Yorkshire Life Aquatic: Dry land synchronised swimming team focus mainly on the artistic side of synchronised swimming. They perform a number of devised site specific performances, workshops and community projects around Yorkshire and use “…movement inspired by real synchronised swimming techniques and celebrating the beauty of real women and feminine role models” (Yorkshire Life Aquatic 2014).
Lucy Meredith, one of the founders of Yorkshire Life Aquatics, was previously a competitive synchronised swimmer, ranking top in her county in 1993-1994. After retiring at the age of 18, she wanted to use her passion and love for synchronised swimming and turn it into an art form suitable for performance and drama workshops.
“… have always missed being involved in synchro but there are not actual opportunities to train unless it’s for competitive reasons. You can’t just do it for fun…
Zoe, a Leeds based choreographer, had rather similar ideas so we decided to work together on it. That’s how Yorkshire Life Aquatic started.” (Meredith 2014)
She described in her interview the ways in which they have adapted synchronised swimming as a sport into a performance. Many of the rules and regulations of the sport have been abandoned in order for their aims and objectives as a theatre company to flourish as well as allowing them to perform with limited restrictions. Similar to Aquabatix they too allow themselves, during the performance, to touch the sides/ floor, produce long amounts of deck work and use props, all of which are strictly prohibited in the sport of synchronised swimming.
Although I am unable to find video of their performances, I love the use of costume and props they use in performances and hope to incorporate this in my solo performance.
