'An artistic dream come true!' That’s what Welsh sound-artist Leona Jones immediately thought when Denni Dennis, clown and physical theatre performer, invited her to be part of a group of artists working on his co-created multi-lingual solo clown production based on Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. Leona studied Shakespeare in her first degree, and the production unites all the passions on which her practice is founded – language, literature, sound, voice, performance and collaboration.
Leona will be working in Almaty, Kazakhstan with Denni, plus producer/director Oleg Bilik and videomaker Maria Manich both of whom are Russian artists who’ve had to relocate to the city of Almaty, a thriving East European arts centre.
Leona’s sounds will be organic (located sounds recorded in Almaty as well as relevant recordings from elsewhere), and use Voice too, but pushing further into something abstract and unrecognisable, reacting to and provoking developments in both visuals and movements.
Very early days of course, but thanks to a grant awarded by Wales Arts International’s International Opportunities Fund she’ll able to join her colleagues in Kazakhstan for a month from mid October. The production will premiere in an art gallery in Almaty before it goes on international tour, and it’s planned to bring it to Wales at some point next year.
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