We spoke to local artist and Dance City Training Academy Alumni Lila Naruse to find out more about her work and what she has been up to under lockdown…
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I am a freelance dance artist based in the North East. I am passionate about creativity, challenge and connection.
My training began at Dance City Newcastle (2017), then I went on to complete my Dance Performance MA with MapDance (2018). Most recently I worked with Company of Others ‘Grief Floats’ R&D, Northern Dance ‘Kintsugi’ and Mad Ramblings Dance.
Determined to continuously explore and develop, I strive to collaborate with other artists to enrich my own approach and practice. For example, this year I created a new work in progress ‘Symbiosis’ with Earth Dance. This was a piece concerning current environmental crisis and was made in collaboration with multidisciplinary circus artist- Simona Yovcheva and musicians Tobias Sarra and Katie Apple.
How would you describe your style of work?
My movement is expressive and fluid, grounded with floor work and release techniques. I am interested in using the emotional, philosophical and physical connection of the whole body as inspiration. My key values are to create and perform unique work with honesty, respect, joy and flow.
Did you do any creative work during lockdown?
I self-produced ‘bare’ during the lockdown in June 2020 for Durham ‘Summer In The City’ festival. ‘bare’ is a short film celebrating the journeys that our feet can take us on and the simple joys of exploring. It delves into the world, solo and stripped back; appreciating the space and opportunity to explore our near surroundings.
Has the lockdown changed your working processes or your vision for the future?
Yes , but I haven’t grasped exactly how yet.
Lockdown has generally pushed me to explore and create work more digitally through film.
My project FLOW was originally planned to engage with people in person/ in the studio as part of the research, with the outcome being a live performance. However, this was all supposed to take off just as lockdown came into place. The idea has now adapted to a short dance film inspired by research gathered from people online through a callout. Lockdown also inspired the use of a black dance mat that has become very important in project FLOW.
I am still very passionate about live performance and am thinking about how work can be adapted to the current climate, possibly with different locations that aren’t always necessarily a theatre stage.
When the industry starts to get back to a ‘new normal’ what would you like to see change for the better?
I would like to see less focus and demand to create something final – I think it should be less about ticking boxes and pleasing a specific category within a pressured time.
We need it to be more about the art and soul – with more time to sit in the process please!
It would be great to see and experience more collaborations between artists as well as more collaborations across art forms.
More richness in the art culture where there is mutually supportive groups that can come together.
Digital dance has been popular during lockdown. Do you have a class/workshop/webinar/performance you can recommend to others?
Luke Brown, Alyssa Lisle and Lila Dance’s online classes have been absolute life savers and incredible especially in the height of lockdown. Providing challenge and groove at it bests! And all fostering a wonderful space to connect and dance with others virtually.
Tell us about your latest project…
I am currently working on Project FLOW, exploring happiness, existence and struggle. FLOW is currently being put together as a dance film and soundtrack made with musician Thomas Dixon, using a collection of voice recording responses.
FLOW explores how we find purpose and joy in the chaos of existence, and the importance of human perception. This research is inspired by ‘the state of Flow’, an optimal experience into the limits of our concentration, with a sense of fluidity between body and mind.
The state of flow is personally important to me in all aspects of my work and life –although it is difficult to grasp, explain or express, I believe Flow is both relevant and vital to everybody in living in their most full and enjoyable life.
How can people get involved?
The research process involves gathering responses from members of the social and artistic community – discussing their personal experiences of flow. The call out deadline for my FLOW project has ended, however I want to pursue discovering what flow means to people, and would love to hear about your experiences, if you would like to share them with me, or have a conversation about flow – please do get in touch.
Follow Lila on Youtube and Facebook to stay up to date with her latest projects or get in touch here to get involved.
