Jan McNulty
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Posts posted by Jan McNulty
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22 minutes ago, TSR101 said:
Yes there are other important elements to the role - can you embody both Odette and Odile for a start - but it is so iconic, and in a proper performance where you've have been picked by your company and had proper preparation and coaching, then personally I'd say it does matter. If you can't do it, when the role demands it, then you are exposing a technical deficiency regardless of how good otherwise a dancer you are.I'm sorry but I think that is somewhat harsh. Anyone can have a bad day at the office. Fouettés do nothing for me during a full length performance and if a dancer substitutes a different step for whatever reason it absolutely doesn't bother me.
As a Friend of various companies over the years I have seen dancers in class perform immaculate fouettés that subsequently they have struggled with during performance. I would rather a different step or a neat ending.
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Fouettes do not a whole performance make! OK in a gala it may be unfortunate if something goes wrong with a party piece but in something like Swan Lake or Don Q does substituting a different step or coming out early but gracefully does it matter?
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Links - Monday 18 March, 2024
Review - London: Sarah Crompton, Observer
Company Wayne McGregor, Autobiography (v95 and v96)
New York City Ballet, quad bill
Review - San Francisco Ballet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, San Francisco: Charles Lewis lll, 48 Hills
Reviews - Company Wayne McGregor, London:
UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey: Vera Liber, British Theatre Guide
Autobiography (v95): Graham Watts, Bachtrack
Autobiography: Nicola Claire, Seeing Dance
Review - Australian Ballet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Melbourne: Savannah Indigo, Arts Hub
Review - Sao Paolo Dance Company, triple bill, Wolverhampton: Alison Brinkworth, Birmingham Live
Review - 92NY 150 years celebration, New York: Caedra Scott-Flaherty, NY Observer
Review - Belle - A Performance of Air, Wellington: Jennifer Shannon, ... on dancing
Review - The Farm, Stunt Double, Canberra: Michelle Potter, ... on dancing
Review - Deos Contemporary Ballet, Ember 24, Grand Rapids: Marin Heinritz, Revue WM
Preview - Top 10 dance picks for Spring, San Diego: Marcia Luttrell, San Diego Union Tribune
Roundup - Best in Queensland dance in 2023: Denise Richardson, Dance Australia
Q&A - National Ballet of Canada star Guillaume Côté finds new freedom in X (Dix): Janet Smith, Stir
Feature - Reka Gyulai is enjoying her transformation into choreographer: Marcia Luttrell, San Diego Union Tribune
Feature - The St Pat’s Dancers of Newfoundland: Ryan Bradshaw, Dance Current
Feature - NJK Co’s Kaguwa in Tokyo: Donican Lam, Japan Times
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I saw this production in my first year as a ballet-watcher in 1984 at the Liverpool Empire when the company was still Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. I've seen it many times over the intervening years. One of the most memorable Auroras for me was Sandra Madgwick. I saw a performance at the Royal Opera House where her rose adagio was so glorious I cried. Not only was she the princess but her technique was so impeccable and she was holding her balances for so long that the orchestra had to slow down!
Since then over the years BRB had some Auroras who were, perhaps, not quite ready for the role. You could tell how confident the company were that the dancer would get through the rose adagio by the number of principal men dancing as a prince in that scene.
Then along came Nao Sakuma and Ambra Vallo and the Auroras were right up there again.
This year, I have been able to catch seven performances (including 3 in Sunderland this past week). I can say that they have been some of the best I have seen Birmingham Royal Ballet perform - not only the glorious Auroras, Princes, Carabosses but the whole company.
So onto Sunderland and Thursday evening. Yu Kurihara continues to impress as the Princess. In act 1 you can she is thrilled to be at her first "grown up" party. She's initially overwhelmed when her father tells her she is to marry but then you see her visibly blossom and flirt with the princes. Of course, Lachlan Monahan is her perfect prince and their duets in the vision scene and the gpdd sent shivers running down my spine. Gabriel Anderson was very scary as Carabosse!
What a treat on Friday afternoon! The sublime Celine Gittens gave us a divine performance as Aurora - every tiny little gesture had meaning. Her prince was soloist Yasiel Hodelín Bello. He is a very fine dancer with a gorgeous leap and silent landings and he acted the love-lorn prince very well even if he ran out of a bit of puff towards the end of the gpdd. Daria Stanciulescu gloried in her evilness as Carabosse. Of the Lilac Fairies I have seen during this run Tori Forsyth-Hecken had the most authority on stage and she was a great match with Daria.
So on Friday evening we were treated to the truly awesome Momoko Hirata who was absolutely transcendent in her performance. What a privilege it was to be in the audience. At this performance her prince was Tzu-Chao Chou who was brilliant. Regan Hutsell was ferociously scary as Carabosse and while Yu was a beautiful Lilac I felt that Carabosse had the best of her on the night (if you see what I mean).
Of course the rest of the company was on superb form and they all contributed to making the performances so very enjoyable. Dancers I particularly enjoyed watching in various roles were Reina Fuchigami, Rosanna Ely, Olivia Chang Clarke, Gus Payne, Ryan Felix and Jack Easton but I feel almost unfair in selecting them above anyone else.
Sadly I had to miss the final performance of the week but what a wonderful three performances I had seen.
BRB are most certainly on fabulous form!
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1 hour ago, Emeralds said:
Impressive to see that Akram Khan managed to bring this production and his company all the way to Australia!
It’s been touring all over the world… -
5 hours ago, capybara said:
Yes - Matthias Dingman has made it clear on IG that he is injured and has wished his fellow dancers the best.Link to Mathias Dingman's Instagram post:
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Hello @Apo and welcome to the Forum!
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On 15/03/2024 at 08:29, Cristina T. said:
Ciao, mia figlia l'anno scorso era stata ammessa poi a causa di un infortunio ha dovuto rinunciare, una sua coetanea che era in lista d'attesa è stata poi ripescata dalla lista d'attesa.
Quest'anno ci ha riprovato ed è stata ammessa al livello superior pro, ha 18 anni.
Hello @Cristina T. and welcome to the Forum!
Here is a google translate for our non-Italian speaking members:
"Hi, my daughter was admitted last year then due to an injury she had to give up, one of her peers who was on the waiting list was then taken off the waiting list. This year she tried again and was admitted to the superior pro level, she is 18 years old."
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PRESS RELEASE
14 March 2024
DANCE UMBRELLA ANNOUNCES THE EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF ABBY ZBIKOWSKI’S RADIOACTIVE PRACTICE AT SADLER’S WELLS AS PART OF THE 2024 FESTIVAL IN OCTOBER
In 2018 Abby Zbikowski was nominated by Stephen Petronio as a ‘Choreographer of the Future’ for Dance Umbrella’s Four by Four commission initiative, which marked the festival’s 40th anniversary. The resulting work, Radioactive Practice, was originally due to be performed at Dance Umbrella in 2020. Following delays caused by the global pandemic, a specially filmed version of Abby Zbikowski‘s Radioactive Practice was premiered at Dance Umbrella Festival 2022. It now has its European premiere at Sadler’s Wells as part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2024.
Dance Umbrella Artistic Director and Chief Executive Freddie Opoku-Addaie said: ‘Astonishing individual physicality meets collective perseverance in this remarkable show. Radioactive Practice by Abby Z and the New Utility is a cheerleader for our bodies’ disparate histories and a masterclass in showcasing the plurality of movement languages that exist in contemporary dance composition - it makes visceral the common ground in our existences. I cannot wait for London’s global audiences to see this work in our most bespoke and intimate setting at Sadler’s Wells to date.’
Hurtling onto the stage with explosive physicality, six performers challenge their physical and mental limits in a genre-bending new work named one of New York Times’ ‘Best Dance Performances of 2022.’
Drawing influences from street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms; Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski and crew, shatters movement expectations and explores our instincts for survival.
With audiences seated on multiple sides, this powerful piece incorporates the work of Senegalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye as dramaturg to interrogate the complexities of contemporary living.
Abby Zbikowski and her company Abby Z and the New Utility create contemporary dance works that pay homage to the effort of living. Zbikowski’s rigorous training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, playing sports and performing manual labour informs her craft.
Radioactive Practice is presented by Dance Umbrella and Sadler’s Wells. The full DU2024 programme announcement will be in June.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
European Premiere
Abby Zbikowski and the New Utility
Radioactive Practice
Friday 18 October (Press Night) & Saturday 19 October, 7.30pm Sadler’s Wells
BSL Interpreted Post Show Talk – Friday 18th October Approx. 60 minutes, no interval
Credits:
Choreographer/Director: Abby Zbikowski
Performers/Collaborators: Indya Childs, Fiona Lundie, Mya McClellan, Jennifer Meckley, Benjamin Roach, jinsei sato
Rehearsal Directors: Fiona Lundie, Jennifer Meckley
Dramaturg: Momar Ndiaye
Lighting Designer: Jon Harper
Touring Technical Manager: Sarah Chapin
Original Music: Matthew Peyton DixonWarning: There are flashing lights for about 40 seconds in the last 15 minutes of the work.
BIOGRAPHIES
Abby Z and the New Utility
Choreographer Abby Zbikowski created Abby Z and the New Utility in 2012 with dancers Fiona Lundie and Jennifer Meckley to experiment with the potential and choreographic possibility of the body being pushed beyond perceived limits, creating a new movement lexicon that triangulates dancing/moving bodies across multiple cultural value systems simultaneously. In 2016, Abby expanded the company to nine performer/collaborators for her first evening-length commission. “abandoned playground” premiered to a sold-out run at the Abrons Arts Center in New York in April 2017, leading to Zbikowski being honoured with the Juried Bessie Award, and was awarded the inaugural Caroline Hearst Artist in Residence at Princeton University, along with commissions from national and international organisations. Abby Z and the New Utility have been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Boston ICA, 92nd St Y, Movement Research at Danspace Project, Gibney Dance Center, Bard College, New York Live Arts, and the Fusebox Festival in Austin, Texas, among others. In 2021 the company was granted residency support at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio to rebuild work following a year long pandemic shutdown. Currently, they are working out of Columbus and New York City with collaborators locally, nationally, and internationally.
Abby Zbikowski
Abby Zbikowski (she/her) is a choreographer creating contemporary dance works that pay homage to the effort of living, tactics of survival, and the aesthetics produced as a result, utilising the physical aspects and psyche-emotional experience of her rigorous training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, playing sports, and performing manual labour. She founded Abby Z and the New Utility in 2012 and received the 2017 Juried Bessie Award In 2018 she received a “Choreographer of the Future” commission from Dance Umbrella and in 2020 a United States Artists Fellowship. She is a Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and artist-in-residence at New York Live Arts. Abby has had past residencies at the Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. She is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at The Ohio State University, and on faculty at the American Dance Festival. She has taught at the Academy of Culture, Latvia; at Festival Un Pas Vers L’Avant, Ivory Coast; and studied at Germaine Acogny’s L’École de Sables, Senegal. Zbikowski has created commissioned work for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, as well as universities across the USA.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Dance Umbrella
Dance Umbrella is a London festival 45 years in the making and moving with the times. Every year our festival ignites London and online with the next generation of trailblazing artists. Since 1978, we have been an international home for dance across a global city, presenting more than 1000 artists from 45 countries to over one million people. We have brought outstanding dance to more than 145 venues throughout London and online; from the high-profile stages of Sadler’s Wells, Southbank Centre and Barbican to local arts centres – and taking in the more unexpected locations of canal boats, ice rinks and car park rooftops in between.
Since 2020, we have also given online audiences the chance to experience the festival through a curated programme including dance films and artist encounters. Dance Umbrella is also a commissioner of new work, co-producing with partners based in the UK and abroad, to invest in the next wave of international choreographic talent. Alongside this, we create year-round creative learning initiatives for all ages and nurture the development of arts professionals.
Appointed in 2021, Dance Umbrella’s new Artistic Director/CEO Freddie Opoku-Addaie's vision for the festival builds on its 45-year track record of commissioning and producing excellent work. This new chapter introduces a programme that puts emerging and diverse talent at its heart, reflecting the global identity of our London home.
Dance Umbrella Festival 2024 will take place 6-31 October, across London and online.Watch this space for more spectacle shows announced in the coming months before the full festival LAUNCH in June.
Danceumbrella.co.uk
Dance Umbrella 4 x 4 Commissions
In 2018 all three of Dance Umbrella’s Artistic Directors – Val Bourne CBE, Betsy Gregory and Emma Gladstone – invited an established artist from their time at the helm to nominate a ‘choreographer of the future’ as part of a new commissioning project, Four by Four, to celebrate Dance Umbrella’s 40th anniversary. Four by Four is a transformational intervention for these young artists as they emerge as dance makers and create a piece of repertoire which, after premiering in London, is then available for touring worldwide.
To change and to diversify audiences for dance in the future, Four by Four disrupts the top-down approach to curation, introducing more creation and risk into our programme. It gives four artists, previously unknown to DU, a platform at one of the world’s leading dance festivals. Their fresh perspectives will help us continue to attract new and younger attendees for dance while providing bold work for established audiences.
The artists selected for Four by Four:
Mythili Prakash – nominated by Akram Khan
Georgia Vardarou – nominated by Anne Teresa de KeersmaekerJon Maya Sein – nominated by Rocío Molina
Abby Zbikowski – nominated by Stephen PetronioThanks to your generous funding and support, we presented two new works at the 2019 Dance Umbrella festival from our first two Four by Four artists: Here and Now by Mythili Prakash, which premiered at Fairfield Halls and Why Should It Be More Desirable ... ? by Georgia Vardarou at the Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells.
A specially filmed version of Abby Zbikowski‘s Radioactive Practice was premiered at Dance Umbrella Festival 2022.
About Sadler’s Wells
Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance organisation. We strive to make and share dance that inspires us all. Our acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap.We commission, produce and present more dance than any other organisation in the world. Since 2005, we have helped to bring more than 200 new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown. Our acclaimed productions tour the world. Since 2005 we’ve produced 64 new full-length works and performed to audiences of more than two million, touring to 51 countries.
Each year, over half a million people visit our three London theatres - Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Lilian Baylis Studio and Peacock Theatre. Millions more attend our touring productions nationally and internationally or explore our digital platforms, including Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage.
In 2024 we’re opening a fourth London venue in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sadler’s Wells East will house a 550-seat mid-scale theatre, as well as facilities for the new Rose Choreographic School and the hip hop theatre training centre, Academy Breakin’ Convention.
Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
www.sadlerswells.com
Stay up to date with everything Sadler’s Wells on social mediaFacebook: @SadlersWells
Twitter: @Sadlers_Wells
Instagram: @sadlers_wells
YouTube: Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Radioactive Practice Funder Credits
The creation of Radioactive Practice was supported in part by a commission from New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency program with additional support from the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Council Member Corey Johnson, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and the Shubert Foundation.
Radioactive Practice is a National Performance Network/Visual Artist Network (NPN/VAN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by New York Live Arts, Dance Place, American Dance Festival, Wexner Center for the Performing Arts and NPN/VAN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org.
Radioactive Practice is commissioned by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works. Additional commissioning funds provided by the Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence Program at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, Dance Umbrella’s Four by Four program, United States Artists Fellowship, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the Wexner Center for the Arts.
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And the press release:
For immediate release: Thursday 14 March 2024
World-renowned choreographer and dancer Akram Khan returns to the stage as Sadler’s Wells announces autumn 2024 season
World-renowned choreographer and dancer Akram Khan returns to his roots and delves into his past in his latest creation: GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth as part of Sadler’s Wells autumn season. The new work sees Khan joined onstage by acclaimed dancers who specialise in different Indian classical styles and live musicians. The full season, announced today, features South Asian dance, ballet, flamenco, contemporary, hip hop, folk, and tap, and includes two world premieres and seven UK premieres.
Sir Alistair Spalding CBE, Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells said: “Today we are delighted to unveil the remaining 2024 productions on our stages in Angel and the West End. There’s new work from leading international contemporary choreographers including our Associates Michael Keegan-Dolan, Akram Khan and Hofesh Shechter, and our International Associate Company Rosas led by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. There’s an opportunity to see work from some of the most exciting, cutting-edge emerging dance makers in the Lilian Baylis Studio, and a fabulous entertainment offer at the Peacock.”
Highlights from acclaimed contemporary choreographers on Sadler’s Wells Theatre stage:
The UK premiere of Akram Khan’s GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth, a Sadler’s Wells co-production, which explores nature, Mother Earth and mythology. Khan is joined onstage by renowned dancers who specialise in different Indian classical styles including Kathak, Kutiyattam and Bharatanatyam, and seven live musicians.Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker retraces her steps to the roots of dance and Western pop music in the UK premiere of EXIT ABOVE - after the tempest / d'après la tempête / naar de storm by Sadler’s Wells International Associate Company Rosas.
New full-length work from Hofesh Shechter, co-commissioned by Sadler’s Wells, delves into the world of the subconscious: revealing fears, hopes, desires and a myriad of emotions from dreaming minds and waking thoughts.
Michael Keegan-Dolan presents the London premiere of NOBODADDY. This new work for his company Teaċ Daṁsa is a collaboration with celebrated folk musician Sam Amidon and is co-produced by Sadler’s Wells.
Abby Zbikowski draws on street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms in the UK premiere of Radioactive Practice, presented with Dance Umbrella.
A world-class international ballet offer:
Birmingham Royal Ballet presents two productions: Luna, a celebration of the pioneering women of Birmingham from an all-female, international creative team featuring choreography from Iratxe Ansa, Wubkje Kuindersma, Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Seeta Patel, Arielle Smith, and Thais Suárez, and Frederick Ashton’s comical ballet La Fille mal gardée.Akram Khan’s acclaimed version of Giselle for English National Ballet returns to Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
These productions join the previously announced Resurgence by London City Ballet, a mixed bill by National Ballet of Canada and Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake: The Next Generation this autumn as part of Sadler’s Wells year-round Ballet with Attitude programme.
Inspiring new dance innovations:
Sadler’s Wells shares innovative choreography from some of the most exciting choreographers in the intimate Lilian Baylis Studio. marikiscrycrycry's DARK, HAPPY, to the CORE: a three-act work taking audiences into a world of ecstasy and euphoria, receives its UK premiere. Inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, Eva Recacha’s The Picnic, co-commissioned by Sadler’s Wells, explores themes of utopia and misogyny and is devised by a cast of professionals and participants.
Mufutau Yusuf makes his Sadler’s Wells debut with Impasse, a physical exploration into the Black diasporic experience while Claire Cunningham examines the act of journeying in Songs of the Wayfarer, a Sadler’s Wells co-commission. Presented in partnership with Serpentine, Greek choreographer and dancer Lenio Kaklea contemplates the forest as a place for metamorphosis in Αγρίμι (Fauve).
Following a two-year programme developing their practice, Sadler’s Wells Young Associates BLUE MAKWANA, Elisabeth Mulenga, Maiya Leeke and Roseann & Sula scale up their work and ambition to fill the Sadler’s Wells Theatre stage in Four, a mixed bill of new dance.
Entertainment at the Peacock Theatre:
At the Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells’ home in the West End, Flamenco Festival favourite Manuel Liñan challenges the defined roles of male and female forms in ¡VIVA! and the family-friendly TUTU from Chicos Mambo sees an all-male cast work their way through an ever-changing, increasingly flamboyant wardrobe.
¡VIVA! and TUTU join the previously announced A Night with Janis Joplin, Danny Beard’s Straight Expectations, Stories – The Tap Dance Sensation and The Snowman as well as a one-off evening with Graham Norton to complete the autumn season at the Peacock.Sadler’s Wells today unveils a new visual identity with bold logos for each of its venues designed by Chestnut Creative.
Tickets for newly announced events are on public sale from Monday 25 March at 10 am via www.sadlerswells.com. Booking opens to members on Friday 22 March.
English National Ballet SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
Akram Khan’s Giselle
Wednesday 18 – Saturday 28 September
Tickets from £15
Following acclaimed performances around the world, Akram Khan’s Giselle returns to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London for the first time in five years.
As the curtain rises, dancers in the shadow push against a forbidding wall, in a bold reimagining of one of the greatest romantic ballets - a story of love, betrayal and redemption.
Mark Henderson's atmospheric lighting and Academy Award-winner Tim Yip's towering set conjure up a condemned factory and the ghosts that haunt it. The score by Vincenzo Lamagna is adapted from the original by Adolphe Adam is performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic.
Akram Khan is a Sadler's Wells Associate Artist
Audio-described performance on Saturday 28 September at 2:30 pm with accompanying Touch Tour at 1 pm
Chicos Mambo PEACOCK THEATRE
TUTU
Tuesday 1 – Saturday 5 October
Tickets from £18
This family-friendly show features an all-male cast of six dancers adorned in ever-changing, flamboyant costumes. TUTU lovingly mocks the most classical outfit while the performers skilfully parody more than 40 characters, covering everything from classical ballet to contemporary dance.
Audiences are treated to a hip-hop version of Swan Lake, a clumsy take on Dirty Dancing, and a dainty version of The Haka, as the cast twists expectations, while maintaining the highest level of performance.
Hofesh Shechter Company SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
New Creation UK PREMIERE
Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 October
Tickets from £15
This new full-length evening showcases the physicality and complexity of Hofesh Shechter’s choreography and his inimitable dancers, as they delve into the world of dreams and the subconscious.
The dancers’ bodies will bring to life the interplay between poetry and reality, accompanied by live musicians and Shechter’s trademark cinematic sound-score. For this new creation, Shechter reunites with lighting designer, Tom Visser, to create a powerful, sculptured space to this dreamscape.Hofesh Shechter is a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist
New Creation is co-commissioned by Sadler’s Wells
Recommended age guidance 13+BSL interpreted post-show talk with Hofesh Shechter and Rob Jones on Thursday 10 October 2024
Young Associates SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
Four WORLD PREMIERE
Tuesday 15 October
Tickets £20
After a sold-out debut in the Lilian Baylis Studio in 2023, the 2023/24 Young Associates BLUE MAKWANA, Elisabeth Mulenga, Maiya Leeke and Roseann & Sula scale up their work to fill the Sadler’s Wells Theatre stage.
This mixed bill is an opportunity for these emerging artists to share what they have developed during the Young Associates programme, each showcasing their distinct and diverse styles as they take the next step in their choreographic careers.
Manuel Liñán PEACOCK THEATRE
¡VIVA!
Thursday 17 – Saturday 19 October
Tickets from £18
Award-winning choreographer and dancer, Manuel Liñán returns to Sadler’s Wells with ¡VIVA!, a flamenco drag show nominated for an outstanding achievement in dance at the Olivier Awards 2023.
Inspired by childhood dreams of wearing his female idols’ costumes, Liñán’s work combines the strongest elements of the flamenco form with his own creative and comedic queer expression.
The performance features dances showcasing traditional rhythmic footwork, curving arms and slaps to the thighs such as alegrías, tárantos and bulerías.
Dance Umbrella & Sadler’s Wells present SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
Abby Z and the New Utility’s Radioactive Practice UK PREMIERE
Friday 18 – Saturday 19 October
Tickets from £15
Six performers challenge their physical and mental limits in a genre-bending new work named one of The New York Times’ ‘Best Dance Performances of 2022.’
Drawing influences from street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms; Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski and her company Abby Z and the New Utility incorporates the work of Senegalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye as dramaturge to interrogate the complexities of contemporary living.
Radioactive Practice marks the company’s UK debut as part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2024.
BSL interpreted post-show talk with Freddie Opoku-Addaie and the creative team and on Friday 18 October 2024
Birmingham Royal Ballet SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
Luna
Tuesday 22 – Wednesday 23 October
La Fille mal gardée
Friday 25 – Saturday 26 October
Tickets from £15
Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) returns to Sadler’s Wells with new work and a classically comedic ballet.
Luna is a new piece inspired by the pioneering women of Birmingham that forms the final part of Carlos Acosta’s Birmingham trilogy (City of a Thousand Trades, Black Sabbath). With an all-female, international creative team, including choreographers Iratxe Ansa (Spain), Wubkje Kuindersma (Netherlands), Seeta Patel (UK), Arielle Smith (UK), Thais Suárez (Cuba) and music composed by Kate Whitley (UK), Luna will explore contemporary universal themes.
BRB will also present Sir Frederick Ashton's celebrated La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) which mixes classical ballet with slick comedy. This is the first time La Fille mal gardée has been presented by BRB under the directorship of Carlos Acosta, who, for many, is one of the definitive interpreters of Colas in this sunny, effervescent ballet.
Audio described performance on Saturday 26 October at 2:30 pm with accompanying Touch Tour at 12 pm
Serpentine & Sadler’s Wells present LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO
Lenio Kaklea - Αγρίμι (Fauve) UK PREMIERE
Thursday 31 October – Friday 1 November
Tickets: £17
In new performance commission Αγρίμι (Fauve), Lenio Kaklea choreographs a ‘rewilding of bodies’. Through on-stage exercises, dances and rituals, she explores the forest as a place both physical and imaginary for identities to dissolve and bodies to metamorphose. Here, humans and animals scatter and hide, stalking, pursuing and trapping each other. Places of calm and meditation, of ecstasy and vivid life, forests can also be threatening and toxic environments.
As the first performance that links Kaklea’s choreography to the geographical, environmental and poetic richness of forests, this work presents dance as a wild zone to be defended.
Αγρίμι (Fauve) is presented by Serpentine in partnership with Sadler’s Wells.
Post-show talk with Lenio Kaklea on Thursday 31 October
marikiscrycrycry LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO
DARK, HAPPY, to the CORE UK PREMIERE
Thursday 7 – Friday 8 November
Tickets £17
DARK, HAPPY, to the CORE is a three-act work that takes a boisterous peek into the study of the mythos of ecstasy and euphoria. Originally commissioned by Roskilde Festival, the performance explores what makes us human and what binds us together through archetypes: ‘The Goner’, ‘The Oracle’, ‘The Pop Star’, ‘The Athlete’, ‘Goth Chick’, ‘The Angel’ and ‘The Business Guy’. DARK, HAPPY, to the CORE journeys through ritual darkness, the happy hardcore all the way to calm, collective, Caribbeanist cool.
marikiscrycrycry (Malik Nashad Sharpe) is an award-winning choreographer and movement director known for provocative and engaging performance works. marikiscrycrycry presents works internationally in theatres, galleries, and festivals and in 2022, was featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Post-show talk with Malik Nashad Sharpe and Rob Jones on Thursday 7 November
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
EXIT ABOVE - after the tempest / d'après la tempête / naar de storm UK PREMIERE
Tuesday 12 – Wednesday 13 November
Tickets from £25
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker explores walking as a primary form of movement, and the tension between marching together and stepping out alone in EXIT ABOVE. As a soundtrack to this exploration, De Keersmaeker returns to the roots of Western pop and blues music.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker founded Rosas in 1983 in Belgium. Her choreographic practice draws its formal principles from geometry, numerical patterns, the natural world, and social structures and is grounded in a rigorous exploration of the relationship between dance and music.
Rosas is a Sadler’s Wells International Associate Company
BSL interpreted post-show talk with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Sir Alistair Spalding on Tuesday 12 November 2024.
Mufutau Yusuf LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO
Impasse
Thursday 14 – Friday 15 November
Tickets £17
Mufutau Yusuf makes his Lilian Baylis Studio debut with Impasse, a physical exploration into the diasporic experience, particularly the Black African diaspora.
Impasse questions what it means to be a diasporic entity, how you inhabit spaces in which your existence is not clearly marked, and how memory becomes critical to your identity. It’s also an attempt to understand the nuances and complexities around the autonomy of Black bodies, in and out of western space.
Post-show talk with Mufutau Yusuf and Rob Jones on Thursday 14 November
Commissioned by Liz Roche Company through an Arts Council Commission Award / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. Funded by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. Supported by Solstice Arts Centre, Dublin Dance Festival, Maison de la Danse, Dance Cork Firkin Crane, Irish Arts Centre, and Ultima Vez
Productions Sarfati SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth UK PREMIERE
Akram Khan
Wednesday 20 – Sunday 24 November
Tickets from £15
Akram Khan returns to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth, sharing the stage with an ensemble of renowned artists of Indian classical dance and seven live musicians. A choreographer and dancer rooted in the tradition of his practice, and a creative interpreter of stories that need to be experienced - Khan has revolutionised the world of dance.
In GIGENIS, Khan returns to his roots, to his traditions, and to his past in this new production – to a time when we were more connected with nature, Mother Earth and our mythology.
Akram Khan is a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist
GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth is a Sadler’s Wells co-productionBSL interpreted post show talk on Thursday 21 November with Akram Khan and Sir Alistair Spalding CBE
Michael Keegan-Dolan/ Teaċ Daṁsa SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
NOBODADDY LONDON PREMIERE
Tríd an bpoll gan bun
Wednesday 27 – Saturday 30 November
Tickets from £15
Teaċ Daṁsa, the dance and theatre company based in Ireland’s West Kerry Gaeltacht, brings together familiar and new collaborators to make NOBODADDY. This new work invites audiences and performers on a journey that will quieten some of the tyrannies arresting us.
Led by choreographer and Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Michael Keegan-Dolan in collaboration with celebrated folk musician and song collector Sam Amidon and an international company of dancers and musicians, NOBODADDYconfronts the flat-line experience of exploitation and cynicism.
Before arriving in London, NOBODADDY premieres as part of the BELFAST 2024 cultural celebrations and opens the 2024 Dublin Theatre Festival.
BSL interpreted post show talk on Thursday 28 November with Michael Keegan-Dolan and Rob Jones
NOBODADDY is a Sadler’s Wells co-production
Michael Keegan-Dolan is a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist
Eva Recacha LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO
The Picnic WORLD PREMIERE
Wednesday 27 – Friday 29 November
Tickets £17
Sadler’s Wells co-commission The Picnic is a new full-length work by Eva Recacha which presents a group of young people enjoying themselves in a surreal blend of parading, celebrating, indulging and co-operating activities, as they emerge from a dreamlike picnic scenario.
The work, co-created with a cast of professionals and participants, explores themes of utopia and misogyny and it is inspired by the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, which presents many human figures in a terrestrial paradise, indulging in worldly pleasures.
Post-show talk with Eva Recacha and Rob Jones on Thursday 28 November
Co-commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and South East Dance, with support from London Contemporary Dance School.
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Claire Cunningham LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO
Songs of the Wayfarer UK PREMIERE
Wednesday 4 – Friday 6 December
Tickets £17
In this new solo from one of the UK’s most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists, Claire Cunningham returns to the Lilian Baylis Studio to examine the act of journeying, drawing comparisons with the world of mountaineering and inspiration from Gustav Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer).
She re-engages with her past as a classical singer to reframe our vision of journeying, craft, and outdoor encounter through a crip* lens.
*crip is a political and cultural identity embraced by some disabled individuals
Co-commissioned by Sadler's Wells
Relaxed, BSL Interpretation, Captioning & Audio Description for all performances
Touch Tour on Thursday 5 December at 7pm
BSL-interpreted post show talk on Wednesday 4 December with Associate Artistic Director Rob Jones and Claire Cunningham
********************************************************************************************************Choreographer Conversations:
Join acclaimed choreographers in conversation with Sadler’s Wells Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive Sir Alistair Spalding CBE, to discover what moves the world’s most influential choreographers working in dance today. The live conversations are recorded for Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage.
Oona Doherty LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO
Saturday 13 July at 6.15 pm
Tickets: £5
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Sadler’s Wells
Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance organisation. We strive to make and share dance that inspires us all. Our acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap.We commission, produce and present more dance than any other organisation in the world. Since 2005, we have helped to bring more than 200 new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown. Our acclaimed productions tour the world. Since 2005 we’ve produced 64 new full-length works and performed to audiences of more than two million, touring to 51 countries.
Each year, over half a million people visit our three London theatres - Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Lilian Baylis Studio and Peacock Theatre. Millions more attend our touring productions nationally and internationally or explore our digital platforms, including Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage.
Sadler’s Wells East
In 2024 we’re opening a fourth London venue in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sadler’s Wells East will house a 550-seat mid-scale theatre, as well as facilities for the new Rose Choreographic School and the hip hop theatre training centre, Academy Breakin’ Convention.
Sadler’s Wells East joins the rich cultural heritage of Stratford, opening in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of the East Bank development alongside the BBC, UAL’s London College of Fashion, UCL and the V&A. Sadler’s Wells East will support artist development and training, and the creation of new work. It will build the infrastructure for dance and make it accessible to more people. Sadler’s Wells East will house a flexible theatre presenting a wide variety of dance performances. Community will be at the heart of Sadler’s Wells East with a large open foyer that can be used by everyone as a meeting or performance space. There will also be dance studios and world-class dance facilities for dancemakers to train, create and rehearse productions.Supporting artists
Supporting artists is at the heart of our work. We have associate artists and companies, which nurture some of the most exciting talent working in dance today. We host the National Youth Dance Company, which draws together some of the brightest young dancers from across the country. Sadler’s Wells Breakin' Convention runs professional development programmes to champion and develop the world’s best hip hop artists, as well as producing, programming and touring groundbreaking hip hop performances.Learning and community links
Around 30,000 people take part in our learning and engagement programmes every year. We support schools local to our theatres in Islington and Stratford, designing experiences for children and young people to watch, explore and critically engage with the arts. We also run Company of Elders, a resident performance company of dancers aged over 60 who rehearse with renowned artists to make new work for public performances locally, nationally and internationally.Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
www.sadlerswells.com
Stay up to date with everything Sadler’s Wells on social media
Facebook: @SadlersWells
Twitter: @Sadlers_Wells
Instagram: @sadlers_wells
YouTube: Sadler’s Wells Theatre
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And the press release (issued a couple of days ago but I've been in glorious Sunderland for Sleeping Beauty):
PRESS RELEASE
14 March 2024
FULL PROGRAMME AND CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR
TCHAIKOVSKY CLASSICS AT SYMPHONY HALL
A CELEBRATION OF THE MUSIC OF THE LEGENDARY COMPOSER
The award-winning Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet Sinfonia return to the city’s famous Symphony Hall on 28 March with a spectacular night of Tchaikovsky Classics.
Tchaikovsky Classics celebrates the music of the legendary composer whose classical ballet scores for Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, a feature in BRB’s classical ballet programming, are recognised across the globe.
The evening features world class dancers from BRB’s main company including principals Lachlan Monaghan, Max Maslen, Miki Mizutani, Momoko Hirata and Tzu-Chao Chou, as well as students from Birmingham’s Elmhurst Ballet School
Performance highlights include excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s great works including the tender and romantic white swan pas de deux from Swan Lake; The Sleeping Beauty’s heart-stopping, bravura pas de deux for the Bluebird and Princess Florine from Act IV and the beautiful grand pas de deux for the Prince and the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker.
Alongside these, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Principal Conductor Paul Murphy, who will be BRB’s new Music Director and Principal Conductor from July, will play some of Tchaikovsky’s orchestral music that inspired the greatest 20th-century choreographers such as George Balanchine (Theme and Variations).
Further highlights include the Russian Dance from Swan Lake, rarely performed in current versions of the ballet, and features one of the most prominent and virtuosic violin solos in the repertoire performed by Leader of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia Robert Gibbs.
Finally, making his conducting debut performance with the Sinfonia, will be Yi Wei, BRB’s Constant Lambert Conducting Fellow, who will be taking the baton for Marche Slave, Op.31.
The full programme and casting has now been announced:
Polacca from Suite no.3
Swan Lake: White Swan pas de deux
Cast: Miki Mizutani and Max Maslen
Swan Lake: Cygnets pas de quatre
Cast: Rosanna Ely, Reina Fuchigami, Frieda Katoch, Rachele PizzilloSwan Lake: Russian Dance
The Sleeping Beauty: Garland Dance
Cast: Elmhurst Ballet SchoolThe Sleeping Beauty: Sarabande and the Prince's Solo
Cast: Tzu-Chao ChouThe Sleeping Beauty: Bluebird pas de deux
Cast: Sofia Linares and Enrique BejaranoMarche Slave, Op.31
Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
The Nutcracker grand pas de deux
Cast: Yu Kurihara and Lachlan MonaghanCapriccio Italien
Swan Lake: Act III pas de deux
Cast: Momoko Hirata and Mathias DingmanTickets for Tchaikovsky Classics at Symphony Hall, part of B: Music, on 28 March at 7.30pm are available at www.bmusic.co.uk
Notes to Editors
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Based at Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Royal Ballet is the United Kingdom’s leading touring ballet company performing a range of traditional, classical and heritage ballets as well as ground-breaking new works with the aim of encouraging choreographers of the future. The Company’s Director since January 2020 is the internationally renowned Carlos Acosta. Birmingham Royal Ballet standardly performs at Birmingham Hippodrome for approximately ten weeks of the year and the remainder of the year tours throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. On average, the Company performs 100 shows a year nationally and internationally.
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Royal Ballet Sinfonia is Birmingham Royal Ballet’s permanent orchestra, it is also Britain's busiest ballet orchestra. The Sinfonia also plays frequently for The Royal Ballet and other leading ballet companies, including performances with Paris Opéra Ballet, New York City Ballet, Australian Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Kirov, Norwegian Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and La Scala Ballet.
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21 minutes ago, alison said:
I totally agree about Yu. Unfortunately, her show clashes with the cinema relay of the RB swan lake.
That shouldn't be any sort of an issue - Yu and Lachlan every time!!
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Hello @PerformingArtsMum and welcome to the Forum?
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An earlier thread:
If you search on Catalunya mentions come up on more general threads too.
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Hello @ByfloBallet and welcome to the Forum!
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Hello @Clarisse and welcome to the Forum!
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Hello @Nancyw728 and a belated welcome to the Forum!
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From Northern Ballet's website:
We are delighted to have been selected for the London Ballet Circle Choreographic Award 2024.
This award will go towards supporting Sketches, our series that aims to nurture new choreographic talent.
Devised by Northern Ballet's Artistic Director Federico Bonelli, Sketches gives choreographers at different stages of their career the opportunity to experiment with movement, ideas and storytelling whilst being provided mentorship and access to the skills, expertise and resources of a world-class ballet company.
Each year the selected group of choreographers are supported to create a series of 'sketches' that are performed across two dates at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, this year taking place from 9 - 10 May.
"Northern Ballet is delighted that our Sketches programme has been selected for the London Ballet Circle's 2024 Choreographic Award... The award supports our aim to contribute to a pipeline of new choreographers who have the skills and confidence to tell their stories, ensuring ballet remains an exciting, dynamic art form that entertains and inspires a wide audience. I would like to thank the London Ballet Circle and the award panel for recognising this important work." - Federico Bonelli
The London Ballet Circle launched their Choreographic Award programme in 2021, which aims to support choreographic initiatives in the classical genre within ballet schools and companies. Founded in 1946, the London Ballet Circle aims to deepen appreciation for ballet and other forms of dance, as well as foster a spirit of fellowship between audiences and artists. They hold regular events throughout the year that are open to their members and the public, including talks with figures from the world of dance and visits to rehearsals and ballet schools.
This year's award panel is led by former Director of The Royal Ballet, President Dame Monica Mason, alongside Choreographer and former Director of Central School of Ballet Christopher Marney, freelance dance writer and critic Deborah Weiss and former Lead Principal Dancer with English National Ballet and Director of Masters of Ballet Academy Elena Glurjidze.
We are incredibly grateful to the London Ballet Circle and the panel for their decision and support for such an important initiative.
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Hello @Balletdancerenpointe and welcome to the Forum!
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Judging from Sake's IG story she and Harris are making their debuts as Juliet and Romeo this evening. I so wish I could have been there.
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2 hours ago, Michelle_Richer said:
The lower GI endoscopy otherwise known as Colonoscopy requires a 4 day prep before the procedure according to the NHS Guys and St Thomas's Guidelines, I'm really not sure how the NHS this end will handle this with the 2 week referral, especially if the documents are sent out by post.
Lets just hope what they find is not down to the big “C”, but something that's more treatable, fingers crossed.
It was only a 24hr prep for me when I had a colonoscopy last October drinking those awful sachets to clear you out.
Fingers crossed for you Michelle. Jxx
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For immediate release
PRESS RELEASE
Date: 12/03/24
Royal Academy of Dance to hold event in celebration of getting boys into dance
Image by Amanda Clark.
Next month from 6-7 April, leading dance training and education provider Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) will hold a range of exciting events celebrating boys in dance.
Project B Celebration will be held at the RAD’s international HQ in London, as part of a wider weekend of celebratory events to recognise emerging young male and male-identifying dancers. Events will include participatory workshops, talks and a competition (judged by One Dance UK’s Andrew Hurst and British icon Sir Richard Alston), which will allow male and male-identifying participants to embrace choreography and performance.
The RAD will open its doors and share further learning, talking and dancing together with inspiring teachers and professionals from the industry, to find and support talent and encourage emerging male dancers. The weekend of activities is part of the RAD’s Project B initiative, designed to widen access to dance for boys.
The benefits of dance and movement patterns on young males, and those who identify as male, are numerous. Dance develops kinaesthetic memory, strength and endurance, creating a solid platform for physical development and level of fitness.
Although there are clear benefits, there is still a lack of young male dancers. Over the years the RAD has been an advocate and champion of encouraging boys to take up different dance styles. Back in 2017 the RAD partnered with Marylebone Cricket Club on a new primary school project aimed at encouraging more boys to do ballet, and more girls to play cricket. Over a six-week period, the project – dubbed Dance Down the Wicket – used dance and sport to develop each groups’ balance, confidence and communication and teamwork skills.
