From Devon With Love: Summer Scratch - Dance, Spoken Word & Poetry

From Devon With Love: Summer Scratch - Dance, Spoken Word & Poetry

Join us for a vibrant evening of dance, spoken word and poetry as Villages in Action presents a handpicked selection of bold new voices from across Devon. This is live performance in its rawest, most exciting form - artists testing ideas, sharing early-stage work, and inviting you into the creative process.

Expect an eclectic mix of movement, rhythm, and wordplay, all set in the intimate atmosphere of the Moor Imagination Centre in Buckfastleigh. As part of our From Devon With Love: Summer Scratch, this is your chance to witness the beginnings of future full-length works and contribute to their growth with your feedback.

Come curious, leave inspired.

Millie Parker - Girlhood and Screaming

‘Girlhood and Screaming’ is a solo dance work in progress created and performed by a young woman navigating the universal experiences of discovering place and identity. The solo uses contemporary dance and dialogue to explore how your idea of what it means to be a woman changes as you grow up. With a jukebox like structure the work shows different stories and extracts, moments that show the emotions and changing relationship with gender whilst growing up. The work travels through themes of nostalgia, joy and innocence, eldest daughter energy, indignation, expectations, the external eye, grieving change, quiet anger and girlhood.

Content warnings: Swearing, Sexual assault, Eating disorders, body hatred, and fat phobia, Mental illness, Sexism and misogyny

Fearless Collective - Into The Light

"Into the Light" is a dynamic dance piece that embodies the transformative journey from fear to empowerment. The work explores the psychological process of confronting the unknown, shedding fear, and embracing clarity. The dancers navigate a world of darkness, where their own fears take shape, and gradually move toward the light, symbolising truth, awareness, and connection.

The piece blends contemporary dance with hip hop, using movement to reflect both the internal struggle and the eventual breakthrough. The choreography explores the tension between vulnerability and strength, as the dancers face their darkest fears, ultimately finding courage and unity in the light.

Into the Light is an exploration of fearlessness, an invitation to confront the unknown, embrace personal transformation, and step into a space of empowerment and shared strength. The piece culminates in a powerful, celebratory moment of connection, where the dancers, now fearless, shine together in the light, symbolising the triumph of courage over fear.

Ruth Bell - Curiouser

A development of a solo character taken from Glimpses of Wonder. An explorer of worlds and gatherer of the curious, this character questions our human self in relation to the natural world and our place within it.

19th Century Newsprint is sculpted into costume and the character wears the words inhabiting and becoming the pages within. The paper objects take on characters of their own as they are animated through movement, as costume they change the character and a journey unfolds.

Sound evokes worlds and landscapes within the piece, and is an intrinsic aspect to the performance.

Sam Gilroy - Belly Flop

The show is a heart warming, hilarious, and honest account of my experience of Matrescence – the process of becoming a mother that is as big a change as adolescence. A trained dancer, and now working mother, I draw similarities between society's value in the arts and in motherhood.

This show is in the early research stage. I'm using movement, poetry and storytelling to develop a relatable, myth-busting, and moving show for theatres and community spaces. I want to empower women and M/others to share their experiences and inform helpful allies, by arming them with insight and understanding of M/otherhood.

Please note, this show involves audience interaction.

Tickets £10 (£8 concs), age guidance TBC, running time approx 105mins