Under the artistic direction of Lindsey Butcher, Gravity & Levity specialises in vertical performances which apply a dance aesthetic to aerial suspension, exciting the imagination of audiences by redefining what and where a dance floor can be.
Crawdaddy is an aerial dance piece for three veteran performers – Butcher with her long time collaborator Lee Clayden and performer/musician Scott Smith – who tumble, spin and glide through a looming wooden and metal aerial rig where different levels of choreographic interaction are played out. The tensile strain of their connective ropes exposes the performer’s vulnerability through their interdependency as they navigate the nature of human relationships, both literally & metaphorically. Played live, Scott Smith’s taut steel guitar strings release raucous blues and swampy atmospheric loops for Crawdaddy’s imagined setting of backyard Americana.
Why? is a tender, gentle abseiling duet which Gravity & Levity originally created with choreographer Fin Walker and composer Ben Park in 2004 for Butcher to perform with Lee Clayden. With the support of Without Walls, the company was commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival to re-imagine the work with the same creative team and cast 15 years on. Butcher and Clayden are enthralling to watch, as they use their shared weight and sixth sense for one another to explore themes of life, loss, surrender and acceptance against a haunting soundtrack of music and spoken word. Why? is usually performed outdoors on a custom-built vertical ground-supported truss structure, but can also be performed against a permanent structure or building, or indoors.
