| Susannah
Broughton of Dance United explains SYMPHONY, a dance
project in HMP Holloway in 2001 |
"I believe I can achieve what you can see with your
own two eyes. Myself as a team with other girls we have
all learnt what real dancing is all about. I am not
talking about jumping up and down, or jigging your head
to a heavy metal band.
I am speaking about moving, using your mind and feeling
the rhythm, not in the music but in my body itself"
(Claudette - inmate)
Holloway is the largest female prison in Britain. With
an average length of stay of 28 days, and a turnover
of 4,000 prisoners each year, a 5 week dance project
was always going to present challenges. Co-directed
by Andrew Coggins, Royston Maldoom and Mags Byrne, one
of Dance United's key aims is to push the boundaries
of where and with whom dance can have a value. With
no auditioning or selection, a sea of unfamiliar faces
greeted us in the gym on the first morning - a daunting
moment, in front of such a crowd where little connection
can be made. Gorecki's Symphony No.3, a hauntingly beautiful
movement, cut through the strangely frenetic atmosphere
of the prison environment. Holloway has a real dichotomy
of energy: a constant noise and tension as everyone
watches out for themselves, alongside a lethargy that
is hard to rise above, as women are herded around, forever
queuing up to be counted and checked.
Each day, the warm-up acted as a bridge between their
reservations and their potential. By focusing them on
their own bodies through simple exercises, and teaching
them skills for focus and projection, they were distracted
from their doubts and the process of re-awakening their
bodies to a different understanding could begin. By
the end of the first session, they could dance the first
movements - immediately giving them a sense of achievement
and fulfilment.
"It gives you a little bit of self worth again, a little
bit of dignity. It feels like you can do something -
because so much is stripped away from you so you end
up so self-loathing - to do something like this … builds
your confidence"
(Wendy - inmate)
continues
in next column
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The women's confidence and courage
to expose their emotions gently through the dance was
both glorious and tough for all involved. A striking
example was Claudette who had a certain reputation to
uphold in the prison but who simply chose to try something
new and be seen in a different light.
"Since I've been dancing, I have come out a lot calmer
- it takes away all my aggression. I feel like I'm letting
something out of me, you know letting that ugly thing
out inside me. I just want to laugh all the time… and
I'm not usually like that, believe me. I rip sinks off
my wall, in my cell. I've stopped doing that"
This shift in her perspective and energy was noticed
by her prison officer who commented,
"Over the last few weeks we have seen a remarkable change
in her. If it can help women like Claudette to get a
sense of purpose - I think it will have a great effect
on stopping the re-offending because a lot of these
women go out with no respect for themselves and they
re-offend."
(Prison Officer McDonald)
The day of the performance, above everything else, was
a celebration of this change in the women. The atmosphere
was electric with an audience of 50 invited guests and
over 250 inmates including the mother and baby unit.
The raw response as the audience spontaneously clapped
and cheered every move that they saw as beautiful or
difficult to achieve was so refreshing to experience.
For a lot of those women, this was their first experience
of theatre. Costumes, poetry and backdrops were created
by women in the education classes, allowing others not
keen on performing to contribute to the performance.
"Here is a wonderful opportunity to give them the chance
to experience and feel all the things that they never
had the opportunity to experience before they came in.
When women come in to this situation, they should be
exposed to the arts, to all the best that life has to
offer them so that they can see themselves in a new
way." (Royston Maldoom)
Contact:
Dance United 0208 533 0001
info@dance-united.com
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