X6 Dance Space (1976-80) Liberation Notes at Cell Project Space

Artists: X6 Collective (1976-80) (founded by dance artists Emilyn Claid, Maedée Duprès, Fergus Early, Jacky Lansley and Mary Prestidge)

Exhibition title: X6 Dance Space (1976-80) Liberation Notes

Venue: Cell Project Space, London, UK

Date: February 7 – March 22, 2020

Photography: Rob Harris / images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Cell Project Space, London

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes is the first presentation of work from the X6 Collective (1976-80), founded by dance artists Emilyn Claid, Maedée Duprès, Fergus Early, Jacky Lansley and Mary Prestidge.

The X6 Collective was a counter-cultural dance movement active from 1976 to 1980 in London, UK. X6 established an entirely new structure and way of working outside of Britain’s mainstream ballet and contemporary dance institutions. It was concerned with a fundamentally new approach to dance aesthetics, organisation and teaching, informed by emerging feminist and queer theoretical frameworks. X6 opposed 1970s British culture and mainstream politics and was critical of the highly gendered and hierarchal structures of ballet and much contemporary dance. The collective resisted style as a definition and operated within a non-hierarchal structure, producing a diverse and radical programme of performances, classes and workshops that took place in a warehouse in Butler’s Wharf, London – the X6 Dance Space. In addition, X6 produced and published New Dance magazine (1977-88), a vital platform for progressive writing, which explored dance and its social context. The collective played a critical role in the development of British contemporary dance and was central to the British New Dance movement.

X6 was part of London’s 1970s experimental networks including the London Musicians Collective (1976) and London Film Co-op (1966). The collective worked across disciplines and collaborated with national and international practitioners including Anne Bean, Rosemary Butcher, Paul Burwell, Russell Dumas, Rose English, Mary Fulkerson, Anna Furse, Suzy Gilmour, Sarah Green, Dennis Greenwood, Sylvia Hallet, Julyen Hamilton, Timothy Lamford, Sue MacLennan, Vincent Meehan, Lisa Nelson, Annabel Nicolson, Steve Paxton, Sally Potter, David Toop and Miranda Tufnell. Through their connection with Dartington College of Arts, X6 introduced international practitioners fostering new approaches to movement. Amongst these were Mary Fulkerson (Release Technique) and Steve Paxton (Contact Improvisation), both of whom had their introduction to a wider UK dance scene through performances and workshops at X6.

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes brings together unseen, archival material including original photographs by Geoff White, footage by Stefan Szczelkun, footage of I,Giselle by Fergus Early and Jacky Lansley, publicity material and a display of selected New Dance magazines. X6 developed new radical ways of working and thinking about dance relevant to its particular social and political moment. This exhibition presents an opportunity to reconsider the legacy of X6 within a contemporary framework and to reassess strategies within current art practice of collectivity, resistance and opposition to oppressive politics.

X6 Collective (1976-80) was founded by Emilyn Claid, Maedée Duprès, Fergus Early, Jacky Lansley and Mary Prestidge. Based in a warehouse building in Butler’s Wharf, London, X6 formed part of an emerging alternative art scene of artists, performers and filmmakers. X6 produced and published ‘New Dance’ magazine (1977-88), featuring contributions from international writers and practitioners. X6 Collective were formative in the development of the Association of Dance and Mime Artists (ADMA) and closely associated to the Dartington Dance Festival. Their work was presented at ICA, London (1979); Whitechapel Gallery, London (1979); Dartington Festival (1978-79); ADMA (Association of Dance and Mime Artists) Festival at the Drill Hall, London (1977- 80); and ACME Gallery, London (1977). In 1980, Butler’s Wharf was sold and redeveloped. Members of the X6 Collective and others went on to found Chisenhale Dance Space, London (1980-), an organisation that continues to provide support for independent dance and choreographic practices today.

