Monthly Archives: May 2018

NYDC workshops get young people dancing nationwide

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National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) has begun delivering its annual series of experience workshops across the UK, showcasing its talent and encouraging young people to dance. The workshops are aimed at anyone aged 16 to 18 (or up to 24 if deaf or disabled) who is interested in dance, or looking to pursue a career in the sector. A selected number of participants will be called back to a final workshop at Sadler’s Wells later in the year, after which 30 young dancers will be invited to officially join the company’s next cohort.

Run by Sadler’s Wells, NYDC seeks out the brightest talent in dance from across England to work closely with renowned professional artists. Since its inception in November 2012, the company has built a reputation for creating ground-breaking work and producing high-calibre artists that are curious and brave. Each year, a different group of 30 dancers has the opportunity to work with a world-class choreographer and their creative team to create new work and perform it at art venues around the country. Acclaimed dance makers Jasmin Vardimon, Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Michael Keegan-Dolan, Damien Jalet and Sharon Eyal have been Guest Artistic Directors of NYDC in previous years. Emerging choreographer Botis Seva was recently announced a the next Guest Artistic Director for the company, which has been performing to over 30,000 people to date.

NYDC’s experience workshops give participants a sense of what life is like as a NYDC dancer. Participants join a company class, get to learn repertoire from NYDC productions and take part in different creative tasks. This is a great chance for young aspiring dancers to meet the company, learn more about it and further their personal trajectory in the world of dance.

In line with Sadler’s Wells’ core ethos and values, NYDC prides itself on being open and inclusive. Its workshops actively encourage dancers from a wide range of abilities, backgrounds and dance styles. A diversity of experience makes for a better team, and it is an important part of our working practice to bring the workshops as far as possible outside London, to those who otherwise might not be able to take part. An in-built philosophy within the Company is that of giving back – the sharing with others of what has for so many been a fundamentally life-changing experience.

The company is embarking on a concurrent tour to eight venues across England with Used to be Blonde, its latest production by Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Sharon Eyal, with music by composer Ori Lichtik. The show has been commissioned as part of a series of 20 original works celebrating the 20th anniversary of Sadler’s Wells’ current building in Rosebery Avenue – the sixth to be built on the site since the theatre was first established in 1683.

NYDC will deliver experience workshops in 18 cities across England throughout May, June and July. For more information, visit the NYDC website. Participation in the workshops is free, but places must be booked using the online booking form. Tickets for performances of Used To Be Blonde are available here. 

Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella Coming to Cinemas Nationwide

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Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella will be screening in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Tuesday 15 May. This special cinema event will be followed by a Q&A with Matthew Bourne broadcast LIVE by satellite from the Curzon Soho in Shaftesbury Avenue, London.

The Q&A will be hosted by Sarah Crompton, Joint Chief Critic for WhatsOnStage and one of Britain’s most respected writers and broadcasters. Sarah will invite questions from the audience at Curzon Soho as she talks to Matthew Bourne about his award-winning production of Cinderella and his career as one of Britain’s leading choreographers.

Matthew Bourne said: “Cinderella is one of my most heartfelt works and a personal favourite amongst my re-imagined classic stories. I’m thrilled that this beautifully filmed production will be in cinemas nationwide on 15 May and that the screening will be followed by a live Q&A. I’m very much looking forward to talking directly to cinema audiences on the night.”

Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella is a thrilling and evocative love story set in London during the Second World War. The internationally acclaimed choreographer’s interpretation of the classic fairy tale has, at its heart, a true war-time romance. A chance meeting results in a magical night for Cinderella, danced by Ashley Shaw, and her dashing young RAF pilot Andrew Monaghan, together just long enough to fall in love before being parted by the horrors of the Blitz. A talented cast of New Adventures veterans and exciting young dancers perform in the production filmed live at Sadler’s Wells, including Liam Mower as the Angel, Michela Meazza as the Step-Mother and Alan Vincent as Cinderella’s Father.

The sights and sounds of war-torn London are recreated by Lez Brotherston’s Olivier Award-winning costumes and sets, lighting by Olivier Award-winning Neil Austin, video and projection designs by Duncan McLean, and surround sound designed by Paul Groothuis. Matthew Bourne’s vivid story telling has never been more heart-stopping and touching, and will take the audience into the heart of Prokofiev’s magnificent score.

Filmed live at Sadler’s Wells, London, in December 2017, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella is directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon and produced by Illuminations.

To book tickets for the screening and live Q&A event at Curzon Soho visit their website. Submit questions for the Q&A in advance on Twitter #AskSirMatt @NewAdventures @More2Screen.

