Jan McNulty Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 PRESS RELEASE 14 March 2024 DANCE UMBRELLA ANNOUNCES THE EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF ABBY ZBIKOWSKI’S RADIOACTIVE PRACTICE AT SADLER’S WELLS AS PART OF THE 2024 FESTIVAL IN OCTOBER In 2018 Abby Zbikowski was nominated by Stephen Petronio as a ‘Choreographer of the Future’ for Dance Umbrella’s Four by Four commission initiative, which marked the festival’s 40th anniversary. The resulting work, Radioactive Practice, was originally due to be performed at Dance Umbrella in 2020. Following delays caused by the global pandemic, a specially filmed version of Abby Zbikowski‘s Radioactive Practice was premiered at Dance Umbrella Festival 2022. It now has its European premiere at Sadler’s Wells as part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2024. Dance Umbrella Artistic Director and Chief Executive Freddie Opoku-Addaie said: ‘Astonishing individual physicality meets collective perseverance in this remarkable show. Radioactive Practice by Abby Z and the New Utility is a cheerleader for our bodies’ disparate histories and a masterclass in showcasing the plurality of movement languages that exist in contemporary dance composition - it makes visceral the common ground in our existences. I cannot wait for London’s global audiences to see this work in our most bespoke and intimate setting at Sadler’s Wells to date.’ Hurtling onto the stage with explosive physicality, six performers challenge their physical and mental limits in a genre-bending new work named one of New York Times’ ‘Best Dance Performances of 2022.’ Drawing influences from street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms; Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski and crew, shatters movement expectations and explores our instincts for survival. With audiences seated on multiple sides, this powerful piece incorporates the work of Senegalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye as dramaturg to interrogate the complexities of contemporary living. Abby Zbikowski and her company Abby Z and the New Utility create contemporary dance works that pay homage to the effort of living. Zbikowski’s rigorous training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, playing sports and performing manual labour informs her craft. Radioactive Practice is presented by Dance Umbrella and Sadler’s Wells. The full DU2024 programme announcement will be in June. LISTINGS INFORMATION European Premiere Abby Zbikowski and the New Utility Radioactive Practice Friday 18 October (Press Night) & Saturday 19 October, 7.30pm Sadler’s Wells BSL Interpreted Post Show Talk – Friday 18th October Approx. 60 minutes, no interval Credits: Choreographer/Director: Abby Zbikowski Performers/Collaborators: Indya Childs, Fiona Lundie, Mya McClellan, Jennifer Meckley, Benjamin Roach, jinsei sato Rehearsal Directors: Fiona Lundie, Jennifer Meckley Dramaturg: Momar Ndiaye Lighting Designer: Jon Harper Touring Technical Manager: Sarah Chapin Original Music: Matthew Peyton Dixon Warning: There are flashing lights for about 40 seconds in the last 15 minutes of the work. BIOGRAPHIES Abby Z and the New Utility Choreographer Abby Zbikowski created Abby Z and the New Utility in 2012 with dancers Fiona Lundie and Jennifer Meckley to experiment with the potential and choreographic possibility of the body being pushed beyond perceived limits, creating a new movement lexicon that triangulates dancing/moving bodies across multiple cultural value systems simultaneously. In 2016, Abby expanded the company to nine performer/collaborators for her first evening-length commission. “abandoned playground” premiered to a sold-out run at the Abrons Arts Center in New York in April 2017, leading to Zbikowski being honoured with the Juried Bessie Award, and was awarded the inaugural Caroline Hearst Artist in Residence at Princeton University, along with commissions from national and international organisations. Abby Z and the New Utility have been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Boston ICA, 92nd St Y, Movement Research at Danspace Project, Gibney Dance Center, Bard College, New York Live Arts, and the Fusebox Festival in Austin, Texas, among others. In 2021 the company was granted residency support at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio to rebuild work following a year long pandemic shutdown. Currently, they are working out of Columbus and New York City with collaborators locally, nationally, and internationally. Abby Zbikowski Abby Zbikowski (she/her) is a choreographer creating contemporary dance works that pay homage to the effort of living, tactics of survival, and the aesthetics produced as a result, utilising the physical aspects and psyche-emotional experience of her rigorous training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, playing sports, and performing manual labour. She founded Abby Z and the New Utility in 2012 and received the 2017 Juried Bessie Award In 2018 she received a “Choreographer of the Future” commission from Dance Umbrella and in 2020 a United States Artists Fellowship. She is a Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and artist-in-residence at New York Live Arts. Abby has had past residencies at the Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. She is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at The Ohio State University, and on faculty at the American Dance Festival. She has taught at the Academy of Culture, Latvia; at Festival Un Pas Vers L’Avant, Ivory Coast; and studied at Germaine Acogny’s L’École de Sables, Senegal. Zbikowski has created commissioned work for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, as well as universities across the USA. NOTES TO EDITORS About Dance Umbrella Dance Umbrella is a London festival 45 years in the making and moving with the times. Every year our festival ignites London and online with the next generation of trailblazing artists. Since 1978, we have been an