Samples of Work from 1998-2022

1998 Here some excerpts of my degree show ‘Feel to be the Fact” at University of Brighton (BA hons Dance and Visual Practice), a piece fundamentally created to understand the futility of seeking, I had heard of Adi Da Samraj for the first time in Brighton and began to process studying his writings through creative expression at University.

2001 These excerpts are of freely improvised performances, where I humorously explored the recognition of oneness and non-separation set against the questionable qualities of the presumption of separateness. This creative exploration began after meeting Adi Da Samraj in person resulted in an unexpected dissolve into the Relity of no separation, just simply when walking through my kitchen. There was a life before and a life after this happening.

2003 I felt that I couldn’t hold that quality of non-separation in the improvised performances indefinitely so I moved to explorations of dance as expression of Adi Da’s profound poetry which powerfully transmitted the state of non-separation. I wanted to find out how to combine with this state completely in body and being without any separative mechanism getting into the way. The poem below moved me so much as I felt literally consumed by that ‘pillar of Light’ he describes in my first meeting with him.

Below a portfolio of collages created from images of dancing this particular poem. An image of Adi Da in the room  helped me to connect with his energy through a visual as well as through his word.

2004 During an artist’s residency at Oxford House in London I went back to devised work, juxtaposing the exploration of oneness through Adi Da’s poetry and the sense of separateness in a rather comical way. I developed two solo pieces called “The Poodle Badge Jumper and the Mystery” and “The Ultimate Attraction” which were performed at Oxford House and other venues in and near London.

Below the first version of the Poodlebadge Jumper and the Mystery performed at Fresh Performance Platform in Bracknell Arts Center in 2005:

And this is the second piece “The Ultimate Attraction”:

2005 I was very fortunate to meet the Odissi dancer Sayanthani Dhar and her family and felt profoundly inspired by the creation of creative collaborations based in the understanding of oneness which meant that any form of creative expression can meet and enhance another. The vision of the incredible beauty of creativity expressed in oneness across all cultural differences was born, we collaborated on an experimental piece in London with her musician family and devotees of Adi Da.

2007 I participated as dancer and film maker in “The Mummery Book” by Adi Da Samra and I developed a unique role in the piece, embodying the deeply esoteric elements of the text which did not relate to any of the ‘characters’ on stage, but were expressions of transcendental reality itself

2014 The vision of collaborating as a body of oneness was explored in a “Prior Unity Happening” in Holland at the European Danda, a durational performance installation in a gallery exhibiting art by Adi Da Samraj. We freely explored Adi Da’s poem “I don’t care anymore to keep silent about it, I have never been born or died” from his poetry collection ‘Crazy Da Must Sing’ in spoken and sung word, movement and stillness as a collective improvised happening:

2015 A collaboration with Girish Patel (tabla and recitation) led to the inspiration to write poetry to dance to myself, I had the opportunity to dance to this very first poem that I had written since being a teenager at the first Stroud Sacred Music Festival, which marked the beginning of a new chapter in my creative process.

“Watching Eva interpret profound texts through her dance is to uncover new depths to humanity’s desire for the Divine. Through her remarkably skillful, yet free-spirited movements we catch a glimpse of a more beautiful world – a world where the Divine and all who flow from that Source are one. It is a profoundly hopeful experience.”

Rev Simon Howell, Team Vicar, Pioneer Minister & Inter faith Adviser, based in Stroud, UK

Collaboration with Aidan Pinsent for the “In Awe” exhibition at 35 Chapel Row, Sheffield, December 2015, I exhibited three digital photo montages and performed poems to them.

“Eva…artist, poet and philosopher, who danced under the moon and reflects the sunlight into the shadows of the night”. – Aidan Pinsent, Musician and Collaborator

“Eva’s performance really transformed the space of the gallery, creating a fully immersive
experience for the audience, which brought her photomontages to life with spoken word poetry and graceful movement along with Aidan Pinsent’s accompanying interpretive music. Eva completely and wholly engaged the audience in the performance, pulling them into the ethereal and emotionally charged world that she created. General feedback from viewers was that they found the performance beautiful and challenging, with some almost being moved to tears. In the wider context the performance, artwork and poetry create existential questions about the beauty of life, and our place in the universe”. – Becky Gee & Liz Dickinson, Independent Curators of Contemporary Art, Sheffield, UK.

Excerpts from “A Cycle of Life” interwoven with quotes by Steve Ford, which I picked up during the retreat and spontaneously built into this offering in Henley, May 2016

The original version of the piece “A Cycle of Life”, a collaboration with Lindsay Treen as part of the Site Festival, Stroud April 2016, you can find the script with the images in digital photomontages and poetry.

“A Universal Prayer of Peace”, a poem I wrote that is very close to my heart, a collaboration with Lindsay Treen and Simon Howell, offered at a Vigil for Peace, St Laurence Church, Stroud June 2016 (rehearsal), again the poem was scripted, but everything else was improvised.

“A Consideration on Love” offered at a Steve Ford Intensive, Henley July 2016, this piece was half spontaneous, half scripted… I was playing freely with a umber of poems in the space.

.”The Cycle of Life” a scripted selection of poems linked to digital photo montages, performed at the Isbourne Foundation in Cheltenham, Nov 2016, the movement and Lindsay’s musical elements were freely improvised.

The two videos below are excerpts of spontaneous performances at “The Indivisible Beauty of the One Heart” workshops in 2017, before these events evolved into “Embodiment of the Conscious Heart” creative retreats.

Since the end of 2017 I have felt increasingly moved to offer dance-poetry encounters completely spontaneously. I felt the urge to be able to respond in the moment to whoever is there. I explored this way of working at a number of Poetry nights, Story Telling nights and other opportunities, mainly in Bristol. I was intrigued to explore how accessible  the ‘consideration of oneness of all there is’ can be by exploring it in universal ways in different contexts. It was a phenomenally exciting process, of which only some footage exist. Some occasions felt so intimate and personal, that filming wouldn’t have felt right.

Improvised offering at International Womensday in Stroud 2019 and co-creative offering at the Raga Babas Concert in March of the same year.

Dureing 2019 I joined the online community ‘A New Republic of the Heart’ with Terry Patten and I began facilitating ‘Embodiment as the One Heart’ online sessions. Eventually I began writing the Foundation Course and retreated into research, self-enquiry and creative writing until the course was ready to be trialed in 2022, I then also began to participate in creative projects again starting with the challenge of being an ‘Artivist in a Box’ at ‘The Altered Festival’.

In 2022 I also dicovered the LoveJam Community in Bristol.

At LoveJam Britol I found an extremely open-hearted audience, meeting deeply inspiring and very conscious young people, who became friends and Embodiment as the One Heart students, for instance Silvia Stanciu.

The Infinite Heart Dance happened first in collaboration with DJ Patrick Flint in 2020 and was meant to become a regular offering at the Art of Evolution Yoga Center in Bristol. The Covid-Lockdowns unfortunately prevented that from happening. Upon meeting DJ Archelon Infinite Heart Dance came to live gain. This is our rehearsal video from August 2023: