Press Release: Didy Veldman / Umanoove - The Knot - Autumn Tour 2018

[Jan McNulty]

             

 

 

Umanoove, under the artistic direction of choreographer Didy Veldman, presents

The Knot - Autumn Tour 2018

 

www.umanoove-didy-veldman.org

Trailer

 

 

 

Media release: Monday 2 July 2018 – After world premiere performances of Didy Veldman’s The Knot in Ipswich and Guildford in February, and Meghan marrying Harry in May, wedding fever continues this autumn with an 11-venue tour of Veldman’s dance theatre take on matrimony. In The Knot, by Dutch-born choreographer and director Veldman, a cast of seven exceptional dancers play the roles of the bride, groom, best man and bridesmaids, and audience members become the wedding guests as the evening and celebrations unfold.

 

The Knot explores familiar scenes of marriage as theatre spaces become wedding venues in Nottingham, Cambridge, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Bracknell, Worthing, London, Jersey, Plymouth, Bournemouth and Malvern between Tuesday 6November and Saturday 1December 2018. Guests arrive and excitement builds as scenes of love and togetherness overcome anticipation and nerves amongst the wedding party.

 

Known for a sharp-eyed approach and some humorous touches, The Knot is Veldman’s second work for her company Umanoove since it launched with her critically acclaimed The Happiness Project in 2016.  Veldman scrutinises what a wedding means and how it feels in The Knot, the role of ritual, doubt, religion and gender is examined and the romanticised ideas of Walt Disney challenges our perceptions of marriage.

 

Veldman is a former dancer with Rambert, one of the UK’s leading dance companies, and left the company in 2000 to pursue a choreographic career. In 18 years she has become a highly sought-after choreographer both nationally and internationally and has created works for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Cedarlake (New York), Cullberg Ballet (Sweden), Introdans (Netherlands), Gothenburg Ballet, Iceland Dance Company and 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, collaborating with composer Gabriel Prokofiev, the grandson of Sergei Prokofiev, for Birmingham Royal Ballet’s inaugural ‘Ballet Now’ programme.

 

For Umanoove, Veldman tailors each company of dancers to suit each work.  The international cast of performers interpret the themes of Veldman’s work through her extremely physical and theatrical movement style.

 

Dancers returning to The Knot this autumn are: Dane Hurst (Rambert, National Dance Company of Wales, Phoenix Dance Theatre and Company Wayne McGregor); Mathieu Geffré (Dansgroep Amsterdam, Noord Nederlandse Dans, National Dance Company Wales, Theo Clinkard); Oihana Vesga Bujan (Richard Alston Dance Company); Oliver Chapman (Henri Oguike Dance, National Dance Company of Wales, Icon Dance); Sara Harton (erSa Danse, Les 7 doigts de la main, PPS Danse, ezdanza); and Angela Venturini (recently a post-graduate student at The Place). Joining them is apprentice dancer Sam Costello (London Contemporary Dance School).

 

Stravinsky's masterpiece Les Noces (The Wedding) is intertwined with specially commissioned music by London and Paris-based British composer Ben Foskett. His 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.

The Knot is 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.

 

Following the 6 November to 1 December tour dates, The Knot will head to Copenhagen, Denmark for performances on 5 and 6 December, further reinforcing Veldman’s international standing as a choreographer.

-ENDS-

 

 

Notes:

Umanoove presents Didy Veldman’s The Knot - autumn tour 2018 #TheKnot2018

Tuesday 6 November at 7.30pm (ON SALE MID-JULY)

Lakeside Arts, Nottingham

Tickets: 0115 846 7777 // www.lakesidearts.org.uk

 

Wednesday 7 November at 7.30pm (ON SALE IN AUGUST)

Mumford Theatre, CAMBRIDGE (Anglia Ruskin University's Cambridge campus)

Tickets: 01223 352932 // www.anglia.ac.uk/mumfordtheatre

 

Thursday 8 November at 8pm (ON SALE JULY)

DanceXchange, Birmingham Hippodrome, BIRMINGHAM

Tickets: 0844 338 5000 / www.dancexchange.org.uk

 

Wednesday 14 November at 7.30pm (ON SALE)

New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth

Tickets: 023 9264 9000 // www.newtheatreroyal.com

 

Thursday 15 November at 7.45pm (ON SALE 23 JULY)

Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park, Bracknell

Tickets: 01344 484 123 // www.southhillpark.org.uk

 

Friday 16 November at 8pm (ON SALE)

Connaught Theatre, WORTHING

Tickets: 01903 206 206 // www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/show/the-knot/

 

Tuesday 20 & Wednesday 21 November at 7.30pm (ON SALE 8 JULY)

The Place, LONDON

Tickets: 020 7121 1100 // www.theplace.org.uk

 

Friday 23 November at 8pm (ON SALE)

Jersey Opera House, JERSEY

Tickets: 01534 511 115 // www.jerseyoperahouse.co.uk

 

Wednesday 28 November at 7.30pm (ON SALE EARLY AUGUST)

The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, PLYMOUTH

Tickets: 01752 585 050 // www.peninsula-arts.co.uk

 

Thursday 29 November at 7.30pm (ON SALE)

Pavilion Dance South West, BOURNEMOUTH

Tickets: 01202 203630 / www.pdsw.org.uk   

 

Saturday 1 December at 7.45pm (ON SALE)

Malvern Theatre, MALVERN

Tickets: 01684 892277 // www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

 

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 performed Frame of View which was created for Cedarlake with designs by Miriam Buether. Introdans will perform The 3 Dancers in September 2018 and tour the work all over Holland for 33 performances. 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, she teaches the Royal Ballet School students contemporary dance from time to time, works with international dance students at Jacob's Pillow and the Prix de Lausanne, teaches workshops or creates new works with students from Rambert School and London Contemporary Dance School. She is currently re-staging an excerpt of one of her works for the Royal Ballet School end of year performance and will create a new work for Mapdance, Chichester's MA touring company after the summer.

 

Social media: www.facebook.com/umanoove  // www.twitter.com/didyveldman1  // www.instagram.com/umanoove/ Photo credit: L-R: Umanoove - Oliver Chapman in The Knot. Chris Nash; Umanoove – Sarah Harton in The  Knot. Chris Nash; Umanoove in The Knot. Chris Nash.