Site Specific Performance with The Invisible Dance Society

• Devised and performed by Sheila Macdougall and Janice Parker

Performed Jenner’s windows Edinburgh Fringe 2004

HOW MUCH IS THAT DAME IN THE WINDOW?  “…when two middle-aged ladies start dancing in Jenners shop window, you know that a frontier has been breached. The department store is a Princes Street institution, synonymous with traditional Scottish values. But for one week only, Sheila Macdougall and Janice Parker have been creeping around the displays climbing in and out of Jenners’ bags and manhandling the stores goods. “This is a bit different than what you would expect from Jenners,” says Eslyn from Glasgow, a regular customer, “and its all the better for it. I love it                                                                                                                                           The Guardian – Leo Benedictus

In the spirit of the Edinburgh Fringe, where anything is possible, Janice and Sheila decided to create a performance within the window display in Jenners Department Store on Princes Street. This was the old Jenners, still family owned and Sheila had a contact there and asked if we could do it. It took a bit of persuasion but eventually we got the thumbs up. We used merchandise that was on sale in the shop and rehearsed over a few weeks in preparation for our two days in the window. I started out with the idea of questioning consumerism, the tourist industry, our addiction to fashion etc.etc.etc. but in fact what we did was ‘simply’ have fun. The objects we worked with and the amount of space we had determined our vocabulary and we focused on the direct connection we had with our audiences. We started outside the store, on the steps, with the one o’clock gun every day. Their were a number of spontaneous and serindipitous happenings such as the busking piper outside the window who had no idea we were there. In the moment, we adapted what we were doing and began working with the music. As I said fun!  It was also  boiling hot in their so our performances were in short and sweet bursts throughout each afternoon.