international home for dance across a global city, presenting more than 1000 artists from 45 countries to over one million people. We have brought outstanding dance to more than 145 venues throughout London and online; from the high-profile stages of Sadler’s Wells, Southbank Centre and Barbican to local arts centres – and taking in the more unexpected locations of canal boats, ice rinks and car park rooftops in between. Since 2020, we have also given online audiences the chance to experience the festival through a curated programme including dance films and artist encounters. Dance Umbrella is also a commissioner of new work, co-producing with partners based in the UK and abroad, to invest in the next wave of international choreographic talent. Alongside this, we create year-round creative learning initiatives for all ages and nurture the development of arts professionals. Appointed in 2021, Dance Umbrella’s new Artistic Director/CEO Freddie Opoku-Addaie's vision for the festival builds on its 45-year track record of commissioning and producing excellent work. This new chapter introduces a programme that puts emerging and diverse talent at its heart, reflecting the global identity of our London home. Dance Umbrella Festival 2024 will take place 6-31 October, across London and online.Watch this space for more spectacle shows announced in the coming months before the full festival LAUNCH in June. Danceumbrella.co.uk Dance Umbrella 4 x 4 Commissions In 2018 all three of Dance Umbrella’s Artistic Directors – Val Bourne CBE, Betsy Gregory and Emma Gladstone – invited an established artist from their time at the helm to nominate a ‘choreographer of the future’ as part of a new commissioning project, Four by Four, to celebrate Dance Umbrella’s 40th anniversary. Four by Four is a transformational intervention for these young artists as they emerge as dance makers and create a piece of repertoire which, after premiering in London, is then available for touring worldwide. To change and to diversify audiences for dance in the future, Four by Four disrupts the top-down approach to curation, introducing more creation and risk into our programme. It gives four artists, previously unknown to DU, a platform at one of the world’s leading dance festivals. Their fresh perspectives will help us continue to attract new and younger attendees for dance while providing bold work for established audiences. The artists selected for Four by Four: Mythili Prakash – nominated by Akram Khan Georgia Vardarou – nominated by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker Jon Maya Sein – nominated by Rocío Molina Abby Zbikowski – nominated by Stephen Petronio Thanks to your generous funding and support, we presented two new works at the 2019 Dance Umbrella festival from our first two Four by Four artists: Here and Now by Mythili Prakash, which premiered at Fairfield Halls and Why Should It Be More Desirable ... ? by Georgia Vardarou at the Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells. A specially filmed version of Abby Zbikowski‘s Radioactive Practice was premiered at Dance Umbrella Festival 2022. 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 more than 200 new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown. Our acclaimed productions tour the world. Since 2005 we’ve produced 64 new full-length works and performed to audiences of more than two million, touring to 51 countries. 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 2024 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 new Rose Choreographic School and the hip hop theatre training centre, Academy Breakin’ Convention. 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 Radioactive Practice Funder Credits The creation of Radioactive Practice was supported in part by a commission from New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency program with additional support from the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Council Member Corey Johnson, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Jerome Robbins Foundation, the Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, and the Shubert Foundation. Radioactive Practice is a National Performance Network/Visual Artist Network (NPN/VAN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by New York Live Arts, Dance Place, American Dance Festival, Wexner Center for the Performing Arts and NPN/VAN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information: www.npnweb.org. Radioactive Practice is commissioned by ADF with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works. Additional commissioning funds provided by the Caroline Hearst Choreographer-In-Residence Program at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, Dance Umbrella’s Four by Four program, United States Artists Fellowship, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted May 16 Author Share Posted May 16 PRESS RELEASE 16 May 2024 DANCE UMBRELLA ANNOUNCES A FAMILY WEEKEND AT THE UNICORN THEATRE AND POTTERS FIELDS PARK FOR THE 2024 FESTIVAL Dance Umbrella announce a family weekend across sites in the London Bridge area with performances, workshops and arts and crafts for the whole family to enjoy. On Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 October, visitors can experience the magic of de Stilte, a renowned dance company from the Netherlands, who bring their thrilling new show Eyecatchers for young children to the Unicorn and the UK for the very first time. de Stilte were last seen at Dance Umbrella in 2022 with De-re-mi-ka-do which was a hit with audiences across London. Watch two captivating dancers and a musician as they embark on a wondrous journey, exploring the world through touch, sound, and movement. Their performance mirrors the awe and curiosity of a young child discovering their surroundings, creating a spellbinding experience for both kids and parents. Eyecatchers is an enchanting adventure, perfect for families with children aged 1 and above. Audiences can enjoy the show and stay for