Solid Foundations

“Movement definitely allows one to say something different from words. People interpret movement differently. It is influenced by things like their own background or the mood they’re in the day they see the show. I like this freedom of interpretation, I like thinking they will leave with their own story, the one they wanted to understand. I want to have an echo in them but I don’t mind if their story is a bit different from mine.”

Grounds is a solo choreographed and performed by Maite Dealfin, artistic director of Edinburgh-based Nux company. Inspired in part by Réjean Ducharme’s novel about a young woman who refuses to grow up and develops her own language, it is a work of emotional bravery and technical excellence. While Delafin is better known for her collaborations and company pieces, Grounds allows her to express her inner processes directly and without mediation.

“The way I created it has been quite different from my previous works,” she confirms. The overtly intellectual approach has been subsumed into “a very intuitive choreography: it came about without me understanding what was happening. I suppose it is a very personal work: it is my inner struggle, doubt and ambivalence that came out, which I was previously scared to face in a solo but I am glad I did it now.”

The connection to Ducharme, one of Canada’s most interesting yet allusive authors, is more in tone than story. “This novel had a deep impact on me. When I first read it I was struck by the interiority of Bérenice, the narrator, and as the solo was taking shape it reminded me more and more of the inner struggles of this girl. The quote I’m using for the solo described quite well the atmosphere of the piece. So the work doesn’t relate to the book in its rejection of the adult world but more with the inner feeling, the interior monologue of Bérénice.”

The creative process for Grounds has served as an equal source for its final form. “The solo process is hard and confusing, Most of the time I have collaborated with a composer for previous works but this is the first piece I have done with live music. I suppose it has become more of a duet with violinist Poppy Ackroyd: we influenced each other a lot. She managed brilliantly to compose deep and resonant music that adds a lot to the inner monologue that the work is portraying.”

Grounds achieves a fusion of form and function, having allowed its creation to shape the outcome. Without rejecting the intellect, it conjures up deep emotional responses, harnessing the power of new techniques to reveal a profound depth of feeling.