a l e x

Alex is at their first counselling session. Will their mind let them stay?

A new, interactive digital dance work for young people exploring the mental

and physical 'weight' of our thoughts and inner voice on the body.

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“Empathetically tactful, gracefully written and exceptionally performed...as exquisite as it is heart-wrenching, a welcome conversation on anxiety through dance.”

Hannah Lee, Voice Magazine on Weight/Wait stage production at Brighton Fringe Festival 2019

Using dance, text, poetry and film to share an interweaving narrative of three characters called Alex as they figure out how to keep their head above water.

An original story created from autobiographical experiences and research with young people in youth groups and hospitals.

Using dance, text, poetry and film to share the narrative of three Alex's.

An original story created from autobiographical experiences and research with young people in youth groups and hospitals.

A rich collaboration of choreography and text from Caldonia Walton & Katharine Richardson, with performances by Chris Radford, Sanea Singh, Katharine Richardson & Caldonia Walton.

Film creation from Barney White at Quiet Eye Film and new spoken word poetry written by Ryan Dre Sinclair.

An original score created by Alex Paton, with sound and additional music for film from Ping Lee, with costume from Ryan Munroe.

Audience members can interact
with the film in two ways.

Digitally, the film will be offered on it's own website and/or hosted. The audience are prompted right from the start that something will be expected from them. Halfway through they are asked to write and submit their advice via a comment box to the characters to help them get through this. At the end, they will be able to see a page full of comments and advice submitted, a legacy page they can keep revisiting in the future with uplifting thoughts and ideas for supporting yourself and others with your mental well-being. This page will also have links to resources for further mental health support and guidance.

For schools, the film is offered with a 1hr lesson plan and worksheet for students to manually fill out, prompting them to think and talk about their mental health and that of others. They can also have access to the legacy page, plus additional dance theatre and film workshop packages are available to compliment deeper learning around the work.

“A powerful piece of contemporary dance theatre and an emotional rollercoaster that is gripping from start to finish” Nadia Strahan, Fringe Review, 2019

"By embodying the internal experience through movement, this performance was able to create an incredibly vivid and palpable account of anxiety that felt familiar, terrifying and incredibly brave" Lora, Mental Health Nurse

"I've worked with young people with psychosis for many years and this was a vivid portrayal of some of the symptoms they would describe. They captured the feel of carrying the thoughts, voices and feelings very clearly, literally carrying or by the image of trying to interact with people when the voices are controlling you and interfering with your intentions.” Fiona Scott, previous Senior Occupational Therapist specialising in youth mental health

Would you like to share A L E X with your audiences and participants?

The work is suited to ages 14+, and runs for 40 minutes.

THEATRES & ONLINE PLATFORMS

We are booking this work for a digital tour.

Contact to discuss:

Lead Artist Caldonia Walton: caldoniadances@gmail.com

Associate Producer Annalise Cowan: annalisecowan@hotmail.co.uk

SCHOOLS

We have three options available.

£180: (Digital Education Package)

Two-year online access to 40-min film

Worksheet/Lesson Plan/Support Resources