The Movement Collective: 'Coping' Premiere

In this video short, specially commissioned by NI Mental Health Arts Festival, The Movement Collective look at ‘routine in the form of movement’.  ‘What are my feet doing?’ is a mix of stop motion, illustration and movement. A short film exploring mindfulness and the body, and the importance of breathing when it comes to moments of panic and anxiety.

 This short looks at the importance of knowing yourself and your coping mechanisms, discovering the things that can help and understanding and accepting that some days are better than others. The action of this piece is based around a single performer.

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The juxtaposition in  the performers movements act as clear signifiers of the direction their anxiety is taking them in.

“Trying to maintain productivity whilst navigating an anxious mind, can seem somewhat hopeless. Using only the body to portray a range of feelings we follow our human on a journey from their bedroom to the back door.  An emphasis on what’s not said but what we see, the mechanisms created in the home act as a bandage, a temporary fix until life resumes outside of the 4 walls.”-The Movement Collective

 

The Movement Collective is a Belfast based Performance Group founded in 2017 by Performer Ro Owens and Director Emily Foran. Rob Crawford joined the team in 2019 taking on the position of Movement Director. 

“Our work is a combination of live performance installation and devised theatre, with a social and political voice.  We collaborate with individual artists across all art forms, producing vibrant, new performance pieces.” -The Movement Collective

In 2018 The Movement Collective won Stockholm Fringe’s Audience Choice Award with ‘Sharktank’, a performance exploring life as an Artist and Mental Health.