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Soft Tissue Therapy For Dancers

Soft tissue therapy is a method used to assist dancers in building and maintaining flexibility and facility, as well as treating injuries, in keeping the body both strong and supple. Using soft tissue therapy aids dancers in reaching their potential: sometimes referred to as massage, the technique covers such a broad range of entities the term massage cannot encompass them.

In soft tissue therapy, all the soft tissues of the body are concentrated on, as well as the systems of the body which maintain wellness. Dancers must maintain their bodies as their instrument, and in that comes muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia, connective tissue and so on. Dancers may seek the therapy because of injury, or even small aches and pains. Others may come to increase flexibility or fluidity, and to check they are working at their capacity. As a result, soft tissue therapy can be about both improving performance as well as diagnosing and treating injuries.

For some therapists, working on soft tissues is not always about being ‘hands-on’, but also about working with occupational therapy and the mind-body connection which both affect the state of soft tissues. Dancers sometimes have to be trained to let the body relax and release tension to enable them to perform better – visualisation and relaxation techniques can help along with concentrating on breathing. Positive thinking is another technique that is encouraged to help dancers, along with visualisation techniques to help them see the body doing what they want.

In enhancing the benefits of soft tissue therapy it is important to be aware of the body and not ignore things, as early intervention is the best intervention. To get the best out your body you must ultimately believe in yourself, and believe that your body can do what you want it to do.

Tamara Ashley: A Figurehead In Digital Dance

Tamara Ashley works as an artistic director, curator, academic, writer and choreographer. She is currently the Artistic Director of dancedigital and also directs the MA Dance Performance and Choreography programme at the University of Bedfordshire. As Artistic Director of dancedigital, she has led on projects such as Digital Futures in Dance and the recent dancedigital festival, with a particular focus on supporting artists in the development of their work.

Tamara began her dance education in Hertfordshire as a member of the Herts Youth Dance Company in the early 1990s. Following that she undertook her undergraduate dance training at Roehampton Institute London and Goucher College, USA. With the support of a full scholarship she went on to earn an MFA in Choreography and PhD in Dance from Texas Woman’s University.

Where did it all begin?

Coincidentally I joined Hertfordshire youth dance company which is now taken care of by dancedigital! I went on to study at university which led to me studying in the ISA and establishing myself as a dance artist. I then moved into teaching dance and working on projects before becoming part of dancedigital which I’ve been leading for four years. We had a rocky, challenging period of funding cuts, structural reviews and renewal of our focus but now we are expanding.

What is a typical day like at dancedigital?

Wow! First I check in with the staff and producers and go through the agenda for the day. I then work through my emails and speak to the artists we are working with, such as helping them plan. I talk to teachers, funders, write funding applications, present the organisation to national bodies and above all try to advance digital dance. I am also mentoring on the Youth Dance England Young Creatives scheme in which I give advice as the participants look at their work in progress. My main role however is to represent our organisation in advising and mentoring younger artists.

What do you like most about dance?

Aside from the digital aspects I am also really interested in the health and wellness side of dance. I am also a yoga instructor and look closely at connecting with the body and connecting interactive projections with somatic experiences. I look at new experiences of embodiment, leading onto the 4D experience of the body with digital dance as a view into the future. It is important to develop and understand the body’s place within the world.

Explain the idea behind the newest dancedigital project…

The dancedigitall festival is to be presented at the University of Bedfordshire from 25-27 May, including presentations by Focus, Essex’s youth dance company. Focus is for 14-18 year old dancers and the company is directed by Robert Gentle, a digital dance development specialist. The main focus of the group is on the creative skills of the dancers. The festival will be a full weekend of talks, performances, installations and immersive dance, such as that with lights which are fed by movement.

dancedigital received funding from the Royal Opera House bridge which prompted further experimentation with new digital techniques, meaning the organisation is the first to do this. The support for arts and technology came early on, resulting in interactive and light based work, 3D work, partnering and a rich quality of movement with detailed movement vocabulary.

