The stage is her canvas
When the going gets tough, the tough get going’. But choreographer and dance teacher, Marina Collard, redefines the phrase and goes beyond by naming her upcoming performance ‘Still Going’.
Organised in collaboration with Gati Dance Forum, the solo performance by the London-based artist is a reflection of her love for dance and art. She makes the entire stage her canvas and sets out to create a two dimensional image in a three dimensional space. Her dance movements take assistance from a film made by Tom Paine. Together they conjure sounds and virtual images to elicit feelings among the audience.
“The performance captures an aspect of the ongoing narrative of my interests and artistic concerns. I had for a long time been interested in and actively engaged in oil painting,” she says. In this performance she creates an imaginary painting. “The nature and material of the paint, the approach to working on a large canvas, the mixing and layering of colour etc. were all elements of interest,” she adds. On her association with Paine, Collard says, “I have been working with Tom for the past 15 years. We have made a number of short films apart from working in this project. I value collaborating with artists from other disciplines. It puts my work in a broader framework of creative practice and inevitably helps me reflect on my own artistic practice.”
As one sees Collard’s contemporary moves in this performance — that has been staged the world over — one can clearly observe her “interest and curiosity in visual art”. She explains, “I find the process of making work, a kind of continuum, even if different pieces emerge as distinctive. It feels like nothing gets made in isolation. I work and explore ideas and interests as a constant practice and from this emerges something and a work begins to form.”
I find the process of making work, a kind of continuum, even if different pieces emerge as distinctive. It feels like nothing gets made in isolation dancer Marina Collard,