June 2018
Monthly Archive
June 29, 2018
Camino del Flamenco have been producing Spanish Night shows since 2009 featuring professional Flamenco companies from Spain and the UK with top quality dance and music. Spanish Night shows are produced at three venues around Oxfordshire and those in Oxford are at the smallest and most intimate venue, the Jam Factory.
For the forthcoming Spanish Night – Oxford show on Sunday 1 July Camino del Flamenco are excited to welcome Cadiz’s top Flamenco singer La Leo (Leo Iglesias) to Oxford for the first time. La Leo has recently been awarded the freedom of the City of Cadiz, reflecting her great talent and huge personality. For this show she is bringing with her Flamenco dancer Natalia Garcia and top guitarist Ramon Ruiz, who always accompanies her on her UK tours. If you love Flamenco this show comes highly recommended.
Date: Sunday, 1st July, 7.00pm doors open, show begins at 7.30pm
June 29, 2018
Posted by susiecrow under
What's happening | Tags:
African Dance Masterclass,
Afrofusion,
Al Amari Dabke Dances,
Ashnah,
Attitude Dance School,
Bollywood Masterclass,
carnival,
Cowley Carnival 2018,
Dance with Sinjini,
Dancemania Senior Performance Group,
Dancin' Oxford,
Deddington Youth Dance Co,
Headington Dance School Dance Scholars,
Identity Youth Dance Project,
Implexa Dance Company,
Messy Jam Dance Company,
Mims Bellydance,
Mini Professionals Dance Academy,
Sol Samba,
Stagecoach Abingdon Dance Troupe,
Strawberry Fayre Majorettes,
The M Word Dancers,
União da Mocidade Samba,
Yuka Kodama Ballet Group |
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Join the happy crowds at Cowley Carnival’s Global Dance Stage at Manzil Gardens which will be showcasing some of the huge variety of dance activity Oxford has to offer, featuring performances by schools, youth and community groups and companies.
The companies, in order of appearance are: Headington Dance School Dance Scholars, Yuka Kodama Ballet Group, Identity Youth Dance Project, Stagecoach Abingdon Dance Troupe, Dancemania Senior Performance Group, Deddington Youth Dance Co (Juniors), Implexa Dance Company, Dance with Sinjini, Bollywood Masterclass, Mini Professionals Dance Academy, Attitude Dance School, Ashnah, The M Word Dancers, Strawberry Fayre Majorettes, Afrofusion, African Dance Masterclass, Messy Jam Dance Company, União da Mocidade Samba, Mims Bellydance, Al Amari Dabke Dances and Sol Samba.
Presented by Dancin’ Oxford
Date: July 1, 2018, 12pm – 5pm
Venue: Grounds of Asian Cultural Centre, Manzil Way, off Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1GE
Free and suitable for all ages
More information about Cowley Carnival can be found here
June 28, 2018
Posted by susiecrow under
What's happening | Tags:
Ana Barbour,
Café Reason Butoh Dance Theatre,
Church of St Mary and St John,
Confluence Collective,
Cowley Carnival 2018,
Dabke dance,
Discovery Zone,
Marhaba,
MUE,
Pencak Silat,
Shakhosi,
The Littlemore Oratorio,
The World Stage |
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Based in East Oxford Marhaba is a popular and well established collaboration between various Oxford groups providing a platform for sharing music and dance between diverse communities – making the international local. As part of the Discovery Zone of this year’s Cowley Carnival and curated by Confluence Collective, Marhaba will be hosting The World Stage at the Church of St Mary and St John with an international range of music and dance provided by locally based artists, guests and enthusiasts, to listen to, watch and join in… see below for the schedule.
This rich and welcoming event will throughout the day also include film shows of the work of Oxford dance artist Ana Barbour (1966 – 2017) to whose memory the event is dedicated, as well as poetry and music.
Key performance times are:
12.00 Film and ad hoc performance
1.25 Mue
1.40 Shakhosi
2.00 Dabke dance workshop by visiting Ramallah group
2.30 Café Reason Butoh Dance Theatre
2.45 Rumi for one more – interpretations and reflections on the work f Rumi
3.45 Pencak Silat Indonesian dance and music
4.00 The Littlemore Oratorio (abridged version)
When: Sunday 1st July, 12.00-5.15pm
Venue: Church of St Mary & St John, 1 Leopold Street (off Cowley Road), Oxford OX4 1PS
All welcome, no charge
Find out about this event here
Find out more about Marhaba here
Find out more about Ana Barbour and her work here
Further information about Confluence Collective here
June 28, 2018
Posted by susiecrow under
Dance and Academia,
What's happening | Tags:
Anna Appleby,
CUE,
DANSOX,
Ensemble Klang,
Estela Merlos,
Grim’s Ditch,
How many eyes do we have then being two...,
Joel Baldwin,
Joseph Currie,
Liam Riddick,
Liveness Hybridity & Noise Series,
Malgorzata Dzierzon,
Michaela Riener,
music dance collaboration,
Patricia Okenwa,
Piedad Albarracin Seiquer,
Sophie Sparkes,
St Hilda's College Oxford |
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DANSOX and the Liveness, Hybridity & Noise Series join forces for this multi-disciplinary presentation of three new works that stretch the synthetic possibilities of music and dance. Over a four-day residency at St Hilda’s College, one of Holland’s leading contemporary music groups, Ensemble Klang, will be working with three composers from Oxford and a team of leading contemporary dancers and choreographers (Malgorzata Dzierzon, Estela Merlos, Patricia Okenwa, Liam Riddick and Piedad Albarracin Seiquer). ‘Open’ rehearsals will take place each afternoon on 4-5 July (15:00–17:00), as well a fully-staged performance at 19:30 on Friday 6 July (tickets required for all sessions and spaces limited so booking early advised).
CUE by Anna Appleby (Rambert Music Fellow and St Hilda’s alumna) is a quirky and comical piece that plays with the audience’s perceptions of the boundaries between dance and music. Grim’s Ditch by composer Joel Baldwin (St Hilda’s) explores melancholia, politics, artistic expression and meaning through the layering of multimedia, sound and physical motion. Joel’s work features the talented Austrian vocalist Michaela Riener, whose recent solo engagements include works by Steve Reich, Michael Gordon (with dance company EmioGreco|PC), Louis Andriessen (La Passione, TAO) and Hanns Eisler (with the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble). Her soloistic capabilities, as well as her experience with Ensemble Klang and numerous early music ensembles, make her the ideal candidate for this central role of Grim’s Ditch. Joseph Currie (Wadham) investigates different kinds of time in movement, motivated by the structural difference of heartbeats and breaths, alongside ideas about gendered breath and the expressive apparatus behind screaming. A new instrumental piece for the ensemble, written by former Oxford composer, Sophie Sparkes, will also be premiered at the main performance on Friday evening.
Anna Appleby – CUE
Joel Baldwin – Grim’s Ditch (feat. Michaela Riener – mezzo soprano)
Joseph Currie – How many eyes do we have then, being two…
Sophie Sparkes – new work
Both open rehearsals (3-5pm on 4th and 5th July) and the performance at 7:30pm on 6th July will be livestreamed.
Date(s): Friday, 6 July 7:30pm
Venue: Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Oxford OX4 1DY
Tickets: £25 (+£5 per open rehearsal session); £15 students (free entry to open rehearsals) Available online
here
St. Hilda’s Alumnae Ticket Offer: There is a 20% discount offer available for the alumnae of St. Hilda’s College to mark the 125th Anniversary of St. Hilda’s College. Please email the Development Office for more information.
You can find more information about this event here
June 16, 2018
Posted by susiecrow under
reviews | Tags:
Akane Takada,
Alexander Campbell,
ballet,
Bennet Gartside,
Francesca Hayward,
JohnMacfarlane,
Liam Scarlett,
Marianela Nuñez,
Marius Petipa,
Susannah Harris-Wilson,
Swan Lake,
Tchaikovsky,
The Royal Ballet,
Vadim Muntagirov |
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Swan Lake remains at the heart of the classical ballet repertoire. Its choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Tchaikovsky have ensured its place in any dance company worth its claim to pre-eminence. And the music’s 19th century blend of the classical with the romantic has ensured audiences with a love of great music if only a passing interest in dance. Nevertheless, it has to be said that the growth of contemporary choreography and the increased number of smaller dance companies have rather reduced the appetites of both dancers and audiences for this extremely demanding, long, old, and often tired ballet. I include myself among those who have felt they had seen enough Swan Lakes to happily miss the next one. It is with this in mind that I say how suddenly I have been swept off my feet and made to believe again in the evergreen nature of the work, its music, its potential for surprise. (more…)
June 16, 2018
Becoming an established fixture in Oxford’s arts calendar this year’s Offbeat Festival is the third, now bigger and better with over 60 shows across five spaces in the centre of Oxford from the 22nd to the 30th June. The Festival aims to offer some of the best up-and-coming contemporary performing arts including theatre, comedy, dance, music, spoken word and family entertainment. Why not take a risk, dive in and encounter the fantastic creativity of artists from across the country in a stunningly varied programe of work, all new to Oxford.
Dance is represented by three short performances at the Old Fire Station as follows:
Wednesday 27th June 6.15pm: Thomas Page Dances in Normative
“Categorised. Converted. Conformed.” This intense work delves into the recent traumatic events of Chechnya, Russia and challenges the way societies create conformity. Using contemporary dance infused with the virtuosic stylings of Vogue and Contortion this mesmerising performance creates a powerful reflection on the reality of today’s society. It will make you question “Is being normal really worth it?”
Tickets: £10 available on the door, or online here
Running time: 50 minutes
Thursday 28th June 6.15pm: Forged Line Dance in Lina
A powerful and playful contemporary dance duet, inspired by the lives of brother and sister astronomers William and Caroline Herschel. Both talented musicians and celebrated scientists, they studied the universe and mapped the stars from their back garden in 18th Century Bath. Lina delves into their complex relationship, where family ties are tested by individual ambition. Dancers swoop and soar like comets, taking us on an extraordinary journey of stars, music and family.
“This was the performance of two exceptionally talented dancers, delivering a choreographic narrative of tangible beauty and humanity…truly enchanting”– Bathcast
Tickets: £10 available on the door or online here
Running time: 50 minutes
Friday 29th June 7.00pm: Drishti Dance in Facet
Facet is a Kathak double bill featuring two interlinked works, exploring the evolving facets of the classical Indian form; a reflection on its ever changing aesthetics as it collides with modern values. Aur-Ek Antaraal contemplates the poetical abstraction of contemporary Hindi poem ‘Aur Ek Antaraal’ penned by India based Dr Rashmi Chaturvedi. Re-Textured is a study of rhythm, textures and structures. It creates space for reformulating movement vocabulary through absorbing contemporary human experiences.
Tickets: £10 available on the door or online here
Running time: 1 hour
Find out more about the Offbeat Festival and check out the complete programme here
June 15, 2018
Posted by susiecrow under
reviews | Tags:
Anna Heery,
ballet,
Bim Malcomson,
Cornerstone Arts Centre Didcot,
Cut Out,
Demi Aldred,
Eleonora Gatti,
Elliott Perks,
Erico Montes,
Esme Calcutt,
Florence Price,
Hannah Orton,
Hubert Essakow,
Images Ballet Company,
Jennifer Jackson,
London Studio Centre,
Maggie Watson,
Maria Bruguet,
Morgann Runacre-Temple,
Mozart's Women: The Kingdom of Back,
Penny Cullerne-Bown,
Red Queen Brouhaha,
Shannon Higgins,
Sonata in Colour,
Tom Ellis |
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Images Ballet Company is the performing group of the graduating ballet students at London Studio Centre, and their appearance at Cornerstone last night was an exciting opportunity to see new dancers and new (or nearly new) works. Artistic Director Jennifer Jackson presented a programme of dances by four choreographers (Hubert Essakow, Erico Montes, Bim Malcomson, and Morgann Runacre-Temple), which demanded lyricism, attack, humour and acting ability, and the dancers rose to the occasion magnificently. (more…)
June 9, 2018
This riotous and colourful production had a lot to recommend it. The Rumplestiltskin fairytale was given a new twist, with the title role a more rounded character and sympathetic backstory than in traditional renditions. This was a clever device (with credit to Carol Ann Duffy as Scenario Writer), as the storyline became less about old-fashioned heroes and villains, and more about values such as family, community and embracing difference and diversity. (more…)
June 7, 2018
Posted by susiecrow under
reviews | Tags:
Aitor Viscarolosaga Lopez,
Ayca Anil,
Ballet Central,
Black Swan,
Central School of Ballet,
Christopher Gable,
Christopher Marney,
Cinderella,
FAR,
Haruno Kikuchi,
Imogen Ash,
Jamie Wills,
Jenna Lee,
Kenneth MacMillan,
Kevin Memeti,
Klara Coxill,
Nanane Miyamoto,
narrative ballet,
Olivia van Niekerk,
Saul Kilcullen-Jarvis,
Sir Matthew Bourne,
Sleeping Beauty,
Susie Crow,
The Theatre Chipping Norton,
Valley of Shadows,
Wayne McGregor |
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The Theatre at Chipping Norton in the heart of the leafy Cotswold countryside is a picturesque small venue, which provided the dancers of Ballet Central, the graduate performing company of Central School of Ballet, with a warmly welcoming family audience and an almost full house for their annual visit. The lopsided stage is narrow but deep, giving viewers in the side galleries problematic sightlines, but this is made up for by intimacy and potential connection between viewers and doers. The company earned my profound respect for their ability to fit energetic ensemble dancing into this space without any problems or collisions.
