Experience The Brutality Of Solitary Confinement Through Ballet

In 1972, three prison inmates known as the Angola Three allegedly killed a corrections officer at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, earning decades of solitary confinement. Albert Woodfox was the last one released, in February of this year. He had spent 43 years in total solitary confinement. The treatment of the Angola Three has sparked a national conversation on the brutal psychological damage that solitary confinement does to human beings. There have been dozens of interviews, films, and articles on the subject, and now, a ballet.

Amnesty International UK and Inspiration in Motion present a new work by choreographer Ludovic Ondiviela this week in London called Sliver of Sky, inspired by Albert Woodfox’s description of what he could see from the slit of a window in his solitary cell.

“Reading about the experience of solitary confinement has led me to explore the emotional and psychological journey of the detainees and their families,” says Ondiviela. “Human beings are essentially social beings and isolation and extreme loneliness can drive people to madness. How does someone find hope when locked up for 23 hours a day in a 6ft by 9ft cell when the only view of the outside is through a tiny window which offers a sliver of sky?”

The piece is intensely emotional and evocative of the horrors of isolation and incarceration. Leading dancers from The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, and Rambert take on this difficult concept, focusing on the horrific emotional experience of the prisoners. Kate Allen, the Director of Amnesty International UK, says the piece “takes a bleak and uncompromising subject matter and transforms it into something poetic, haunting and in the end genuinely uplifting. This is a fitting tribute to the incredible endurance of Albert Woodfox, and also a chilling reminder of what damage countries continue to do when they place human beings in conditions of extreme sensory deprivation.” This ballet is one more step toward opening up the conversation about inhumane prison conditions.

We spoke to James Forbat (English National Ballet) and Hannah Rudd (Rambert) about their experiences with the piece and the role of dance in human rights.

The Creators Project: Have your views on solitary confinement changed or developed with this project?

HR: My views have certainly developed through exploring this source of information and inspiration. To investigate the severity and result of this treatment has brought me a new awareness to the victims that endure this, and the idea that this treatment is still considered valid.

JF: I definitely have more knowledge and understanding of solitary confinement now i have worked on this project and it is fascinating. I think of it as a kind of torture—and criminals should be punished but I think this is in an inhumane way. Ludovic’s choreography also really evokes the essence of how you imagine people may feel so that has helped to inform how I feel about solitary confinement.

How do you think art, and especially dance, lends itself to the human rights conversation?

JF: Art has a way of tacking every subject and giving a different perspective that you would get by talking or writing about it. Dance can be especially poignant because it is a mix of music and dance. I also think dance works very well for the subject of solitary confinement because of the fact the people will have no one to talk to when imprisoned and dance can recreate this sense of lack of speech.

HR: I think dance can encompass a huge amount of information and emotion to portray a vast array of current human rights issues.  The fact that human bodies and minds are always present in dance brings a raw humanity to the table.

Is there anything specific you do to get into the mindset of performing about something like this?

HR: For me personally I find reading information about the experiences of people involved, or using filmed documentaries to further understand this reality helps me. I then endeavour to find some way of connecting my own personal life experiences to the subject matter, in the hope to embody authentically the message we are trying to express.

Could you speak to the idea of using movement to talk about something that is the exact opposite—incarceration in a tiny cell? How does the choreography reflect the actual experience of solitary confinement?

JF: I think the choreography that Ludovic has ingeniously imagined creates the struggles that would go on in your mind when in solitary confinement. We all have mental struggles and busy brains but to spend so much time alone would be a huge challenge for anyone.

HR: When learning the movement that Ludovic has created, I must wholly trust that he is producing the right essence needed to reflect the idea—which I do. Ludovic has explored the personal and emotional side of the individuals that have and are experiencing this, and also literally confined us in certain movements, such as only using an amount of space, a particular limb, a certain dynamic.

Why do you think this is important to perform now?

JF: As the world modernizes and our knowledge and understanding of human rights increases, people are not turning a blind eye to these things anymore. This performance will form a part of the fight to increase knowledge about the subject at this important time of human history.

Sliver of Sky is being performed on Sunday April 24 at 6 pm in the Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Dancers taking part are Lauren Cuthbertson and Matthew Ball (The Royal Ballet), Begoña Cao, James Forbat, and Francisco Bosch (English National Ballet), Hannah Rudd and Luke Ahmet (Rambert), Kesi Rose Olley-Dorey and James Loffler.  Tickets can be purchased here.

Related:

Belarus Free Theatre Stages the Art of Protest

Performers Preserve a Legacy of Violence in Red

[Exclusive] 'Bolshoi Babylon': A Look Inside Russia's Greatest Ballet