With a nose clip towards an exploration...

It is 7 o'clock in the morning...A group of six dancers are fiddling in the reception area of
the John Charles Centre for Sports in Leeds. The aim for this Research and Development
project is clear: “to explore what is involved in the choreography and training for
synchronised swimmers, and what happens to Classical Indian and Contemporary trained
dancers working in water”. A very exciting project inspired by London 2012,
commissioned by Imove and led by Balbir Singh. However most of us still do not know
what to expect from this unique project...

Although it is a far too early start for us dancers (lets face it, most of us artists do not start
until 10 am), the sport centre is unexpectedly alive. Speed swimmers have been
ploughing the surface of the swimming pool since 5 am and even some active members
of the public are entering the centre at this unusual time. I cannot wait to be thrown into
the water as well but our first session is in the dance studio. A brief introduction of the
project is followed by my very first Kathak lesson. I got to learn some of the basic
principles of this form of Indian classical dance as well as some rhythmic words with
recitation being an integral part of Kathak dance and not to mention they are unbelievably
hard to pronounce. I must say, at the end of the session my exotic side seemed to have
come out a little bit more than usual.

After a substantial lunch, it is time to “get wet”. The confidence in the level of swimming
varies but I am more then excited for the challenge that is about to follow. I have always
loved to swim and my competitiveness, which especially used to occur when I was a
child, revived. The problem is that in the past ten years I have spent most of my life in a
dance studio. Now the question is: will I be able to prove myself in another area?
Fortunately our coach and former Olympic level synchronized swimmer Heba Abdel
Gawad is more than supportive.

So after a few warming up pool laps I am ready to learn. The picture is grotesque: six
adults ornated with caps, goggles and nose clips floating on water with the help of
flotation aids like boards and empty milk bottles. That day we definitely contributed to a
general entertainment in the swimming pool.

I am quickly discovering that synchronized swimming requires great strength and

endurance, exceptional breath control and a sense of direction when underwater. Just
after the first session I became much more familiar with the terminology of synchronized
swimming and I coped with most of the ways of sculling (hand movements used to
propel the body), eggbeater kick, oyster and upside down positions. We even performed a
short synchronized routine in the water.

The whole week progressed in a similar way; we advanced both in Kathak dance and
synchronized swimming. We started to experiment in the studio with several ideas and
then took the material into the pool, this process proved to be excellent both as a learning
tool and for opening up creative opportunities. One of the more interesting tasks we got
to dig our teeth into was the sounds movements can generate in water; I must confess I
found this extremely enchanting.

I have started to notice some similarities in dance and synchronized swimming as well as
some differences which I would say are the reason we classify dance into arts and not
sport.

On Thursday the group made its way to Aldershot, unfortunately I was not able to attend.
The dancers returned exhausted after the long journey but seemed to feel very privileged
they could observe the training session of a professional Synchronized Swimming Club.

We finished the week with a successful photoshoot on Friday afternoon and although we
left the John Charles Centre with red eyes like a radar light, growling stomachs like a
bear just woken up after Winter, we still felt enriched and very much looking forward to
further explorations in week two.

Thank you for reading.

Jitka Tumova