PLUE
A queer courting ritual scrutinising where visibility, intimacy and privacy blur.
A collaboration with Eli's partner, choreographer Joe Garbett. Click here to see more of Joe's work.
Somewhere between a queer courting ritual and a hypnotic disappearing act, Plue examines what parts of ourselves we choose to share and what parts of ourselves we choose to hide - playfully dissecting where queer visibility, intimacy and privacy blur.
Spurred on by Eli and Joe's experience of lockdown as queer people living together in rural Somerset, Plue uses a bizarre mixture of movement, illusion and mirror-trickery to explore what happens when you attempt to camouflage parts of your identity.
Step into a world where nothing is quite what it seems…
Where people shrink & expand before your eyes. Where bodies warp and sprout new wriggling legs, before dissolving into thin air with a puff of pink & blue smoke. Eli and Joe want to reclaim the 'coming out' process, question why it even exists, and turn it into something mischievous, coy, and joyously queer.
During Plue's first R&D, Eli & Joe connected with 5 other LGBTQIA+ couples living rurally in the South West, documenting rural queer perspectives on how the pandemic has effected queer visibility, expression & intimacy. You can read some of the conversations they had by clicking here.
In 2023, Eli & Joe plan to finish and trial two full-length, tourable versions of Plue - one for dance theatre settings, one for rural touring venues. This project activity will be supported by The Place, South East Dance, Cambridge Junction, PDSW, Brewhouse Theatre, Carne to Cove and Villages in Action. If you are interested in learning more about Plue's rural touring performance, please email Eli at elinorcatherinelewis@gmail.com
Production Credits
Creators & Performers // Elinor Lewis & Joe Garbett
Costume Maker // Chloe Mead
Illusion Direction // Neil Kelso
Choreographic Support // Natifah White
Photographer & Videographer // Beliza Buzollo
Producer // Michael Kitchin
Support
Arts Council England, The Place, PDSW, South East Dance, Artsadmin, Taunton Pride, Off The Record Bristol, Diversity Trust Alphabets Youth Project, 2BU, Somerset Lesbian Network and Qart.
TIMBER
A suspenseful balancing act about managing risk and finding space to flourish within precarious situations.
Six, wooden, door-sized frames, balanced upright in a row - waiting to fall like dominoes. Two people defiantly occupy this precarious space, performing a suspenseful balancing act. Skin on wood, they strain against the frames, straddling the frames like lovers. Joints creaking, they slowly queer the timber, becoming slow-moving, part-human-part-frame hybrids.
In a kaleidoscope of light, TIMBER is about reclaiming risky spaces, straining against limitation, and finding space to flourish within precarious situations. This slowly unfurling work explores the simmering power of silence, stillness, and gradual change, whilst playfully testing people’s attitudes toward risk and precariousness.
Production Credits
Creator and Choreographer // Elinor Lewis
Creative Contributor // Hannah Parsons
Performers // Elinor Lewis and Hannah Parsons
Set Designer // Hannah Sharp
Lighting Designer // Nao Nagai
Costume Designer // Berthe Fortin
Photographer and Videographer // Rocio Chacon
Consultants // Dr Sophie Jones, Viv Gordon and Hamish MacPherson
Many thanks to TIMBER's interview participants, whose stories and ideas helped fuel TIMBER's creative research. You can read these conversations by clicking here.
Support
The Place, DanceXchange, Arts Council England, Artsadmin's BANNER Award, Goldsmiths College, The Welcome Collection, Take Art, Pavilion Dance South West, Taunton Pride, Somerset Lesbian Network, Diversity Trust and Chard WATCH.
ORCHARD
Like a rarefied circus act, it is part minimalist dance, part installation. Mesmerising and nerve-wracking.
Neil Norman Resolution Review 2018
A forest of vertically balanced poles, vulnerable to the lightest touch. Two performers navigate this precarious environment with the ever-present risk that one mistake could prove catastrophic.
Production Credits
Creator and Choreographer // Elinor Lewis
Creative Collaborator // Nuria Legarda Andueza
Lighting Designer // Nao Nagai
Costume Designer // Berthe Fortin
Photography // Ludovic Descognets
Support
The Place, Arts Council England, Aerowaves Twenty19, Artsadmin, Goldsmiths College, PDSW through #SWDancing2019
Past Performances
The Place // London, UK
Artsadmin // London, UK
BORA BORA // Aarhus, Denmark
Mac Val // Spring Forward Festival, Val-de-Marne, France
Baluarte // 948 Merkatua Festival, Pamplona, Spain
WHERE YOU TO?
Where you to?
Commissioned by Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton, WHERE YOU TO? is a interactive, digital, choose your own adventure website that dances you through the unseen natural beauty of Somerset. Elinor collaborated with Joe Garbett to create WHERE YOU TO? which is made up of 62 dance GIFS and 32 dance films.
Have a go at making your own dance adventure by clicking here.
Production Credits
Creators // Elinor Lewis and Joe Garbett
Performer // Joe Garbett
Photographer and Videographer // Elinor Lewis