SHARED ENVIROMENTS

Shared Environments — A Four Nations Signdance Outdoor Journey

This summer, artists from the UK, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria travelled together across Europe to explore how signdance, puppetry and movement adapt to real outdoor conditions — heat, wind, darkness, noise, uneven terrain and shifting weather.

Two works led the journey:

• NOTIZEN — signdance + puppetry

• Stream Walkers — night‑time, light‑based performance

Across the tour, performers worked without interpreters or add‑ons. Everyone signs. Everyone adapts. Everyone works together.   Communication came from within the ensemble — a shared language of movement, rhythm, awareness and care.

Where We Performed

Graz • Maribor • Ljubljana • Wales (Wrexfest) • Pula (PUF Festival) • Croatian Islands • England (next week)

Each place offered new challenges: fading light, stone heat, sea wind, festival noise, riverside gusts, late‑evening schedules and 40°C island temperatures.

Outdoor Methods

The ensemble developed simple, powerful ways of working outdoors:

PACE • BREATH • WATER • PLANNING • AWARENESS   Mapping terrain, adjusting movement for heat or darkness, using shade, light and wind as part of the dramaturgy.

Moments From the Tour

• Ljubljana — NOTIZEN under the trees, relaxed pacing and excellent support

• PUF Festival, Pula — 8pm performance in fading light, stone heat and sea wind

• Croatian Islands — 40°C conditions, shade‑based choreography

• Wrexfest — vibration‑based cues beside a rock festival

• Graz — council‑supported refreshments for audiences

• Maribor — LENT Festival wind shaping puppetry

The Companies

Signdance Collective (UK) • Znakovni Ples (Croatia) • Ana Monro Theatre (Slovenia) • Transmitter Performance (Austria) • 73 Degree Films

Together, these companies explored how disability‑led practice can shape inclusive, adaptive and resilient outdoor performance — creating with the environment, not against it.