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Interview with David Massingham on ‘Hinterland’
What was your starting point?
Hinterland was a piece I made 12 years ago. I wanted to revisit with a newexperience, but to revisit the title more than the old piece. I like the idea of hinterlands. They vary in the way they are defined in dictionaries but areessentially areas around a port where industries developed, producing adisparate, normally immigrant, community of people, like Marseille for example. I wanted to concentrate on the romance – the way people ‘are’ inthese communities.
How do you like to work with your dancers? What were thechoreographic/creative processes that you used to create material?
I give creative tasks and improvisation stimulus - I create material with thedancers. This piece is about my direction not my choreography. I shape as a3
rd
person. I was more concerned with the overall cohesion of the piece.I kept a book of ideas – I wrote down words or images that I noted as I waswalking around to use as improvisation starting points. These words became60 key words used as a starting point. We put them on 15 pieces of paper oneach of the 4 sides of the studio so they represented front row seats. It’s away of creating new ways of travelling and also relating choreography to allsides of the audience. All the improvisations were filmed – we play back andlook for key moments that could be turned into set choreography.I like working like this. When you play back you make decisions on momentsof movement that you might not normally choose. It’s a huge editing task –you have to look for moments that can be recreated.Improvisation also helps to build a key vocabulary. One of our key themes wenamed ‘bounce action’. It became our common vocabulary alongsidepercussive noise, drags, turns and spins, colliding in the air, staring andstillness. Underlying the piece is a unified feeling of isolation, inner landscapes and a sense of remoteness. Bringing commonality to the piecehelps with the selection of material. The problem can be that you end up withtoo much material. I was worried there was more than one piece in thematerial. I let the dancers explore, I concentrated on cohesion.
What was the inspiration for costume?
I wanted the dancers dressed in clothes not in costumes. I worked closelywith the designer in the way they look and the costume designer introduced awhole new element to the piece. Fabrice bought in a book on photographyby Daido Moriyama with images of hinterland. His costumes have affected theway the piece was structured. Fabrice will also have an influence on thelighting.
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