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Attached is a copy of the assignment brief for this project, stating the requirements and deadline dates.

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Attached is a list of the different types of stimuli possibly used as inspiration for a piece of choreographic work.

: Google.co.uk. (2020). definition of stimuli in dance - Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=definition+of+stimuli+in+dance&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqlbvopobnAhUvQhUIHa0xBFUQ_AUoAXoECBEQAQ&biw=375&bih=635#imgrc=Z0UUNqkQsjVpVM [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].

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An example of one of Merce Cunningham’s work with an additional explanation of the choreography shown.

M.youtube.com. (2020). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ciBqm_XtYVE [Accessed 12 Nov. 2019].

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Sia’s music video to Chandelier - featuring Maddie Ziegler - is one of Ryan Heffington’s most famous pieces of choreography; with it being one of the most viewed videos in history.

M.youtube.com. (2014). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-TM [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

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Google.co.uk. (2018). dance structure - Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dance+structure&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj21L-gtIbnAhURVBUIHUF6DYkQ_AUoAXoECA8QAQ&biw=375&bih=635&dpr=2#imgrc=a-6FF-gbJCkjyM [Accessed 11 Oct. 2019].

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Our first spacing of Olivias choreography as a partner section to Weight in Gold.

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An example of me and Nyesha performing Olivia’s choreography adding the contact that Chad suggested.

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Olivia and Star performing their partner section they created in Chad’s lesson.

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This is a true story of someone who was voluntarily euthanised. We used this to help us better understand the thoughts behind someone who wants to be euthanised, therefore helping us understand our characters.

BBC News. (2018). The troubled 29-year-old helped to die by Dutch doctors. [online] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/stories-45117163 [Accessed 15 Jan. 2020].

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In January a young Dutch woman drank poison supplied by a doctor and lay down to die. Euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide are legal in the Netherlands, so hers was a death sanctioned by the state. But Aurelia Brouwers was not terminally ill - she was allowed to end her life on account of her psychiatric illness.
"I'm 29 years old and I've chosen to be voluntarily euthanised. I've chosen this because I have a lot of mental health issues. I suffer unbearably and hopelessly. Every breath I take is torture..."

A team from the Dutch TV network, RTL Nieuws spent two weeks recording Aurelia as she journeyed towards her date with death - 2pm on Friday, 26 January. On a whiteboard in her home, she crossed off the days with a heavy black marker pen.

During those last weeks, she spent her time with loved ones, doing craftwork and riding her bike in Deventer, the city she adored. She also visited the crematorium - the place she had chosen for her own funeral service.

In many ways her story is uniquely Dutch. Euthanasia is against the law in most countries, but in the Netherlands it is allowed if a doctor is satisfied a patient's suffering is "unbearable with no prospect of improvement" and if there is "no reasonable alternative in the patient's situation".

These criteria may be more straightforward to apply in the case of someone with a terminal diagnosis from untreatable cancer, who is in great pain. And the vast majority of the 6,585 deaths from euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2017 were cases of people with a physical disease. But 83 people were euthanised on the grounds of psychiatric suffering. So these were people - like Aurelia - whose conditions were not necessarily terminal.

I have never been happy - I don't know the concept of happiness
Aurelia Brouwers

Aurelia Brouwers' wish to die came with a long history of mental illness.

"When I was 12, I suffered from depression. And when I was first diagnosed, they told me I had Borderline Personality Disorder," she says. "Other diagnoses followed - attachment disorder, chronic depression, I'm chronically suicidal, I have anxiety, psychoses, and I hear voices."

Aurelia's doctors would not endorse her requests for euthanasia. So she applied to the Levenseindekliniek - the End of Life Clinic - in The Hague. This is a place of last resort for those whose applications have been rejected by their own psychiatrist or GP. The clinic oversaw 65 of the 83 deaths approved on psychiatric grounds in the Netherlands last year, though only about 10% of psychiatric applications are approved, and the process can take years.

"The psychiatric patients we see are younger than others," says Dr Kit Vanmechelen, a psychiatrist who assesses applicants and performs euthanasia, but was not directly involved in Aurelia's death.

