What are Reflex Tears?

Samantha Walsh and Vanessa Cook discuss reflex tears, how the eyes respond to irritants.

Camera & Editing: Riccardo Iacono
Video Format: DV colour stereo

Duration: 3:57 minutes 

(c) Project Volume 2010

The Study of Tears | A Dance in Three Scenes

Documentation of live performance at Dance Exchange, Birmingham, 17th August 2010.

Choreography: Vanessa Cook and Ruth Williams 

Dancers: Ruth Williams, Vanessa Cook, Thomas Dolan, Bethany Millns, Frances Weir, Persephonie Dixon, Sarah Dixon, Samantha Walsh, Susan Norwood


Camera & Editing: Riccardo Iacono

Video Format: DV colour stereo

Duration: 6:08 minutes 

Year: 2010

The Study of Tears | Laughter and Sadness

Choreography: Susan Norwood 

Dancers: Ruth Williams, Vanessa Cook, Thomas Dolan, Bethany Millns, Frances Weir, Persephonie Dixon, Sarah Dixon, Samantha Walsh, Susan Norwood

Camera & Editing: Riccardo Iacono
Video Format: DV colour stereo

Duration: 5:21 minutes 

Year: 2010

The Study of Tears | Sadness Duet

Choreographer: Susan Norwood

Dancers: Vanessa Cook and Ruth Williams

Camera & Editing: Riccardo Iacono
Format: colour stereo video

Duration: 2:51 minutes 

Year: 2010

The Study of Tears | Ruth Williams Choreography on Vanessa Cook

As part of her professional development, Ruth Williams choreographed her first work on a non-disabled professional dancer, Vanessa Cook. Her piece explored the contrasting characteristics of basal tears and reflex tears and was performed at Dance Exchange, Birmingham, on 17th August, 2010.

Choreographer: Ruth Williams
Dancers: Ruth Williams and Vanessa Cook


Camera & Editing: Riccardo Iacono
Format: colour stereo video
Duration: 2:45 minutes 
Year: 2010

Professionalism

Project Volume's Summer Dance Intensive at Dance Exchange provided an opportunity for participants to receive mentorship and professional training in dance and choreography from dance artists, Vanessa Cook, Hayley Arundel and Susan Norwood.

The participants included: Samantha Walsh, Sarah Dixon, Persephonie Dixon, Ruth Williams, Thomas Dolan, Bethany Millns and Frances Weir.

Dance was taught following the model of any professional dancer; a warm up and a technique class, before then exploring creative ideas to create choreography within the framework of working as a team.

Ruth Williams Choreography

Ruth Williams choreographed her first work on a non-disabled professional dancer, Vanessa Cook as part of her professional development. The piece was performed at Dance Exchange on 17th September, 2010.

Ruth has, since I have known and worked with her, an extraordinary grasp of the complexities of creating choreography. This was an opportunity for her to stand back and practice the directing of her ideas on someone else.

Ruth's choreography explored the constant quality of basal tears, whilst then contrasting this movement quality with the sharp movements inspired by reflex tears, as though responding to an irritant before producing tears.

Ruth and Vanessa then discussed their working process after the performance.

Photographs of Vanessa Cook by Judie Waldmann

Choreographic Approaches

Photographer Judie Waldmann

Working on the summer intensive for dancers with learning disabilities, with talent and experience of dance, we worked hard exploring the different inspiration of the science of tears. We did this through the participants choreographing their work. The participants were mentored in choreography by myself, Susan Norwood and Vanessa Cook.

This brought two very different approaches to making dance. Vanessa's highly physical and high impact style, with my own. My style was to strip down the movements to the core of their intention. This means that the dance relies on the dancer to reveal their thinking and their intent through their skin. This contrast worked well with the subject, Vanessa introducing ways of approaching the reflex tears and myself approaching the subtle shifts of emotional triggers within performance.

I was really impressed with how the participants came out of their comfort zone to embrace and take on these two approaches. It is vital to say that the complexity of what the participants achieved was outstanding, as I gave them exercises I had studied during my degree and Vanessa through her professional work experience.