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The full story
Across four years’ creative enquiry, the company have developed a cutting-edge movement vocabulary to articulate words and drive a narrative, a method now at the very heart of the company’s performative work.
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This began (as good things often do) as an experiment.
Can we create a new dance language - one that pushes the boundaires of artistic intergration, and truly embodies the power of text?
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As it turns out, we could, and we did.
The Hypha Method
​Hypha is a pathbreaking, gesture-based choreographic technique.
Rooted in the word 'hyphen' — a mark of breakage and reconnection between two forms — this practice explores the breaking and remaking of language, and the vital process of connection as communication within dance.
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It also relates to 'hyphae' — delicate fungal threads that carry information across a living network.
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All gesture forms are ours, created by the company, lead by the artistic vision of director Helen Calcutt.
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At the core of Hypha technique is a gestural language system...
...where each word or punctuative mark is assigned a specific gesture, pattern, or sign.
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Functional words — such as a, an, it, is, I — have fixed, recurring gestures known as language pins, anchoring the text in shared understanding and creating a secure framework within which meaning can arise. These gestures especially, are designed to be clear and part of a moving form. They don’t carry the same tone as conventional choreography.
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For example: imagine dancing and saying the word “headlight.” In Hypha, that word is rendered through spare, precise gesture— like a scratch of ink in the air.
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Descriptive, expressive words — like quiet, or wild — are open to personal interpretation, allowing dancers to respond with unique gestures shaped by context, character, or felt experience. We have a unique catalogue of access points to explore these ideas, and the gestures still need to be concise.
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​​​​​​​​​Hypha lives between structure and freedom, personal voice and collective intention.
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Through the dancer and embodiment, the innate, physicality of words, and the meaning they carry, are realised in 4D: carried within a vital framework of technical precision — yet also leaving room for the unknown to emerge and take flight.
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Our dancers work both in deep attunement to a piece of text and one another, transmitting stories, poems, and personal reflections through a moving tapestry - a tightly woven interplay of words, dancers’ bodies, and narrative intention. ​Context is also king. Whether it be situational, emotional, cultural: context directly informs the tone, line of energy, placement, or shape of any gesture.
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Our process is often described as 'circular', with the dancers seemingly looping or 'chasing' the poem, within collective expression.
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For us, seeking accuracy and truth is paramount. That is, to be as true to the text as possible, while dancing. Whilst not being text.
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ACCESS & SENSITIVE THEMES
Hypha's dynamism, combined with its sensitivity to personal experience and universal themes makes it an ideal medium for exploring the more tender aspects of the human condition.
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Its foundations are deeply influenced by the work we’ve already created, navigating complex emotions such as grief, loss, identity, and resurgence.
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Because Hypha articulates dialogue through a non-verbal form, our work also offers an access-focused experience, engaging both Deaf and non-English speaking audiences.
The research & creation of the Hypha method has been supported, and developed in partnership with FABRIC Dance, the REP Birmingham, the Arena Theatre, Restoke, Manchester University, Wolverhampton University, Loughborough University, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, SEH Company, and Arts Council England. ​​
Let’s Work Together
Our work is at forefront of interdisciplinary research into non-verbal forms of communication within dance and the interdisciplinary exchanges between text and movement. Please get in touch to work with us and find out more.
​Hypha Intellectual Property Statement
© Beyond Words. 2025. All rights reserved. The Hypha text-dance-translation technique—including all associated steps, processes, and conceptual frameworks—is the original intellectual property of Helen Calcutt and the Beyond Word collective and is protected by international copyright law. Any replication, adaptation, or use of Hypha without prior written consent is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. Please respect the creative integrity of this work.