Victims of torture have created a new dance group which expresses their individuality and dignity, writes Christine Madden

The idea that artists must suffer for their art is a pervasive, yet facile concept. It appears particularly crass, however, considered in contrast to those who suffer not for their art, but for their pure existence.

Yet, as evidenced so frequently by art-therapy methods of healing, creative expression can help restore life into those damaged by illness, accident or, in the case of Global Groove participants, those who have endured unspeakable physical and emotional violence through torture.

In 2001, in compliance with the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Ireland established the Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture (CCST). By 2002, the centre had 84 members, or "clients", as it refers to them; this number swelled to over 570 by the beginning of this year. The membership consists primarily of refugees from nearly 40 different countries who had been subjected to torture of various kinds and degrees. For these clients, the CCST offers financial and legal assistance, as well as rehabilitative care.

Last year, in observance of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the CCST held a travelling exhibition, The Art of Living, composed of artworks by its clients. This year, explains Mike Walker, strategy and development officer of the CCST, they decided to do something different to celebrate the day, to raise awareness and funding.

"Some of the clients got together to find a way that wasn't linguistic, something they could all share, something that would show their optimism for the future in the context of their experience of the past. Dance emerged as the best vehicle for this." Quite an undertaking for a group of people so traumatised by the horrendous treatment received in their home countries, and frequent bad treatment here as refugees. "Some of them find it difficult even to get out of bed in the morning," say Walker.

"As one client described his experience: 'It's like a shadow. It never leaves; it always follows you.'" Without extensive knowledge of the dance sector, Walker delved into the Internet and the phone book. He got a list of dance companies from the Association of Professional Dancers in Ireland, and sent out enquiries. Within days, he got a response from choreographer John Scott, director of Irish Modern Dance Theatre.

Acclaimed for his playful, avant-garde, abstract work, Scott was the perfect fit for such a project. Yet, despite his interest in the challenge, even he was daunted by the prospect and responsibility of working with these people. What kind of plan or approach did he envisage to workshop a performance piece for the Global Groove? "I didn't know," he admits. "I understood that they had suffered, and didn't want to intrude on their privacy, but I wanted to work with them. I want to do something with them that shows their dignity, their individuality as people, not as victims of torture.

"When I work, I make structures, do repetitive actions, and it brings out personal things - in myself, in the dancers. I don't seek the personal stuff. I do work that avoids narrative." This method allows great freedom for the workshop participants: they can decide how far they want to probe and express themselves, how much they want to put on show and how much they feel comfortable releasing into dance.

In the initial workshop, Scott "arrived with a tabula rasa", Walker recalls. "He was eager to learn and try things." Scott encountered a group of torture survivors of countries and cultures including Uganda, the Kurds, Sudan, Nigeria, Romania and the Cameroon. After a demonstration, Scott initiated a variety of clever improvisation exercises to make material, "and make them respond in the process". In one exercise, Scott asked them to spell their names by walking the letters in the room. "I did mine, walking the J, the O, and so on. And then they did theirs." Interesting enough in the Roman alphabet, "then some of them did their names in Arabic, walking from right to left. It was amazing.

"When you write your name, no matter how blandly you do it, it's a statement of identity." In another exercise, one man began waving. When asked why, he said he was waving goodbye to his family, who had all been killed. A Nigerian did a sequence of throwing his arms out, and "his eyes could cut through you". A Ugandan woman and a male refugee did "a rotation thing with their necks and backs - it was beautiful, expressive. Then she raised her head, and she was glowing." Apart from the fact that these refugees aren't professional dancers, many of them have also been physically mutilated by torture. "They're beginning to talk about their experiences, but I don't probe. One of them has severe back injuries because he was hung upside-down. Another showed me his legs - just skin and bone - he is a Kurd and had been beaten by the Iraqis." Additionally, many of them don't speak English.

Despite the difficulties, Scott feels the experience is "a gift. If I am in any way useful to these people, their future, their survival - if I never did anything else, I would still be grateful. These people aren't dancers, but they're very open, and have a huge amount of enthusiasm - it's very gratifying and stimulating. Sometimes I'm moved to tears by something inside them that comes out that they were unaware they were releasing. As Martha Graham said, the body doesn't lie."

One of the most profound impressions Scott has received from these refugees is their strength and will to live. "What blows me away about them is their dignity. They are survivors - positive, optimistic, forward-looking. They'd get called 'nigger' several times a day, and they get through that." Nevertheless, they are "so hungry, so motivated".

Scott's biggest frustration seems to be that his time with them before the dance gig isn't long enough. He hopes to continue to work with them to create a longer performance in September/October this year.

Ideally, they will perform on a large outdoor site at a specific location, one which enhances the imagery of group alienation, of travelling and immigration.

For now, his workshops with them will culminate in a contribution to Global Groove, along with participation and workshops conducted by others in the dance sector, including Fluxus Dance and Muirne Bloomer of CoisCéim. These workshops, and their subsequent performances, constitute one of the three elements of the event. The second will comprise dance performances for CCST guests, and the third fundraising aspect of Global Groove invites everyone to a gig of rave proportions, with world music, including African beats, salsa, and fire dancers, hosted by some of Dublin's hottest DJs.

"This is the biggest event we've done yet," says Walker, "and the furthest we've stuck our neck out. It will be an illustration of our ongoing development, and create an awareness of these issues. If people don't know the issues exist, they can't participate or contribute.

"But the first aim of the day is for the clients, to give them an opportunity to shave their expression of the past in the context of their optimism for the future."

Global Groove begins at noon on Thursday, June 26th, to coincide with the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, at Spirit, Middle Abbey St, Dublin, and continues throughout the day. Details tel: 01-8389664 or www.ccst.ie