Oxford Dance Writers

“The ability to see movement clearly and to describe it evocatively is a rare and wonderful gift.”      Roger Copeland

Calling all young writers – an exciting opportunity to write about dance and win some great prizes!

Oxford Dance Writers is delighted to announce the launch of Dance Writers of the Future 2014, the third competition to find talented young writers on dance.  This year’s competition is once again generously supported by the Dancing Times, and by Oxford venues the New Theatre and the Playhouse, who are donating attractive prizes; and the competition is being promoted and supported by Dancin’ Oxford 2014.  Young writers are invited to submit dance writing on any of the dance shows they see in Oxford between 1st February and 20th March.  There is a lot to choose from!  Go to the Dance Writers of the Future page for full details of how to enter, and a list of shows over the competition period.

https://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/dance-writers-of-the-future/

And please pass the information to other young people and students of your acquaintance, we would welcome their contributions!

Looking forward to hearing from you…

Susie Crow

In life, Sarah Lamb’s Giselle is swift and airborne with a restrained diffidence; in death, those qualities transform her into a ghostly and ethereal apparition.  As a Wili, her cool manner enhances the otherworldly feel of her dancing, although in the first act last night she did not completely convince me that she was a peasant girl driven mad by the shock of betrayal and I wasn’t quite sure that she had actually killed herself, rather than dying of a broken heart. (more…)

Following the very successful event last year commemorating the centenary of The Rite of Spring, news of further exciting initiatives in dance scholarship centred at St Hilda’s College, Oxford.  The newly formed Dance Scholarship Oxford (DANSOX) is launched to provide a major forum for dance scholarship in Europe, promoting dialogue between prominent academic disciplines and the worlds of dance theory and practice. This programme of events funded by TORCH, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, gives access to these enquiries and disseminates ideas through workshops, functions, and the website presence.  DANSOX inaugurates an international exchange of interdisciplinary dance-related research with a major programme investigating a wide range of enquiries into all forms of dance. These events explore the ways in which the role of choreographic practice reveals its essential contribution to innovations across academic fields, theatre and performance.  The programme starts with an event exploring Twentieth Century Collaborations: Cunningham, Cage and Joyce on Thursday 20th February 2014 at the Jacqueline du Pré Building (see separate post).

The DANSOX team:

Dr Sue Jones, Fellow of St Hilda’s College and CUF Lecturer in English, formerly soloist with The Scottish Ballet

Dr Fiona Macintosh, University Lecturer in the Reception of Greek and Roman Literature, Supernumerary Fellow of St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, and Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama

Dr Helen Slaney, Randall MacIver Junior Research Fellowship in Classics at St Hilda’s College

Dana Mills, Lecturer in political theory at Hertford College and DPhil candidate in political theory at Mansfield College.

The Patron of DANSOX is Dame Monica Mason. Dame Monica joined the Royal Ballet Company at the age of sixteen, became principal dancer, and later Director of the company until 2012. She oversaw the groundbreaking ‘Metamorphosis: Titian 2012’ at the Royal Opera House, a collaboration with the National Gallery that produced new work by choreographers, poets, designers, artists, and composers. Dame Monica continues to work closely as expert consultant with the Royal Ballet.

For full  information:  http://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/dansox

Affiliations:

The Royal Ballet www.roh.org.uk/about/the-royal-ballet

Siobhan Davies Dance www.siobhandavies.com

Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama (APGRD) www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk

Other Links:

www.new.ox.ac.uk/annual-oxford-dance-symposium

https://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com

http://www.dancinoxford.co.uk/

Forthcoming in 2014 and 2015:

Dame Monica Mason (Royal Ballet) discusses with open audience: Is Ballet Relevant in the Twenty-first Century?
June 2014 (date and time TBA) St Hilda’s College
 

Choreographers Talk series: Wayne McGregor, resident choreographer, Royal Ballet discusses and explores new work; also workshops featuring Shobana Jayasingh; Professor Nicky Clayton (Cambridge) on dance and cognitive behaviour; Kim Brandstrup; Will Tuckett (Royal Ballet).

