Press Release: Northern Ballet - Paris debut for rising choreographic star

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet
Media Release
24 January 2013

 

Paris debut for rising choreographic star

Northern Ballet dancer turned choreographer Kenneth Tindall will be debuting a new work at the
the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris in on 31 January, to launch a retrospective of the work of
contemporary artist Linder Sterling.

The short ballet has been created to form part of a new, dynamic performance work entitled The
Ultimate Form – a fusion of dance, music, fashion, art, sculpture and landscape. This collaboration
with artist Linder Sterling, British fashion designer Pam Hogg, (who is designing for dance and for
men for the first time), is performed by Northern Ballet dancers to a musical score by Cinematic
Orchestra guitarist Stuart McCallum.

The Ultimate Form is a celebration of the work of Barbara Hepworth and will have its world premiere
at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire on Saturday 11 May 2013. The performance is part of
the forthcoming Spring 2013 exhibitions at the gallery. From 16 February until 12 May 2013 The
Hepworth Wakefield presents three exhibitions by artists Alice Channer, Jessica Jackson Hutchins
and Linder. Each artist has engaged with and referred to the legacy of Barbara Hepworth as part of
the process of making new works for their exhibitions at the gallery. Light-boxes, collage, sculptures
made from everyday objects and ambitious installations are just some of the diverse practices
employed to explore various representations of the human body.

Kenneth Tindall created his first choreography, Project #1, in 2011 for a choreographic workshop
which saw dancers from both Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre turn their hands to dance
making. Kenneth’s piece went on to win the Bundesjungendballett Production Prize at the 26th
Choreography Competition in Hanover in 2012.

Kenneth will be creating another new work for Northern Ballet’s Mixed Programme to be performed
at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in the Company’s Leeds home in June and will be working on
new piece for Ballet Central’s 2013 tour.

Linder Sterling (b. 1954, Liverpool, UK) has been working with the principles of collage for over three
decades: from her two-dimensional work on the late 1970s iconic Buzzcocks posters and record
sleeves, to more recent collages presented in light-boxes.

[Jan McNulty]

Here is a YouTube rehearsal clip of The Ultimate Form:

 

 

Although the rehearsal is in an NB studio, the performances are taking place in the exhibition galleries and I think will be extremely atmospheric.

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet have published some photographs from the dress rehearsal in Paris:

 

http://northernballet.com/index.php?q=the-ultimate-form/rehearsal-candids

 

What a fantastic performance space!