Events – Page 5 – Dance Direct Blog. News, Reviews & Advice About Dance

Dance To The Edinburgh Festival!

The Edinburgh International Festival has announced its 2015 programme, including some exciting dance highlights. These include Sylvie Guillem, Israel Galván, Zürich Ballet and Les Ballets C de la B. This year’s festival runs from 7-31 August, and is an artistic delight for all culture vultures.

Les Ballet C de la B will dance Alain Platel and Frank Van Laecke’s En Avant, Marche!, a work which starts in the rehearsal room of an amateur brass band in Flanders. Ballet Am Rhein will dance Martin Schläpfer’s Seven, set to Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, and the iconic Guillem will perform her farewell show, Sylvie Guillem – Life in Progress. In addition, Galván will dance Lo Real, which explores the plight of the Roma and Sinti people in fascist Spain in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Festival provides a huge variety of artistic offerings to those who descend upon the city during the summer. In terms of dance 2015 is an important year, especially for those hoping to catch Guillem performing for the last time. Guillem will also be performing at Sadler’s Wells and the Birmingham Hippodrome as part of her farewell tour.

Also at the Edinburgh Festival, Zürich Ballet will perform a double bill of company director Christian Spuck’s Sonett which uses speech and music by Mozart and Philip Glass to explore Shakespeare’s sonnets, in addition to Wayne McGregor’s Kairos, set to Max Richter’s reimagining of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with designs by Idris Khan. TAO Dance Theatre will perform Weight x 3, created by its founder Tao Ye to music by Steve Reich. Richter will also perform his Vivaldi work in concert with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. There will also be a dance element in a new production of Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Iván Fischer with choreography by Veronika Vámos.

Stars For Northern Ballet Gala

In preparation for Northern Ballet’s exclusive 45th anniversary Sapphire Gala, it has been announced that the dancers of Northern will be joined by eminent guest artists from The Australian Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Hamburg Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre. This special celebration will be held at Leeds Grand Theatre on Saturday 14 March, with tickets available for the general public to purchase. The Sapphire Gala is a rare opportunity to see exceptional dance talent from across the world brought to the stage for one magical performance next month.

The Sapphire Gala will showcase both new and classic pieces from renowned choreographers, and Northern Ballet’s talented dancers will be joined on stage by some of the world’s most celebrated dance artists for one night only. It is notable that many of these artists are rarely seen on the stages of the UK. This spectacular evening will see The Australian Ballet perform extracts of its magical production of Cinderella, particularly. Northern Ballet will also be joined by its renowned contemporary dance company and Leeds neighbours, artists of Phoenix Dance Theatre.

Northern Ballet’s dancers will perform new pieces specially created for them by Artistic Director David Nixon OBE; former Royal Ballet dancer and acclaimed choreographer Jonathan Watkins (who is creating the Northern Ballet’s 2015 première 1984); Northern Ballet dancer and upcoming choreographer Kenneth Tindall and Ballet Master Daniel de Andrade. The company will also perform Little Monsters by Stuttgart Ballet’s resident choreographer Demis Volpi, and Northern Ballet Soloist Lucia Solari will be joined by a guest from Hamburg Ballet to perform an extract from their adaptation of The Nutcracker.

In what looks set to be a thoroughly entertaining evening, audiences will also be treated to a grander version of the Charleston from Northern Ballet’s blockbuster ballet The Great Gatsby, based on the story of the same title.

Breakin’ Convention – International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre

Breakin' Convention The international hip hop festival – Breakin’ Convention – will run from 1-4 May at Sadler’s Wells and Lilian Baylis Studio. Breakin’ Convention has firmly established itself as one of the major highlights on the British dance calendar and one of the world’s greatest celebrations of hip hop culture. 2015 will see performances from UK and international companies and crews, the 12th year of this hugely popular Sadler’s Wells Production, hosted and curated by Associate Artist Jonzi D.

While Breakin’ Convention is an event for the whole family, for the first time this year there will be an adult-only evening of entertainment in the Lilian Baylis Studio, an intimate show blending stylish cabaret, circus, live music and burlesque with hip hop. The main festival on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May sees Sadler’s Wells’ foyer transformed with live DJs, freestyle dance jams, graffiti exhibitions, workshops from top international artists and live aerosol art. Participatory activities will take place pre-show and during the interval. Full line-up to be announced 12 March 2015.

Artistic Director of Breakin’ Convention and Jonzi D Projects, Jonzi D has been actively involved in British hip hop culture in clubs and on the street since its genesis in the early 1980s. Since graduating from the London Contemporary Dance School, he has been committed to the development of hip hop theatre, in his former role as Associate Artist at The Place and by creating and performing dance theatre pieces worldwide.

Breakin’ Convention is committed to celebrating, elevating and supporting hip hop dance theatre: the company works with the most respected, innovative and inspirational hip hop artists in the industry. Through its world-renowned international festival, professional development, youth projects and educational programme, Breakin’ Convention seeks to position hip hop dance alongside more historically established artforms.

Tate Modern Set For A Dance Takeover

Tate Modern Logo The iconic Tate Modern is to become a museum of dance for 48 hours as 75 performers take over the gallery spaces for displays and workshops, and the Turbine Hall is transformed into a nightclub, planned by French choreographer Boris Charmatz. The May project will feature performances ranging from ballet to krump as well as works by the renowned Charmatz himself.

The project was inspired by Charmatz’s unique outlook on both dance and the world in general, in seeing the world differently and too the different elements of choreography within it. Changing the perspective of the Tate will be a test of what would happen if Charmatz and his dancers took over from a dance point of view.

Charmatz first worked with the Tate Modern in 2012 on a small performance piece, through which he began to discuss doing something more ambitious. Charmatz is a choreographer who is always looking beyond being a dancer and choreographer, and the dance space that has been given to him. Creating dance for a proscenium stage is not enough for him, and lead him to consider the points between the art gallery and the theatre. As a result, his dance experience will be explored in how it also connects to everybody else’s experience of dance and dancing.

The Tate will undergo a complete transformation for its two-day alteration, presenting choreography and pop-up ventures in the collection gallery and the public spaces. Whilst walking through the venue visitors may find an ex-international ballet dancer, someone performing improvisation or a krumper; Charmatz holds dear the idea of giving the heritage of dance away for free by teaching and giving people something to take away from the experience in the dancing museum.

BMW Tate Live: If Tate Modern was Musée de la Danse? will be taking place throughout Tate Modern from 15-16 May.

Curtain Up! – A Celebratory Exhibition

V&A Logo A special exhibition celebrating 40 years of theatre on Broadway and the West End is to run in both New York and London. Provisionally called Curtain Up!, the exhibition is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Olivier Awards in 2016, and will showcase past winners of the awards in the ultimate celebration of theatre and the arts in the two cities.

It will run first at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in February 2016, and then at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in the autumn of 2016. The venues are both collaborating with the Society of London Theatre on the exhibition and it will indefinitely honour the shared artistic heritage which connects London and New York.

The Curtain Up! exhibition is being designed by Tom Piper, the artist responsible for the poppy art installation at the Tower of London in 2014 in order to mark the centenary of the First World War. Curtain Up! is being curated by the Victoria & Albert Museum’s theatre department, with support from the Library for the Performing Arts in New York. Additional theatrical artifacts and material will be displayed from theatre collections across the UK and the US in order to enhance and support the exhibition.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has expressed his support of the exhibition, maintaining that it will celebrate the unique relationship that has been created between the two cities and what they offer in terms of theatre. The exhibition is also being supported by iconic actress Helen Mirren, who opens in The Audience on Broadway this month, having also appeared in the show in the West End. Alongside the exhibition an education programme will be run, which will be aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in the performing arts and spark a lifelong interest.

NSCD Presents VERVE 2015 Tour

Northern School of Contemporary Dance’s VERVE is the twelve-strong postgraduate performance company of the school, and for 2015 will be presenting a robust and highly physical tour of four contemporary dance works choreographed by celebrated artists: Kerry Nicholls, Theo Clinkard, Douglas Thorpe and Luca Silvestrini. This year’s programme features UK-based contemporary dance choreographers and shows the VERVE dancers in particularly physically demanding and theatrical work.

VERVE provides postgraduate students with experience working as a member of a professional dance company, following static training at NSCD in Leeds which is a world-class institution providing conservatoire level studies to the most talented and committed students regardless of their background. Providing the dance world with such skilled, strong dancers in such a physical and varied programme will be a delight for audiences.

The 2015 tour takes VERVE across the UK and Europe. Beginning in Leeds, the tour includes performances in Italy, Austria, Switzerland and London, presenting a dynamic and eclectic mixed bill of contemporary dance works. It will see Nicholls push the dancers to their limits with fast and intricate movement language that results in an energetic work. Leeds-based artist, Thorpe, creates his first work for the company, usually known for explosive, powerful and compelling dance theatre. Clinkard’s choreography sees the dancers’ transitions to professionals, and Silvestrini completes the programme with his unique style of dance theatre combining choreography, text, humour and social commentary to present the everyday in a revealing and subversive way.

VERVE is committed to pioneering new dance development and commissions both established dance artists and upcoming national and international choreographers to offer a dynamic, passionate and varied repertoire for its dancers and audiences. The company aims to create thought-provoking choreographic journeys that entertain, inspiring other young dancers to take to the stage.

Compete In Moving North

Take your dancing in a new direction with the Royal Academy of Dance and Moving North, an exciting new dance competition for 2015 open to young dancers aged 8-18, based in the north of England.

The RAD is looking for solos, duos and groups to perform a piece of original choreography in ballet, jazz, contemporary or street dance/hip hop to compete in three regional heats. No RAD experience is required but applicants must live in the UK or Ireland, and not be in full time dance training or have had any professional dance experience.

Taking place in four locations across northern England – Bolton, Leeds and York for the heats, and Salford for the Final, budding young performers from all over the UK can showcase their dancing. Heats will take place in Leeds on 3 May (closing date 9 March), Bolton on 10 May (closing date 16 March) and York on 21 June (closing date 13 April). You may apply to perform at any one of the three heats, regardless of where you are based or where you take dance classes.

The best performances from each heat will go through to the Moving North final at The Lowry in Salford on 18 July, which will be judged by a panel chaired by the RAD’s Artistic Director Lynn Wallis. The prize will be a VIP box at the annual Dance Proms (to be held at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 15 November 2015), as well as the of promotion of your act on the RAD’s website.

For further details and to download an application pack, visit www.rad.org.uk/moving-north

The Royal Ballet School Seminars

The Royal Ballet School has launched Inspire, a series of six seminars for classical ballet teachers starting in May 2015. Held across the UK, the inspiring events will support continued professional development and networking for dance professionals from all teaching backgrounds and societies, devised and delivered by the School. The seminars will explore good teaching practice and the foundations of classical ballet technique (non-syllabus based).

Each seminar can be attended as a one-off event but the School recommends that teachers take part in all six seminars in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the full Inspire series. A certificate of participation will be provided after each seminar, and on finishing the six seminars, a final certificate of completion of the Inspire programme will be awarded.

The series will launch with the first event in London in May 2015, delivered by Mark Annear and Karen Berry of The Royal Ballet School. The series will then run from autumn 2015 in London, and initially Birmingham, Cardiff, York and Edinburgh. Other locations will potentially be offered later as the programme progresses. Teachers will therefore be able to access some of the finest ballet training tutors in the country to share the world-class expertise of The Royal Ballet School to enrich their practice.

The School’s mission is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers for The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and other top international dance companies, and in doing so to set the standards in dance training, nationally and internationally. The School offers an eight-year carefully structured dance course, aligned with an extensive academic programme, giving the students the best possible education to equip them for a career in the world of dance. Keeping in line with this, the Inspire programme will produce teachers with a well-rounded knowledge to take back to their classrooms.

National Deaf Children’s Society Seeks Aspiring Deaf Dancers And Musicians

National Deaf Children's Society A new competition from the National Deaf Children’s Society – named Raising The Bar – has been announced in order to encourage young deaf dancers and musicians to showcase their performance skills. Entering is simple, just through the NDCS website, and could mean the young artists could show off their talents and attend a masterclass led by successful deaf dancers and musicians.

Young artists aged 8-16 have until 22 February to create and submit a 1-2 minute video of themselves performing a dance or music routine via the Buzz website. To do this, they must first upload the video to YouTube and then provide the link when completing the entry form. 10 lucky winners will then be selected to attend a two day masterclass on 24 and 25 May in Birmingham. There are no boundaries: it can be any kind of dance or music, from hip hop to ballet, or playing the clarinet to signed song!

The entrants must be a resident in the UK, and if an entrant is under the age of 13, the YouTube account used to upload the entrant’s video must be an adult’s. Runners up will receive prizes of Amazon vouchers worth £25, and for the winners, there will be the opportunity to meet and be mentored by current successful deaf musicians and dancers. Danny Lane, an acclaimed deaf pianist from Music and the Deaf; Ruth Montgomery, a very successful deaf flautist; and Ava M Blake and Billy Read from world famous Defmotion will all be involved.

At the end of the masterclass, there will also be a chance to take part in a variety performance to an audience, following the opportunity to meet other deaf peers with the same interests – it sounds a lot of fun!

VAULT Festival 2015

Vault Festival 2015 Following the enormous success of last year’s festival, VAULT returns to Waterloo’s Leake Street tunnels from 28 January-8 March. Specifically, dance and physical theatre are one of VAULT’s areas of excellence this year with a wide programme of powerful and provocative shows taking over the venue.

Six weeks of live entertainment will see Heritage Arts present a carefully curated, high quality multi-arts programme across seven different spaces under Waterloo station. This year’s highlights include the London premieres of radical theatre company Filter’s Macbeth as well as True Brits, a brand new play from Rich Mason Productions and HighTide Festival Theatre. They are joined by multidisciplinary and interactive Artful Badger’s first ever narrative production and the comedian and performance artist Yve Blake.

With more than 30,000 tickets available, 500 individual events and over 80 artistic groups, the line-up comprises some of the most exciting emerging artists and companies in a programme of music, performance, dance, comedy, discussions, debates and one-off late night events, all taking place in a secret maze of underground tunnels behind a single door.

Acts this year include masculine-feminist pop sensation Dani Frankenstien, Superbolt Theatre’s epic man versus monster adventure Jurassic Park, one-man-shows from the likes of Move To Stand, Rolemop Arts, Matthew Bellwood, Jessica Burgess, Tristran Bernays, cabaret from taxidermist Charlie Tuesday Gates and her gang, ensemble theatre from Dumbshow, d’Animate, Edinburgh sensations House of Blakewell and many many more.

The Festival Director has ensured the event has a pulse of many voices – there are 500 individual events happening at VAULT, chosen by mixture of invitation, public submission and charitable competition, so each day has a unique heartbeat. The programming philosophy looks for passion and ability and VAULT’s learned that artistic groups grow in knowledge by observation and practice. It is now the longest, biggest, broadest, most central performing arts festival in London, all behind one magical door in Waterloo.