Director

Hannah currently works as a freelance director, and is also the creator and artistic director of the contemporary circus company Emotive Circus Arts. Hannah’s work is vivid and emotive with raw honesty in her pieces. Hannah stands apart as a director with her background in Theatre & Emotive Studies, and her ability to translate that into an incredibly unique and affective performance, no matter what the apparatus is.

As a director, Hannah is available to work with theatre, dance, or circus companies to develop a piece of work. She is also able to work with individual performers on audition pieces, pole routines, circus routines, circus shows, theatre pieces, monologues and more. As a character coach and movement director, Hannah is able to work with all types of performers to build character or emotive intention through affective movement for a show. For enquiries please email hannahfinncontortion@gmail.com

What Hannah aims to do through her work is inspire passion in audiences, deeply affecting them through utilizing movement and physical forms of theatre. Hannah believes that her role with the performers that she works with, is to guide them and help them find the character, intention, or movement narrative of the piece within themselves. The process Hannah goes through with the performers stems from excerpts of Chekhov, Stanislavski, Meisner, and Lecoq’s work. Depending on what the performance calls for, Hannah may also utilize exercises pulled from Jungian Psychology, Affect Theory and Movement Therapy with performers to create gripping and emotionally honest pieces.

A Selection of Previous Works

EvoL

at the Rondo Theatre (Remastered, 2018)

“It is a visual feast of choreographic imagination that delights the eye, the ear and the mind.”
– John Christopher Wood, Theatre Bath 

EvoL was remastered in the UK in 2018. The goal was to elevate the show by combining the emotional honesty and vulnerability that was in the original production, with a remastered script and high level circus performers.EvoL reached remarkable success with 4 sold out shows and a 4-star review by Theatre Bath. “EvoL” was also aired about on the BBC radio, 3 times and a BBC Bristol video was made about EvoL, which went viral.

EvoL is a ground-breaking contemporary circus show that uses high level circus arts, physical theatre, dance, and a movement narrative to explore the multi-faceted dimensions of different types of love. EvoL is introspectively educational, focusing on inspiring emotion and taking the audience on a journey to feel deep emotions relating to their own lives. Both the show’s exquisite physicality and its dreamy fantastical imagery truly transport the audience to the world of EvoL, which magically lies between a world somewhere very far away and one extremely close to the heart. For this production of EvoL, Emotive Circus Arts was partnered with Off the Record in Bath. The aim of the partnership was to help normalize speaking about emotions and mental health, as well as to raise awareness about mental health. This production of EvoL was supported by JELF, Atomic Design Rentals, Enlightened Lighting, Pink Kitten Dance School, and Artspace Lifespace.

EvoL is currently in pre production to be taken on tour around the UK in 2019. The EvoL tour will be partnered with Off the Record BANES and national mental health organization Time to Change, in order to continue the work of normalizing talking about mental health and emotions and to spread awareness about mental health. To support EvoL click HERE.

EvoL

At the Glenn Wallichs Theatre (Original 2014)

EvoL was originally created in Redlands, CA with the goal of inspiring emotion in audiences through people who had never previously performed. EvoL is a physical theatre and circus production which aims to explore the multifaceted dimensions of different types of love and emotions through circus skills, dance and theatre. This show beautifully articulates the many different ways that love can be expressed. Non-performers were trained by Hannah for a limited time, in circus skills and physical theatre, and went through an intensive character process which utilized Jungian Psychology, Movement Therapy, Affect Theory and the work of Stanislavski and Chekhov. This process enabled the performers to explore and take their raw inner emotions and put them on the stage, in the context of the show. The show was a success, and received acclaim for the emotional journey, and the performers vulnerability and honesty on stage. The creation of this production was supported by The Glenn Wallichs Theatre, The University of Redlands and Atomic Design Rentals.

EvoL is currently in pre production to be taken on tour around the UK in 2019. The EvoL tour will be partnered with Off the Record BANES and national mental health organization Time to Change, in order to continue the work of normalizing talking about mental health and emotions and to spread awareness about mental health. To support EvoL click HERE.

Guilt

Created in Hereford, UK, performed in South Africa

Guilt was a piece produced by world famous pole star Annie Norris, to be performed for ‘Pole Art South Africa’. Hannah was brought on as the character coach, to help develop the emotional landscape and depth of the piece, and to bring out vulnerability and honesty in the performer. She worked with the performer on meaning, intention, creative movement, and delved into the subconscious meaning of the piece translated through movement. The performer won second place for this piece. This piece is currently available to be booked.

Note: the performer won second place at Pole Art South Africa for this piece

Act Without Words

Originally Created by Samuel Beckett and Reimagined by Hannah Finn

This piece took the great work of Samuel Beckett and transformed it into a modern acrobatic rendition. During the creation of this piece, physical theater, acrobatic movement and extensive character coaching were used to achieve the blend of movement and emotional desperation and honesty. An archetypal narrative exercise was used in the beginning of this piece with audience members to immerse them into Beckett’s world. Created in Redlands, California. This show is currently available to be booked.

Shadow

Bristol, UK

Shadow was a dance and physical theater piece about oppression of the self, specifically in the way of self deprecating body shaming. This piece drew from influences such as “Strange Fruit” choreographed by Pearl Primus and Cafe Muller choreographed by Pina Bausch. LED lights were used in the performers costumes to emphasize emotions which accumulated in different body parts. The raw emotion and audience connection in this piece was achieved through the use of Jungian Psychology, Affect Theory, and Movement Therapy exercises used in the rehearsal process as well as archetypal movement cues placed throughout the piece. This piece is currently available to be booked.

Contact

Email: hannahfinncontortion@gmail.com

Follow me