A negotiation of performance and parenting by three new mothers
“I absolutely loved it. I’ve got goosebumps now thinking of it.”
Audience member
Rachel Dean, Marie Hallager Andersen and Daliah Toure are three dance artists who performed together for many years. In the year they all became mothers they came together with guest dancers and musicians on International Women’s Day to create this very special performance in the moment, in response to their children and to Leeds Art Gallery.
“The performance brought an extra layer of depth to my experience of the art works and the gallery.”
Audience member
The three performers are currently writing a chapter for Performing Maternities (Intellect Books, 2021) reflecting on the performance from this starting point:
“Researching and performing with our infants came from a need to create a space where motherhood could thrive alongside being creators, where we could continue our practices and make motherhood visible on the performing arts scene. This conversation confronts and articulates the sometimes subtle, sometimes direct ways in which we have been held and supported by our times in the studio. Times where our very young children played a central role in our dances as we navigated the complexity of structuring dance practice and live improvised performance. Much of our work herein forth is a testament, yet also a questioning, of the foundations that have been laid in those hazy, milk infused, sleep deprived studio afternoons.”
Performed at and supported by: Leeds Art Gallery