interactive playtime on stage, where they can immerse themselves in this world of wonder! At Potters Fields Park on Saturday 26 October Hackney Showroom will present The Bobby Dazzler, their touring stage on wheels. Entertainment includes DJ’s, live cabaret acts, dance floor prizes and all kinds of family fun! Dance Umbrella will also be at the Unicorn for family friendly dance workshops for early years children and their grown-ups. Perfect for audiences of Eyecatchers, they will be led by a dance artist who will encourage visitors to explore movement, sound and play inspired by the show. Dance Umbrella Artistic Director and co-Chief Executive Freddie Opoku-Addaie said: ‘It's great to have de Stilte back and to partner with the Unicorn Theatre and Team London Bridge again for the UK premiere of Eyecatchers. Also, bringing an offer of free events and activities to nearby Potters Fields Park next to the iconic Tower Bridge is so exciting. Family friendly programming speaks to our values of making great art and spaces across our global city accessible to all.’ The Dance Umbrella Family Weekend is presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with Team London Bridge and the Unicorn Theatre. The full DU2024 programme announcement will be in June. LISTINGS INFORMATION Dance Umbrella’s Family Weekend de Stilte (Netherlands) Eyecatchers Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 October, 11am & 2pm Unicorn Theatre Hackney Showroom (UK) The Bobby Dazzler Saturday 26 October, times 12pm and 5pm Potters Fields Park Credits BIOGRAPHIES de Stilte de Stilte is a professional dance company based in the Southern region of The Netherlands, that focuses entirely on developing productions and performing for children. They perform hundreds of shows every year, for both the public and for schools. Education is an integral part of de Stilte’s activities. Since the foundation in 1994, de Stilte has expanded to become the most attended youth theatre producer in The Netherlands. de Stilte wants to take as many children as possible out of the everyday world and into the abstract world of the senses, encouraging children to tell their own story using the boundless limit of the imagination. They believe that imagination pushes boundaries: by becoming part of the story, by experiencing it and using your imagination, your world becomes larger and more familiar. Based on that philosophy, founder and artistic director Jack Timmermans works with academically trained dancers to produce ambitious shows for young and old. Hackney Showroom Hackney Showroom is a development space for experimental theatre artists and makers of award-winning live performances. They support non-mainstream theatre makers, working across a range of performance disciplines to create new work for the stage. They work with some of the most experimental voices in the UK, offering them a rigorous approach to developing their practice, paving the way for artists to make astonishing and memorable work. Hackney Showroom delivers year-round free creative and cultural projects for participants from babies to elders from their Kings Crescent Estate base. NOTES TO EDITORS About Dance Umbrella Dance Umbrella is a London festival 45 years in the making and moving with the times. Every year our festival ignites London and online with the next generation of trailblazing artists. Since 1978, we have been an international home for dance across a global city, presenting more than 1000 artists from 45 countries to over one million people. We have brought outstanding dance to more than 145 venues throughout London and online; from the high-profile stages of Sadler’s Wells, Southbank Centre and Barbican to local arts centres – and taking in the more unexpected locations of canal boats, ice rinks and car park rooftops in between. Since 2020, we have also given online audiences the chance to experience the festival through a curated programme including dance films and artist encounters. Dance Umbrella is also a commissioner of new work, co-producing with partners based in the UK and abroad, to invest in the next wave of international choreographic talent. Alongside this, we create year-round creative learning initiatives for all ages and nurture the development of arts professionals. Appointed in 2021, Dance Umbrella’s new Artistic Director/CEO Freddie Opoku-Addaie's vision for the festival builds on its 45-year track record of commissioning and producing excellent work. This new chapter introduces a programme that puts emerging and diverse talent at its heart, reflecting the global identity of our London home. Dance Umbrella Festival 2024 will take place 9-31 October, across London and online. Watch this space for more spectacle shows announced in the coming months before the full festival LAUNCH in June. Danceumbrella.co.uk. About Unicorn Theatre Transforming young lives through theatre. At the Unicorn we create new, inventive and enthralling theatre experiences for children aged up to 13. Every year, we welcome around 65,000 families and schools through our doors, and many thousands more through Unicorn Online. We believe that young people of all ages, perspectives and abilities have the right to experience exciting, entertaining and inspiring work and we actively seek out children who wouldn’t otherwise attend, offering free tickets where needed. We develop work with children from our partner schools and community groups to ensure that our work remains relevant and informed by the young people we serve. Our values of courage, curiosity and respect run through everything we do. unicorntheatre.com About Team London Bridge Team London Bridge is a Business Improvement District (BID), established by the local business community to make London Bridge one of the most sustainable, culturally innovative and compelling places for business and tourism in the world. The organisation works with over 400 business members including PwC, EY, Norton Rose, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Bridge