This 7 Minute Film gives an overview of Salamanda Tandem, and the work of director Isabel Jones, commissioned by People Dancing: The National Organisation for Community Dance in the UK. The film was made by Ben Williams, directed by Louise Wildish, including film extracts and photography of Salamanda Tandem’s work by Geoffrey Fielding, Richard Hughes and Geoff Young. The film featuring performers: Indra Slavena, Mickel Smithen, Takashi Kikuchi and narrative Isabel Jones.
Full credits on the film
Music
We also have our own soundcloud site with an extensive body of work produced since 1999 – to date by a range of musicians and composers who have worked with Isabel and Salamanda Tandem over 25 years. Click on the following photograph to go there:
Soundwalk Into Wellbeing 2016 – 2025
Listen to this 4 minute piece of music featured on Radio Nottingham. Composer Isabel Jones. Canalside Heritage Centre, Beeston Lock Nottinghamshire NG9 1LZ https://thesampler.org/event/soundwalk-into-wellbeing/
Central to the experience and sound score transmitted via radio headphones, we hear stories of wellbeing and resilience collected from seldom heard carers and canalside people who have drawn on challenging lived experience to let nature, breathe space into our daily lives. Embedded into the Soundwalks are The 5 Ways To Wellbeing, Connect, Keep Learning, Be Active, Take Notice, and Give, and a friendly gathering, to reflect on shared wellbeing experiences and build peer support for carers.
Creators / Performers
Isabel Jones: Composer / Singer / Soundwalk Into Wellbeing Guide
Biant Singh: Tabla Player / Soundwalk Into Wellbeing Guide
Geoffrey Fielding: Photographer
Advocacy and Technical Support:
Caroline Robinson: Evaluation & Movement Facilitation, Derek Grant: Technical Support and Advocacy, Sue Ansel: Artist Advocate, and Geoffrey Fielding: Technical Support
Partners and Funders Soundwalk Into Wellbeing is developed by Salamanda Tandem, in partnership with Better Carers and Co-Production Team Nottinghamshire County Council, Canalside Heritage Centre Beeston Lock, the Carers’ Council and Beeston Carers. Celebrating Mental Health Awareness, and World Mental Health Day.
Salamanda Tandem Films
Touchstone and Ad Astra 2012 – 2014
Creators
Directed and choreographed by Isabel Jones 2012 and 2013.
Ad Astra Film: Geoffrey Fielding, with additional Film Footage from Tallinn University.
Commissioned by Fragile, Baerum Kulturhus Norway, Funded by the EU. Dancers Indra Slavena, Mickel Smithen
Touchstone Corby Cube 2013 directed by Isabel Jones Camera: Andy Eathorne. Music: Isabel Jones and Duncan Chapman. Dancers Indra Slavena Mickel Smithen
White Cane 2014 Ludus Festival and National Tour
… a project about inner vision made by a team of visually impaired, blind and sighted artists….
Mickel Smithen and Takashi Kikuchi @Ludus Festival: White Cane Ludus Festival
Programme note: “Audiences wearing wireless headphones are immersed in a sound world created by visually impaired performers exploring and navigating public space. As the long cane rolls across the surface of each space, we hear it’s sound, which is combined with live viola, and spoken and sung audio description to create a unique experience of ‘sonic vision’.
Audience comment: ” what was especially interesting was that we were being led by a blind person, which turned everything around for me”
“White Cane is a marvellous example of soundart and socially engaged performance at its best!”
In the history of ‘dance’ and ‘music’ performance, the Long Cane has never been part of a performance, but in White Cane it becomes central to the work. Writing up the concept as a submission to Corby Cube, Isabel describes how visually impaired performer’s could lead an audience independently through a busy city centre street. Corby Cube weren’t interested, but the innovative Ludus Festival Leeds and Professor Mick Wallis were. Thus White Cane Salamanda Tandem was born, and premiered in Leeds in June 2014 after a 6 month process of audience and artistic development.
Following 6 premiere performances in Leeds, White Cane: salamanda tandem, attracted funding from Grants For The Arts / Arts Council to tour in 2016 – 2018, and Isabel Jones and Duncan Chapman were recipients of the Composer Curator Award, from Sound and Music to develop the tour nationally. White Cane Composer Curator Award
About White Cane
Lewis Jones died in September 2012, it was a time of grief, for Isabel, the family and Salamanda Tandem. Isabel created an exhibition for Lewis’s funeral so that his family and friends could enjoy the touch and feel of his few belongings; Braille books, Braille games, Perkins machine, Braille watch, his long cane and his stone, presented alongside recordings, articles, photographs and news clippings, of the various projects we had undertaken together. Afterwards these things came home with us, and the long cane sat folded next to our printer at home. The cane stayed there silently, as we had always understood that a sighted person should not use it. It stayed there, while Isabel gathered the finances and a team of visually impaired performers together in a process of reflection and recovery, to make a series of performance works, exhibitions, films, and curate an international symposium to celebrate Lewis and the contribution of visually impaired people to Salamanda Tandem and the field of dance across Europe: events and performances are all charted here on this website and included: The Fragile? Symposium in Tallinn Estonia, AD Astra, Touchstone Exhibition, and Gesture.
