Guest Workshops
SDC is hosting a three-day Residency with Anna Macdonald from Forecast Dance.
When: 30th, 31st August & 1st September 2010, 10am-4pm
Where: SHOP, Stoke Town, Stoke-on-Trent
(www.shop-stoke.co.uk)
Cost: £30
Window works
A person is invited to come to a window in a particular
building at a particular time. There they find a place to sit and something to
drink. At some point a woman will come into their view from the window and
write something on a piece of paper – she holds it up and they read 'this is
for you'...then she starts to dance.
Based in
a disused shop in a busy area of Stoke Town the residency will begin to explore
and develop material for a site-specific dance designed to be seen from a
window. Participants will look at ways of working with site, playing with the
peculiar romance involved in trying to communicate across a distance. The work
will be fun and accessible encouraging people to work to their own strengths.
The residency will culminate in an informal sharing of the work in progress on
the final day.
Background - www.forecastdance.org
Anna
Macdonald has been artistic director of Forecast dance since 2002. Their work
has been described as creating 'an inspired and interesting link between
live art, experimental dance and accessible, entertaining performance.’ (Vincent Cacalano, Magpie
Dance, Amsterdam). Forecast have received significant Arts council funding for
producing and touring several full length works. Members of the collective have
collaborated with artists such as; Andrea Buckley, Heidi Rustgaarde (H2 Dance),
Thomas Lehman, Piano Circus and Motion House. Alongside their UK touring they
have been selected for LEAP international festival of dance, Short cuts festival,
Preston, VideoDanzaBA International Video dance festival, Argentina and
recently won a commission to create a site specific work for this Autumn's 'Up
the Wall' festival in Chester.
Places are limited so
please contact Anna at forecastdance@me.com
or Clare at admin@staffsdancecollective.co.uk for further info and to book your
place.
Workshop with Bettina Strickler
When: Sunday 29th August 2010 1pm-4pm
Where: Axis Arts Centre, MMU, Crewe
Cost: £7/£5 concession
Bettina studied dance and choreography at Laban. She
was co-artistic director of dance theatre company Protein Dance from 1997-2005,
winning a Bonnie Bird Award in 1999 and a Jerwood Award for Choreography in
2000. During her time with Protein Dance, she was commissioned to make work for
CandoCo, Transitions, Welsh Independent Dance and the Wapping Project, amongst
others. She was Choreographer in Residence at The Place (jointly with Luca
Silvestrini) from 2001-2003.
Bettina
has been a freelance choreographer for the past five years. Her recent work
includes commissions for From Here To Maturity Dance Company, East London
Dance, Fireraisers Theatre Company, London Metropolitan University and the
Watermill Theatre, Newbury. Bettina was artistic director of the National Youth
Dance Festival 2006, 2007 and 2010 and was a semi-finalist of the Place Prize
2008.
Workshop Content
We will start by asking: "What is choreography?" and will try to find some answers (or more questions..?) by examining very simple, basic choreographic principles, such as bodies in space, simple movement patterns and unison movement. This exploration will be very playful, involving lots of improvisation, group discussion and playing of physical games. The participants will get a chance to choreograph short sequences and show them to each other. Hopefully, by the end of the session, we will know a little bit more about what 'works' for us in choreography, what some of the options are and how we might want to develop them in the future.
For directions to the Axis Centre visit: www.axisartscentre.org.uk
Helen Parlor
Sunday 23rd September 2007 1pm-4pm
Helen's classes are very physical working the whole body in a grounded and powerful manner. The class will explore floor based work leading through the spirals of jumps and turns. Helen's vocabulary enjoys keeping a musicality at a challenging pace. The class will be followed by a contact and character workshop with skills of how to create movement for yourself and others,
especially when you feel you have run out of ideas!
Helen has worked with choreographers Scott Ambler, Yael Flexor, Jonathon Lunn, Nikky Smedley and Mark Bruce. In 1999 she joined Motionhouse and stayed with them to tour 'Atomic','Fearless', 'Volatile' and 'Perfect'. During this time Helen co-choreographed site specifics in Witley Court, 'The Big House' and Polesworth Abbey and became dance captain and rehearsal director. Helen also works as a choreographer and regularly choreographs on youth companies.
Helen was artistic director for the all male dance company "Full Force" run
through Hampshire Dance. In 2006 Helen went to Oslo to join 'Panta Rei' and toured Norway, Sweden and India with work made by Anne Ekenes and Jamie Watton. Helen currently works as a freelancer working with many different organisations as a performer, facilitator and choreographer.
Kompany Malakhi - Kwesi Johnson
Sunday 7th October 2007, 1pm-4pm
Kwesi Johnson, Artistic Director of Kompany Malakhi and self-styled ‘Griographer’, is part of a new generation of artists who are bringing their eclectic experiences to dance. A graduate of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, he has performed with some of the most prolific international companies and choreographers from Phoenix Dance Company, Lloyd Newson, Black Mime Theatre, Company Duroure, CandoCo Dance Company, Hittite Empire and IRIE! dance theatre. Since creating Kompany Malakhi in 1994, Johnson has grown from strength to strength by pushing creative boundaries and developing fresh and sophisticated ideas.
New Art Club - Tom Roden
Sunday 21st October 2007 1pm-4pm
"New Art Club was formed in 2001 by Tom Roden and Pete Shenton. The duo's inimitable combination of dance, theatre and comedy has been experienced by many through their repertoire of comedy dance shows. New Art Club believe that choreography is an easy, accessible artistic discipline that can be practised by all. They create a safe, supportive environment for artists to work in and with an inclusive and demystifying approach to skills-based sessions, their work aims to have a memorable and important effect on the creative and physical development of artists." Cost : £6/£4 (discounts for MMU 3rd Year Students)
Venue: MMU, Alsager Campus www.cheshire.mmu.ac.uk
Places are limited. Please call or email, to reserve your place. Payment is needed in advance to secure a place on these workshops.
Filip Van Huffel, Retina Dance Company
Thanks for a great workshop on 13th May 2007! Filip Van Huffel, choreographer and Artistic Director of the Anglo/Belgian Retina Dance, will start the workshop with a technique class that focuses on the process of movement, exploring the flow of energy through the body, emphasising efficiency and freedom. Fast paced and quirky, his class uses continuous flow, weight and breath to energise movement through the space and body.
The choreographic workshop will incorporate taught material, improvisation and an opportunity for the participants to work with choreographic devices Filip uses within his own work. Incorporating solo and partner work, the content will focus on the process of movement rather than shape, and the internal motivation of movement to produce physically vibrant movement material.
Julia Griffin
Thanks to Julia who delivered a workshop in February
Working from an anatomical base, participants engage the interior landscape of the body through visual imagery and anatomical information and progress from deep breathing phrases to more complex movement sequences that develop the body's natural weight moving through space. The class is structured to allow the participant to engage in a deep sense of release of tension through articulation of the body's skeletal framework. Class consists of standing, floor and travelling phrases.