Works – Helen Cox Dance

Bodies in Space (2019)

For the last 10 years NASA’s Kepler space telescope has been recording light emitted from stars beyond our universe. The sound of these recordings are pulsating, otherworldly, and epic – opening the imagination to the vastness of our universe.

In contrast, we began to wonder: what would we hear at the other end of the scale, at an atomic scale? Our human ears are quite limited, we can’t hear atoms, just like we can’t hear the stars, but we can convert their characteristics, like light and colour, into sound.

From the most micro and macro parts of our world, Dougie Brown (sound designer) and Helen Cox (choreographer) come together to create an experience that will ignite your curiosity and stretch your imagination.

This R&D is in partnership with Pavilion Dance South West (PDSW) and Centre 151, and is funded by Arts Council England. Mentors and advisors on the project include Julie Cunningham (Choreographer), Alexander Whitley (Choreographer), Tom Hobden (Artist Development), Stuart Leech (Digital Manager, Turner Contemporary), Daniel Broadbent (PDSW Producer) and Lizzy Maries (PDSW Marketing Director). Contributing scientists include Dr. Hugh Mortimer (Planetary Scientist, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory), Jessica Spake (PHD Student, University of Exeter) and Jill Linz (Dept. of Physics, Skidmore College).

UPCOMING DATES

Bloomsbury Festival: Sunday, Oct 13^th 2019: 2:00pm – London House, Goodenough college Tickets
Dance Reading // Mesa x Helen Cox (performance and 5 course meal): Friday, Nov 22^nd 2019: 7:00pm – RISC Conference Hall, Reading Tickets
The Playground, Rambert (open studio sharing): Friday, Nov 29^th 2019, details TBC

Mesa + Helen Cox (2018)

On 11th and 12th of April, artist Inês Neto dos Santos and choreographer Helen Cox collaborated for a unique evening of contemporary dance and food, bringing an innovative spin on what a dance and a meal can be, individually, or together. This event was held at and supported by arebyte Gallery.

Mesa is a project founded by dos Santos that challenges our encounters with art and creates platforms for creative conversation. It exists in the form of various eating experiences, every time in collaboration with a different artist, whose work serves as inspiration for the menu. The project explores food as a global language, seeing it as a catalyst for discussion and new connections.

Guests were invited to experience a dinner and a dance piece intertwined: the menu borrowed themes and aesthetics from double pendulum, interpreting them through flavours, textures and colours. This immersive, multi-sensory experience aims to introduce new audiences to contemporary arts and dance in an interesting and stimulating environment.

Rehearsal footage filmed at Studio Wayne McGregor / Photography by Liz Gorman

double pendulum (2017)

‘beautifully crafted’ – Sanjoy Roy

‘It is one of the few works I have seen that stands on its own choreographic merits without any need for notes or explanations’ – Nicholas Minns, Writing About Dance

The motion of a single pendulum is wholly predictable, but when another pendulum is connected the movement becomes complex and uncertain. Acting as a metaphor for the interdependent relationships we have with those people close in our lives, we find that the stronger the connection, the more complex it becomes. In double pendulum we see two people push, pull, flourish and falter, but never stop.

Choreography by Helen Cox
Performed by Helen Cox and Andrew Oliver
Lighting Design by Ric Mountjoy & Lucy Hansom
Music by Floating Points & Loscil

Photography by Chantal Guevara and Ivan Trigo

Tour Dates
December 9th 2016 Work-in-progress showing, Kaleidoscopic Arts, Centre 151, London
January 13th 2017 Premiere, Resolution 2017 festival, The Place, London
May 19th 2017 Kaleidoscopic Arts Platform, part of 2017 Wandsworth Fringe Festival
July 6th 2017 AGITART Festival, Figueres, Spain
July 29th 2017 The Bunker Theatre, London

de/construct (2016)

‘the agency of her movement is neither inside nor outside her; she simply elongates and stretches her sinuous, smooth gestures around herself in circular patterns that have no end’ – Nicholas Minns, Writing About Dance

Reflect on a time in your life when you were in a period of transition. It is sometimes said that this space in between is the most creative, but also the most vulnerable. Using the dancing body, I move through this space; deconstructing routines, and listening to the infinite possibilities of what lies between.

Choreographed and performed by Helen Cox
Costume/set design by Cherrie Lau
Lighting design by Lucy Hansom
Music by Alog

Photography by Lawrence Choi

Tour Dates
May 13th 2016 Chisenhale Dance, Fiver Fridays, London, UK
May 14th 2016 Footprint Dance Festival in Roehampton, UK
June 21st & 22nd 2016 The Place, Postgraduate to Professional Program, London, UK

roil & clot (2015)

Collaboration between Cox & Stewart and composer Marc Bartissol. Duet created and performed in residency at The Dance Complex, Cambridge, United States. For more information go to coxandstewart.com.

Photography by Nicole Tomaselli

The Lapse Project (2015)

A durational performance piece shortlisted for the Deutsche Bank Award for Creative Enterprises in the Performance Category in April 2015. Click for further information on the project.

Photography by Jonathan Wignall

Lapse (2014)

Shaped by Kenneth Goldsmith’s Fidget, a written transcription of every movement his body made over thirteen hours, Lapse delves into a strict act of self-observation and its eventual abandonment.

Choreographed and performed by Heather Stewart & Helen Cox
Acted by Robin Toller
Lighting Design by Ric Mountjoy
Created in residence at The Albert, Kilburn’s pop-up artist space.

Photography by Roberto Rubaclava

Performance Dates
February 12th 2014: Resolution, The Place, London, UK.