Billy Maxwell Taylor: Beyond Laboratori

National Dance Company Wales’ Laboratori invites choreographers to explore and develop their creative practice. 

Supported by the Fenton Arts Trust in 2021 and 2022, the programme offers choreographers paid time in the studio with a company of dancers. Laboratori creates a safe, open space for innovation and experimentation in which to try out new ideas and interrogate existing ones.  

In 2021, Billy Maxwell Taylor was one of six choreographers to take part in the programme. We caught up with Billy to talk about the part Laboratori played in the evolution of his piece Rain Pours Like Coffee Drops, which recently premiered at Volcano Theatre in Swansea. 
 
“When moving to Wales after graduating, I was uncertain about how my ideas and the worlds in my brain would react with this new place. Starting as my dissertation at Rose Bruford College, how would what was then called Finding Over Time be translated into the Welsh dance industry?  

It all started with the support from NDC Wales' who offered me the space to experiment and research through their Laboratori programme. During my week with them in 2021, I began to have confidence as a leader in a dance room as well as wonder at the links we have between our working lives and the changing weather that is so prominent in Wales. 

From here I learned more of the village of Wales, in that each artist was keen to support the project and the research further, both through Richard Chappell Dance's Supporting Acts and Volcano Theatre's Solo Duets for the Future. 

Each iteration unique, each iteration supported. And then came the moment of finding how I can step up as a leader through an Arts Council Wales application and creating The Motion Pack. Again, this was only possible through the mentorship, support and guidance within the industry. 

Now, as we look forward, we know that each iteration will evolve and are looking to see how it connects with more Welsh artists and mentors and how each encounter can uplift the project.” 

Tell us about Rain Pours Like Coffee Drops 
 
“Rain Pours Like Coffee Drops offers a moment of stillness in the busyness of our working lives. With 1 in 5 people feeling unable to manage workplace stress, this experience offers a space to re-evaluate our relationship to work.  

Through an intimate encounter where you may sip coffee, daydream or watch with wide eyes, The Motion Pack invites you to a time-suspended world where coffee brews slowly and concrete buildings rise from the ground. The Rain meditates on the growing heaviness of The Worker who goes about their day as usual. As time flows, so does the water on the window. 

In 2023, we are striving to tour the work, sharing the pertinent "stillness in the busyness" message with audiences across Wales and to ensure that, as artists, we are dissecting our own working practices to encourage wellbeing and care.” 

Rain Pours Like Coffee Drops was created by The Motion Pack and supported by Arts Council Wales, Volcano Theatre, NDCWales and Jack Philp. It was led by artistic leader Billy Maxwell Taylor and performed by himself and Lili Chin. The sound was designed by Sebastian Barrett, the technical stage manager was George McGukin and Welsh translations and voiceovers were provided by Rhys Horton and Angharad Griffiths. www.billymaxwelltaylor.uk or www.instagram.com/themotionpack.  

Photography by The Motion Pack & Kirsten McTernan