Press Release: Didy Veldman / Umanoove presents The Knot

[Jan McNulty]

Umanoove presents The Knot

Under the artistic direction of Didy Veldman & commissioned by DanceEast, Umanoove presents
The Knot

At DanceEast, Ipswich and G Live, Guildford in February 2018, followed by an Autumn Tour

 

• Examines the social and personal significance of marriage in contemporary Western society

 

• Follows Veldman’s critically acclaimed The Happiness Project

 

• World Premiere at DanceEast where Veldman launched her company Umanoove in 2016

www.umanoove-didy-veldman.org

 

Media release: Tuesday 21 November 2017

Umanoove, under the artistic direction of Dutch-born choreographer Didy Veldman, announces The Knot, a brand new dance production for 2018.  The Knot receives its world premiere performances at Jerwood DanceHouse, DanceEast in Ipswich on 9 February and G Live, Guildford on 14 February, ahead of a UK tour in autumn 2018. 

Veldman, a former Rambert dancer, left the company in 2000 to pursue a choreographic career.  In 17 years she has become a highly sought after choreographer both nationally and internationally and has created work for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Cedarlake (New York), Cullberg Ballet (Sweden), Introdans (Netherlands), Gothenburg Ballet, Iceland Dance Company and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.  

In the UK, Veldman has been commissioned by Rambert, Northern Ballet and Scottish Dance Theatre and in 2019 she will create a new work for Birmingham Royal Ballet with composer Gabriel Prokofiev.

The Knot follows Veldman’s critically acclaimed The Happiness Project that launched her own company Umanoove in 2016.  The highly anticipated work examines the social and personal significance of marriage in contemporary Western society.
The audience is invited to a wedding party in The Knot. Performers take on the roles of the bride, groom, best man and bridesmaids as the work unfolds and explores familiar scenes of tying the knot - the authenticity of the vows, the formidable wedding speeches and the photography. 

The Knot examines what a wedding means and how it feels. The role of ritual, doubt, religion and gender will be scrutinised and the romanticised ideas of Walt Disney will challenge our perceptions of matrimony. 

Veldman shapes her Umanoove company of dancers to suit each work.  For The Knot, seven exceptional performers will interpret the theme of marriage through the choreographer’s extremely physical and theatrical movement style.  

Dancers Dane Hurst (Rambert, National Dance Company of Wales, Phoenix Dance Theatre and Company Wayne McGregor) and Mathieu Geffré (Dansgroep Amsterdam, Noord Nederlandse Dans, National Dance Company Wales, Theo Clinkard) return to Umanoove having both performed in The Happiness Project.  For The Knot they will be joined by Oihana Vesga Bujan (Richard Alston Dance Company), Oliver Chapman (Henri Oguike Dance, National Dance Company of Wales, Icon Dance) and Sara Harton (erSa Danse, Les 7 doigts de la main, PPS Danse, ezdanza) and Angela Venturini (a post-graduate student at The Place) and Jacob Lang (Rambert School). 

Stravinsky's masterpiece Les Noces (The Wedding) is intertwined with new music by London and Paris-based British composer Ben Foskett (work has included commissions for CBSO Youth Orchestra and London Children's Ballet).  
Lighting design is by Ben Ormerod, a regular collaborator of Veldman’s, and set and costume design is by Joana Dias.
Commissioned by DanceEast, with support from Studio Wayne McGregor through the FreeSpace programme and funds from Arts Council England, Linbury Trust, The Master Charitable Trust - The Marina Kleinwort Trust, Beth Krasna and an anonymous donor.

 

 -ENDS-

 

Notes:    
Umanoove presents Didy Veldman’s The Knot in 2018 #TheKnot2018

 

Friday 9 February at 7.30pm (WORLD PREMIERE and National press night) ON GENERAL SALE ON 1 DECEMBER
Jerwoood DanceHouse, DanceEast IPSWICH
Tickets:  01473 295230 // www.danceeast.co.uk 

 

Wednesday 14 February at 8pm 
G Live, GUILDFORD 
Tickets: 01483 369 350 // www.GLive.co.uk 

 

Please note The Knot will tour extensively across the UK in November 2018 – details to be announced. 
Age Guidance: Recommended 12+
Running Time: 70 minutes (no interval) 

          

Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman trained in Amsterdam and danced with Scapino Ballet, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Rambert and formed Alias Company with Guilherme Botelho in 1992.  She began choreographing in 1987, creating work for all four aforementioned companies, as well as independently.  Whilst dancing with Rambert, Veldman created three works for the repertory in collaboration with composers Adam Gorb, Philip Feeney and Luca Mainardi.  She received a grant from the Choo-San Goh & Robert Magee Foundation for her third production called 7 DS (Linbury Prize for Stage Design which was created by Miriam Buether). 

