Turning grief into public performances

A woman who suffered a number of miscarriages has turned her grief into art.

Nadia Iftkhar, who runs the Newcastle-based dance firm Company of Others, often reflected on her loss while at King Edward's Bay in Tynemouth, North Tyneside.

She is now using the location as the main stage for a series of acts on the beach, and in the North Sea, as part of a long-term project called Grief Floats.

It has so far attracted hundreds of people from across the country to watch and share their own experiences of loss with others.

Ms Iftkhar, from Walker in Newcastle, was also inspired to create the performances - which explore grief through the initial stages of loss to eventual recovery - after seeing the effect of the Covid pandemic on others.

"I had my first miscarriage when I was 21 and I've had more since then," she told the BBC.

"I was young and there was a lack of support on how to handle it, process and how to grieve and lots of feelings of we should move on quite quickly.

"I would go on my own to King Edward's Bay at night and lay flowers in the ocean... I've been gathering this information on grief for a long time."

Several versions of the performance have been acted out in King Edward’s Bay in recent days.

The visual performance contains no words, with each scene or movement representing a change in mood as grief takes hold.

It is not designed to be sad, Ms Iftkhar explained, adding: "Where there is grief there is love and that's a beautiful thing.

"An element of this work is joyful and celebratory that grief exists.

"It [the beach] is an open space where people can be together but on their own, they're not sat in a theatre squished together, but with other people.

"If we get better with working with grief and taking care of it and nurturing it, we will be better people for it and also be happier for it."

The performances feature professional dancers from a diverse range of backgrounds who have trained at the company's studios on Belmont Street.

"Our mission is to work and dance and ensure that dance is accessible for all," Ms Iftkhar said.

"We are called Company of Others because we are made up of people who experience being othered by society for reasons beyond their control.

"It's a place people can be together, creatively courageous and brave and feel like anything is possible. We are a home for all."

Grief Floats will take place on Saturday at 15:00 BST and on Sunday at 16:00 BST.

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