Charlotte Mclean on new work ‘And’ and founding The Yonis

And by dance artist Charlotte Mclean is an autobiographical dance poem exploring identity, politics and womanhood, which premiered at Edinburgh Fringe 2022. Ahead of the performance here at The Place, we chatted to Charlotte about And, her background as a Scottish Highland dancer and her work as co-founder of contemporary movement band The Yonis.

Trained at London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS), Charlotte Mclean was born in Arbroath, Scotland. Since graduating from LCDS, she has performed and worked internationally with Curious Seed, Eva Recacha, Pink Mama Theatre, Hannes Langolf, Jack Webb, Vanessa Cook and Barrowland Ballet amongst many others.

Charlotte cites that it was a school trip to Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) in Dundee which introduced her to contemporary dance. “When I was 14 I went to Scottish Dance Theatre and was blown away. I never knew it had existed until then! I remember Joan Cleville – now the artistic director and LCDS alum – being a dancer at the time and I was in awe of his movement. I researched more and decided I want to do that when I grow up. A few years later I noticed that a lot of people at SDT trained at LCDS and so I decided to apply.”

Although a contemporary dancer, Charlotte’s dance origin story begins with another style: Scottish Highland dance. “I’m pretty sure I was born in a kilt,” begins Charlotte. “I did Scottish Highland dancing every day from the age of three until the age of 13. I did competitions and it was a huge part of my life. Then, as with all early teens, I went through my rebellious stage and swapped Scottish Highland dancing for ballet. I think it was because I saw my sister try hip hop, which was something different, and I wanted to do the same…” she smiles.

“Then, around three years ago I got asked to teach Scottish Highland dance at the Summer Music Festival in Germany,” Charlotte continues. “This is a brilliant festival where different folk dances from across the world are brought together. I hadn’t done Highland dance in 10 years but I thought I could try it. After I began doing it again, I totally fell in love with it. I also realised how integral it is to my life and identity.”

It's not without surprise that Highland dance is a huge part of Mclean’s work deeply personal work And. “I actually start the performance of And with Scottish Sword dance with a sword that my grandad Dave made.”

The origins of And itself involve a slightly different story. “When I was graduating in 2017, I remember feeling so overwhelmed. I texted my friend Jay and asked if we could go and dance in a park the next day. I remember texting Jay a list of reasons why I wanted to dance: to dance our worries away; dance about fragility; dance about being lucky to be alive; about being happy and sad. This original list really forms the base of And.”

Charlotte highlights that she has been building and developing this list since this very moment in 2017. “I’ve done different renditions of And at performance evenings, comedy venues and explored it during different residencies. It’s always been that same original list but with different flavours. The text is set and the movement is improvised with a score. Now however And feels authentic, it feels like its original self.”

“For me And is like therapy, and hopefully it gives the audience a form of release too,” she continues. “It’s personal, with references to miscarriage and abortion. There’s lots of juxtapositons of being proud of Scotland and then not wanting to be anywhere. There’s also Highland dancing to the Spice Girls. I have to really pinch myself that I’ve premiered this personal work at the Fringe!”

Aside from being a contemporary dance artist, Charlotte is co-founder of The Yonis, a contemporary movement band that she formed with fellow LCDS alum Haley Jayne Gash. Charlotte also works in Switzlerand where she was inspired to create Die Berner Yonis. “We started the original The Yonis because Hayley and I went to gigs all the time and we were really jealous of the girl bands that played instruments. So, we decided to start our own band, with our bodies and voices as our instruments!”

The Yonis have been very successful, performing at Edinburgh and Camden Fringe Festivals, Brainchild Festival, V&A London, The Place, TANZhAUS Bern and have been featured in Dazed and Confused Magazine. “We’re all about moving, sharing joy and radically listening. We all trained together and started this, and now have lifelong friends.”