Accessible Audio version of White Cane Information: White Cane Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
WHITE CANE Salamanda Tandem: is a series of unique site-specific performances touring nationally in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, where audiences wearing wireless headphones are immersed in a sound world created by visually impaired performers exploring and navigating public space. As the long cane rolls across the surface of each space, we hear it’s sound, which is combined with live viola, and spoken and sung audio description to create a unique experience of ‘sonic vision’.
White Cane Creators / Artists:
Performers/creators: Isabel Jones, Duncan Chapman, Takashi Kikuchi & Mickel Smithen
Geoffrey Fielding: Photographer
Mick Wallis: Dramaturgy
Advocacy and Technical Support: Caroline Robinson, Laura Mansford, Derek Grant and Stella Couloutbanis
Performers / Movement Artists: Indra Slavena (Huddersfield, Colchester, Leicester, Nottingham), Polly Wiltshire (Leeds), Natalie Speake (Leeds), Sam White (Huddersfield, Leicester)
White Cane Performances Venues and Festivals
Ludus Festival June 2014
Colchester Firstsite Gallery January 2016 and Oct 2016 :
People Dancing: The Curve January 2017
Spitalfields Music June 2016
Tokyo Muse Company Project June 2016 (Isabel Jones)
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival May 2016 and Nov 2016
Bridgford Park and Salamanda Tandem Studio: Oct 2016, April 2017, Aug 2017, Feb 2018.
Interfaces Conference DMU September 2018
White Cane Funders and Commissioners:
White Cane was first commissioned by Ludus Festival, Mick Wallis, Leeds University (PCI) then toured with an award from Sound and Music; Composer Curator, the NHS Commissioning Group, Arts Council England, Young Art Kommunity, Rushcliffe Health Partnership, and Nottinghamshire CC Co-Production team
Quarry-osion 2013
Quarry-o-sion was commissioned by Wirksworth Festival. Directed and developed by Isabel Jones. Curated by Stella Couloutbanis. Music co-composed by Isabel Jones and Duncan Chapman. Developed with Jones teenage family members living in Wirksworth: Robbie Fitton-Jones and Paddy Fitton Jones
Fragile? EU Project 2012 – 2013 Symposium 2013
Fragile? was an international symposium curated by Isabel Jones, bringing together the contributions of VI dance artists from 28 European countries, as the culmination of a 3 year international project funded by the EU. This documentary Film about the symposium is introduced by project instigator and director: Norwegian Choreographer Kjersti Englebrigsen. Salamanda Tandem were also commissioned, and funded by the EU and Arts Council England to create a large scale closing performance directed by Isabel involving 15 Visually Impaired dancers, 10 sighted dancers and an audience of academics and contributors. Music for this film was co-Composed by Isabel Jones and Duncan Chapman
Corrosion. Salamanda Tandem 2003, 2004, 2006
Isabel Jones was Commissioned by Opera North and The Bonnington Gallery, to make a new work considering the question What Is Opera? Installation, and performances were made for Nottingham, Leeds, Lagrasse, and The Loire, France. Directed by Isabel Jones, Sculptor Gerard Renvez, Music co-composed by Isabel Jones, Duncan Chapman, and Moira Smiley. Libretto Tony Baker, Photography Geoffrey Fielding; Singers: Isabel Jones, Moira Smiley, Richard Lindsay, Naomi Line, Briony Jones and Aric Prentice. Corrosion the album mastered by Dallas Simpson. See below for one of the tracks
Can’t Stop Me Shining Film 2011: Salamanda Tandem
Can’t Stop Me Shining is a 5 minute soundart film, created by artist Nathan Campbell, Kevin Hodgetts, and Isabel Jones. The film was selected for an OskaBright Award and went on tour to cinemas around the UK, to Portugal VoArte, and Rotterdam ICAF. Through the medium of soundart, Nathan voices the oppression of society and the social care environment he finds himself in. The film was shot by Kevin who worked with Nathan for many years until he was unfairly removed, and took shelter in Salamanda Tandem’s rented artist’s house: a terrace in Forest Fields, Nottingham. This film is a testament to human spirit and creativity in the face of discrimination and ableism.
Living Room Salamanda Tandem 2002 – 2012
Come into the Living Room, a playful and supported interactive environment, enabling profoundly disabled and non disabled friends and carers people to come together on an equal basis, using their bodies and voices to generate and transform the living room and make it their own
There were many disabled and non disabled artists collaborators involved in this project which had many different manifestations as it toured the UK for over a decade: 2002 – 2012 ( For full credits see film) Original Concept Lee Parkinson (RIP)
Site Dance Site Music Hadley Learning Community 2006 – 2008
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wpIWMaRH1U&
Salamanda Tandem were Commissioned by Impact Arts in 2006 – 2007, with PFI, local Telford Borough Council local authority and Arts Council funding to work in residence over a year, to create The launch of the Hadley Learning Community, then to create an innovative piece of arts as evaluation. Concept / Director: Isabel Jones, Photographer: Geoffrey Fielding, Photographer/designer: Richard Hughes. Camera: Andy Eathorne, Dance Artists: Lisa Craddock, Julie Hood, Mickel Smithen, Adam Chilliot, Victoria Gannon, Faith Jackson, Julia Howarth, Alice Crick. Musicians/composers Isabel Jones & Duncan Chapman Trombones: Andrew Lancaster, Chris Hickman, Julian Turner and Mark Tribble