We sat down for a quick chat with Kevin Finnan. Motionhouse bring an unforgettable blend of spectacular dance and jaw-dropping circus to Sadler’s Wells East this Autumn. Ticket link: Motionhouse – Hidden – Sadler’s Wells East – Sadler’s Wells
- Hidden explores how light can emerge from darkness during times of crisis; what first inspired you to explore this idea through dance-circus?
When I make a new show, it has to be about something that I have on my mind – something that I care about or am concerned about at that point in time. In terms of the theme of Hidden, in recent years I’ve been very aware of what feels to me like a lot of darkness and division in the world and there are many challenges facing people across the globe. When I was making this show, I was touched by the stories we were hearing about how positive things can come out of moments of crisis such as natural disasters or conflicts, showing that when people help each other in these situations, new bonds are made. This is what made me want to explore this theme and express this through our dance-circus vocabulary.
- Motionhouse is known for blending contemporary dance, acrobatics and physical theatre; how did you push this movement language further for Hidden?
Each time we make a new show, I work with our team of dancers to push new boundaries, encouraging them to experiment, to push themselves and to find new ways of moving. As a choreographer I’ve been developing the dance-circus style that Motionhouse is known for for many years now, coupled with the dancers’ enthusiasm to develop their own language. For me, adding in the circus is just expanding the beauty of the movement that you get through dance. The great thing about movement is that it’s about emotion. I hope that audiences will find what we have created thought-provoking and poignant and that they will be able to connect with the characters on stage as they embark on their own personal journeys through the show.
- Digital projections and a shape-shifting set play a central role in the production; how do you ensure technology enhances the physical storytelling rather than competing with it?
It’s all about balance. The projections must play a supporting role to the movement, not the other way round. I use them to set the scene, provide context and drive the narrative, enabling us to shift from one world to another in the blink of an eye and create immersive worlds on stage. In some productions I’ve used them throughout every ‘scene’ in the show, but with Hidden, and Nobody (the previous show in 2021), I felt that there was a point in the story where I didn’t want to use projections because I wanted audiences to focus on the beauty and pureness of the movement and what was being expressed by it and what the characters on stage are experiencing emotionally.
- You describe Hidden as a deeply personal production; how have your own experiences shaped its themes of crisis, resilience and human connection?
Throughout my life I’ve observed that it’s in times of crisis that we need each other more than ever, and this is the fundamental message that I want to communicate with Hidden. The best of humanity is when we put the needs of others before our own. It seems to me that this aspect of being human is sometimes hidden in today’s very fast-moving world, where people are sometimes so involved with their own lives that they forget to think about others. For me, it is a fundamental aspect of our survival as a species. If we lose this, we lose the essence of what we are.
- Motionhouse often explores the relationship between people and the world around them; how has this focus evolved throughout the company’s nearly four decades of work?
I have always felt the need to make work about something that is relevant to me. Sometimes this has been about human relationships or concerns, sometimes this has been about the world around us and our relationship with nature and the environment. But the main thing is that it has to mean something to me on a personal level, so that I can use movement to convey the feeling that I’m trying to create. This is why I love movement so much – you can tell a story or evoke the feelings that we’re trying to convey to the audience. Sometimes that feeling will be pure joy and sometimes it will be thinking about a moment in your own life and it becomes part of your story.
- With Hidden reaching new audiences at Sadler’s Wells East, what do you hope people unfamiliar with dance-circus take away from the experience?
I hope that audiences new to our work will enjoy what they see. As with all of my work, I want audiences to decide what Hidden means to them – it’s not about what it means to me. I hope that Hidden will move people and that it might offer them a space to reflect on what is important to their own lives in the challenging times we live in. I find the production very moving to watch and I hope audiences at Sadler’s Wells East will do too. The narrative arc follows the characters’ path from darkness into the light, and I would like this to bring a sense of hope and a belief in the future of humanity.