"Aurelia Brouwers is an example of a very young woman. And that makes it harder to make the decision because in those cases, you take away a lot of life."

During her last two weeks of life, Aurelia was often distressed and had self-harmed.

"I'm stuck in my own body, my own head, and I just want to be free," she said. "I have never been happy - I don't know the concept of happiness."

"She was really not as stable during the day," remembers Sander Paulus, the RTL Nieuws journalist who spent much of that last fortnight with her. "You just felt there was a lot of pressure in her head. She didn't speak that well any more - except when we talked about euthanasia. She was very clear on that."

But does clarity mean someone has the mental capacity to choose death over life? According to Dutch law, a doctor must be satisfied a patient's request for euthanasia is, "voluntary and well-considered".

Find out more

Listen to Linda Pressly's report, Euthanasia - Aurelia's story, for Crossing Continents on BBC Radio 4, at 11:00 on Thursday 9 August

Or catch up later on the BBC iPlayer

Aurelia Brouwers argued she was competent to make the decision. But could a death wish have been a symptom of her psychiatric illness?

"I think you never can be 100% sure of that," says Kit Vanmechelen. "But you must have done everything to help them diminish the symptoms of their pathology. In personality disorders a death wish isn't uncommon. If that is consistent, and they've had their personality disorder treatments, it's a death wish the same as in a cancer patient who says, 'I don't want to go on to the end.'"

This view is not universally held by psychiatrists in the Netherlands.

"How could I know - how could anybody know - that her death wish was not a sign of her psychiatric disease? The fact that one can rationalise about it, does not mean it's not a sign of the disease," says psychiatrist Dr Frank Koerselman, one of the Netherlands' most outspoken critics of euthanasia in cases of mental illness.

He argues psychiatrists should never collude with clients who claim they want to die.

"It is possible not to be contaminated by their lack of hope. These patients lost hope, but you can stay beside them and give them hope. And you can let them know that you will never give up on them," he says.

Aurelia Brouwers' death provoked huge debate in the Netherlands, and made headlines around the world. No-one has suggested it was illegal, although critics have asked whether it was the kind of case for which the 2002 legislation allowing euthanasia was enacted.

I don't want to abandon my patients who are not able to go on with their lives
Dr Kit Vanmechelen

Opinions divide on whether there was an acceptable alternative. For example Kit Vanmechelen argues that when people apply for euthanasia on psychiatric grounds, in some cases they will kill themselves if they don't get it. In her view, they should be regarded as people with terminal illnesses.

"I've treated patients that I knew were going to commit suicide," she says. "I knew. They told me, I felt it, and I thought, 'I can't help you.' So to have euthanasia as an alternative makes me very grateful we have a law. The ones I know will commit suicide are terminal in my opinion. And I don't want to abandon my patients who are not able to go on with their lives. That makes me willing to perform euthanasia."

"I simply disagree," says Frank Koerselman. "My whole career I worked with suicidal patients - none of them was terminal. Of course I had patients who committed suicide, but as a matter of fact these were always cases when you didn't expect it."

In RTL's film, Aurelia Brouwers talks about attempts to end her own life.

"I think I tried about 20 times. I was critical a few times, but I often got to hear that my heart and lungs were so healthy. The doctors said, 'It's a miracle, she made it.'"

And surviving a suicide attempt is not unusual - people do it every day.

Monique Arend, like Aurelia Brouwers, was diagnosed with psychiatric illness including Borderline Personality Disorder. People with this condition may self-harm, have intense feelings of anger, find it hard to sustain relationships, and experience emotional instability. Monique made many attempts to kill herself.

"It happened everywhere - at home, in the forest... But I'm very grateful I'm still alive today," she says.

Monique is a survivor of violent sexual abuse, and terrifying psychiatric episodes. She thought long and hard about euthanasia.

"I thought I was a big problem for everyone, and I just didn't want to be that burden, and the pain became unbearable. So I requested the forms for euthanasia, and filled them in. But I never filed them."

