Jessie Percival

I am a dance artist. My interests lie in the act of discovery, be that in performance, devising or daily life. My work has an honesty that looks to translate the absurdities and beauty of human behaviour. Playful interactions underpin my investigations in performance making. Through the combination of text, object play and choreography I create visually imaginative body based work.
I endeavour to make work that is inclusive and accessible making my work vary from outdoor performance to screen based to pieces developed specifically for theatres.
I am a member of an artist led collective of Bristol based performance makers called interval.

"I never did..." at PULSE fringe, Ipswich

I am going to be performing “I never did…” at PULSE fringe on Sunday 27th May. I am super excited by this prospect! The programme isn’t up yet but keep an eye out on the website as it soon will be! 

London with wild things and the Hayward gallery…

So, I have just had such a great sunny weekend in London, divulging in the delights that london has to offer. One of these delights was an intimate,funny and informative piece by Ella Good and Nicky Kent called Wild Thing I love you, performedat the Camden People’s Theatre. It is piece about Bigfoot that takes place for a small audience at a time inside a canvas tent and inventively tells us about their experience in the USA looking for Bigfoot. Live and recorded animation combined with Ella and Nicky’s quirky and endearing personalities/performance and relationship makes for a really enjoyable and engaging performance. Definitely worth a watch! For more info about the performance and process check out: 

http://wildthingiloveyouproject.wordpress.com/

The other delight was a brilliant exhibition Joy in People by Jeremy Deller at the Hayward Gallery.  The Hayward Gallery is definitely my favourite gallery in London as it consistently curates exhibitions that are exciting and pose contemporary questions in an accessible way. The Jeremy Deller exhibition was not an exception to this. It is beautifully comic, political and interactive collection of work. The room with IT IS WHAT IT IS  (2009) demonstrated this perfectly. This is all about the Iraq war, in the room there is a burnt out corpse of a car that was destroyed by a bomb in a Baghdad market place on March 5 2007, large photos of war-strikken Iraq and a opportunity to talk to people who have had first experience of the war. The chance to talk to some who has first-hand knowledge initiates conversation and thus an a more real/human understanding of what is happening in Iraq. I find it hard to relate to this war as I have no understanding of war myself and find the newspaper bombardment overwhelming. The chance to speak to someone about the situation makes sense to me as I deal and relate to people on a daily basis and thus can reach a deeper under-standing of issues through this action. To lighten the room and create a little smile on my face was one of the prints which said  ”What Would Neil Young do?” . Perfect balancing image.
For more info about the exhibition visit:

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/jeremy-deller

For more giggles David Shrigley’s exhibition is twinned with this one. Shrigley is just bloody great!! 2 for 1 blooming marvelous!! 

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/david-shrigley 

Press Play Bristol… Thank you for a very engaging and playful couple of weekends devising with you all. It was great to have time to work with a range of people that I had never met or worked with before and devise theatre. Theatre practice is something I recently I have begun to grapple with in work as my practice is becoming more and more concerned with the cross over between dance and theatre.  By doing this workshop I felt comfortable to try things out without feeling pressured to be good, but rather approach things with the energy of a game. What if …, why not, yes attitude. This has been a really useful tool to use as I feel that it has enabled me to be more open as a performer. To be able to propose things and respond dynamically to devising processes and performances. 

Press Play Bristol…

Thank you for a very engaging and playful couple of weekends devising with you all. It was great to have time to work with a range of people that I had never met or worked with before and devise theatre. Theatre practice is something I recently I have begun to grapple with in work as my practice is becoming more and more concerned with the cross over between dance and theatre. 

By doing this workshop I felt comfortable to try things out without feeling pressured to be good, but rather approach things with the energy of a game. What if …, why not, yes attitude. This has been a really useful tool to use as I feel that it has enabled me to be more open as a performer. To be able to propose things and respond dynamically to devising processes and performances. 

Image taken from the Punch Drunk workshop I took part in at the Tobacco Factory on 5th - 6th March. This was taken whilst I was taking part in a long improvisation. At this part of the improv’ I was laughing hysterically and had no idea that someone was watching me!  

Image taken from the Punch Drunk workshop I took part in at the Tobacco Factory on 5th - 6th March. This was taken whilst I was taking part in a long improvisation. At this part of the improv’ I was laughing hysterically and had no idea that someone was watching me!  

DisGo by Fleur Darkin

This a performance I performed in last month at the Arnolfini.  It was a really great experience. I was really surprised by how the audience interacted.

I definitely got the DisGo buzz afterwards…. I  just wanted DisGo more :)!

For information on The Darkin Ensemble visit http://darkinensemble.com/

Film by Paul Gilbert for more info visit: www.paulgilbertfilm.co.uk 

Photos taken from “I never did…” at “IN THE FLESH” Barbican theatre, Plymouth.

I Never Did… at Barbican Theatre Plymouth

I am performing “I Never Did…” as part of IN THE FLESH festival on Sunday 4th December. The solo is still in its development stages, but will be the first showing of the work after beginning to collaborate with The Mechanical Animal Corporation.  
“I Never Did…” is a short dance theatre solo based around two A.A.Milne poems taken from “When We Were Very Young”.

These poems transport me back to my childhood. By reminiscing and trying re-capture elements of children’s playful nature I have found myself delving deeper into the meaning of the poems in relationship to the dynamics of my family and myself as an adult no longer being a child. 

About IN THE FLESH:-The Barbican Theatre presents it’s 7th In the Flesh festival. A 3 day collision across art forms. In the Flesh is designed to encourage experimentation with the live-ness of performance, uniquely it deliberately incorporates scratch ideas, work in process, large and small experiments as well as finished pieces of performance. It encourages risk taking and wildness as well as simplicity and beauty. We want to push the perceptions of audiences and artists new and old.
2nd/3rd/4th December from 7pm onwards.
www.barbicantheatre.co.uk Twitter: @ITF_BT Facebook: facebook.com/intheflesh Box office: 01752 267131 Tickets £7/£5

Jam Sandwich!!  Come along for some movement fun.  There will be food too! 

Jam Sandwich!! 

Come along for some movement fun. 

There will be food too!