Forms of Inhabitation

Sophia Lycouris is interested in relationships between body and environment, and the physical roots of resilience. How do we physically experience trauma and recovery? How do green spaces, and gardens in particular, offer environments in which we can start to gather energy for a new beginning? How do we learn to breathe differently? In this work, dancers inhabit the garden and discover its rhythms, tune in and embody new ways of breathing. They propose new ways of relating to the space. Their silent yet powerful presence amplifies the Garden’s qualities and atmospheres, opening up possibilities for visceral connections and healing experiences.
A video installation captures glimpses of past moments when the dancers spent time in the Garden and explored connections with their chosen locations. This installation is complemented by a single live performance event in the Lower Temperate Glasshouse, where the dancers attempt to remember the forms of inhabitation they used in the open spaces. This is a moment of search and hesitant beginnings. Through readjusting direction, rhythm and pace of breathing, they explore new connections between internal and external landscapes.
This project was produced and performed by improvisation collective in_my_presence. The collective has been working regularly since January 2016 in Newbattle Forest, one of the sites managed by Forestry Commission Scotland in Scottish Lowlands.
Performers in this project include: Suzi Cunningham, Adam Hussain and Helga Schram (on video installation) with Mariola Albinowska and Clive McLachlan Powell (in the live performance event).