Dancers stand up against hatred

The first seminar of the “Stand Up Against Hatred” campaign was held last Sunday in the Capital Centre. Invited to feature at this event were the Trumpet Creepers, a semi-professional dance company based in London.

The campaign has been organised in conjunction with the Holocaust Memorial, which will take place at Warwick on 27 January 2009. The English Society was asked by the event to run a project which will create works for the memorial. Jessie Vickerage, an English and Creative Writing second year student, and also the Social Executive of the English Society, has volunteered to head the campaign.

The project will feature a total of ten seminars over the coming weeks, each exploring a different stimulus, such as image, music or voice, in order to generate creative writing. Vickerage hopes the result will include a range of not only poetry, but also prose, flash-fiction and graphic text.

The dance company, whose members all attend London Contemporary Dance School, are based at The Place, the UK’s premier contemporary dance centre. The group, founded by Flora Wellesley Wesley, has a multicultural quality, with members from all parts of the UK as well as Spain and Italy.

Sunday’s seminar was separated into three sections. First, the Trumpet Creepers performed a 20 minute improvisation based on the title of the campaign. Next those attending the seminar were given the opportunity to write words, phrases, or sections of poetry on pieces of paper. These were then placed around the performance space and the dancers read and incorporated their meaning into a second improvisation piece. After discussing the outcome of this experiment, the dancers performed one last piece where they were obligated to read text aloud. These texts were being placed on a chair throughout the performance.

The aim of the seminar and the project in general, is to use external influences to create “freshness” in writing about a subject which is both difficult and often clichéd. The campaign welcomes all students to participate. The first seminar was attended by students of different nationalities, notably English and German. This, and the multi-national dance group, allowed the seminar to explore the Holocaust from different cultural perspectives.

The Trumpet Creepers will return to Warwick for the final event in January, as will the future guests to the project. Exhibits at the event will also display a chronology of the creative process, with film footage of seminars and photographs of works in progress.

Vickerage is applying to the URSS, an undergraduate bursary scheme, for money to fund the campaign. In particular, this money is needed to coordinate the final performance and exhibition. Vickerage hopes this bursary allocation will permit the university to maintain ongoing links with the LCDS and other collaborating establishments.