Allied & Amalgamated, 2017 by Edward Bruce and Stephanie Black-Daniels
Tramway Version, performed 24th March 2018 at Tramway, Glasgow as part of Last Futures.
Full version: You Tube https://youtu.be/yxerrzgCyiE
(Photography: Jens Masimov and Oktavia Schreiner)
Allied & Amalgamated, Pipe Factory Version, performed at the Pipe Factory, Glasgow, 1st December 2017
The performance consists of choreographed sequences dictated by sound cues from a raw metal soundtrack echoing a post-industrial landscape. Large letter forms are manipulated by the performers. The letters variously spell the trade union acronyms of TGWU and RMT. The performance references netball through the performers movements and the acronyms WA, GA etc. Team bibs in three colours, blue and green and orange, break the oppositional narrative and symmetry. The ‘rules’ of the game are unstated and deliberately frustrated. The choreography by Stephanie Black Daniels references fragmented sports moves, such as blocking, marking, shooting and celebration. The performers weave in actions using the large letter forms using a rule-based system underlined by coded sound cues. There are both solo movements (penalty shoot-out) and team movements (re-set). Many set-pieces entwine with others as the performance unfolds. The letters moved by the dancers and the sound track evoke a lost heavy industry. The combination of two disparate systems (weighty industrial heritage with light sport movements) create a sensational visual and dynamic event. For this version of the performance, floor tape in four colours was used to mark out a palimpsest of different ‘courts’ to emphasis the rule-base system of the performance and its reference to sporting codes.
Performers in both versions:
Stephanie Black-Daniels
Edward Bruce
Connie Liebschner
Richard Marsden
Louie Pegna
Edward Bruce 