By the end of the scheme we had created a piece of work which we were able to show to an invited audience at the IOU studios and developed a successful collaborative relationship with musician James Wright. We had also secured one definite booking for the work and another potential booking.

What worked?
Having the physical space to play, rehearse, make noise, make a mess, use props and be able to leave it all there at the end of the day was a luxury we benefited from enormously. It was like having our own studio and we were really building a physical thing.

Technical advice and support – something we didn’t think we needed but became increasingly important. Dan’s technical problem solving and advice was invaluable, and we now have our own lights!

An outside eye and questions to make us look at the work objectively – having someone to show the work to and be questioned about it was really useful, it encouraged us to think more from an audience perspective and not to get too engulfed in the work. Creative tools for devising and planning the work were also really useful.

Strategic development – this input really helped us identify some areas of weakness as a company and encouraged us to develop a more objective and ‘bigger picture’ view. We were inspired by (and a little daunted!) how much time and energy goes into the strategic development of IOU. In particular we found the advice on developing a strong and clear profile really helpful, the “what are we about?” questions.

The opportunity to hold a ‘preview’ of the work in such a stunning setting and in association with IOU was really valuable. Also the help and support from all at IOU made it a memorable and enjoyable event for the audience and an effective way to try the work out and get feedback. The association with IOU meant that some individuals and promoters took us more seriously than they would have otherwise.

General support – the warm, supportive and helpful attitude of all the staff and the positive atmosphere at IOU made us feel valued, welcome and accepted as valid artists. This was really important to us.

What didn’t work?
The nature of the space meant we had to make a real effort to be physical – the size, temperature of the studio and the stone floor tempered our use of the physicality of our bodies – particularly when making quite a small piece of work. It was so cosy and warm in the tent we spent more time talking about ideas and planning the piece than we did physically playing with it! It would have been fantastic to make a physical piece of work in response to the space, rather than in spite of it, or perhaps something on a much larger scale or an outdoor piece. 

Any related developments?
We continued to develop and rehearse Nearly New over the summer with particular attention to “who is it for?” and what setting it works best in. In September we presented an evening of Nearly New at a working men’s club in York which incorporated a group of musicians playing before and after the performance – this even included a bit of a knees-up with the audience. This has helped us to clarify that it works well in this setting and therefore can now communicate this to potential programmers.

We have made a short promotional DVD of Nearly New and a photo sheet to send out to potential programmers.

Hull City Council has commissioned us to perform Nearly New and deliver associated workshops in schools as part of the Hull Winter Dance Season in November.

Our efforts at Nearly New being considered for the North Yorkshire on Tour scheme continue, we are currently promoting Nearly New for Spring 2009 On Tour.

We plan to set up a 103 Falling Birds website.

I have been working for over a year to secure funds for a project called Lido – a dance performance in a swimming pool in York as the culmination of its centenary – in July the project was awarded Arts Council Funding. It was decided that 103 Falling Birds should be commissioned to choreograph the piece (rather than us as individual artists – this seems obvious now but wasn’t at the time!) and deliver the schools workshops as this would be an ideal opportunity to develop as a company and an exciting and challenging project for us to take on. So we are currently in the process of choreographing a dance-theatre piece in a swimming pool with 9 dancers, 10 swimmers and the accompaniment of a local brass band! Our experience of the IOU scheme encouraged us to take this on as a 103 Falling Birds project and highlighted how such an opportunity can help us to promote ourselves, establish a clearer profile and extend our experience. We aim to continue working on Nearly New through into the New Year and already have identified ways we can use what we are learning from Lido to develop it further.