Theatre, Southwark Council, News UK, Imperial War Museum, King’s College London, the City of London and Network Rail. The London Bridge area is working towards being net zero by 2030 in line with the Southwark Climate Change Strategy. www.teamlondonbridge.co.uk Funders Credits Presented as part of the Dance Umbrella Family Weekend 2024 in partnership with Unicorn Theatre and Team London Bridge. The Bobby Dazzler was created with support from Hackney Community Fund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 11 Author Share Posted June 11 PRESS RELEASE 11 June 2024 DANCE UMBRELLA ANNOUNCES FULL PROGRAMME 9 - 31 OCTOBER 2024 ● LIVE PROGRAMME INCLUDES: ○ UK PREMIERE OF MAMELA NYAMZA’S HATCHED ENSEMBLE AND FIRST LOOK AT HETAIN PATEL’S MATHROO BASHA AT THE BARBICAN ○ UK PREMIERE OF DIANA NIEPCE’S THE OTHER SIDE OF DANCE AT THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL ○ UK PREMIERE OF POCKetART’s FAIRY TALES AT THE PLACE ○ FOR CHANGE TEMPO: ADAM SEID TAHIR & AMINA SEID TAHIR’S SEVERAL ATTEMPTS AT BRAIDING MY WAY HOME AT BRIXTON HOUSE ○ PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF ABBY Z AND THE NEW UTILITY’S RADIOACTIVE PRACTICE AT SADLER'S WELLS ○ FAMILY SHOWS FROM de STILTE AND HACKNEY SHOWROOM ● DIGITAL PROGRAMME INCLUDES: ○ FILMS: ABBY ZBIKOWSKI’S RADIOACTIVE PRACTICE; ROSEMARY LEE & HUGO GLENDINNING’S SENTENCE, POCKETART’S FOLDS OF TOUCH, LEA ANDERSON’S THE FEATHERSTONEHAUGH’S DRAW ON THE SKETCHBOOKS OF EGON SCHIELE AND HETAIN PATEL’S ANIMATIONS ○ CHOREOGRAPHERS CUT: IOANNA PARASKEVOPOULOU TALKING ABOUT MOS & ARTIST ENCOUNTERS WITH LEA ANDERSON ● PROGRAMME ALSO INCLUDES STUDIOS SESSIONS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS TO BE ANNOUNCED FESTIVAL TRAILER HERE Dance Umbrella, London’s annual international contemporary dance festival, is delighted to announce the full 2024 festival programme taking place across London, and online, from 9 - 31 October. Dance Umbrella’s co-CEO and Artistic Director Freddie Opoku-Addaie commented: ‘Dance Umbrella 2024 is our 46th Festival taking place across our global city, and 4th online as we continue to connect and grow with our national and international audiences. This year’s festival encapsulates themes of transformation, reflection and representation. We dedicate it to Emma Gladstone, Dance Umbrella’s Artistic Director and CEO during 2014-20. Emma’s creative brilliance and ethical compass were always pioneering, whilst being aligned with a rapidly changing world.’ LIVE PROGRAMME Opening the festival at the Barbican this year, South African choreographer Mamela Nyamza presents HATCHED ENSEMBLE, running in the Theatre and UK based performer and choreographer Hetain Patel presents Mathroo Basha playing in The Pit. Internationally renowned choreographer Mamela Nyamza makes her Barbican debut, assembling 10 dancers, an opera singer and an African traditional multi-instrumentalist to perform the UK premiere of HATCHED ENSEMBLE, her urgent and subtly spectacular work. Clad in costumes covered in clothes pegs and balanced timidly en pointe while Camille Saint-Saens’ the Swan plays, the dancers challenge gender norms while juxtaposing references to Western classical dance and music, with South African vocals. Mamela Nyamza has won many accolades for her activism-focused creations. HATCHED ENSEMBLE continues her work which unapologetically demystifies and deconstructs the history of dance, interrogating the accepted norms of the classics. HATCHED ENSEMBLE is presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican, and supported by British Council, Cockayne Foundation and the Edwin Fox Foundation. In his first appearance at the Barbican, acclaimed visual artist and filmmaker Hetain Patel returns to the stage with a preview performance of his latest solo Mathroo Basha (Mother Tongue in Gujarati). Following the passing of a number of first-generation immigrants in his family, British born Hetain reflects on what is lost and what is transformed, revisiting rituals rooted in his family’s working-class Brit-Gujarati experience. Responding physically to the audio interviews of women from his family speaking in Gujarati about inheritance, loss and the future, Hetain delves into the emotional realities of generational change through personal movement explorations where his body becomes the conduit. London-based artist Hetain has shown films, paintings, sculptures, photographs and performance work in galleries, theatre and iconic public screens around the world. Mathroo Basha is presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican, and supported by Cockayne Foundation and FABRIC International. Dancer, choreographer, and acrobat Diana Niepce explores her recovery from a spinal cord injury, seeking new ways to integrate the disabled body into mainstream dance. In her solo piece The Other Side of Dance, which will be at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on 16 & 17 October, Diana examines dance’s past and the principles driving movement, rigorously testing her body with minimal staging to present the non-normative body as revolutionary rather than victimised. Diana is joined on stage by three 'performer assistants' who support her through an intense journey of an alternative dance history. The performances will be followed by an extended post-show discussion with BSL on the 16th October. Contemporary dance and physical theatre collective POCKETART’s latest work Fairy Tales, featuring eight female dancers and two musicians, comes to the UK for the first time. Exploring the intersection of femininity, identity and self-discovery, Fairy Tales aims to connect us to our past by revisiting childhood experiences. By taking on different roles from fairy tales or every day real-life figures, the dancers envision new fantasies that reimagine how we see our happy endings. POCKETART’s work is characterised by tackling topics that go beyond the personal experience if the individual, touching on global societal issues. With striking visuals, melodic sound and