What is your greatest achievement to date?

At the moment it is seeing the work of the artists of dancedigital and their innovation and success. They have secured funding and touring commissions which makes me very proud. I would also say the technological focus of the youth dance company is also a great achievement, as it is an innovation in their field and a very special experience for young people.

What’s next for you?

We are looking at the future network of the schools we work with in Essex and Hertfordshire, as well as working on a new app. It will be a choreographic app for young people to encourage them to make movement for themselves and to inspire them. It will be aimed at primary school children as a movement project for them.

Busby Berkeley: More Hollywood Treatment

The son of an actor and actress, Busby Berkeley became a Broadway dance director in the 1920s after serving in the army during World War I. He came to Hollywood to work on films like Eddie Cantor’s Whoopee! in 1930 and turned to directing with the 1933 She Had to Say Yes and then Gold Diggers. He continued to work throughout the 1940s and early 50s, aiming to help people escape the misery of those eras, full of breadlines, depression and wars.

Now Warner Bros. Pictures is giving iconic choreographer Busby Berkeley the chance to be reborn, with actor Ryan Gosling rumoured to play the famous director and choreographer of musicals from Hollywood’s golden age. Named “Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley” by Jeffrey Spivak, the adaptation is set to be produced by Marc Platt and Gosling.

Platt has musical experience in that he produced Broadway’s box-office hit Wicked, and is currently working on Disney’s adaptation of the Broadway musical Into the Woods, for release in December. He also produced the popular film Legally Blonde, which was turned into a Broadway and then West End musical.

Berkeley became famous for his elaborate dance routines in Hollywood musicals, such as the 1933 42nd Street and the 1935 Gold Diggers, two of the many movies he choreographed for Warners. He was especially famous for his overhead shots in which chorus girls performed shifting kaleidoscopic patterns, and he earned three Oscar nominations for best dance direction, a category that no longer exists. These overhead spectacles are awe-inspiring, the choreographic movement impeccable.

Sandrine Monin At the Yorkshire Festival

Sandrine Monin, who will be performing in Ghost Peloton with NVA & Phoenix Dance Theatre, is a professional dancer anticipating the upcoming performance of the Yorkshire Festival.

When did you begin dancing, where and why?

I started dancing when I was about 3 years old in France. I think it was kind of a love at first sight with dancing. My Mum and I went to pick up a friend at a dance school and apparently I started twirling around and imitating them. Then I just told her that I wanted to dance.

What were your early years of dancing like?

I began dancing so young that my early years dancing were mostly for fun, enjoying moving, learning routines. I started with modern dance and when I was about 7 I went to ballet classes, but then I was just having a blast dancing, regardless of any technique.

But slowly, deep inside, I kind of knew that I wanted to become a dancer, even though it seemed more like a little girl’s dream back then. But the idea stuck on and I knew I needed to start focusing on my technique.

How long have you been performing? Did you start young?

It seems like I’ve always been performing. As kid we would have a dance school show every year, then I had performances within my training and it went on until I started performing professionally five years ago.

Where did you train and what was a typical day like?

At 16, I started my vocational training in the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon in France where I trained in mostly ballet, but also repertoire, partnering work and contemporary dance as well as theoretical subjects (history of dance, anatomy, music) from 9am until 6pm. Meanwhile I carried on with my academic studies at home through a distance learning organisation.

After I graduated at 19 I wished to extend my skills in contemporary dance. I moved to Germany and entered the Dance Apprentice Network aCross Europe where I worked with choreographers such as William Forsythe and Wayne McGregor. There I kept working on my contemporary and ballet training and was opened up to theatre and new technologies used.

What is a typical day like now?

Now as part of a company, my day officially starts at 10am with an hour and fifteen minute class, but I would always be in the studio at least half an hour earlier to warm up. Then we have rehearsals until 5.30pm, with one hour lunch break. In rehearsals we learn and create new pieces or work on existing ones, getting ready for the next performance to come.

How do you keep on top of your technique?

