Theatre Production
Win(d)ing Orchestra
THE JOURNEY
INCEPTION
2010 - 2020
Win(d)ing Orchestra was seeded in 2010 at Ovalhouse Theatre. Yassmin V. Foster produced I Am an Artist for the 33% London festival, where Linton Clarke and three other artists presented their solo choreographic work. Clarke’s piece was a subversion of traditional masculinity. He explored whining but chose not to include this in the final work, noting that the conflation of the two ideas could undermine the integrity of the technique. The lingering question was: How can we create a piece where the pelvis acts like the instruments in an orchestra? This concept was named "Whining Orchestra" and archived for future discussion.
In 2020, Foster led Clarke and a team of creatives for the BBC Dance Passion documentary "Laying the Ground." The project's success provided momentum for revisiting Clarke’s concept from 2010. The co-creators decided that the soundtrack for the work would be Dancehall music, which provided the opportunity to highlight Jamaican culture, paying homage to their Jamaican heritage. Initially, there was a debate over the spelling of the project name because Jamaican Patois is historically a spoken language that constantly evolves, leading to no consensus on the spelling of 'whining', 'winding', or 'wining'. Clarke and Foster acknowledged this using the letter "d" in parentheses, resulting in Win(d)ing Orchestra.
Foster’s memory of Clarke’s idea was that he wanted to see a whole production in which the batty can “boop boop boom, du du dum du du dum!” In ongoing discussion, the Co-creators established that the work would be formatted as a play, taking advantage of the music and dynamic storytelling, which are empirical to Jamaican culture.
R&D 3
2024
This activity interrogated the premise of the Win(d)ing Orchestra play by inviting actors to embody the world and characters designed by the Co-creators. Actors engaged in devised exploration to validate script development of Win(d)ing Orchestra. The play asks what happens when members of Black British communities go missing in contemporary London. For this five-day event, the cast was selected to represent the Jamaican community that is centred in the work.
Cast
R&D3
A group of people meeting, learning, developing and performing in one week. Exploring vulnerability, discovering connection and deepening their British Jamaican heritage through stimuli lead, self reflective scenario devising.
Linton Clarke
Co-Creator and Producer
Stef O'Driscoll
Dramaturg
Cheniece Warner
Photographer
Alexander Thomas Standish-Murray
Stage Manager
Yassmin V. Foster
Co-Creator and Producer
Michelle Adia Scarlett
Video Content Creator
Aïsha Kent
Stage Manager
Benjamin Ensall
Production Therapist
Crew
R&D 2
2023
This event was a two-day symposium that brought together pioneering Dancehall artists, dance enthusiasts, professionals, and academics to explore the impact and artistic significance of Dancehall. The Co-creators delved into topics such as the spread of Dancehall through viral dance challenges on social media. Concern were raised about individuals from outside of the culture profiting from the work of Jamaican artists. Discussions surfaced about the importance of establishing a fair framework that allows Jamaican creators to benefit financially from their creative work.
Cast & Crew
R&D 1
2022
Cast & Crew
The Co-creators defined the project's goals in an intimate forum, which constrained broader issues into specific pain points. Discussions underscored the enduring importance of Dancehall for Jamaicans, regardless of whether it is in the spotlight or not. This illuminated that cultural icons like Beenie Man and Macka Diamond receive little attention from Western media, compared to the extensive coverage of global artists producing music inspired by dancehall. The Co-creators also examined the ramifications of Dancehall’s resurgence for post-Windrush generations.
Big Thanks!