virtuosic dance performance, Fairy Tales invites us to playfully reconsider our own identities. Change Tempo returns to Brixton House in 2024 to introduce London to two international artists whose transformational works blur the line between dance and visual art. Sweden-based Adam Seid Tahir and Amina Seid Tahir draw inspiration from literature on Black feminism and marine mammals for their latest production – several attempts at braiding my way home, a show born out of longing for a space that celebrates and holds their multiplicities as queer Afro-Nordic siblings. Solo performer Adam begins the show by removing their braids and attaching them to a sculpture of a weave that is suspended at the back of the stage. Like real hair, the weave grows with each performance, storing memories and emotions, creating a timeline that carries the history of the piece. Set to a pulsating score, several attempts at braiding my way home is a meditation on how it feels to have a place in which to dream, and to truly call home. PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED Six performers take the stage with explosive energy in a genre-bending performance, named one of New York Times' Best Dance Performances of 2022. Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski blends street dance, synchronized swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts, and African forms. The work challenges physical and mental limits while exploring our survival instincts. Audience members are seated on multiple sides, enhancing the dynamic experience. Senegalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye contributes as dramaturge, highlighting the complexities of contemporary life. This marks the European premiere of Zbikowski's company, Abby Z and the New Utility. October half term starts with a Dance Umbrella Family Weekend at Unicorn Theatre and Potters Field Park with performances, workshops and arts and crafts for the whole family to enjoy. On Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 October, you can experience the magic of de Stilte, renowned dance company from the Netherlands, who bring their thrilling new show for young children to the Unicorn and the UK for the very first time. Watch two captivating dancers and a musician embark on a wondrous journey, exploring the world through touch, sound, and movement. Their performance mirrors the awe and curiosity of a young child discovering their surroundings, creating a spellbinding experience for both kids and parents. Eyecatchers is an enchanting adventure, perfect for families with children aged 1 and above. Enjoy the show and stay for interactive playtime on stage, where the whole family can immerse themselves in this world of wonder! Wander over to Potters Fields Park on Saturday 26 October for The Bobby Dazzler, Hackney Showroom’s touring stage on wheels. Pop on your dancing shoes for an afternoon of DJ’s, live cabaret acts, dance floor prizes and family fun! Dance Umbrella will also be running fun-filled, family friendly dance workshops for early years children and their grown-ups at the Unicorn. Perfect for audiences of Eyecatchers, you’ll be led by a dance artist who will encourage you to explore movement, sound and play inspired by the show. DIGITAL PROGRAMME For the 2024 Festival, Dance Umbrella has produced and curated a selection of innovative dance films, a panel discussion and unique encounters with this year’s festival artists. If you can’t be there in person, this is a great way to experience the festival from wherever you are in the world. The Digital Pass is Pay What You Can and will give viewers access to the entire digital programme within this year’s festival, available online to global and national audiences from 9 - 31 October. Abby Z and the New Utility’s Radioactive Practice will make its much-anticipated UK premiere at this year’s Dance Umbrella Festival. For anyone unable to attend the live dates at Sadler’s Wells, we are offering a filmed version available with this year’s Digital Pass. Hurtling onto the stage with explosive physicality, six performers challenge their physical and mental limits in a genre-bending new work. Drawing influences from street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms; Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski and crew, shatters movement expectations and explores our instincts for survival. This powerful piece was recontextualised from the stage for film by director Jeremy Jacob to interrogate the complexities of contemporary living. British visual artist and filmmaker Hetain Patel created a series of animations during lockdown in 2020. Initially intended to loop infinitely as individual works, they are presented as part of the Dance Umbrella Festival as a single screen taster series for the first time. Reflecting on his approach to all his multidisciplinary practices, Hetain is interested in the specificity of each medium he uses – in this case, some explorations for the body that are only possibly through animation. A highly sought after artist, Hetain’s online performance work, including his 2013 Ted Talk, has been viewed over 50 million times. He recently joined the selection committee for the BAFTAs in 2023 and is currently working on a major project with Artangel. Photographer and filmmaker Hugo Glendinning and choreographer Rosemary Lee's acclaimed short film, Sentence, explores the fleeting nature of dance through innovative animation techniques and slow shutter speed. Filmed in a former courtroom, dancer Lauren Potter’s movements blur in and out of the dark wooden panels, an effect created using only variations in shutter speed and the dancer’s actions which needed to be repeated for long periods of time to create short sequences. Crafted during the isolating period of lock down and accompanied by Isaac Lee-Kronick's haunting soundtrack, Sentence is both poetic and mysterious, and evokes a profound sense of longing. Inspired by memories of the choreographer Johana Pocková’s grandmother, Folds of