Monique did not file those papers because she found help. In the early days of her illness, a counsellor had advised her not to talk about the abuse - this is when she began to self-harm. But then she found a new therapist who specialised in trauma.

Where to get help

BBC Action Line - information and support

"She told me I'm not crazy, but I'm traumatised - that's a big difference. We worked very hard together - it was very painful. But we went through it, and since then I've been on a recovery trip," Monique says.

She has written a book about her experiences, and has some advice for people struggling with suicidal thoughts or considering euthanasia in the Netherlands.

"It's heavy, hard and tough," she says. "But keep a candle burning. Look for people who can support you. You guys are so powerful because you've been through so much - there's still room for you on this planet."

The discomfort around euthanasia for psychiatric patients is partly to do with a concern that all options may not have been explored. At the End of Life Clinic in The Hague more than half of those who come seeking euthanasia on psychiatric grounds are turned away because they have not tried all available treatments.

"I had a patient who had a lot of treatments, and was convinced nothing more could help him. But he had never been in a clinic to help with abuse of prescription medicine and alcohol," says Kit Vanmechelen. "So I said to him, 'For half a year you must make a real effort to lessen your use of those, and if then you still have a death wish, well, come back and we'll talk.'"

Like people with diabetes, psychiatric patients are also treated for years, but this is not an argument to stop treatment
Dr Frank Koerselman

But Vanmechelen believes that after a patient has undergone multiple treatments for the same diagnosis, it is reasonable to say, enough is enough.

This was what Aurelia Brouwers argued too. She had been treated for her illness - she had therapy and took medication - but we do not know the details.

"We need to get rid of the taboo that you should always remain in treatment, until the bitter end," she said. "For people like me there isn't always a solution - you can't keep taking medicine, you can't pray indefinitely... At some point you just have to stop."

But people can and do live for decades with psychiatric disorders.

"They're not treatable like an infection, they're like diabetes - you've got the disease, you will have it the rest of your life, but we, as doctors, are going to make it possible for you to live with it," argues Frank Koerselman.

"Like people with diabetes, psychiatric patients are also treated for years, but this is not an argument to stop treatment.

"It's very well known that after the age of 40 things might go much better for people with Borderline Personality Disorder - their symptoms might become much milder."

Aurelia Brouwers died more than a decade before she reached 40. On her last full day on Earth she was visited by her favourite singer, Marco Borsato. That night, she had dinner with her friends - there was laughter, and a toast. On the morning of 26 January she posted for the final time on social media:

"I'm getting ready for my trip now. Thank you so much for everything. I'm no longer available from now on."

Aurelia Brouwers' loved ones assembled in her bedroom. Two medics were in attendance.

"I'm sure that the moment I give the poison - because that's what you do, you give poison - I'm very sure that is the only thing the patient wants at that moment and has wanted for a long period, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it," says Kit Vanmechelen.

"In the first meeting with a patient, I tell them, this will be the last question I ask you: 'Are you sure you want this? And if there is a little doubt, we will stop, come back, and talk about it again.'"

And has that ever happened to her?

"No. It doesn't happen."

In Aurelia's case, doctors did not administer the drugs that killed her - she drank the medication herself.

In the RTL Nieuws documentary, she has a last conversation with Sander Paulus, as she holds the small, sealed medicine bottle.

"This is the drink," she says. "I know it tastes bitter, so I'm just going to drink it down. And then I'm going to sleep."

Sander Paulus asks her if she has any doubts.

"No doubts," Aurelia says. "I'm ready - ready to go on a journey."

"I hope you find what you're looking for," he says.

"I definitely will," is Aurelia's reply.

Aurelia Brouwers turns her back on Sander Paulus, and climbs the stairs. It is just after 2pm on Friday, 26 January, 2018.

Read more:

When a one-day-old baby, Paul Joseph Fronczak, was stolen from a Chicago hospital in 1964, the terrible story made headlines across America. Then, two years later, an abandoned boy was identified as the missing baby and handed over to the relieved parents. Years later, Paul began to investigate what had happened - and was shocked by what he found.