Veldman’s first full-length work Carmen was created in 1999 for Northern Ballet with designer Lez Brotherston and has been re-staged for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Royal New Zealand Ballet and was redesigned in 2013 by Kimie Nakano for the Lithuanian National Ballet.  

Vedman left Rambert in 2000 to concentrate on a choreographic career. She has worked internationally with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Cedarlake (New York), Cullberg Ballet (Sweden), Introdans (Netherlands), Gothenburg Ballet, Iceland Dance Company and Royal New Zealand Ballet.  

Recently she has created The 3 Dancers for Rambert based on a Picasso painting by the same name with composer Elena Katz-Chernin and designer Kimie Nakano.  In 2018 she will re-stage a full evening of two of her works for Oper Leipzig, See Blue Through originally created for Ballet Gulbenkian and TooT originally created for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.  Danish Dance Theatre will perform Frame of View which was created for Cedarlake with designs by Miriam Buether and Introdans will perform The 3 Dancers.  Veldman will create a new work for Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2019 with composer Gabriel Prokofiev as part of BRB’s ‘Ballet Now’ initiative. 

In 2016 Veldman started her own company ‘Umanoove’ with support from Arts Council England, Quercus Trust, The Place, Dance East, Linbury Trust, South East Dance, Siobhan Davies, Rambert and private donors. Her first independent production The Happiness Project premiered in November 2016 at DanceEast in Ipswich followed by 14 performances in England and Scotland with a London premiere at The Place in May 2017.  

Veldman, recently awarded a DanceEast choreographic development award, was selected for the 8th Rural Retreat for future leaders in dance at Jerwood DanceHouse, DanceEast. 

Veldman enjoys working with students, either teaching contemporary dance classes or giving them an insight into her creative process.  She recently created a new work for third year students of Rambert School, taught at Prix de Lausanne 2017 and re-staged a duet of See Blue Through for the Royal Ballet School's end of year performance.

 

[Jan McNulty]

Monday, 08 January 2018
PRESS RELEASE

DANCEEAST HOST DIDY VELDMAN’S UMANOOVE PREMIERE, THE KNOT – A WEDDING WITH AN OPEN INVITATION

Didy Veldman’s Umanoove will return to DanceEast with the premiere of The Knot at the Jerwood DanceHouse on Friday 9 February following its sell-out production The Happiness Project in 2016. The highly anticipated performance will examine the social and personal concept of marriage in Western society. 
This unique production invites the audience to form a wedding party as the performers take on the roles of the bride, groom, best man and bridesmaids, exploring familiar scenes of tying the knot. The role of ritual, religion, gender and doubt will be scrutinised alongside romanticised notions of Walt Disney, challenging our notions of matrimony. 

With the exploration of the authenticity of vows, the formidable wedding speeches and photography, The Knot uniquely examines what a wedding means and how it feels.

Choreographer Didy Veldman was a recipient of DanceEast’s Choreographic Development Award and was selected for the 8th Rural Retreat for future leaders in dance at DanceEast. Veldman launched her company in 2016 with The Happiness Project at DanceEast and has an extensive portfolio of work, including commissions by Rambert, Northern Ballet and Scottish Dance Theatre. 

The Knot will be performed by seven exceptional performers handpicked by Veldman to interpret her extremely physical and theatrical movement style. Among the highly skilled dancers is Dane Hurst, who returns to the company after featuring in The Happiness Project and has performed as a member of Rambert. In 2014 Hurst was awarded the Best Male Dancer Award by the Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards, UK. Also returning to the company is Mathieu Geffré who has performed with Dansgroep Amsterdam and National Dance Company Wales. 

The Knot was commissioned by DanceEast, with support from Studio Wayne McGregor and funds from The Linbury Trust, The Master Charitable Trust – The Marina Kleinwort Trust, Beth Krasna and an anonymous donor. 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS
Performance details and Box Office information
DanceEast, Jerwood DanceHouse, Foundry Lane, Ipswich, IP4 1DW


Box Office: 01473 295230    | DANCEEAST.CO.UK


Dates: Friday 9 February | 7.30pm
Tickets: From £12, £9 concessions