A Q&A with Elaine Mitchener about her performance piece Sweet Tooth – a visceral, overwhelming indictment of the role sugar and the slave trade played in building the British Empire.
“My work is constantly evolving as I develop ideas and work with different artists, being challenged along the way. I approach each project with the excitement of something new and rewarding and, even if it doesn’t work, that’s okay because that’s an object lesson in itself.”
“Industrialising Intimacy is a new way of working for me as it combines structured notational form, vocal improvisation, and movement that has been developed in R&D. I’m very excited to experience the outcome.”
“Conceived and performed by London based vocalist Elaine Mitchener, Industrialising Intimacy flickers into life at the point where any attempts at categorisation are doomed to fail. Mitchener herself calls the piece “An original work of contemporary music theatre, performed […] in collaboration with Dam Van Huynh, George Lewis and David Toop.” But its mash-up of composed music, free improvisation and input from a choreographer meets inside a hybrid form that has little to do with how modern composition, improvisation or dance are usually perceived.”
