The role of visual storytelling in the training of emerging dance artists: engaging with filmed discourse through open landscapes

As part of the 12 Degrees North Dance Company Programme, funded by Arts Council England, I mentored and filmed five emerging artists over the period of a year,as they were tasked with producing an independent art work. Through a process of self-reflexivity and emotion analysis, we were able to embark on a journey of rediscovery and re-evaluation together. During the research process I created the film Disco(urse) (2015) which has since been exhibited at Auckland University, New Zealand; The Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays; Edge Hill University, Lancashire; Bristol University, The University of Chester and Salford University, UK. I filmed the artists individually in a range of distracting countryside landscapes discussing their training and approaches as independent practitioners. By adopting fast tempo discursive systems within the filming I was able to nurture a driven awareness of self-affirmation and encourage an improvised dialogue about a range of recognised practices under challenging conditions of wind and flora. According to Messaris (1994), engaging in a discourse supported by visual literacy, can enhance understanding and conceptualise alertness, interpretation and appreciation. In applying this method, I was able to guide the group in a series of reflective milestones that highlighted their working identity as artists within a ‘real world’ perspective. This work examines the effectiveness of filmed discourse and the impact on the subjects as a historical record of ‘being’. Training may not always happen in a conventional manner nor be delivered by experienced artists: it can often be located in the different states of consciousness, and my own experiences during this project were unknowingly presented to me by a group of emerging artists and a camera crew. Internalisation of the training is individualised over a period of time by the artists, or indeed the time period in which they choose to utilise it.