Press Release: Company of Elders - Mixed Bill - Lilian Baylis Studio on Saturday 1 July

[Jan McNulty]

Company of Elders Company of Elders - Mixed Bill              Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1R 4TN Saturday 1 July                                                               Tickets: £15 Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com     Sadler’s Wells’ resident over-60s performance company, Company of Elders presents their annual performance with a triple bill in the Lilian Baylis Studio on Saturday 1 July. The afternoon includes two specially commissioned pieces for the company, one by James Cousins Company and the other by world-renowned waacking artist Bagsy. There will also be a presentation by special guests Three Score Dance Company of a commissioned work by choreographer Rhiannon Faith. James Cousins has created his piece alongside James Cousins Company Associate Choreographer, Gareth Mole, which puts older bodies centre stage and asks the audience to look at them in new ways. Cousins, known for creating visually breath-taking work, is a winner of the inaugural New Adventures Choreographer Award, selected by Matthew Bourn and has worked as associate choreographer to Arlene Phillips.    Bagsy is a World-renowned waacking artist who headlined at Breakin’ Convention Festival 2021. Bagsy’s piece tells a story of love and reconciliation through movement and dialogue, while encouraging the audience to move, sing and connect with the performers.    Rhiannon Faith is a boundary-breaking artist and choreographer whose work crosses disciplines. Her company, Rhiannon Faith Company, has been nominated for four National Dance Awards. Faith has been commissioned to make a new piece for Three Score Dance, who enable older people to create and perform contemporary dance.  Company of Elders has been running since 1989, the group of non-professional dancers meets weekly to create new works and showcase the joy of dancing. Company of Elders – Mixed Bill is a Sadler’s Wells Commission  This performance is Audio Described and Relaxed   NOTES TO EDITORS Listings Information Company of Elders Mixed Bill                        Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1R 4TN  Saturday 1 July  Tickets: £15  Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com 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 About Company of Elders Started in 1989, Company of Elders is an internationally renowned resident performance company of Sadler’s Wells. Over multiple decades, they have demonstrated the artistic worth of the older artist and the value of lifelong learning and creativity. Challenging perceptions of who can dance, the Company has worked with Sadler’s Wells Associate Companies: Wayne McGregor, Random Dance, Hofesh Shechter Company, Jasmin Vardimon Company, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and Jonzi D to produce dance of the highest quality with regards to movement and production values. Working with the Company of Elders provides artists at the forefront of dance to view their movement in a new light on ‘unconventional’ dancers’ bodies, interpreted in different ways. As members of the Company, dancers fulfil a creative, social and physical need.   The Company rehearse on a weekly basis during three 12 week terms at Sadler’s Wells, and intensively leading up to performances. Once a year they take to a Sadler’s Wells stage, as well as performing nationally and internationally as invited guests. UK performances have been as diverse as the Houses of Parliament, Duckie Cabaret in Vauxhall, Chelsea & Westminster and St. George’s Hospitals and the National Theatre. International performances include the prestigious Venice Biennale Dance Festival, touring to the Netherlands (Rotterdam and Breda) and St Polten, Austria, and most recently to Saitama, Japan as part of the World Gold Theatre Festival in 2018. The Company of Elders featured on BBC One's Imagine series in July 2009, broadcast again in July 2011 on BBC Four. About James Cousins Recognised by Time Out magazine as one of the future faces of dance, James Cousins has been commissioned to create work for companies around the world including National Ballet of Chile, Opera Graz, Royal Ballet of Flanders, and Scottish Ballet. An interest in diverse work has led him to collaborate with a number of international renowned progressive artists including Nadav Kander, Zena Holloway, GAIKA and Zaha Hadid Architects. He has worked as associate choreographer to Arlene Phillips and was recently appointed co-director to Nicholas Hytner for Book of Dust - La Belle Sauvage at the Bridge Theatre.    In 2014 Cousins, and Francesca Mosely founded James Cousins Company (JCC). Cousins is a bold refreshing choreographic voice whose ‘deep reflections on human interactions’ have astonished audiences worldwide. Known for marrying emotional profundity with incredibly challenging choreography his work is dynamical charged and provokes thoughts on fresh issues ‘articulating [stories] so strongly through the body in motion’ (Critic, 2019). Using contemporary dance as his primary language he consciously embraces the commercial appeal of other styles creating movement which appeals to much a wider audience and reigniting contemporary as young, exciting, and mainstream. About Bagsy Bagsy is a dancer, choreographer, actor and stunt performer from South London. Bagsy started out as an aeronautical engineer designing aircraft engines for Rolls Royce, and he later moved to Japan to explore street dance culture and to pursue his dream of dance.   Bagsy found his passion in Waacking and Punking through dance teachers and mentors, Ana Lollipop Sancher, Archie Burnett and Tyrone Proctor. Bagsy is a world-renowned dancer and competitor winning multiple competitions around the world and runs workshops, seminars and mentorship programmes globally.   Bagsy explores how far the limits of his mind, body and soul can go whilst fighting against an ever-demanding world of high expectations for a cis gender black male.