Touch by POCKETART follows four female dancers, an eight-year-old girl and a 90-year-old woman, as they perform on stage. Based on the production Warehouses Full of Emotions, the film is both a documentary of the play and a fictional depiction of the women’s lives in real time. Dive into some of the most exciting minds in contemporary choreography. Now in its fifth year, this edition of Choreographer’s Cut features Ioanna Paraskevopoulou. Using everyday objects: umbrellas, plungers, and of course, coconut shells, MOS, which had its UK premiere at the Barbican as part of Dance Umbrella 2023, evokes the sound effects made by expert foley artists for film and TV. The physical act of generating audio while following the film becomes energetic dance, with tap numbers turned into recordings that are looped, distorted, paused and intensified. Filmed on the set of MOS at the Barbican, in thisChoreographer’s Cut Ioanna takes us behind the scenes to look at the inner workings of her innovative production, which was a sell-out success at last year’s festival. Choreographer Lea Anderson discovered the work of Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele years ago when leafing through the Arnolfini bookshop. Taken by the possibility of seeing Schiele’s framing of repeated figures in the reproduction of his sketchbooks as a system for writing dance, she imagined Schiele as a choreographer whose dances had been lost in The Featherstonehaugh’s Draw on the Sketchbooks of Egon Schiele. Originally created in 1998 as a live work, it was remade as a film in 2010 in collaboration with Deborah May of Kinoki and with new music by Steve Blake and Will Saunders. The film has never been publicly aired and will be a world premiere for Dance Umbrella 2024. ARTIST ENCOUNTERS Artist Encounters is an online professional development workshop with a guest artist, focusing on cultivating practical skills, sharing knowledge and asking questions that resonate. This year, Lea Anderson will lead the session which will be live streamed with a small amount of tickets available in person at Trinity Laban. STUDIOS SESSIONS Studio Sessions is a presenter programme, introducing dance artists based in England to promoters from the UK and abroad, with the ambition of brokering new relationships for international co-commissioning and future touring. Studio Sessions is a partnership between Dance Umbrella and FABRIC that has been running since 2018. Four artists will be sharing works-in-progress and preview performances at this year’s Studio Sessions as part of Dance Umbrella 2024. Three of which are presented in partnership with The Place and one, Mathroo Basha by Hetain Patel, will be presented at The Pit, Barbican Pit. A series of panel discussions will be announced in July. Meanwhile, outside of the festival dates, returning for a second triumphant year, London Battle takes over Somerset House’s iconic open-air courtyard on 17 August with a day of dance and breaking showcases, workshops, live DJs and a big outdoor party, all culminating in a head-to-head dance battle between the four corners of London. In November, Anthea Lewis of Blullili Projects will be guest international curator at Dance In Vancouver (Canadian West Coast Dance Platform), supported by Dance Umbrella and FABRIC International. Dance Umbrella Festival audiences may have previously seen Marco da Silva’s ’s work førm inførms, part of Via Katlehong’s Via Injabulo, performed at Sadler’s Wells in 2023. His new work CARCAÇA, inspired by the rave scene and traditional Portuguese dance, with a cast of 10 performers is presented as a shortlisted entry to the inaugural Rose Prize at Sadler’s Wells on 1 and 2 February 2025.. LISTINGS Dance Umbrella 2024 9 - 31 October Across London and Online https://danceumbrella.co.uk/ Mamela Nyamza (South Africa) HATCHED ENSEMBLE Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 October, 8.15pm Post-show talk Thu 10 Oct. Free for same day ticket holders. BSL interpreted. Pre show Touch Tour Fri 11 Oct, 6.45pm Audio described performance Fri 11 Oct Barbican Theatre Tickets: £16 - £30 £15 Young Barbican tickets available (14-25yrs) Age guidance: 13+ Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by British Council, Cockayne Foundation and The Edwin Fox Foundation. Hetain Patel (UK) Mathroo Basha Friday 11 & Saturday 12 October, 7pm BSL interpreted performance Saturday 12 Oct Post-show talk Sat 12 Oct. Free for same day ticket holders. BSL interpreted. The Pit, Barbican Tickets: £18 £5 Young Barbican tickets available (14-25yrs) Age guidance: 7+ Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by Cockayne Foundation and Fabric International. Studio Sessions Saturday 12 October, 2pm – 5pm The Place Diana Niepce (Portugal) The Other Side of Dance Presented by Dance Umbrella and the Southbank Centre Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 October, 7.30pm Extended post-show talks Wed 16 (BSL interpreted.) & Thu 17 Oct. Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall Tickets: £23 / £18 Presented by Dance Umbrella and the Southbank Centre Abby Z and the New Utility (USA) Radioactive Practice Friday 18 & Saturday 19 October, 7.30pm Post-show talk Fri 18 Oct. Free for same day ticketholders. BSL interpreted. Sadler’s Wells Theatre Tickets: £25 - £30 Presented by Dance Umbrella and Sadler’s Wells. Supported by The Linbury Trust POCKETART (Czechia) Fairy Tales Tuesday 21 & Wednesday 22 October, 7.30pm Press performance 21 October Post-show talk Tue 21 Oct. Free for same day ticketholders. BSL interpreted. The Place Tickets: £20 / £16 A Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-production. Presented by Dance Umbrella and The Place Adam & Amina Seid Tahir (Sweden/Eritrea) several attempts at braiding my way home Thursday 24 & Friday 25 October, 7.30pm Post-show talk Thu 24 Oct. Free for same day ticket holders. BSL interpreted. Brixton House Tickets: £16 / £12 Presented by Dance Umbrella and Brixton House Dance Umbrella Family Weekend Presented in partnership with Unicorn Theatre and Team London Bridge. The Bobby Dazzler was created with support from Hackney Community Fund. de Stilt (Netherlands) Eyecatchers Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 October, 11am & 2pm Press performance 26 October Unicorn Theatre £18.50 / £14.50 Hackney Showroom (UK) The Bobby Dazzler Saturday 26 October, times 12pm - 5pm Potters Fields Park FREE ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES Lea Anderson Lea Anderson is an independent artistic director, filmmaker and choreographer, based in North Devon. She co-founded The Cholmondeleys dance company in 1984 and The Featherstonehaughs in 1988, creating over 87 works. Lea has collaborated on hundreds of projects. She received an MBE in 2002 for services to dance and an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Dartington College in 2006. In 2014, she became a Regents Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of The Cholmondeleys. de Stilte de Stilte is a professional dance company based in the Southern region of The Netherlands, that focuses entirely on developing productions and performing for children. They perform hundreds of shows every year, for both the public and for schools. Education is an integral part of de Stilte’s activities. Since the foundation in 1994, de Stilte has expanded to become the most attended youth theatre producer in The Netherlands. de Stilte wants to take as many children as possible out of the everyday world and into the abstract world of the senses, encouraging children to tell their own story using the boundless limit of the imagination. They believe that imagination pushes boundaries: by becoming part of the story, by experiencing it and using your imagination, your world becomes larger and more familiar. Based on that philosophy, founder and artistic director Jack Timmermans works with academically trained dancers to produce ambitious shows for young and old. Hugo Glendinning Hugo Glendinning is a photographer and filmmaker. His output stretches across the cultural industries from contemporary art to music, dance and theatre. He is prolific and has developed close collaborative working practices with a wide range of international artists, notably Tim Etchells and Forced Entertainment, Paola Pivi, Martin Creed, Matthew Barney, Michael Clark, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Siobhan Davies, Yinka Shonibare MBE and Franko B, recording both performances for camera and gallery/studio/public events. His documentary film making includes work on Anna Halprin, Tehching Hsieh - both with Adrian Heathfield - Miranda July and Tamara Al- Mashouk. Hackney Showroom Hackney Showroom is a development space for experimental theatre artists and makers of award-winning live performances. They support non-mainstream theatre makers, working across a range of performance disciplines to create new work for the stage. They work with some of the most experimental voices in the UK, offering them a rigorous approach to developing their practice, paving the way for artists to make astonishing and memorable work. Hackney Showroom delivers year-round free creative and cultural projects for participants from babies to elders from their Kings Crescent Estate base. Rosemary Lee Rosemary Lee is a choreographer and filmmaker with four decades of experience in various settings, including disused factories, beaches, and tree canopies. She works with both professionals and non-professionals, from children to elders, and creates solo and large cast pieces. Lee's award-winning films have been featured in broadcasts, galleries, and festivals internationally. Her work is known for its intimacy with audiences, emphasising performers' humanity and their connection with the environment. Lee is a Senior Research Fellow at C-DaRE, Coventry University, and an Affiliate WorkPlace artist. Her work is produced by Artsadmin. Diana Niepce Diana Niepce is a dancer, choreographer, and writer. She graduated from the Escola Superior de Dança, completed an Erasmus at Teatterikorkeakoulun, and earned a Masters in Art and Communication from Universidade Nova de Lisboa. An associate artist at Espaço do Tempo, she created several pieces including Forgotten Fog and Anda, Diana. She collaborates with national and international artists and curates programmes for artists with disabilities. Her recent works include the book Anda, Diana and the article Experimenting with the Body. She also curates the Political Bodies Cycle at Culturgest. Mamela Nyamza South African choreographer Mamela Nyamza, trained in ballet at Zama Dance School in Gugulethu, went on to attain a formal National Diploma at the Tshwane University of Technology, and continued at The Ailey School in New York, deconstructs classical dance in groundbreaking works like The Dying Swan (1998) and Hatched (2007). Her pieces challenge norms with autobiographical themes and address social injustices in works like Black Privilege. Nyamza's accolades include recognition at the Makhanda Standard Bank National Arts Festival and JOMBA! Dance Festival as Legacy Artist for the Year 2023. She was named the Standard Bank Young Artist for Dance in 2011 and received the IMBOKODO Award for Dance in 2016. Invited to participate in events around the world, she aims to use dance for social commentary through her non-profit company, MAMELAS ARTISTIC MOVEMENT. Ioanna Paraskevopoulou Ioanna Paraskevopoulou, Athens-based dancer and choreographer, graduated from the Greek National School of Dance and currently studies at Ionian University's Department of AudioVisual Arts. Focused on merging audio-visual media and movement, she collaborates with artists like Iris Karayan and Christos Papadopoulos. Notable awards include Best Performance for Sans Attente and second prize for mneme [action] 21. She received the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship (2019-2020) and created All She Likes Is Popping Bubble Wrap for Onassis New Choreographers Festival 8, winning awards internationally. Her works MOS and Coconut Effect have garnered acclaim and awards. Selected for Aerowaves Twenty23, she tours with MOS and All of My Love. Hetain Patel Hetain Patel is a London-based artist and filmmaker known for his work in various mediums including films, performances, and photography. His art has been showcased worldwide in venues such as Tate Modern, Venice Biennale, and Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art. His work, exploring identity and freedom, has been viewed over 50 million times online, including his 2023 TED talk Who Am I? Think Again. Hetain has received several awards such as the Film London Jarman Award and the Best International Film award at Kino Der Kunst Festival. He is a patron of QUAD, Derby, and serves on various committees. Patel is represented by Chatterjee & Lal in Mumbai. POCKETART POCKETARTcollective, led by choreographers Johana Pocková and Sabina Bocková, is an acclaimed international team in contemporary dance and physical theatre. They collaborate across disciplines, integrating dance, music, scenography, fine arts, and light design. Their work, featured in Aerowaves and European projects like Shape it! and Big Pulse Dance Alliance, addresses societal issues such as media manipulation, environmental threats, and corporate culture stress. Each piece explores unique physical expressions, delving into themes like individuality in competitive environments. With a focus on visual purity and original music, their performances aim to evoke spiritual reflection, engaging audiences with profound social commentary. Adam Seid Tahir Adam is a dancer, choreographer and web developer interested in dreams and watery myths and their relationships to queer blackness. They are also deeply invested in what it means to be Afro-Nordic and have multiple heritage. Adam sees choreography as an opportunity to manifest dreams and loving speculations and use mediums including hair braiding, speculative somatics, 3D animation and sensor technology to create ephemeral worlds. Amina Seid Tahir Amina is a Swedish-Eritrean artist and choreographer based in Stockholm and London. Her work is rooted in themes around resting and dreaming within the global majority community and grows through mediums such as sound, braiding, vibration, installation and performance. Braiding together her interests in ancestral knowledge with oral traditions and myths, she creates a universe between reality and fiction. Manifesting spaces where dreams can work like seeds to grow futures. Abby Zbikowski Choreographer Abby Zbikowski created Abby Z and the New Utility in 2012 with dancers Fiona Lundie and Jennifer Meckley to experiment with the potential and choreographic possibility of the body being pushed beyond perceived limits, creating a new movement lexicon that triangulates dancing/moving bodies across multiple cultural value systems simultaneously. In 2016, Abby expanded the company to nine performer/collaborators for her first evening-length commission. abandoned playground premiered to a sold-out run at the Abrons Arts Center in New York in April 2017, leading to Zbikowski being honoured with the Juried Bessie Award, and was awarded the inaugural Caroline Hearst Artist in Residence at Princeton University, along with commissions from national and international organisations. Abby Z and the New Utility have been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the Boston ICA, 92nd St Y, Movement Research at Danspace Project, Gibney Dance Center, Bard College, New York Live Arts, and the Fusebox Festival in Austin, Texas, among others. In 2021 the company was granted residency support at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio to rebuild work following a year long pandemic shutdown. Currently, they are working out of Columbus and New York City with collaborators locally, nationally, and internationally. About Dance Umbrella Dance Umbrella is a London festival 45 years in the making and moving with the times. Every year our festival ignites London and online with the next generation of trailblazing artists. Since 1978, we have been an international home for dance across a global city, presenting more than 1000 artists from 45 countries to over one million people. We have brought outstanding dance to more than 145 venues throughout London and online; from the high-profile stages of Sadler’s Wells, Southbank Centre and Barbican to local arts centres – and taking in the more unexpected locations of canal boats, ice rinks and car park rooftops in between. Since 2020, we have also given online audiences the chance to experience the festival through a curated programme including dance films and artist encounters. Dance Umbrella is also a commissioner of new work, co-producing with partners based in the UK and abroad, to invest in the next wave of international choreographic talent. Alongside this, we create year-round creative learning initiatives for all ages and nurture the development of arts professionals. Appointed in 2021, Dance Umbrella’s Artistic Director/co-CEO Freddie Opoku-Addaie's vision for the festival builds on its 45-year track record of commissioning and producing excellent work. This current chapter introduces a programme that puts emerging and diverse talent at its heart, reflecting the global identity of our London home. In 2024, Tanya Wilmer joined Freddie as co-CEO. Dance Umbrella Festival 2024 will take place 9-31 October, across London and online. Watch this space for more spectacular shows announced in the coming months before the full festival launch in June. Danceumbrella.co.uk. About the British Council The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We do this through our work in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people. www.britishcouncil.org 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 I DO HATE IT WHEN THEY WRITE ALL IN CAPITALS ☹️ It's so difficult to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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