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Tic Project- Different Voices


Having a creative approach to my Tourette Syndrome has been important to me so far in my recent diagnosis.  Having a creative mind has almost allowed me to see my TS as a project.  Using my TS as a stimulus for creativity has given me a more positive outlook on the whole experience, and the down days can be spent dreaming up ideas and plans for new dances, community projects or movies. 

 Today, with my fellow dancer friends of Far Flung Dance Theatre, we made a dance sequence comprised of some of my most commonly reoccurring tics.  We booked a couple of hours in the dance studio and began to explore them together.  It was important that I worked with my friends as I wanted to know what they could see when I tic, I could see my involuntary movements being made voluntary right in front of my eyes, in the form of dance.

 The choreographic process was familiar to us, we used descriptive words to initiate movement material.   We scanned through a list of nearly 70 tics that I had named in my diary, and used them to make one movement each, that then made up a phrase. We then layered on top of the choreography situations and dynamics so that we could move through the sequence in different ways. For example- you are in a busy city and you are in a rush or, you are moving through thick fog.

 An example sequence:

My next step with this choreography is to use it in a film project that I am working on with Bigger House Films as part of the Different Voices 2 project.  Please see link for more info http://www.biggerhousefilm.co.uk/.  

 Over the next 3 months I will be working in Bristol at the Arnolfini with 7 other neurodivrese film makers.  *…… neurodivergent – i.e. being dyslexic, dyspraxic, autistic, or having other learning difficulties or neurological/cognitive conditions, or experiencing yourself as someone whose way of relating to the world and other people is outside of the norm.

 Different Voices fosters a new generation of film makers working from a voice that is under represented in mainstream cinema.  I will make a film that captures the experiences of people living with Tourette Syndrome. I will be interviewing 10 people with TS of all ages and capture their experiences through moving images.  TS is a spectrum condition and each person has unique experiences.  I would like to capture this through imagery, moving and still images, dance and soundscapes.  Once the film is complete their will be a sharing at the Arnolfini in Bristol and I hope to further develop the work in Plymouth. 
I would love to hear from people with TS and I will soon be posting a series of questions for people to answer which will inspire the direction of my movie...watch this space.
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