Fleur Darkin
My first word was ‘light’.
Even as a child, I understood people say a lot, but actions are the truth.
I grew up in a grey part of a small town, but my dreams were full of colour. I spent my time in art galleries, bookshops and theatres. I loved school because I was starving for knowledge. I danced with my mother in front of the TV. I was motivated by pop music and stories. I saw London Contemporary Dance Theatre when I was 14. I couldn’t speak afterwards. I needed to answer a lot of questions and I chose dance. I went to dance school. Dance training is a design for living. Dance teaches you how to live.
I travelled the world to find answers and I found choreography. Choreography is ontological. The company is an enquiry into life and death. We have danced in theatres, schools, universities, prisons, castles. The company is a collaboratory for artists, musicians, intellectuals, workers, students, scientists… the practice and the practitioners go beyond classification.
Dancing is light made by the body. Being is an art. Dance cannot be bought and sold and will never be describable. Following my cultural forebears in the tradition of modern dance – and its broader context of the history of art – I make work to inspire and give light.