16th May 2023
Chris Pavia is an international touring dance artist and choreographer. He is a member of Stopgap Dance Company and works in his own right as an independent artist. Chris received Unlimited funding in 2019 to create duet ‘The Journey Between’, which toured in the UK and to The Hague in The Netherlands. Chris Pavia first partnered with Watts Gallery Trust and DAiSY in 2019 on his solo work Captain’s Duties, a response to the art of Victorian artist James Henry Pullen.
During his 2020-21 residency, working remotely and across digital platforms, Chris Pavia explored the dynamics of energy and movement seen in the full and partial sculptures by G F Watts displayed at Watts Gallery. Pavia’s work is inspired by the power of natural forces such as water including film and photographic references of vivid waterfalls, turbulent seas, fast running currents and the dynamism of galloping horses.
The result of this residency period is the site-specific dance work Beyond the Waves. Originally intended to be performed live but due to the pandemic, it was made into a film, offering an alternative way to share the work with an audience. The dance solos were captured on film in May 2021, while the galleries were closed the public, in a new film work by Roswitha Chesher, first presented as an installation piece at Watts Gallery in the summer of 2022, alongside A Fragmented Legacy: G F Watts and Sculpture.
Beyond The Waves is a collaboration between choreographer Chris Pavia, Watts Gallery Trust and DAiSY (Disability Arts in Surrey) with mentoring support and dance artists from Stopgap Dance Company.
Watch a Q&A with Chris Pavia and members of his creative team about the making of Beyond the Waves:
