´óÏó´«Ã½

Have epilepsy, because I don’t disclose often. It is an almost invisible disability, which is not in my life all the time, so there is no point. I get an 'aura' before I have a seizure, so there are 2 to 3 minutes where I know I am going to have one. I find a loo or somewhere private. I'll be interested to see if my behaviour changes after I've made a spectacle of my seizures.

Letting things go and not wanting to take control of them all the time. I plan things quite well and like them to be ordered, but life isn’t ordered.

Being a good communicator, both professionally and in my personal life.

Medication. About 15 years ago I thought maybe the doctors had made a mistake so stopped taking it. I was ok for a while, but after about 3 months I began to have regular seizures. I have given it up again in preparation for Involuntary Dances. I am on the alert all the time and up to now I’ve been OK. With everything else, like my blood sugars, I have been extra careful.

Talking to people about things which have nothing to do with the activity we are engaged in.

Working in an insurance company while I was doing my A levels. I was photocopier girl. All I did was photocopy and file alphabetically. I have tried lots of things, like gymnastics, musical instruments, psychology, but from age 11, I new I was going to work in dance.

Being with my lover. I've been with Kristina for 10 years and she is my best friend. She is somebody with whom I feel completely calm and at ease, even when we are not talking.

If I don’t make it I will die trying. I apply that to anything I want to do.

If we relaxed more and took more time off. I have to work very hard at this. I take myself away from art and academia because they are part of my work. To relax, I like things which are a bit more trashy like The X Factor or I’m a celebrity. My colleagues don’t understand why I watch them.

Would make same sex marriage legal all over the world. I am civil partnered since 2007. It is so important to have a sense in which the relationship with the person you love is recognised in society, both legally and culturally.

The first in a trilogy of work. The second piece will be called, She’s Lost Control, and deals with my body in its healthy state, including the way I control my environment to remain healthy. I am constantly asking myself questions like, is this coffee really decaf? Is the temperature of the room comfortable? The third work is called Sem Corpo, which means no body in Portuguese. It will look at the actual anticonvulsive medication and how it acts on the body. It will explore how it is my pal in life, enabling my body to remain outside the epileptic state. It will also go a little bit into drug research, and the ethical situations surrounding that.

That I have minimised the risks as much as possible. My GP said that controlled, observed seizures are less risky than going away to a toilet somewhere on my own. So the risks people with epilepsy take every day are higher than those associated with this performance. Status Epilepticus is where you don’t come out of a seizure after half an hour. My seizures last around 1 minute and the paramedic team will have a drug which brings you out of it. The other risk is head trauma if I fell, but I will be in a contained space full of cushions.

... to me as an artist, but also to people around the world. I like to generate debate and whether people agree or not, I’ve seen more written about epilepsy in the last few weeks than I’ve ever seen before.

Involuntary Dances takes place on the 11th of December at the Bradford Playhouse. The event will last 24 hours and will include work by 9 other artists. There is no guarantee that Rita will have a seizure and she promises not to fake one. Tickets must be booked in advance.