A FESTIVAL that has launched the careers of some of the most dynamic artists in the UK begins today in Glasgow.
Into the New has become a key feature of the cultural scene in Scotland since it began 15 years ago to showcase the work of fourth-year students of the Contemporary Performance Practice (CPP) programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
This year it again takes place in Govan at the Pearce Institute following the controversial loss of The Arches performance space.
It begins with a symposium inspired by the writings of 19th-century naturalist and environmental philosopher John Muir.
Guest speakers include Alistair McIntosh, author of acclaimed book Poacher’s Pilgrimage; Professor Dee Heddon of Glasgow University; Sarah Hopfinger; John Boursnell and Rosemary Lee.
The focus on Muir, the father of the national parks movement, is not surprising, according to Stephanie Katie Hunter, the festival’s associate producer and a CPP graduate.
“In the CPP programme there is a big focus on ecology as it looks at what it is to create art in these times,” she said. “We have to think about the systems around us so we think about the environment, climate change and politics at large.
“We are trying to find ways to step away from the ego but look instead at how artists make a contribution to society either as conversation-starters or through education.”
WHAT CAN WE SEE?
THE festival this year is very different from previous incarnations, believes Hunter.
“The students are all very different and all have different interests but are still very supportive of each other,” she said. “They really are the sum of their parts as they have been able to further their own practices in their different fields by the things they have learned from one another.
“A lot of different art forms are being explored including live music, spoken word, pantomime, cabaret and visual art. There is a lot of durational work too, which means audiences can come and go rather than have to sit through a performance of a certain length.
“It is not only diverse because of their different art practices but the students also come from all over the world. One has been based in Dubai for a long time, others are from South Africa, Norway, Denmark and Scotland. It is really exciting as they have used their backgrounds in their work.”
WHO IS INVOLVED?
Thulani Rachia, from Johannesburg, is exploring the origins of textile trading from his native South Africa to Govan itself in Text_ile, a durational performance situated in the vestibule.
Maria Braender, from Denmark, is taking on the expansive McLeod Hall to examine humans' responsibility to the ecology of bees in Telling the Bees, while Kieran McMath, from the west of Scotland, follows in the tradition of graduate Johnny McKnight with Babes in the Wood, From Power to Pie, a contemporary re-staging of a classic pantomime.
Fellow Scot Chris Cameron explores the loneliness of self and ego in Hemisphere Hemisphere while Tammy Millar contemplates voyeurism in Bedroom Rockstar. Norwegian Marie Stork will be installed in the Alex Ferguson Suite throughout the festival in Majestree, a meditation on the Norwegian folklore surrounding trees and the metaphor of roots.
Continuing the exploration of time-based performance, Frankie Mulholland, who was born in Scotland and raised in Dubai, is to recreate six hours on the club dance floor in New Dusk, New Dawn as Rachel-Jane Morrison from Fife explores her family’s matriarchal line in the durational If I Could...
Lastly, audiences will be asked to consider sound, sight and the visceral nature of the naked self and the materials of the earth in Space of Eiris, from Norwegian Sunniva Saetereng.
Tammy Millar's Bedroom Rockstar
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
THE festival is the degree show of those in their fourth year of the BA honours in CPP. Some shows will be BSL-interpreted and have captioning.
On Tuesday evening the third-year CPP students will be presenting intimate one-on-one performances in collaboration with Buzzcut.
The course looks at the self, the social, the critical and the ecological to develop individual arts practices.
Alumni include Nic Green, Liam Sinclair, Jess Thorpe, Natasha Gore, Johnny McKnight, Gary McNair, Buzzcut’s Nick Anderson and Rosanna Cade, Gary Gardiner and Peter McMaster.
“The Contemporary Performance Practice course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland creates a communal space for students to have visions on a daily basis, providing a place of discovery where one pursues new ways of thinking in order to create new ways of being,” said Lin Hixson of the Goat Island performance group. “A precious but fragile jewel, this course and its participants extend the boundaries of performance in ways necessary for its growth, re-affirming the imagination as a powerful force in creating a better world.”
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is ranked sixth in the world for performing arts education and number one in Scotland for graduate employability.
There are still places available for new students on the CPP programme beginning in autumn this year.
Into the New runs until January 26. Tickets can be booked at www.rcs.ac.uk
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