I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting with a range of artists and artist groups as part of the shortlisting for The Jamie Iddon Award.
And our four winners each proposed a project that was eye popping, thought provoking and strikingly original.
Bea Bidault is a choreographer working on Les Nuages/The Clouds, a dance piece exploring loneliness using inflatable puffer jackets filled with smoke.
Ken Nakajima will fuse visual art, theatre and dance in a work about Japanese salarymen and our toxic work culture.
Blaise Peters is developing a black working class Othello on the streaming platform Twitch.
Flo Yuting Zhu is mixing found footage horror films with wildlife trail cams in a performance about witnessing and simulacra.
I’m excited to support Bea, Ken, Blaise and Flo as they develop their projects next year.
– Matt
Bea Bidault (she/her)
Bea, originally from Barcelona, is a dance artist based in London.
She started her studies in Barcelona and continued her training at London Contemporary Dance School, graduating with a distinction master’s degree.
Since then, Bea has devoted time studying and developing her own projects whilst working as a performer and artistic assistant with several companies and choreographers including Becky Namgauds and Requardt&Rosenberg among others.
She is currently part of Teac Damsa, directed by Michael Keegan-Dolan, and part of the cast in Mám. Bea has also been the rehearsal assistant for Michael’s latest creation.
In 2020, Bea collaborated with Theo Arran to create the duet ‘The Shape of a Day’.
What will you be working on?
Les Nuages/The Clouds is a new dance work for alternative spaces & theatres. The duet explores alienation and narcissism in neoliberal societies and how we often lack community and individualism conquers all. I’m interested in how dance and collaborative practice can help us rebuild a sense of community. A performance that awakens the audience’s desire for change and reveals dance as a site of transformation.
We all carry the weight of the blue sky above us,
and all these clouds
all these dreams.
Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Blaise Peters (they/them)
Blaise is a writer from South London who crafts stories celebrating the magic and representation of Black women. Their work spans from script writing, radio plays, theatre and TV reviews, all with a common thread of weaving the fantastical into the everyday.
Blaise is passionate about pushing boundaries and creating captivating narratives that reflect the diverse experiences of Black femmes. When they’re not writing, Blaise can be found exploring occult bookstores, taking scenic walks in Brighton, or dreaming up their next creative endeavour.
What will you be working on?
I’ll be embarking on an unprecedented journey with a groundbreaking, queer, femme-led adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Othello”! Set against the mesmerizing backdrop of Andalucía, this modern twist takes audiences on a rollercoaster of love, trust, and betrayal.
Immerse yourself in an innovative blend of technology, table-top role-play, and Shakespearean drama on Twitch, in a never-before-seen approach to storytelling. Join the conversation, share your perspectives, and witness the fusion of digital and live performance.
Website | Instagram | X (formerly known as Twitter)
Flo Yuting Zhu (she/her)
Flo Yuting Zhu is a performance and film artist. She seeks translations of live presence in moving images, AI algorithms, and shared experiences. Her works focus on layers of witnessing embedded in the mundanity of a human-data co-habitat.
Coming from a literature background, her tone of voice, while often whimsical and light-hearted, is deeply rooted in verbatim materials and raw emotional responses. In recent years she has showcased her works at Wuzhen Fringe, Somerset House, Rio Cinema, and Outernet. Flo was born in Shanghai and since 2020 has been based in London.
What will you be working on?
False Witness will be a live found-footage horror film crafted within an enclosed black box. Witness the artist’s absence through night-vision cameras, blended with wildlife trail cams, AI forgeries, and dreamlike self-documenting videos. The film’s narrative evolves uniquely through code-based randomization, existing in constant flux. It questions the complication of witnessing behind technological processing and AI-powered simulations while offering a deeply personal response to growing up in a censored culture. It is a film orchestrated live. A performance of absence. What makes evidence? What accounts for truth?
Ken Nakajima (he/him)
Ken Nakajima is a movement artist, theatre director, and visual artist working in the fields of theatre & fashion, as well as any creative field he immerses himself in. His practice (Synthesis), embodies the fusion of visual art, theatre, and dance, forming a harmonious and innovative performance approach. Influenced by Butoh Dance and Arte Povera, his practice thrives on the interplay of materials, light, body, sound, and language. It represents an ongoing journey, exploring the interconnectedness of artistic disciplines.
What will you be working on?
Seeking Shadows is a performance piece that draws inspiration from the everyday routines of Japanese salarymen. This project delves into the pervasive issues of overwork and stress that permeate contemporary culture while shedding light on the critical shortage of mental health support. The performance will embody the essence of the modern-day salaryman’s life—juxtaposing the relentless corporate grind with the profound need for rest and emotional well-being.
Website | Instagram | X (formerly known as Twitter) | YouTube