I take class every working day, contemporary or ballet according to which teacher we have. In the company we consider classes an integral part of the training and not just warm up. So everyday class is a way to improve your technique. In rehearsals, we are pushed to never be comfortable in a piece and to always challenge our own limits. We are also encouraged to try and use other techniques (yoga, pilates, gyrokinesis) and we go to the gym to build strength and stamina.

What would you say was your greatest achievement to date?

I’m just thankful to be able to live of my passion. And at the risk of being cheesy I’m glad I realised that little girl’s dream.

Which part of dance do you enjoy most?

My favorite part is definitely being on stage. It’s such an exquisite feeling to get into a character, abstract or not, and show its story to an audience. I also love how any new piece forces you to rise to a new challenge.

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to be part of the dance industry?

I think first of all you have got to love it. It’s a hard and competitive world and sometimes it feels unreachable but don’t give up.

Then, just be curious, make your own research, watch as many shows or videos as you can, surround yourself with all kind of arts. Stay open to anything, any style, don’t make preferences because you never know when it can be useful.

What’s next for you?

We are – at the moment – on tour with our new programme, but preparing the “Ghost Peloton” on the side, a performance for the departure of the Tour de France in Leeds. Then we are going to start creating a new programme very soon, so just a lot of dancing for now!

Events of the Yorkshire Festival run across Yorkshire between 28 March and 5 July 2014.

Photo Credit: Richard Moran.

O Snap at the Unicorn Theatre

O Snap at the Unicorn Theatre O Snap, a co-production of Het Lab Utrecht, tanzhaus NRW and supported by Take-Off: Junger Tanz Dusseldorf and Grand Theatre/Jonge Harten Theaterfestival Groningen is set to run from 22-23 May at the Unicorn Theatre in London. Aimed at participants aged 13 and above, O Snap is a dance performance about finding your own identity in an overloaded world.

The performance brings together three young dancers to explore friendship, loyalty and what matters most when you’re young, something which is incredibly identifiable during the teen years. Presented for just two days during May, O Snap is definitely not something to pass up.

The work has been created by Erik Kaiel, a choreographer who has been making dances for over 20 years, having started his career in New York where he stayed for a decade before moving to the Netherlands where he is currently based. Kaiel brings a multitude of experience to the Unicorn Theatre: he now dances, choreographs and teaches across Europe. He also tours extensively with arch8 productions with whom he has been making performances with young dancers in public spaces, in locations such as Benin, Senegal, Egypt, Frankfurt, Utrecht and the Hague. In 2010 Kaiel won the No Ballet Competition in Germany and the Dutch national prize for choreographic potential.

As well as the performances of O Snap, there will be free pre-show practical workshops to get involved in that will explore the themes of cooperation and self-expression – the workshops will take place an hour before each show and are suitable for all experience levels in order to enhance the O Snap performances.

There will also be a Unicorn Late event after the show on 23 May, where the Unicorn’s bar will extend its hours and there will be live music to enjoy in the foyer.

Get Scotland Dancing!

More than 250 arts organisations are taking part in Get Scotland Dancing, part of the four-year legacy culture programme for Glasgow 2014 aimed at getting more people of Scotland up on their feet and moving to music. As a country which has a high level of obesity, the Get Scotland Dancing campaign is a fantastic initiative to encourage more people to engage with dance through the various methods of the programme of activity.

Full details of the programme have been announced, with the majority of events designed to encourage participation, and many involve taster sessions for dance organisations. The programme is particularly geared towards mass, participatory events. This includes the Big Dance Pledge, a new dance created by Scottish Ballet which will be performed worldwide in mass-dances on 16 May. Participants will be able to learn the dances by watching videos online. Meanwhile, there will be a succession of ceilidhs around the world, all starting at 7.30pm on 21 June, forming the 24 Hour Commonwealth Ceilidh.