It was courageous of the Bolshoi Ballet to take this quintessentially American ballet into their repertoire and then to relay it live around the world.  Created by George Balanchine in 1967 for a cast that included Violette Verdy, Patricia McBride and Suzanne Farrell, each of the three acts of Jewels (Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds) is thought to celebrate a city (Paris, New York and St Petersburg) and its school of dance.

Emeralds weaves a pattern of music and dance, entwining the dancers in exquisite groups as they glide and subside, arranging them like gems in their settings in a jewellers’ window. (more…)

Oxford dance artists making and presenting work for Dancin’ Oxford 2014 invite you to join them at Pegasus Theatre this Friday 24th January, when they will be showing new pieces in preparation at the First Stage Dance Scratch Evening presented by Pegasus & Oxford Dance Forum.  This free event is a fabulous opportunity to get a really close look at new pieces as they are being made.  Audiences have the chance to talk to the artists about the work, share thoughts and influence progress towards the final productions.  As in previous years, most of the pieces will be presented in completed form at the Moving With The Times showcase later in the season.  Artists include: AnaMorphic Dance Theatre, Sole Rebel Tap, Mamé Yansane, Unlock The Chains Collective, Marina Collard & Joe Lott Dance, and the works are suitable for all ages.

Friday 24th January 7.30pm

Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RE
Full details and tickets from http://www.pegasustheatre.org.uk/shows/dance-scratch/

Box Office:  01865 812160

The 18 years since the first performance of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake have seen changes to the social and legal environment for homosexual relationships.  There is still plenty of prejudice among some people, but the open portrayal of a same sex relationship on stage lacks the power to shock the sort of audience that goes to Sadler’s Wells today.  All the more credit then to Matthew Bourne, for a creation that still stands as a strong dramatic dance work, and which tells a story on two levels; the narrative and the psychological. (more…)

A chance to see The Royal Ballet in one of the most popular Romantic ballets of all time.  The story of Giselle brings together an engaging mix of human passions, supernatural forces and the transcendent power of self-sacrificing love.  The production by Sir Peter Wright catches the atmosphere of this great Romantic ballet, especially in the perfection of its second Act, with ghostly maidens drifting through the forest in spectacular patterns – one of the most famous of any scenes for the corps de ballet. Giselle dances with lightness and fragility, giving the impression of floating through the mist.  This is one of the Royal Ballet’s most loved and admired productions, faithful to the spirit of the 1841 original, yet always fresh at each revival.  This live transmission from the Royal Opera House at the Phoenix Picturehouse on Monday 27th January features the company’s new star dancer Natalia Osipova in the title role, partnered by Carlos Acosta. (more…)

Phoenix Picturehouse begins this year’s programme of ballet transmissions with a chance to see the Bolshoi Ballet literally sparkling in Jewels on Sunday 19th January.  Inspired by the famous jewellers of New York’s Fifth Avenue, this triptych is a tribute to women, and to the cities of Paris, New York and St Petersburg.  Choreographed in 1967 for New York City Ballet, this full evening work, with its jewel-like costumes, celebrates the three cities and three dance schools that forged the elegance, aesthetic and style of choreographer George Balanchine. Emeralds was conceived as a poetic tribute to the French romantic school and Rubies to the American tradition of Broadway musicals, while Diamonds honours the virtuosity of Russian classical dancers. (more…)

Joe Lott Dance, an Oxford-based company of professional dancers, presents a triple bill of exciting and innovative dance as part of the Dancin’ Oxford Festival at the Pegasus Theatre on Wednesday 5th March, including  work from London-based guest choreographer Ieva Kuniskis.  At the heart of the programme is Lott’s new work Alpha, a muscular, athletic and warm-hearted dance and theatre work about being masculine, or not.  Taking inspiration from ‘Machine Man’ films like Robocop and from pagan stories about the nature-loving ‘Green Man’, four dancers kick, waltz, jog and lunge their way through a maze of dating tips, profit margins and protein-shakes.  The company also reprises the much-loved trio Tender which launched Lott’s career in 2012, and guest choreographer Ieva Kuniskis shares her latest work Women’s Tales.  Don’t miss this pleasing, thought-provoking and energising evening of dance and theatre from two up-and-coming UK choreographers. (more…)