South West Dance Hub Present: An Evening of Dance and Collaboration
Published October 9, 2025
This month, we shine a spotlight on An Evening of Dance and Collaboration, hosted by the South West Dance Hub (SWDH). The event celebrates and supports the dance companies in the South West by bringing them together for a night of performance and creative exchange.
SWDH sat down with four dance company directors to explore the inspirations behind their work and the collaborative processes that shaped them.
Ruth Bell: Swift Dance Company
Work: Curiouser
"Curiouser draws on my continued investigation into costume in performance. During the devising process landscapes and characters emerge through the interactions of the performer, Willa Faulkner, with the wearable objects sculpted from 19th century newsprint. We explored themes of time and its circular nature, how words can create limitations or freedom and the sense of exploration and adventure.
Collaboration with sound artist Jenny Pill is an exciting part of this process. For me working with other artists is a continually evolving dialogue and can bring surprises and new directions to the work."
Claire Parker: NooN Collective
Work: Penumbra
NooN Collective are collaborating with members of Swift Dance Company to present extracts from a new evolving work ‘Penumbra’, first developed for performance in Kent’s Cavern.
Penumbra is a series of dreamlike encounters in sound, movement and projection, exploring themes of being in the dark, the shadow, mythologies and deep geological time.
The work is inspired by NooN’s year long collaboration with experimental sound artist Arnont Nongyao based in Thailand with support from a British Council International Collaboration Grant. NooN and Arnont have spent time in caves in the UK and Thailand, and in virtual and imagined caves of the internet and their imaginations. They have collected and shared sounds, images, movement scores and fragments of meaning from these adventures.
This process and these materials have formed the basis for an experimental and interdisciplinary improvisation practice for performance.
Jenny Pill: Swift Dance Company
Work: The Golden Spiral
"My starting point was the Fibonacci Sequence; a fascinating maths equation, evident in many aspects of nature in the form of beautiful spirals. Using this as inspiration, I worked with the dancers to develop physical expressions of the golden spiral. We delved into ‘Fib Poetry’; a discipline using the maths equation as a strict word/syllable boundary. We made a short film on a local beach to accompany the live performance.
I have created a sound score influenced by both the maths and the dancers. The predominating themes are beauty, peaceful presence, flow and form. It has been a pleasure to develop, and I hope this enjoyment will transmit from the dancers to the audience"
Maria Tarokh: SHE
Work: LAYLI
"LAYLI is a feminist adaptation of a classical poem (Layli & Majnun), using dance and spoken word. L&M is a seminal classical text that has become part of the cultural zeitgeist across the SWANA region and diasporas. LAYLI focuses on the female perspective, taking a tongue in cheek approach to the descriptions of her beauty and amplifying her voice. The movement focuses on loyalty, devotion, and sacrifice.
The research and development of the piece has involved working with the dance hub to look at how poetry informs choreography, working on dramaturgy with Beyond Face and liaising with the University of Exeter Middle Eastern studies department to understand the deeper meanings of Ganjavi’s work and how to approach a feminist reimagining of a classical text."
South West Dance Hub Present: An Evening of Dance & Collaboration takes place on Mon, Nov 10 at 7pm. Book your tickets here.