Press Release: Dance collective Nora presents the world premiere of new film Nora The Many this September

[Jan McNulty]

Nora x Bauer x Parkins  Nora the Many  Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1R 4TN  Thursday 29 & Friday 30 September  Tickets: £12  Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

Dance collective Nora returns to the Lilian Baylis Studio with the world premiere of Nora The Many on Thursday 29 & Friday 30 September. This latest creation is a women-led film exploring the intricacies of movement and Nora’s first project with choreographer Eleanor Bauer and musician Zeena Parkins.  Nora the Many is a Sadler’s Wells commission, based on a namesake novella, written collaboratively by Nora and choreographer Eleanor Bauer in 2020. It is a surreal and witty creation, with experimental movement at its heart. The film is performed and directed by Nora, edited and narrated by Bauer, against the backdrop of a score by New York based electro-acoustic composer Zeena Parkins.  Nora is UK dancers Eleanor Sikorski, Flora Wellesley Wesley and Stephanie McMann. They curate and dance together, inviting artists to make work for and with them. In former visits to the Lilian Baylis Studio, Nora worked with choreographers Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, Simon Tanguy, Liz Aggiss and Deborah Hay.    Eleanor Bauer is an American choreographer, performer and researcher working at the intersections of dance, writing, and music. In 2022 she completed her PhD in performative and media-based practices with a specialisation in choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts. From solos to talk shows to large ensemble pieces, her works have toured internationally to critical acclaim.    Zeena Parkins is a pioneer of contemporary harp practices and throughout her career has been developing the electric harp. She has redefined the instrument’s capacities and her avant-garde work embraces the dance via cinema imagined by Nora. Over a 30-year career Parkins has recorded and toured with Björk, worked with Yoko Ono and collaborated with John Zorn at the MOMA Sculpture Garden, amongst others.    Nora the Many tells the story of Cindy’s Bar and its peculiar regulars: Divina the megalomaniacal performance artist, her child and faithful follower Tworden the Giant, Elba the Electric Child, and Tina the day dreaming bartender. It is a surreal and witty study of a tight knit group and the planet they live on – the vast, volatile body of a giant.    Zeena Parkins’ score and Bauer’s narration invite the audience on a nonlinear trip through a multiverse of odd characters, with McMann, Sikorski and Wellesley Wesley’s dancing providing a rich space of rhythm and emotions.    Nora chose film as a medium for its capacity to blur fantasy and reality, jump cut and zoom between times and places. Flora Wellesley Wesley, speaking from Nora, said: “Working on the adaptation of our choreographic language into a film has been an interesting and challenging process. Nora’s first love with movement has been jostled by various events since 2018, and now we believe that filmmaking allows for a new type of conversation – where movement between the dancing and the writing, performing, directing, creating and editing works away from a typical choreographic process where everything happens in the room with people in real time.    “The film is a choreography of sorts, that welcomes the audience to access Nora’s minds through an omniscient narrative and filming choices that aim to share the thought process of dancing more intimately.    “We are so looking forward to presenting Nora the Many in the Lilian Baylis Studio – in a cinema atmosphere.”    A Sadler's Wells Commission    Coproduced by Nora and Stockholm University of the Arts.      Relaxed Screening on Friday 30 September at 11 am     ENDS    NOTES TO EDITORS    Listing information:  World Premiere  Book & EP Launch & Post-Show Talk on Thursday 29 September.  Running Time: 1 hour 10 minutes, no interval  Film contains strong language  The book and EP will be available on Thursday 29 September only, by donation.  Relaxed Screening: Friday 30 September at 11 am  Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com     About Nora  Nora is UK dancers Eleanor Sikorski, Flora Wellesley Wesley and Stephanie McMann. They curate and dance together, inviting artists to make work for and with them. In former visits to the Lilian Baylis Studio, Nora worked with choreographers Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, Simon Tanguy, Liz Aggiss and Deborah Hay.  About Eleanor Bauer   Eleanor Bauer is an American choreographer, performer and researcher working at the intersections of dance, writing, and music. In 2022 she completed her PhD in performative and media-based practices with a specialisation in choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts. From solos to talk shows to large ensemble pieces, her works have toured internationally to critical acclaim.  About Zeena Parkins   Zeena Parkins is a pioneer of contemporary harp practices and throughout her career has been developing the electric harp. She has redefined the instrument’s capacities and her avant-garde work embraces the dance via cinema imagined by Nora. Over a 30-year career Parkins has recorded and toured with Björk, worked with Yoko Ono and collaborated with John Zorn at the MOMA Sculpture Garden, amongst others.    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 close to 200 new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown.        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 2023 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 Choreographic School and Hip Hop Theatre Academy.        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.         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