Read: The FBI said I was my parents' stolen baby - but I found the truth

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The troubled 29-year-old helped to die by Dutch doctors

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In January a young Dutch woman drank poison supplied by a doctor and lay down to die. Euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide are legal in the Netherlands, so hers was a death sanctioned by the state. But Aurelia Brouwers was not terminally ill - she was allowed to end her life on account of her psychiatric illness.

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This web page explains the different types of euthanasia (voluntary and non-voluntary) and the laws about it.

nhs.uk. (2017). Euthanasia and assisted suicide. [online] Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2020].

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Euthanasia is the act of deliberately ending a person's life to relieve suffering.
For example, it could be considered euthanasia if a doctor deliberately gave a patient with a terminal illness a drug they do not otherwise need, such as an overdose of sedatives or muscle relaxant, with the sole aim of ending their life.

Assisted suicide is the act of deliberately assisting another person to kill themselves. If a relative of a person with a terminal illness obtained strong sedatives, knowing the person intended to use them to kill themselves, the relative may be considered to be assisting suicide.

The law

Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal under English law.

Assisted suicide

Assisted suicide is illegal under the terms of the Suicide Act (1961) and is punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment. Trying to kill yourself is not a criminal act.

Euthanasia

Depending on the circumstances, euthanasia is regarded as either manslaughter or murder. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

Types of euthanasia

Euthanasia can be classified as:

voluntary euthanasia - where a person makes a conscious decision to die and asks for help to do so

non-voluntary euthanasia - where a person is unable to give their consent (for example, because they're in a coma) and another person takes the decision on their behalf, perhaps because the ill person previously expressed a wish for their life to be ended in such circumstances

End of life care

When you're approaching the last stage of your life, you have a right to high quality, personalised end of life care that helps you live as well as possible until you die.

Find out more about:
Find palliative care services near you

Page last reviewed: 12 July 2023
Next review due: 12 July 2026

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Read about euthanasia (deliberately ending a person's life to relieve suffering) and assisted suicide (deliberately assisting a person to kill themselves). Both are illegal in England.

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The trio section that Charlotte choreographed and then taught to Star and Nyesha, we videoed it so they could individually go home and practice to ensure confidence with the material.

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Maisie and Olivia performing the section we - as the release- will perform at the end of the look up song.

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The speech we confirmed as the opening to our piece.

M.youtube.com. (2019). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2VjgS1Z2QQQ [Accessed 7 Jan. 2020].

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GOD I AM TIRED OF PAIN | Christian Motivational Video 2019

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The first song to our piece, this is the faster piece of music that features faster, sharper choreography to represent the majority of the frustration.

M.youtube.com. (2017). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eTOhRy3dt3c [Accessed 7 Jan. 2020].

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We also used today’s session to add more to mine, Maisie and Olivia’s trio section as seen below. We have all taken a video so we are able to go home and familiarise ourselves with the material.

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Here is an example of the first transition filled where (as spoken about in my journal), we just run on stage, which I feel looks messy and may need altering.

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We made the decision for us three representing the release, to learn and join in Nyesha’s choreography section as there was not much time we were all dancing together in unison and felt like we needed more.

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Below is the section Star choreographed to fill the gap between the first and second time performing Charlotte’s choreography section.

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Me, Maisie and Olivia also added a slow, fluid section to fill the gap before the repeat of Charlottes fast, intricate section. This also helped add dynamic and contrast to our work.

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After the technical run we received the feedback of our transitions not being clean enough, we already felt this ourselves therefore made the decision to change some, such as the first one shown below, we decided rather than just running on, to use reverting canon to keep the audience interested and keep the transition fluid.

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We spent this rehearsal time finalising an ending for our piece.

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We made the decision to change the hand actions that we do in a circle around Olivia. These hand actions are also repeated at the end of the piece (which can be seen in the previous video). This demonstrates the use of repetition.

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The 8 counts using canon, where Charlotte first performs the sequence and we all follow.

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Our contrasting costumes can be seen from a stage perspective below.