Performance events of the Get Scotland Dancing programme include a youth dance festival led by Scotland’s YDance involving 36 dance groups from commonwealth countries at the Glasgow Tramway from 10-12 July. Youth dance companies from all over the country will be participating, such as Quicksilver, the youth company of Britain’s oldest dance company, Rambert. The programme also includes a new interpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons created by choreographers and community dance artists Royston Maldoom and Tamara McLorg, which will premiere in Aberdeen on 20 July. Lastly, Gathered Together, an international inclusive dance festival hosted by Indepen-dance at the Tramway, will run from 27-30 August.

Full details of Get Scotland Dancing and associated events are at www.getscotlanddancing.org

Boris Eifman: Russia’s Gem

Renowned choreographer, and Artistic Director of Eifman Ballet for over 37 years, Boris Eifman talks about his latest work shown at London’s Coliseum…

Mr Eifman, how did it all begin?

Dancing first began in my mother’s tummy when I began making my first moves! I always new I should be a dancer – I went to dance school and always felt an urge to express myself through dance. You cannot be taught to become a choreographer, you have to be born one.

So where did your choreographic career begin?

I went through general education and professional education later on followed by a dance academy – I felt this was necessary in order to communicate with the world on a professional level. During my ballet school years I started to choreograph and with growing experience there was the realisation that I was a professional choreographer.

What do you like most about choreography?

Choreography is a very individual thing but for me I find it extraordinary to be able to share emotions with an audience that you experience on a personal level. To influence the way they feel is a unique feeling for me.

What would you say was your greatest achievement to date?

I have actively directed my company for 37 years: my greatest achievement is the opportunity for my company to remain one of the most creative and unique companies, one which continues to develop.

What are your upcoming pieces about?

Anna Karenina is the story of a woman captivated by lust and passion; it is the emotional struggle which is depicted in the performance rather than rebelling the story, showing what she went through.

Rodin is a performance about culture and the famous lover Camille, the passion of her relationships. It looks at the creative process and the emotions within this, and the relationship between two people.

Do you have a connection to these pieces? What inspired you to create?

I can personally relate to Rodon as I understand it on an individual level, about the artistic struggle, the emotional processes of a career, life and love life, and thousands more can relate to this too. Rodin is a huge success all over the world and I feel privileged to show it in London.

What’s next for you?

It is lovely to dedicate myself to a bit of everything! I want to continue choreographing, develop my company and a new generation of artistic elites and work on the Dance Palace. I’m planning to open a new theatre in St Petersburg called the Dance Palace: it will be unique. There will be three companies and centuries of Russian ballet – the nineteenth century, my own company and a new company of the twenty-first century which will be particularly quintessential and avant-garde.

Ignition Call-Out

Ignition Dance Festival Ignition is a brand new dance festival in Kingston, delivered by the Royal borough of Kingston and supported by Arts Council England. Ignition is seeking six dance companies or choreographers to create a brand new work for a dance platform at The Rose Theatre in the borough, during the International Youth Arts Festival on 12 July. The opportunity to present a work in the festival would be notable for any choreographer.

Each company will have access to two research and development weekends with BalletBoyz (at the end of May) and Roehampton Dance of the University of Roehampton (at the end of June), dance studio space at Kingston University, and a professionally produced platform at The Rose Theatre to display the work.

Either a choreographer or dance company can apply, however the choreographer/company must be under the age of 26, or working with dancers under the age of 26 years, tying into the International Youth Arts Festival where the work is to be presented. Choreographers/companies must apply for the project with a brand new idea that will be developed and created for the platform, with each piece a maximum of 10 minutes long.

Deadline for applications is Thursday 24 April: if the choreographer/company is successful, they will be notified by Thursday 8 May. The platform event at The Rose Theatre will take place on 12 July. There will be a budget contribution of £500 per choreographer/company.

How to Apply

Are you applying as a choreographer or company?
Send an outline of your previous choreographic experience (300 words), an outline of the new idea you would like to explore (500 words), a link to previous work that can be viewed online and a draft budget of how you plan to use the £500 contribution.