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space, Space I, Giselle poster, 1980, I, Giselle, 1980, Lynn MacRitchie, Performance Magazine, Issue 8, p.10-11, I, Giselle rehearsal, 1980, Jacky Lansley, Suzy Gilmour, Fergus Early, Photograph by Jill Posener, 20cm x 25cm, I, Giselle, 1980, Fergus Early and Jacky Lansley, Video, 00:32:42

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space I, Giselle poster, 1980, I, Giselle, 1980, Lynn MacRitchie, Performance Magazine, Issue 8, p.10-11, I, Giselle rehearsal, 1980, Jacky Lansley, Suzy Gilmour, Fergus Early Photograph by Jill Posener, 20cm x 25cm

Liberation Notes, etc., 1987, Fergus Early, New Dance magazine, Issue 40, p.10-12

By River and Wharf, 1976, Framed c-prints, photographs by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm: From top left: Fergus Early (in bush) and Timothy Lamford, Rosemary Butcher Dance Company: Maedeé Dupres, Julyen Hamilton, Miranda Tufnell, X6 Dance Space (courtyard), Dancers unknown, Jacky Lansley, Foreshore Butler’s Wharf, Rosemary Butcher and Maedeé Dupres, Mary Prestidge, Shad Thames, Maedeé Dupres̀ and Mary Prestidge, London Bridge, Sally Cranfield, Judith Katz and others, Shad Thames

By River and Wharf, 1976, Framed c-prints, photographs by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm: From top left: Fergus Early (in bush) and Timothy Lamford, Rosemary Butcher and Maedeé Dupres, Mary Prestidge, Shad Thames

By River and Wharf, 1976, Framed c-prints, photographs by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm: From top left: Dancers unknown, Jacky Lansley, Foreshore Butler’s Wharf, Sally Cranfield, Judith Katz and others, Shad Thames

5 Days at ACME Gallery poster, 1978

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space, Manley Struggles, 1978, Fergus Early and Julian Hough Riverside Studios, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm, Splendid Dance, 1978, Emily Barney, Kirstie Simson, Sue MacLennan and others X6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm

Manley Struggles, 1978, Fergus Early and Julian HoughRiverside Studios, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm

Splendid Dance, 1978, Emily Barney, Kirstie Simson, Sue MacLennan and othersX6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White 35.5cm x 26cm

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project SpaceRadical dance course poster, 1976, X6 Dance Space, New Dance, 1977, Emilyn Claid, New Dance magazine, Issue 3, p.2

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space, Acrobatic workshop led by Mary Prestidge, 1978, X6 Dance Space, Framed c- print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm, Going Back, 1976, Emilyn Claid and Julian Hough, X6 Dance Space, Framed c- print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space, Similar Instructions, 1976, Instructions by Maedeé Dupres̀ X6 Dance Space, from top: Fergus Early and Mary Prestidge; Jacky Lansley and Vincent Meehan Framed c- print, photographs by Geoff White 26cm x 35.3cm, X6 Performances, 1977, New Dance magazine, Issue 1, p. 12-13

X6 Performances, 1977, New Dance magazine, Issue 1, p. 12-13

Similar Instructions, 1976, Instructions by Maedeé Dupres, X6 Dance Space, from top: Fergus Early and Mary Prestidge; Jacky Lansley and Vincent Meehan Framed c- print, photographs by Geoff White, 26cm x 35.3cm

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space Dancing Ledge, 1977, Jacky Lansley with Rose English and others, X6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm, Alas Alack, 1980, Rose English, New Dance magazine, Issue 15, p.18-19

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space, Dance Object, 1977, Jacky Lansley, Cut and paste score, 22cm x 30cm, Dance Object revisited, 2020 [1977], Jacky Lansley, Evening jacket, plastic gun, ballet shoes, books, Dance Object, 1977, Jacky Lansley, X6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space

Dance Object, 1977, Jacky Lansley, Cut and paste score, 22cm x 30cm

Dance Object, 1977, Jacky LansleyX6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White 35.5cm x 26cm

Sunrise, 1979, Fergus Early, X6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photographs by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project SpaceSPRING SHOWS THROUGH poster, 1979, X6 Dance Space, Reviews: SPRING SHOWS THROUGH, 1979, New Dance magazine, Issue 10, p.12-14., Sunrise, 1979, Fergus Early, X6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photographs by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space, Dance Object revisited, 2020 [1977], Jacky Lansley, Evening jacket, plastic gun, ballet shoes, books, Dance Object, 1977, Jacky Lansley, X6 Dance Space, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project Space

X6 Dance Space (1976-80): Liberation Notes, Installation view, 2020, Cell Project SpaceWriting, 1977, Jacky Lansley, New Dance magazine, Issue 1, p.3, Workshop at X6 Dance Space, 1976, Framed c-print, photograph by Geoff White, 35.5cm x 26cm