Consequences of conflict

The UK feels as if it is peacetime, but it is not: the UK military is currently involved in operations in Afghanistan and has been since 2001. With little work about the recent conflicts emerging from the UK arts scene, I was inspired to try and create some. It was important to me to make sure that the resulting dance piece, ‘5 SOLDIERS’, was authentic, well-researched and truly understood what the troops are going through. With a background as a choreographer and dancer, I believed that a soldier’s desire to fight stems from a deep physical training, which may have correlations with a dancer’s training. In order to find out, I undertook army training myself, to see if there was material to create a dance theatre work that explored the soldiers’ lives through their physicality and the risk to their bodies.

In 2008, as part of a Rayne Foundation Fellowship, I undertook a two-part research process with the British Army. I joined the Fourth Battalion The Rifles for two weeks of battle training, and spent a week at Headley Court rehabilitation centre and some time at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. It took a lot of work to be allowed this access; the army is a closed environment, and they were wary of outsiders joining them. With my dance training, I thought the best way to gain trust was to join in and show aptitude and strength. These were taken as a measure of my ability in a very male and competitive environment and, due to the long-term nature of my visits living with the battalion, soldiers were often very open with me about their experiences of being in the army during a period of high deployment.

‘5 SOLDIERS’ was created over a five-month period, with a cast of five dancers and a team of collaborators, including artist David Cotterrell who has spent time in Helmand Province with Joint Medical Forces. The dancers underwent a long training period before going into the studio, which involved outdoor battle training, weapons training, drill training and even joining the Territorial Army for a weekend exercise.

I wanted the work to reflect the injuries sustained by the soldiers. While the death rate is reported on the news, the injury rate is kept quite hidden from public view. There are a huge number of soldiers who have life-changing injuries. This had to be handled sensitively, and yet still have a powerful emotional punch. I hope that the final piece speaks to audiences about the consequences of conflict.