THE ENQUISTS IN RESIDENCE

Eowynn Enquist and Isak Enquist have participated in many BLOOMs past, and are currently co-creating in the studio as resident BLOOM choreographers. Both are well known in the local dance community  as frequent collaborators with many Vancouver companies and artists.  

Photos: (above) Dan D. Lion, (below) Ted Littleford

S    Where’s your BLOOM project at?    

E    We're a few rehearsals into the process. 

Photo: Isak and Eowynn Enquist

S    And you're collaborating with Darryl Ahye

E    Yes! I am incredibly excited to work  with Darryl, we’ve worked with him documenting dance projects in the past and I love the way he moves with the camera. I love the way he ‘dances the camera’. I often feel that when we are shooting together; there is partnering that happens where Darryl trusts his instincts and plays off the choreography and  as a dancer I get excited about my relationship with the camera in a choreographic way. 

I    We love working with Darryl,  and have been dreaming of the time we get to work together again…We’re meeting with Darryl and Lula-Belle next week to share the movement we’ve created so far. We have three pieces of music that are really inspiring us right now, and we are building movement from that and smashing it all together.

E        Creating a dance for video excites me because there is opportunity for density even within a five minute time frame.

Enquist+Enquist video reel: credit: Lula-Belle Jedynak @no_more_belle

I        One of the tracks that are helping us build this work is “Little Room” by The White Stripes I first heard this song when I was 10 years old, and it has helped define and put words to the creative process for me since then. It feels fitting for Eowynn and I because our process often begins in private, and then we work towards a structure that can be shared publicly. We’ve titled our piece “Love Sex Marriage”.

S …in five minutes!

E   We’ve decided love gets a minute and a half. Sex gets a minute and a half. Marriage gets a minute and a half.

While creating movements for “love” we found ourselves creating images/subtext for each movement and the sensations lean more towards an embodiment of the past and nostalgic longing. As for “sex” we had a day in the studio where we both were quite vulnerable and bold and that movement generation I think asks us to return to it each time with incredible attention to each other in the present moment. We haven’t created anything for marriage yet, but White Stripes will be in there. 

Photo: Eowynn and Isak Enquist

I   We’ve talked about the three of us choreographing with the camera’s movement as a character in the work. We’re filming it in a 3-sided, 18-foot white box. Each unit begins facing a different wall. This has kind of oriented our choreography inside it. Plus, Darryl’s going to be in there with us, but we don't know how it's going to work yet. We’re interested in seeing what kind of angles we can get with really tight shots, and how we can actually partner with Darryl and Lulubelle. 

S     I can’t wait to see the result.  What is inspiring you these days?

E    I’m still quite inspired by a film I saw during COVID.  Hofesh Shechter’s “Clowns”. The explosive qualities in their body, the way that movement rippled through them - expression felt limitless.  That piece, and the way they dance to the music, really inspired me.  The waves of emotion on their faces felt like they were putty; they could just go in any direction, multiple directions, and you got to be there and feel it. It was the first thing that led me to want to make dance films. My imagination moved into “it could be really great to have a camera capture this, very close up, intimate.” 

I     It’s a very intense work..

S    Bloom presentations often touch on ways we experience dance - how it affects us, sometimes makes shifts in us. Most dance artists have touchstone experiences with the artform in their past.  What’s a dance that changed you?   

I    Well, one dance that changed me was Kaspar, Mascall’s solo with the tree branches. I saw it performed by Gilbert Small back in 2017. 

S    How did it change you?   

I    I think I was at a threshold.  I was interested in what dance could be, and I was afraid of dance that I didn't understand. Then I watched “Kaspar”:  I didn't understand what the piece was about, but I was mesmerised by it. Something unlocked in me where I released the judgement of not understanding, and I was taken by the magic of it.  That whole show, really. The Outliner - the whole show I believed in magic. 

E That was at MascallDance’s former space on  Jervis Street. 

S  Yes, and very fantastical.  I remember you  in it, Eowynn.  

E  And remember how the audience was sitting on pews that were on casters and moved around the space for each section of the dance? 

I  After the show, I emailed Jennifer “ I would like to audition to perform “Kaspar.”  She said, “Sure”. So, we met. She brought the branches, laid them down and said, “do it from memory. Show me what you think the piece is.” And… I'm pretty sure I just swung tree branches around for 8 minutes. 

Photo: Isak and Eowynn Enquist.

S Any more inspirations? 

E The work I’m doing right now with acting coach, Nadine Wright  is inspiring me.  She began as a dancer then transitioned into acting and she’s created a regimen that begins with relaxation, a 20-minute meditation. Seated in a chair– legs wide, pelvis tucked, shoulders back, chin to chest -you go through the body in a slow, detailed way (as if a string is pulling up your bone – your wrist, say).  This identifies physical tension, and emotional blocks, too - throughout processes that can get in the way of being in a state of flow or creative space. You encounter these as she asks questions. I've found I've come up against a lot of fear, and that the fear can unravel; allowing myself to be more courageous, present or to be a part of a creative process.

S Are sessions hands-on, in her studio?  

E No, Zoom! I was super resistant to that - to be honest, I didn't enjoy Zoom dance processes. 

I   Eowynn has shared this relaxation practice with me as a way to enter our rehearsals together.  We have found that it moves us forward when our working together gets sticky. 

S What’s coming up next for you?

E Together we're doing a film with Anne Plamondon in Montréal this season and I am working with Rachel Meyer right now, on her new creation Many Worlds which will premiere at the end of May. 

I Aside from dance, I am working in secondary schools with a violence prevention organisation called Safeteen

, and learning a lot from that. As well, Eowynn and I are working with generous_mess on their new creation. And I'm teaching all over mother earth, and facilitating a space called “Late Nights” for masterclasses with colleagues in the community.

S So now, after rehearsal, take me home with you. What’s your favourite go-to? 

I Okay, so we start by cutting up cubes of tofu…I’ll send you the recipe.