An Interview with Tamsin Fitzgerald, a Choreographer of EDGE

Find out all about the fantastic dance show Edge from one of their four choreographers, Tamsin Fitzgerald an Artistic Director/Choreographer and founder of 2Faced Dance.

Edge Dance Company presents four brand new pieces by award winning choreographers with energy and prowess. This unusual programme by Philippe Blanchard, Tamsin Fitzgerald, Athina Vahla and Ben Wright ranges from the poetic to the wild. Edge is the postgraduate dance company of London Contemporary Dance School.

What was the inspiration behind Evaporated People?
I became fascinated by stories of the Johatsu or Vanished people in Japan. I began researching into the stories behind the thousands of Japanese who are said to stage elaborate disappearances each year. This became the starting point for the work. We developed our own physical language looking at how the space and lack of human contact/relationships might affect the posture or body.

Do you have a particular way of creating work or is your choreographic process different for each piece?
My choreographic process can change and shift depending on the dancers that I am working with. With EDGE I was keen to spend some time getting to know the students, what makes them tick, what excites them, what makes them who they are?

How would you describe your style of movement?
I would describe it as intensely physical. Lifting work, contact and floor work are always part of the way in which I work. I am a movement junkie so I want to see dancers pushing their bodies as far as they can. I want to watch dancers dance.

How have you found the collaborative creative process with the EDGE dancers?
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was really challenging as I had a big gap between my creation periods of a few months. This actually worked out really well as the dancers developed so much in this time frame and when I came back for my second block they had really found their feet and were really strong in the studio. The dancers were all very open to trying things and patient with my constantly changing mind.

How do you feel when you watch EDGE rehearsing/performing your work?
Very proud! Boy what a journey. They really do the work justice. They are the work.

What’s different about working with EDGE than with your company 2faced?
Well for starters there are women in Edge! So the atmosphere in the studio is very different. Also they are at the start of their careers so they have no preconceptions of what is going to happen. It’s refreshing!

What can audiences expect to feel/see when watching EDGE perform Evaporated People?
I think it’s an emotional work, so I hope that the subject makes people think. I would hope that they see an exceptional company of young dancers on stage pushing their bodies to the maximum.

What have you most enjoyed about working with the EDGE dancers?
I enjoyed creating a work in which I could just focus on the creative process. I loved their openness and the fact that they all come from different places and have different training. This makes them very versatile. They also have a great sense of humour!

What project is next for you?
I’ve literally just returned from 10 days in China meeting choreographers, artists and theatres. I now plan on seeing if I can build on some of the relationships I have developed in China and set up an exchange. Meanwhile 2Faced Dance go into a creative process to develop a new outdoor work for children that uses BSL and audio description so that our work can be experienced by more people.

EDGE will be in The Courtyard’s Main House on Wednesday 16 May at 7.30pm. To book tickets for Edge click here, or for more information contact the Box Office on 01432 340555.