Symbolism is strong in jewellery. From inheritance pieces to engagement rings, there is something about hard and colourful adornments that always means more than just decoration. For Barrowland Ballet’s Natasha Gilmore it was the implied symbolism behind a piece of birthday jewellery that provided the springboard for her latest piece, a collaboration with co-creator and performer Jude Williams and director Ben Duke. ‘It started as a joke over a piece of jewellery Natasha was given for her (not 21st) birthday,’ says Williams. Gilmore continues: ‘I’d been gifted a piece of jewellery that was chunkier than any I’d had previously. Was it perhaps that the jewellery gets chunkier to balance out our hips, or to make a statement as middle-aged women become more invisible?’

From irreverent beginnings, Gilmore and Williams’ ideas began to blossom into a work that encompasses birth, life, death, playfulness, sorrow and the responsibilities of caring. The two have been friends for years which meant their experiences had overlapped. But with such personal material, it was important to both performers that an objective eye was brought onboard to harness it. Enter director Duke, whose genre-defying work for Lost Dog and Rambert has won rave reviews.

‘I’ve had a talent crush on Ben for years,’ says Williams. Through workshops and guided improvisations, together they drew out a piece that blends theatre, dance and song while balancing light and dark. ‘I think for us,’ says Gilmore, ‘chunky jewellery captures the humour of the work and of our laughter-filled relationship. The jewellery women wear, and are gifted over their lifetimes, tells a story.’ 

Chunky Jewellery was performed at Tramway, Glasgow.