Moving Stories emerged in October 2020, at a time when the arts had fallen silent and live performance was no longer possible. Like many artists, Jen Wren craved a creative outlet — something that could nourish her artistic mind and spirit during the shutdown. Armed only with her mobile phone, a small wardrobe of quirky costumes, some make-up, a tripod and a basic editing programme, she turned to the landscapes surrounding her home in the Carse of Gowrie as her studio.

One thing led to another, and before she knew it, Wren had a four-part sequence of rapid, instinctive dance films created through what she now calls Fast Creative Task Challenges. Extending an invitation to freelance artists and local community members, the project expanded organically, and together, they responded in the moment to prompts, landscapes and weather, working with the spirited pace of a real-time adventure. What began as a one-day activity became a year-long seasonal cycle, honouring the Pagan wheel of time — life, death, rebirth and kinship — told through the evolving, elemental figure of the Hag.

Each episode was filmed in the Carse of Gowrie, with the exception of the final chapter, A Maze in Equinox, filmed on location at Scone Palace. Slanjayvah Danza extends a warm thanks to the generous landowners who welcomed the creative team into their fields, orchards and woodlands (often while dressed in rags and glitter), and to also to our funder Creative Scotland.