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EIDOS/Rules to Live By
Described as ‘a visceral and powerful double-bill of dance, veering between anarchy, punk music, heroism, idolatry, and loss’, Rules to Live By and EIDOS considers the legacy of Mark E Smith (lead singer of Manchester post-punk legends, The Fall), anarchism, hedonism and the importance of an influential and irreverent grandmother.
Lorna Irvine: What I love about your work is that there are so many wonderful strands to it- elements like punk, Butoh, physical theatre and contemporary dance.How would you best define it?
Suzie Cunningham: I find it quite hard to define my work, but I quite like that I don’t fit into a specific genre, which means hopefully my work relates to more people …it’s human, universal. Quite a few people have said to me, after seeing my work, that they didn’t usually like contemporary dance, or butoh, or physical theatre, but they liked my work, a huge compliment!
I am influenced by so much that has inspired me over the years, from visual art to music, film, books, butoh, raw nature (most recently mycelium) and the subconscious. I do like that I have been described a few times as ‘Punk Butoh’ (but I don’t want to offend purists of either genre!)
I suppose my work is like live art, or physical/moving art. I veer away from the word 'theatre', as I think my work doesn’t require that reference to structure. However the whole atmosphere, design and sound I create are also very important to me as a full body experience for the audience.
As a big fan of The Fall, I understand that Rules to Live By was influenced by them. Please tell me more about this?
Rules To Live By was directly influenced by The Fall, and this work preceded and shaped Eidos. Eidos was made when I was trying to develop Rules To Live By but what started to form needed to be its own thing, as it became a feminine requiem for the women and female loss in my life.
To explain a bit more: the night after Mark E Smith died, I was performing Tam O Shanter with Neu Reekie at Summerhall. Kevin who co-runs Neu Reekie is a massive Fall fan and he wanted to share a video of Big Prinz as tribute to Mark before the Burns Night celebrations kicked off. When he heard my story that basically I had trained as a contemporary dancer because of my love of the Fall (I had slight obsession with watching music (VHS) videos of The Fall (particularly the Kurious Oranj tour which featured Michael Clark and company) I was astounded that the music that I loved could be danced to in this way, and I pursued training to find that to way to that place. .
So Kevin heard this and said ‘you have to dance a tribute!’ There was an audience of about 150 people and Ionly had 2 hours to prepare. I sourced a wig, some crutches and the punkiest outfit I could find and danced a spontaneous improvisation. Someone filmed a portion and after Tweeted saying ‘I think Mark would have approved’.
It made me think about our teenage idols, influences and what shapes our direction in life- both good and bad. I felt this was the starting point of new work and needed to be made, and Rules to Live By was born. I first performed it at CCA as part of a trio logo of Butoh inspired work in 2018.
How does EIDOS differ from Rules To Live By?
I was given a residency at City Moves in Aberdeen in 2018 to develop the work Rules To Live By, and something happened that week.
I had bought a red dress from the window of a second hand shop in Portobello, it reminded me so much of my grandmother, who was a designer, seamstress, treasure hunter and incredibly stylish woman who wore red, purple, jewellery and make up until the day she died (aged 100)
I began to explore dancing in the dress, also with makeup and flour, working with images of ash and stone and also with crutches (which I used in the original Mark E Smith tribute referencing Michael Clark, I think they also came to symbolise Mark E Smith's crutches of alcohol) I also worked with ideas of constraint, restriction, expectations: the conditioning of being a woman.
These combinations made Eidos and were different to the constraints seen in Rules To Live By (the ironic and potentially harmful rules read by George Carlin) and the use of plastic (and environmental references of oil and hedonism).
Although the threads of the tribute to Mark E Smith and the post punk music of the Fall are still there in Eidos, Eidos became more about the journey of womanhood, loss, decay, transformation and genetics.
You often interrogate big ideas around consumerism, philosophy and eco-anxiety, but use humour to sweeten the pill, in a way. Is that important for you?
I think humour is hugely important aspect of my work, maybe because humour is so important to me in my personal life. It has been a way through, to brighten, to find energy to carry on, find lightness or balance at times a pretty dark world.
Also funny things happen to me, even when I don’t invite them, or they seem funny to me, sometimes I laugh at things that other people might find uncomfortable which can be awkward, but also nice! I welcome it.
I think humour can make the impact of tackling huge subjects such as consumerism, politics, climate and ecology stronger.
I feel that when we are submerged in so much sadness and anxiety it can render us immobile or we detach, switch off, don’t want to know. With humour in the right place, it can lift a moment and help you carry on and cope with what you are seeing/hearing and then motivate you to be active in challenging that thing.
It can also make a message more gut-wrenching. If people’s senses are alive, the work is always shifting, unpredictable, bringing surprise then people are more on edge, feel awake and therefore I think connect more strongly physically and cognitively to the work and the emotions, feelings and questions that are raised. I guess at the root of all my work is connection, and humour is wonderful connection.
Maybe people access things more when humour is present (as it does for me) makes the message stronger, when there is occasional relief, and issues are thought about or discussed. Hopefully it also means more people want to come to see the work!
Lorna Irvine
