Episode 199: Charlotte McLean

Today Elaine chats with dancer, performer, choreographer Charlotte McLean about her career, the power of dance and the everything that surrounds menstrual health and the womb and Charlotte’s new work Futuristic Folktales. Which was co-created by an exciting multi-disciplinary creative team including Helen McIntosh, Nelly Kelly, Malin Lewis, Astro Scheidegger, Orrow Bell, Alison Brown, Emma Jones, and Rob Evans, Futuristic Folktales is a collaboration-driven show that aims to disrupt, and refresh expected formats of performance through radical and emotive explorations of reproductive justice and injustice, body politics, bodily autonomy, and identity. Futuristic Folktales Futuristic Folktales tells the momentous story of the first womb - an environment where life and death intimately coexist. Humbly attempting to unify humanity through the infinite narrative of birth, the show experiments with contemporary, breaking, and Scottish Highland dance to probe questions of tradition, preservation, myth, and identity. The performers share their unique perspectives, as Orrow and Astro intimately birth and unbirth each other. Inviting audiences to feel resistance as the performance imitates the hostile, terse environment of the womb, the show seeks to further dance as a form of political protest - otherwise, why dance? Charlotte Mclean's work amalgamates dance theatre, improvisation, voice work, imagination, self-celebration, radical listening and joy. Charlotte is a contemporary dance artist from Arbroath, Scotland and a London Contemporary Dance School graduate. She has performed and worked internationally with Curious Seed, Eva Recacha, Pink Mama Theatre, Hannes Langolf, Jack Webb, Vanessa Cook and Barrowland Ballet amongst many others. Charlotte is co-founder of BADBODYCHAOSCODE (fka The Yonis) with Haley Jayne Gash and founder of sibling company Die Berner Band. Both are contemporary movement bands. They have been commissioned to perform at Edinburgh and Camden Fringe Festivals, Brainchild Festival, V&A London, The Place, TANZhAUS Bern and Dampfzentrale and have been featured in Dazed and Confused Magazine. The bands have toured in the UK, Poland, France, Germany, Switzerland and New York City. Charlotte began her dancing career with Highland, a traditional Scottish form of movement and taught this from a young age. She has always been passionate about teaching and sharing. She has taught at London Contemporary Dance School; Scottish Dance Theatre; Dance Base Edinburgh, TanzBüro Basel and now teaches at Barbara Bortoli Ballet School. She also worked at The Royal Ballet School for two years as Associate Centre Assistant. Website: iamcharlottemclean.com Instagram: @iamcharlottemclean HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Support In The Room - https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/in-the-room Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE WeAudition offer: For 25% off your monthly subscription quote: NASTY25 Backstage Offers: Get a free 12 months Actor Subscription: https://join.backstage.com/persistentnasty-uk-12m-free/