Revelland works with an incredible team of artists, performance designers, sense specialists and organisers. This series of articles gets you familiar with everyone involved. Please meet, Eileih Muir and Adam Thomason of Flavour&Some.
Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit more about your profession and specialty.
“We are Adam Thomason and Eileih Muir who together make up Flavour&Some, a multidisciplinary company combining food, movement and music. Adam is a chef who alongside captaining the England Culinary Team, works as Culinary Director of Absolute Taste. Eileih is a contemporary dancer and choreographer who is currently working fulltime as a member of Company Wayne McGregor. Together we developed the concept of Flavour&Some, blurring the lines between our industries with a focus on connection, shared experience and joy!”
How did you get to this point in your career?
“Determination has played a big part in both of our journeys. The self belief that even if it’s not working out right now, we will find a way to make sure it does when the time is right.”
What were the milestones of your career?
“Our highest high has to be seeing the effect of our performances on our audiences. Seeing guests return and offering them new ways into our experiences, new opportunities for connection and new ways of sharing space.”
Do you dare to share an utter fiasco with us as well?
“Our first Flavour&Some full length show relied heavily on the guests being moved through the space on tables with wheels. The dress rehearsal was all going fairly smoothly, until it came to the first transition. We hadn’t taken account for the polished concrete floor becoming more slippery as the dancers travelled across it and so when they came to push the tables, they couldn’t get any traction against the surface of the floor. The room seemed to fall silent with 30 blindfolded guests wondering why nothing was happening, 10 panicked dancers and 4 musicians desperately trying to figure out a solution and all looking to us to help solve it. Thank goodness for the quick thinking, shoe wearing chefs who dived into the performance from the kitchen and got the tables moving and the performance back on track!”
If we would join you on a random working day, what would it look like?
“A random working day for both of us begins early. We try to fit in some movement before work begins and then it is head down into the day ahead; creating & developing menus, pitching new ideas or assisting others in their creative processes before catching up about new potential Flavour&Some events in the evening. We are both fiercely competitive and so when there is down time we find ourselves playing cards and trying to remember we love each other when the other one is winning!”
Why is accessibility important?
“Accessibility allows for the broadest possible perspectives to be brought together which in turn, only widens the potential of art to make change. Our focus has always been connectivity and shared experience. If we are not able to make our experiences accessible then we are failing in our mission.”
How does your specialty benefit creative accessibility (inclusive solutions for exclusion issues that add value for multiple target groups and promote equal experiences for all)? Can you give a concrete example regarding immersive live performances?
“By working in a multidisciplinary, multisensory capacity we are opening more doors and finding new possibilities within each creation. With each creative process and performance, we learn more about our audiences, our collaborators and ourselves. This offers us new perspectives and new ways to consider and approach the same questions – how can we encourage, facilitate and provoke connection through experiential art.”
What has been the funnest and/or most memorable experience within the Revelland project so far?
“Our favourite part of Revelland so far has been simply the opportunity to connect with so many varied and inspiring artists, especially early into the first lockdown when things felt very uncertain. The meetings grounded us in the knowledge that creativity, newness and inspiration remains constant.”
Do you have any advice for emerging artists who want to take their live performance to a next level and simultaneously become more accessible?
“The endless possibilities hidden in the mistakes, the mess and the unknown are the most exciting parts of the artistic process, so dive in and find them!”
Want to know more about Eileih and Adam? Follow Eileih on Instagram and check out her website: www.eileihmuir.com. In for a culinary treat? On Instagram, follow Adam’s personal page, Absolute Taste or England Culinary Team.