Weave is a Dance

Making is moving. Our bodies, as well as the materials we use, mediate what we create. Rather than think of what to make, how about we first think about the actions and movements needed for making, and choreograph these to give form to what we make. This is what I’ve set out to do with the instructions below. Thinking of dance as a weaving process, the score is inspired by the ‘Hey’, a well known figure in English folk dance, as well as bobbin lace making. Having dancers hold bobbins and yarn as they perform, I wonder what the fabric produced would look like? To follow the score you’ll need 15/20m of yarn or ribbon, four sticks to use as bobbins, 4 dancers and a singer or musician (optional). You might also refer to the picture score illustrated here, a visual translation of the stitching performed by the dancers. What you do with the fabric produced is up to you. Remember it isn’t so much about what you make that matters, but how and who you make it with. Simply allow the music or rhythm to lead the making. I could have included here a picture of the woven ribbons, but that would give the game away and defeat the point of all of this. Best embody the object through the dance. Have a go!

Score

1. divide the yarn/ribbon into four equal lengths

2. wind the ribbon around the bobbins 3. attach the four ends round the waist of the singer or musician 4. the four dancers stand in a line ready to weave, each holding a

bobbin and facing the singer/musician

The Weave 5. as the music starts (2/2 or 6/8 time signatures will be ideal for

this), dancers do a quarter turn to face each other forming two pairs

6. the ‘turn’ - all dancers move forward in the direction they are facing, in time to the music, passing each other by the left shoulder. NB: dancers nearer the singer/musician lower their bobbins while dancers on the outside raise them to allow the pass

7. the ‘cross’ – the middle pair then pass each other by the right shoulder, raising and lowering their bobbins as in the turn, while the two dancers on either end walk a half turn to their left to face the two dancers in the middle

8. ‘turns’ and ‘crosses’ are then repeated in succession, adding to the weave, until the music stops