Testing Ground: Jasmine Calland

Experimental filmmaker and dancer Jasmine Calland is staying at home to carry out their Testing Ground residency. A specialist in Screendance, a genre of choreography made specifically for film, Jasmine hopes to share the joys of movement with audiences, regardless of prior experience. Jasmine made a collection of three films, inspired by landscapes across different sites that Jasmine visited, close to her home, including Fairy Glen (Wigan), Beacon Fell and Nicky Nook (both in Preston).​

Developing choreography that is responsive to the landscape, Jasmine has spend her time on the residency creating new work that brings our attention to the interconnectivity and beauty of nature. This choreography has been filmed across different camera types, including super 8. You can see the different approaches and aesthetics Jasmine enabled through each camera choice, with the quality and textures of the films shifting depending on the camera in use. The films are accompanied by an immersive soundscape and poetic transcript to ask: “How does our landscape dance? How does our environment sing?”

How does our landscape dance? How does our environment sing?
Venturing,
Observing the landscape that surrounds me,
I catch myself thinking,
How nature dances so effortlessly.

I look around,
I see a playground,
A ballet,
A ballroom,
A discotheque of the great outdoors.

The closer I look,
The more I find,
I stand and spectate,
Letting the performance unwind.

Growing,
Twisting,
Turning,
Travelling,
Evolving,
Exploring.
Breathing,
Shaking,
Raving,
Undulating.

One small look,
Is all that it took,
To see my own world in a whole new light.