The RAD’s new Artistic Director and Royal Ballet Principal Alexander Campbell was ambassador for this project. Speaking of the importance of encouraging boys into dance, Alexander said: “Opportunities and events such as Project B Celebration are so important in raising awareness of and celebrating emerging male dancers. Being able to engage with other likeminded people who loved ballet and dance was a huge inspiration to me throughout my training and career. By providing this platform the hope is that these dancers will continue to support each other and become the dancers who inspire and educate the next generation.”
Taking place from 6-7 April, the weekend of activities suitable for everyone will include:
- Project B Celebration: A dance competition on 7 April that enables emerging young male dancers to embrace choreography and performance
- Dance training events and CPDs on how to support male and male-identifying dancers
- A range of boys-only dance classes including: hip hop, body percussion (family sessions included), street dance and ballet in our stunning RAD studios delivered by leading male practitioners
- A session featuring a talk with Andrew Hurst, CEO of One Dance UK and former dancer with Rambert, alongside Project B Ambassador Iain Mackay and Project B Competition coach Josh Tuifua (plus other guests) as they discuss their personal dance journeys, their experiences with Project B and what the future holds
- A photo exhibition called Men and Dance, where participants submit photos to be displayed at the Royal Academy of Dance HQ during the month of April.
Entry to the competition is still open until 15 March so if you are or know of an aspiring male dancer age 8-17 years’ old, head to the RAD’s website to apply: https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/event/project-b-competition-2024/
TICKETS:
To book your tickets for the workshops, watch the competition and other events visit: https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/whats-on/
Notes to Editors
About the Royal Academy of Dance
Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is one of the most influential dance education and training organisations in the world with a strong global membership in 85 countries. Established in 1920 to improve standards and re-invigorate dance training, the Academy helps and encourages its teachers to perfect their teaching skills and pass on this knowledge to their students. There are currently over 1,000 students in full-time or part-time teacher training programmes with the Academy and each year the examination syllabus is taught to thousands of young people worldwide, with around a quarter of a million pupils per year going on to take RAD exams.
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Second Hand Dance presents The Sticky Dance
Second Hand Dance presents The Sticky Dance, an interactive performance installation for young children and their families involving colourful sticky tape. The show opens at The Place, London on 3 & 4 April, and tours to Brighton Festival (17 May) and Spark Arts Festival in Leicester (24 & 25 May). Further tour dates are to be announced.
The Sticky Dance is co-created by Rosie Heafford, Co-Director of Second Hand Dance, and Associate Artist Takeshi Matsumoto. The idea for the production came from a desire to explore autonomy within performances for young audiences, asking how children can contribute to a performance in a space curated by adults.
In the engaging and colourful production, three dancers shimmy through the audience weaving a tapestry of sticky tape. Audiences are encouraged to explore freely, choosing how they engage and turning the rules upside down.
Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto said: “We know that children develop and thrive when they are able to discover, explore, move and play at their own pace. In their own time and space. We wanted to explore how this ideology or approach can work within a performative context; A place that typically involves being still, watching and listening. Our greatest hope for an adult experiencing the work is that they see the child(ren) they came with, in a new light. We invite you to witness what is revealed. Our greatest hope for the child is that they feel the permission from the space, the people, the lights and the sound, to be how they want to be in that moment.”
Rosie Heafford is a performance maker and choreographer, graduating with a BA (HONS) from Laban in 2009 and an MA from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2010. Alongside her work with Second Hand Dance she facilitates, teaches, mentors, choreographs and performs on a range of projects in collaboration with artists and communities. She is interested in the celebratory aspect of performance. Something that is full of joy. Where dance is reclaimed from awkwardness into a gift; an exchange between viewer and performer. A shared experience of movement.
Takeshi Matsumoto is a Japanese inclusive dance artist, dance movement psychotherapist and choreographer. After obtaining his BA in Dance and Drama in Japan, he moved to London where he completed further studies in Contemporary Dance at Laban and an MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy at Roehampton University. He has a passionate vision to create dance performances both for and with children and young people to develop their voice and creative opportunities. As a performer, he has worked with Darren Johnston, Beatrice Allegranti and SLiDE. His production Club Origami commissioned by Little Big Dance has toured extensively across the UK and internationally.
Established in 2013, Second Hand Dance has an adaptive leadership model, run by disabled Co-Director Rosie Heafford and non-disabled Co-Director Claire Summerfield. Creating joyful, inspirational performances and digital dance films for children and adults, the company has presented work across three continents. The company collaborates with dancers, film-makers, animators, musicians and audiences in a co-creation process that is accessible, welcoming to all bodies, and places the audience experience at its centre.
The Sticky Dance is Co-commissioned by Southbank Centre and The Place, and South East Dance, with support by Stanley Arts. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Second Hand Dance became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in 2024. www.secondhanddance.co.uk.
Notes to editors:
Listing information
Second Hand Dance – The Sticky Dance
Venue: The Place, London
Dates: Wednesday 3 April Performances for ages 3-5: 10am -12pm & 2pm - 4pm (entry slots available at 15 minute intervals, last entry at 11.15am / 3.15pm)Thursday 4 April Sensory adapted performances for ages 3-7: 10am and 11am
for ages 3-5: 2pm - 4pm (entry slots available at 15 minute intervals, last entry at 3.15pm)
Tickets: www.theplace.org.uk / 0207 121 1200Venue: Brighton Festival at The Dance Space
Dates: Friday 17 May Performances for ages 3-5: 10am - 12pm (entry slots available at 15 minute intervals, last entry at 11.15am).Sensory adapted performances for ages 3–7: 2pm and 3.15pm
Tickets: www.brightonfestival.org / 0127 369 6844Venue: Spark Arts Festival – Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester
Dates: Friday 24 & Saturday 25 May
Performance Times: 10am - 12pm & 2pm - 4pm (entry slots available at 15 minute intervals, last entry at 11.15am / 3.15pm)
Tickets: www.attenborougharts.com / 0116 252 2455
Ballet Icons Gala March 2024
in Performances seen & general discussions
Posted
It really wouldn't bother me if I never saw another fouetté. I don't count them and I prefer (if they are done) to see singles rather than doubles.