Natalia Thorn joined EDge to take the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance. She has recently worked with choreographer Kim Brandstrup, The Royal Opera and with Maresa von Stockert's company Tilted Productions.
"EDge definitely puts you in a strong position to get work, the experience gives you more confidence and contacts, but also because you are able to develop so much in the year during the devising and performing of the programme. I met Maresa von Stockert whilst she was making a piece for EDge in 2005 and have been working on and off for her company Tilted Productions since then.
My main memory of EDge is a wonderful sense of freedom. The staff encouraged us to make decisions for ourselves about movement and how we performed. The focus was not on trying to fit a template but rather on investigation and discovery. This was achieved by an incredibly nurturing and non-judgmental environment.
I really enjoyed the artistic side of the course. It was amazing to meet the different choreographers and take part in their very different processes. There was a good mix between learning existing pieces and working on commissioned works. One great advantage of EDge is that the casts are rotated, so everyone gets to take part in each piece at one point or another. This is great, as a choreographer might not cast a dancer in a piece or work with them much in the studio, but that dancer is still given the chance to grow into the piece and develop in the process. The group camaraderie was also great, especially by the time the tour kicks in and you're sharing all!
The style of dancing depends on the choreographers, but generally there is a variety of styles in the programme. As a general rule, though, daily class is in release-based techniques. We also had the benefit of guests teaching Skinner Releasing Technique and contact work.
You can choose options such as video, choreography or choreology in the first term and this culminates in a small project. I really appreciated this element of the course; I chose video and learnt basic principles such as lighting, composition, sound and editing and by the end of the term I was able to make a short film. There were also discussions every week with the postgraduate students. This was really inspiring as they had different backgrounds and objectives. We were able to collaborate together and take part in their projects, which was really beneficial.
This might seem obvious - but being in London and at The Place where so much takes place is a great advantage of EDge. We were given a budget to watch performances for free and it was relatively easy to take part in classes with visiting companies."
Above: Natalia Thorn performing with Maresa von Stockert's Tilted Productions