Linda Hayford

As the co-director of the Collectif FAIR-E / CCN de Rennes et de Bretagne, dancer and choreographer Linda Hayford has been developing her personal projects with theInside Out Company since 2015. Her dance, which relies on a “popping base”, was shaped by the world of battles and relies on complex gestures, while dealing with intimate subjects. From piece to piece, including her trio Recovering, which shecreated in 2022, Hayford develops a specific vocabulary called shifting pop, a sensory and emotional exploration of the performer’s inner metamorphoses. 

Shifting Pop is a sensory and emotional exploration of the popping technique to accompany dancers towards a different body awareness, a metamorphosis, in order to expand the possibilities of the body in movement. Linda Hayford has been developing this technique in her pieces since 2016, passing it on to dancers and non-dancers alike, to people who are looking to explore gestures differently. From the most internal movement to the most exponential amplitude, via visualization connected to sensations, her approach will explore how each macro-movement depends on a multitude of micro-movements that enable the stability of the whole range of possibilities encompassed by the body’s envelopes. To prepare bodies for this demanding vocabulary, Hayford will offer physical preparation sessions at the start of the day, focusing on prevention, maintenance and proper use of the body to amplify the availability of the performing body. An introduction to popping will be offered, as this technique is the source on which Linda Hayford bases her choreographic gestures. The workshop will provide tools for a conscious and respectful practice of the body, even in the most intense movements.