Introducing our second UK RAPPORT artist

We chatted to Liam to find out about his practice and his plans for the residency, which include exploring how sounds of the body might be used to score a new dance work. 

“I’m a Brighton-based choreographer and dance artist, working in the UK and internationally. My practice is underpinned by professional hip hop, ballet & contemporary dance. 

I’ve been lucky enough to have an extensive performing career, which began with ZooNation in 2009. ZooNation’s Into The Hoods, was the catalyst for me to pursue a career in dance. I danced with Rambert for seven years and recently had the privilege of performing in LostDog’s award winning Ruination at the Royal Opera House. 

My choreography has been presented across the UK, Europe & USA. In 2022, my duet entitled Dual Till The Death won five awards at Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition and Hannover Choreography Competition. In the same year I was guest choreographer at the Akram Khan summer intensive in Belfast and attended Jacob’s Pillow choreographic fellowship programme in the USA.

I got involved with South East Dance in early 2022, when I was desperately looking for space to rehearse Dual Till the Death ahead of some performances. The Dance Space hadn’t officially opened, but I sent a chance email enquiring about rehearsal space. The team immediately responded with a lifeline of studio space. This was the beginning of our relationship. From here it has continued to grow into something special, through which I have made new contacts, been offered guidance and support, and now received this wonderful RAPPORT residency. 

Thanks to RAPPORT I will be going to Italy for a two-week residency, made possible by South East Dance’s partnership with ARTEFICI: ResidenzeCreative. During these two weeks I will be collaborating with a composer and sound designer to explore how the sounds of the body, eg breathing and contact, can be used to create a sound score. I will also be exploring how different breathing patterns relate to different emotional and physiological states. This is a period of research to explore what it is like to work in close collaboration with a composer and we will share our results at Gorizia Dance Festival. 

I am keen to see how this particular idea develops when movement and sound are developed in tandem, as this is not something I have experienced before. I am also hoping to develop my ability to communicate and collaborate with an artist from a different discipline. And I am hoping to come away with the blueprint or framework for a work that can be developed further and hopefully performed at festivals in 2024.”

RAPPORT is generously supported by The Leche Trust and British Council.