A teacher’s perspective on our Associate Schools scheme

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Sadler’s Wells works closely with a number of local schools in north and east London, with the aim of widening participation in the arts for young people by integrating dance into their education. Our Learning & Engagement team devises a bespoke programme of workshops and events for each of the 12 Associate Schools, so that students can benefit from classes and talks by dance professionals, and their teachers are supported in delivering dance as part of the curriculum.

Here, Carolyn Wells – Head of the Performance and PE Faculty at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington – speaks about her experience of our Associate Schools scheme:

“As a dance teacher, I am a great believer in the importance of the arts in education and the lasting, positive impact they have on young people. It’s all about experiences, in the classroom and beyond. It has been an absolute joy to be an Associate School with Sadler’s Wells, and the scheme’s ethos goes hand-in-hand with the ethos of the dance department here at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School (EGA).

We officially became an Associate School of Sadler’s Wells in the summer of 2017 and when term began in September, the opportunities that the dance department and our students have received have been second to none – and we haven’t even finished the school year yet! As part of the scheme, EGA students took part in a workshop with Rambert, Britain’s oldest dance company, to aid with their study of A Linha Curva for GCSE. Oh – and not forgetting to mention this was on the main stage! That’s right, our girls have trodden the same boards as world-renowned dance companies, choreographers and artists. The very next day we returned to watch Rambert’s matinée performance of A Linha Curva, and other works. The ability to see professionals perform what our students had learnt on the same stage truly brought learning to life.

Later, we had the opportunity to attend an audition for Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Matthew Bourne’s company New Adventures. This resulted in 11 of our students working with the company dancers and other school pupils to create a curtain raiser piece that was performed during the run of New Adventures’ Cinderella. It was such a special and unforgettable moment for the girls involved.

More recently, Sadler’s Wells’ Director of Technical & Production Emma Wilson and her team came into school to help us to ‘make sense’ of our lighting and sound system in our school theatre space. So thanks to a world-class and very friendly team of technicians, it’s all working much better now.

I’m so pleased we’ve had the opportunity to forge this partnership with Sadler’s Wells and their education coordinator Sara Daniels. I can’t wait to see where it leads.”

Sadler’s Wells distills Elixir at Age on Stage

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Sadler’s Wells’ Elixir festival will be among the examples of best practice in highlighting the contribution of older dancers to be presented at Age on Stage this summer.

Following successful editions in 2015 and 2017, Age on Stage – the brainchild of Swedish choreographer Charlotta Öfverholm – returns with a one-day festival of activities on 2 June in celebration of dancing at a mature age. Taking place at Dansens Hus in Stockholm, the event includes a documentary screening, performances by dancers over 45, talks and presentations.

Among the speakers is our Director of Learning & Engagement Joce Giles, who will discuss the Elixir festival at Sadler’s Wells. The festival, which we programmed for the first time in 2014, recognises the contribution to the art form made by older dancers and challenges assumptions about who can dance. By showcasing the richness and benefits of creativity in later life, it wants to promote discussion on the value of dancing at an older age, and to advocate for more work created and performed by older artists to be made and shared with wider audiences. It also hopes to encourage more older people to take up dancing as a way to be physically and mentally active.

Our commitment to this issue is longstanding. We have been running two initiatives aimed at engaging over-60s in dance at Sadler’s Wells for many years: the Lilian Baylis Arts Club and the Company of Elders. The Lilian Baylis Arts Club gives participants the opportunity to learn more about dance and our programme through weekly meetings with artists and performers, workshops and visits to shows. The Company of Elders, established in 1989, is the embodiment of the social and health benefits of dancing at 60+. The company has worked with internationally renowned choreographers and performed in prestigious venues across the UK and overseas, from the Houses of Parliament to the Venice Biennale.

The Elixir Festival was born as a natural continuation and expansion of our work with older dancers. Following the success of its first edition, we presented the festival again in 2017, with a successful four-day programme of performances, workshops and events.

Other speakers in attendance at Age on Stage will be Christopher Roman, former Associate Artistic Director of The Forsythe Company and Artistic Director of DANCE ON ENSEMBLE, who performed at Elixir last year; and Cecilia Ferm-Almqvist and Ninnie Andersson from Luleå Tekniska Universitet, who will present the results of their research on workshops for people aged 65+.

Dance artist Liz Aggiss will be performing excerpts of her show Slap and Tickle, while Charlotta Öfverholm will also give a special performance, in addition to hosting the mini-festival.

Age on Stage is part of Dance On, Pass On, Dream On (DOPODO); a European-wide partnership project devoted to challenging preconceived notions about age and promoting a model of sustainable career and audience participation that values older people on stage and, generally, in society. DOPODO involves nine dance organisations, including Sadler’s Wells, from eight European countries, and receives funding from Creative Europe, a European Union programme supporting the cultural sector. The Elixir Festivals in 2014 and 2017 were kindly supported by the Baring Foundation.