take a trip with NI short Flight

Commissioned as part of OneDance UK's Dance Passion 2022, choreographer Jennifer Rooney and director Ciaràn Haggerty graced us with the opportunity to revisit a simpler time in our lives through the sensory treat that is Flight. For eight minutes we follow the journey of a young superhero braving the elements of their imagination in a beautiful union of dance and nostalgic 90s film. Dancer Jamima Brown seamlessly fuses a playful, childlike physicality with fluid choreography and improvisation to show us that to dance is to play like a child. Deliberate camera angles make small, empty rooms appear bigger, reminding us of the magic of imagination where everything is as big as you need it to be and void of anything that will disrupt play. Goggles and coats become superhero uniforms and a staircase becomes the set of a mission. The moving accompanying music by Garth McConaghie transports us to the mind of a child.

The film opens on an assembly of beloved toys, and pans down the line they form leading to an old tv set. We briefly view a home movie of a young boy in a yellow sweatshirt before the camera retreats to reveal Jamima sitting on top in similar clothes. She floats on top of the tv set perfectly embodying the spirit of a child, with her gravity defying movement quality convincing us that she floats, flies, falls. Through intimate close ups we are reminded of the pure joy brought by a simple plastic figurine, or the moment in which goggles become a superhero mask. Each room we visit brings new potential of play as demonstrated by the subtle shift in Jamima’s movement quality, all the while retaining a child-like curiosity as she collects more props along the way.

The journey concludes with Jamima’s epic victory on the staircase, reminding us of the sensation of flight we could experience through imagination. Children have a unique way of stimulating sensations by tapping into experiences with the powerful assistance of their imagination, and movement was the perfect medium to explore this. Improvisation allows us to be influenced by senses, be it through tangible sensations or those that exist in our memory. Allow yourself to be transported to a familiar imaginary world by following the link below! Available to stream on BBC iplayer until January 2023.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0014fqd