Movement Map 2023
St. John’s Pedestrian Mall starting August 13, 2023
Engage. Explore. Play.
Using colourful shapes and words, this interactive chalk pastel movement map is located in front of Atlantic Place, 215 Water Street, at the Downtown Pedestrian Mall. It is designed to invite and inspire movement of all kinds, for people of all ages and modes of mobility.
Showing the way, but not necessarily the how, the map can be “navigated” in a number of ways, and lets people discover their own interpretation of what they see. This is a project that encourages freedom of expression, and we’re excited to see people use the map regardless of their familiarity with dance. There’s room for a few people to be on the map at the same time, and the map can be accessed from either end, or from the middle.
Thanks to the City of St. John’s for their collaboration on this unique public art project. The map is drawn in chalk pastels and depending on weather conditions, should last anywhere from 2-5 weeks after installation.
We would love to see how you engage with the map. Please tag us in your pics and videos.
Visual Description
Starting on the pavement in front of Atlantic Place, our Movement Map is 27 feet long and 10.5 feet wide. Our URL “untellable.ca” bookends your journey.
Moving east to west you start on a winding path of red, orange and yellow with a text prompt that encourages you to “glide”.
This path leads you to a blue pool with a text prompt to “breathe”.
From here you have a choice:
On the left, a purple and orange squiggly line asks you by text prompt to “wiggle”.
Straight down the center, a white and yellow daisy-like illustration asks you by text prompt to “pose”.
On the right, a path of green leaves asks you by text prompt to “bloom.
All paths lead to a blue channel that spans the full width of the map.
On the left, a multi-coloured path invites you to “flow” by text prompt. This path leads to clouds and dandelion pappus with the text prompt to “float”.
On the right, three-star shapes in yellow white and red, outlined in red and purple, offer the text prompt to “burst”.
From there a pool of concentric blue circles offers the text prompt to “pause”.The “pause” prompt is repeated twice.
The “pause” pool links into the “float” image, by both a direct channel and a looped path. Four colourful circles, like stepping stones, mark the end of your journey from east to west.
Get in Touch.
We have worked to make our Movement Map as accessible as possible. If you have thoughts on how we can improve for next time, please reach out.
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Duncan Major, Visual Artist
Duncan Major is a St. John's-based graphic designer, animator and letterpress printer. Since 2004 he has operated the printshop Walpurgis Press, which was recently awarded a Heritage NL grant for endangered craft mentorship. In 2022 he illustrated Prajwala Dixit's The Tales of Dwipa (Breakwater), and is currently making an experimental letterpress animation with the support of The National Film Board of Canada. Always fascinated by the relationship between art forms, Duncan is thrilled to be working with Untellable Movement Theatre to create a dance map.
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Lynn Panting, Choreographer
Lynn Panting is a Newfoundland-based artist, arts educator, and arts advocate known for creating innovative and accessible dance works. She is noted for creating pieces that appeal to a wide audience and often works with artists from other disciplines to generate a theatrical yet lyrical movement. Her work is humorous, heartfelt, bold and always original.
Lynn is deeply committed to the growth of creativity and self-confidence through movement and holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Memorial University as well as a Master of Humanities concentrating in performance, dance and the body.
Lynn is the owner and Artistic Director of Lynn Panting Dance, the Artistic Director, Producer of Untellable Movement Theatre, and a founding member of Ladies Who Lunch Productions.
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Kim White, Accessibility Consultant
Kim White was born and raised in the rural community of Twillingate, but currently lives in St. John’s. At age three, she acquired a disability due to a spinal cord tumour. Experiencing life with a disability has definitely fed her desire to help create a “just world” but she also credits her parents’ passing along a strong sense of altruism and compassion. Educated at Memorial University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education, Kim fulfilled a life-long dream to become a teacher. Fate intervened and led Kim on a career journey that was definitely ingrained in justice, but was outside her original vision of being “a traditional classroom teacher”. Kim’s life’s work has been mainly in the non-profit sector focusing on adult education, employment and career services, poverty reduction, and community development. Kim is the former Executive Director of the Coalition of Persons with Disabilities. While with the coalition, Kim’s work focused heavily on education and awareness; leading task forces, developing resources and facilitating info sessions and workshops for projects such as Emergency Preparedness for Persons with Disabilities, Inclusive Electoral Processes and Inclusive Customer Service.
Duncan Major: Artist Statement
I’m grateful to be working with Untellable Dance Theatre on this public project that blends art forms. I hope it is as enjoyable to experience as it was to create.
Process
Prior to designing the map, Untellable provided me with a written choreographic score, a theme song (Maggie Rogers’ Alaska), and inspirations to work from including Laban technique, Alice in Wonderland and a 1705 celestial chart. Untellable identified that I would be using chalk pastels to draw the map, that it would cover roughly a 10’ x 20’ area, and that I would have to avoid completely filling everything with chalk pastels because it could be a slipping hazard.
Drawn immediately to the idea of a movement map, I was reminded of one of the things my kids like me to draw—chalk lines that weave around our driveway. They love to follow the improvised lines of curves, corners, and shapes.
Using the inspirations provided to me, a few pencil sketching sessions soon revealed what looked like an ecosystem filled with shapes and paths to inspire motion. A few drafts later and I worked out a composition that would allow people to enter from either end and choose different paths as they navigated the map. When designing the map I was imagining what might be fun for people to interact with, and drawing from the choreographic score which included words like slow, pause, free, flow, direct, zig zag…”.
After showing the pencil sketches to Lynn at Untellable and Kim White, our disability consultant for the project, we decided to include text to help people get an understanding of what they were looking at and what they were meant to do. At this point I moved the drawing process into Procreate on an iPad and started adding colours, keeping in mind the palette of chalk pastels that would be provided to me. Procreate is great because it’s easy to edit as you go.
I draw the map at a 1:12 scale, on a grid. On installation day, I plan to sketch out the grid first, then use my Procreate printout to begin drawing the map as planned. I’ve never done anything like this, so it will no doubt be an interesting learning process.
Lynn Panting: Artist Statement
Dance is my heart. I am deeply committed to the growth of creativity and self-confidence through movement. I believe that dance is for every body and my goal is to create joyous and welcoming spaces for all.
My mission as an artist and educator is to make movement integrative across arts disciplines and to make both movement and art an integral part of public life.
The biggest challenge this project held for me, as a choreographer, is that a map shows you the “way” and not the “how”. Paths are just one element of dance and movement. A pathway does not in itself contain rhythm, level, or tone. The question is how do you convey the feeling as well as the route?
Process
I started with the hero’s journey as the anchor for the map. Instead of challenges or obstacles, movers are met with a variety of modes of movement to engage with and explore. This map is a meditation and the hope is that the mover is transformed through their journey.
Music has always been a big part of my process. I used the song Alaska by Maggie Rogers as inspiration. This piece is youthful and free. It contains natural imagery which makes an interesting contrast to Water Street, St. John's where the map will be located.
I also explored children’s games like Snakes and Ladders and Hopscotch, books like The Odyssey and Alice in Wonderland as well as different types of maps. I was particularly drawn to the celestial charts of Nicolas de Fer.
I used music, literature, nostalgia, and Laban technique as a way to bridge the communication gap between dance and visual art, between myself and Duncan.