Fine artist and theatre designer Mike Brookes’ first installation design for Earthfall was developed for their fifth work The Intimate Jig. With a stage architecture of 3 metre high metal chairs that transformed into various structures throughout the performance, corridors of turf and a constant dripping of water into a large metal dish of flame.
All the elements came to fruition in The Intimate Jig, all the performers played musical instruments, sang and delivered text; Super 8 film was projected onto an adapted double bass cello and Kim Burton from the acclaimed punk folk band 3 Mustaphas 3 composed and played alongside Belinda Sykes and the Earthfall ensemble.
Jim Ennis and Jessica Cohen used sources from the Blodeuwedd legend, Flaubert and the paintings of Chagall to impose discrete narratives within the work. Much of the movement was set from intensive contact improvisation sessions and adaptations of North African mountain dances researched after field trips to the Atlas Mountains by Cohen and Sykes.
The work toured to acclaim for two years throughout Europe and appeared at several major festivals and a film adaptation was made for Channel 4 and S4C.
