Trust: three weeks of research

In July 2026, Gwyn Emberton and Anna Seymour spent three weeks in the studio developing a new duet, Trust (working title). The research and development period was supported by Four Nations funding and Skånes Dansteater, and which will form part of our iCoDaCo 2027 production. This research stage is a significant creative period for Anna and Gwyn that also asks a bigger question: what does Deaf dance dramaturgy look like, and how might Deafness itself shape choreography and the experience of it, rather than simply being accommodated within it?

Body first, trust first

Clear from the outset that the work was not to be about Deafness but how a Deaf lens can emerge naturally through the body with movement first. For the first time, Gwyn and Anna chose to work without a BSL interpreter in the room: a new way of working for both of them, and one that placed communication itself at the centre of the process, with light, sound and timing explored as dramaturgical tools in their own right.

Out of these starting points came a series of improvisations that ran through the full three weeks.

- They created a Build Up of Trust task that grew from playful, sibling-like gestures (pointing over a shoulder, catching, pulling, dropping), contact, weight-sharing and chaotic travelling.

- The Moving Conversation task asked them to hold a physical dialogue of push and pull while also signing and speaking, testing how much gets lost, or found, when movement, sign and listening compete for the same attention - this task began working with Jo Fong in the iCoDaCo research weeks.

- A mini gestures was developed out of how Gwyn and Anna communicate, distilling everyday signs into choreography, meaning and humour. They recorded themselves in conversation extracting moments of communication and missed communication; Gwyn, as a sign language learner forgetting signs mid-sentence, misreading gestures, and the physical confusion of trying to describe a piece of music to Anna who experiences sound differently, and, Anna how she receives information through her Deaf body, how she communicates back through it and what tools are innate in how to be patient with someone who can’t communicate very well.

They also tested how light can work as a dramaturgical tool, playing with a moving carousel and floor lights created by MichaelAngelo DeSerio, Lighting Designer at Skånes Dansteater. They explored how to shift in and out of the audiences’ focus, visibility into darkness, exploring ideas of what is seen and understood when dancers and movement appear and disappear. 

What's next

Over the three weeks, the question of who this work is for was threaded through everything, revealing that Deaf and hearing audiences relate differently to ambiguity on stage. This has the potential to create a space for exciting new possibilities. They kept returning to the same questions: how do you build trust between a Deaf and a hearing collaborator, and how do you build trust at all, in a climate where trust itself feels increasingly fragile?

The R&D ended with material they developed; the Build Up of Trust duet, a floor phrase, the Mini Gestures, and a spoken and signed text drawn from eyes-closed trust improvisations, exploration with lights and how to sign music/sons. They will work on plans taking shape for an online talk in November, where Gwyn and Anna will share more about the process in partnership with Skånes Dansteater.

Trust continues its development towards a full work in 2027, as a new full-evening duet. Stay tuned for more.