practice
Just as we are shaped and influenced by where we live, and what it is that we call ‘home’, Semi-detached (poss. 2nd bdrm) is the result of
Touch
Aug 7, 1998
practice
Distance | Proximity | Voice | Movement Design, choreography & performance: Simon Ellis Voice: Christine Sullivan Slide Design & Projection: Gabby