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A collaborative dance film by Niamh O’Loughlin
Spell Bodies is a collaborative screendance created with people living with Parkinson’s, including participants living with dementia. Inspired by the confessions of Scottish witch Isobel Gowdie, the film explores transformation, imagination, mischief and the many stories held within our bodies. Drawing on the participants’ own memories, personalities, voices and movement. At the heart of the work is a desire to create a space where participants can be seen beyond the assumptions often placed upon them. Through movement, storytelling and film, their individuality and creativity become the starting point. This film celebrates bodies as expressive, powerful, funny, imaginative and full of life. Artistic Intentions Spell Bodies grew from my experience of working creatively with people living with Parkinson’s. I have always been struck by the richness of the stories, humour and movement that emerge from these spaces, and by how much is missed when people are viewed primarily through the lens of their diagnosis or age. The film draws on Scottish folklore and the story of Isobel Gowdie, whose accounts of transforming into animals and travelling between worlds provide an imaginative framework for the work. Rather than recreating her story, the film uses it as a starting point for participants to explore their own memories, identities and imaginations. The creative process is collaborative. Participants’ stories, voices and ideas shape the movement and visual world of the film, allowing the work to emerge through listening, curiosity and shared discovery. Spell Bodies asks us to look again at bodies that are too often overlooked. It celebrates individuality, humour, ageing, difference and the capacity for transformation that exists within all of us. |
Collaborators
Presentation Spell Bodies was presented as part of Rhythm & Revelry at Perth Theatre on 15 July 2026. It will be presented at Screendance and short Film Festivals in 2026/27. |
