Hanna Tuulikki - Deer Dancer
Step into the world of Deer Dancer. See the theatre; hear the drum beat. Observe a quintet of womxn performers take it in turns to play five hybrid characters. In the space between wild-deer-ness and performed male-ness, see them gesture, lip-sync, dance and sing, undressing and redressing into costumes for another round of tragicomedy.
Hanna Tuulikki's Deer Dancer is a complex cross-artform study into our multifaceted relationship with deer. Beginning with mimesis, specifically representations within dance, the work examines how the imitation of deer behaviour constructs ideas of ‘wilderness’ as the site for the cultivation of heroic hetero-masculinities and how hunting mythologies shape and impact real, often vulnerable ecologies.
Exploring the interconnections between the crisis of ecology and the crisis of masculinity, Deer Dancer is an explicit contemporary life-crisis ritual for a damaged planet.
Recommended for ages 14+
ACCESS
Highly Visual - No/Little Text
Audience notes
Features low-light conditions, prolonged darkness
There is an optional Open House from 6.30pm–7.30pm. During this time, you are invited to come and go as you please and witness the performers transforming into their characters.
The performance begins at 7.30pm. From this point onwards, we ask that audience members remain seated where possible. The performance will end at approximately 9pm.
Below: watch extracts from a livestream performance
CREDITS
Lead artist/performer/composer: Hanna Tuulikki
Sound designer and co-composer: Kim Moore
Performers: Simone Kenyon, Fabiola Santana, Sita Pieraccini, Jude Williams
Devisers: Simone Kenyon, Fabiola Santana, Sita Pieraccini, Jude Williams, Nic Green, Jo Hellier, Hanna Tuulikki
Assistant director: Peter McMaster
Movement practice lead: Will Dickie
Technical manager and stage manager: Anissa Praquin
Producer: Siân Baxter
Set designer: Molly M. Whawell
Lighting designer: Katharine Williams
PR: Joy Parkinson PR
Funded by Creative Scotland Open Fund and Hope Scott Trust. Supported by Tramway, National Theatre of Scotland and Take Me Somewhere.