Please send all information to: Rosie Whitney-Fish, Ignition Producer (rosiewhitneyfish @ googlemail.com) by Thursday 24 April.

Yorkshire Festival 2014

The first ever Yorkshire Festival recently got underway as the official countdown to the Tour de France begins. Yorkshire Festival 2014 is the first ever arts festival to precede the Tour de France, the world’s biggest annual sporting event: the festival will run from 27 March to 6 July 2014. Yorkshire Festival is the first cultural festival in the Tour de France’s 111 year history. The events will take place in the 100 days leading up the first two race days of the Tour, The Grand Départ, this year hosted by Yorkshire.

Inspired by Le Tour, the majority of Yorkshire Festival’s programme is free to access. The Yorkshire Festival will showcase the very best that the region has to offer and will highlight the strength and depth of art and culture throughout the county to a huge number of visitors over the next few months as well as celebrate the vigour and ambition of the sector.

Out of almost 400 bids, 47 projects were commissioned to be officially part of the 100-day festival – which will also include hundreds of fringe events. In particular, Bicycle with Barefoot, will be part of Yorkshire Festival later this year on 27 and 28 June. Inspired by the temple dance tradition of Kuchipudi originating in Andrha Pradesh, Southern India, Bicycle with Barefoot brings ancient rhythms to a modern context. Dancing on a real blank canvas, movement-based storytelling combines with drumming and live music to guide the dancers. Abhinandana MK, Kopal Vedam and Navya Rattehalli reveal a story that is literally narrated through the body to create a visual remnant of the event.

The Annapurna dancers are experts in their field, using physical storytelling to speak to people across language barriers and maintain well-loved stories from Indian mythology. Their performances are underpinned by rigorous training that allows them to share this age-old language through precise movements and perfectly timed gestures.

Based in Yorkshire the company has worked relentlessly in education and community with many successful inspirational projects for over 20 years and their forthcoming Bicycle with Barefoot has been commissioned by Yorkshire Festival 2014. The idea derived from a dance style called Kuchipudi from the state of Andhra Pradesh, India in which the footsteps of the dancers inscribe designs for narrating ancient stories onto a blank canvas beneath them. It is a rare and unique concept of printing whilst dancing with barefoot and combines live music and uplifting drumming.

dancedigital Festival

dancedigital, in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire, is to present the dancedigital Festival from 25-27 April. dancedigital is one of the UK’s leading dance organisations based in Bedfordshire and Essex, renowned for leading the dance field in the development of technical innovations in choreography and dance. In April, to celebrate the latest achievements and best work of an outstanding group of dance practitioners, the organisation will stage its first digital dance festival at the University of Bedfordshire.

The festival will showcase the best and most exciting digital performances and installations by a range of dancedigital’s Associate Artists and Catalyst Artists, who will be showing their work in public for the first time. Performers and filmmakers will follow the festival’s theme of how digital technologies can transform the experience of choreography onstage, online, inside, outside. Performers include the award winning filmmaker Rachel Davies, choreographer and dancer Annie Lok, dance practitioners Luke Pell and Jo Verrent, dancer Tim Casson and video technologist Tom Butterworth, and visual artist Rachel Cherry.

This fantastic cohort of artists will bring together the arts, science and technology to create meaningful, touching and rich experiences for audiences, utilising the meeting of arts and science in performance to create new views in a technological culture. The festival will not only bring cutting edge performance to the area but will also provide exciting opportunities for the students and nearby arts communities to explore innovative approaches to performance.

Performances, workshops, learning and participation events are just some of what is on offer over the weekend. In particular, panels and workshops will be led by distinguished practitioners and teachers including Professor Helen Bailey, pioneering DJ and filmmaker Alex Reuben, Anthony Lilley, Chief Creative Officer and CEO of Magic Lantern, the award-winning interactive media and multiplatform creative house and consultancy, Kerry Franksen dance and intermedia artist and Nina Martin, international teacher, dancer and choreographer as well as performances and installations.