This year’s programme promised storytelling with iconic ballet titles such as Black Swan, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These were not simply cut down versions of full-scale classics, but re-workings made for touring and playing to the strengths of this company of talented youngsters in an unashamedly narrative conception of ballet. All set against the neutrality of black drapes, enlivened and given a sense of place by the use of props, and designer Dante Baylor’s colourful often asymmetric costumes which brought both variety and a sense of overall stylistic unity to the evening. (more…)
June 4, 2018
Posted by susiecrow under
What's happening | Tags:
Andrew Ellis,
ballet,
Bim Malcolmson,
Cornerstone Arts Centre Didcot,
Cut Out,
Elliott Perks,
Erico Montes,
Florence Price,
Hubert Essakow,
Images Ballet Company,
Jennifer Jackson,
Joby Talbot,
London Studio Centre,
Louie Whitemore,
Morgann Runacre-Temple,
Mozart,
Mozart's Women: The Kingdom of Back,
Red Queen Brouhaha,
Robert Schumann,
Sonata in Colour,
Tom Ellis |
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Coming to the area for the first time, Images Ballet Company is proud to present a programme of entertaining dance, reflecting the diversity and beauty of Ballet today, that will appeal both to ballet lovers and those new to dance. Directed by Jennifer Jackson, Images Ballet Company is one of four touring 3rd year companies from major vocational school London Studio Centre. The aspiring professionals of the company take centre stage to showcase theatrical and vibrant ballet with stylish costumes and a rich musical palette.
Working with Images for her third successive year, acclaimed choreographer Morgann Runacre-Temple has re-created Mozart’s Women: The Kingdom of Back, her exquisitely detailed portrait of three women in Mozart’s life, with a new cast. Bim Malcomson explores of the humour of being human. Former Royal Ballet and Rambert soloist, Hubert Essakow presents encounters between live music and dance, while Royal Ballet artist Erico Montes’ choreography and process has richly enhanced the dancers’ feeling for flow and epaulement.
Music is central to this year’s show. Viola and guitar duo Elliott Perks and Tom Ellis have arranged Schumann’s Marchenbilder to be played live for Cut Out, Hubert Essakow’s dances with space and gravity. Bim Malcomson has used music from Joby Talbot’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Red Queen Brouhaha, her witty exploration of ideas from Lewis Carroll’s imaginative world. In the centenary year of votes for women in this country, Erico Montes has been drawn to the music of a little known African American composer, Florence Price, for his Sonata in Colour.
Louie Whitemore and Andrew Ellis have brought their expertise in costume and lighting to finesse the visual landscape.
A note from Artistic Director, Jennifer Jackson;
“The dancers you see tonight specialise in classical ballet in their professional training at London Studio Centre. Three second year students are joining the graduating class on tour and all have been involved in working with choreographers, designers, musicians, production staff, repetiteurs and teachers over the past three months to create the programme. Each ballet grows from a unique creative process through which the dancers develop as versatile collaborative artists, honing professional skills that are required to meet the diverse expressive and performative demands of the ballet today. It is a great privilege to work with these artists and alongside the excellent educators at London Studio Centre. I am hugely thankful for their contributions and support of Images’ work and our exploration of ballet as creative artistic practice.”
Performance: Wednesday 13th June, 7.30pm
Venue: Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot OX11 7NE
Tickets: Book online here, or call the Box Office on 01235 515144
Find out more about Images Ballet Company here
About London Studio Centre:
Founded in 1978 by Bridget Espinosa, London Studio Centre offers a comprehensive Theatre Dance Course for students who are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of the theatre. LSC is thrilled to announce the validation of its enhanced Theatre Dance course, which continues to offer students a broad and versatile training but further allows students to specialise in Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Jazz Dance or Music Theatre.
Graduate students have embarked on successful careers, joining companies such as Rambert Dance Company, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Michael Clark Company, Richard Alston Dance Company, Henri Oguike Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theatre, The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Spirit of the Dance, JazzXchange, Stomp, ZooNation, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre, as well as performing on Broadway and the West End in musicals including Wicked, Chicago, Matilda, Hamilton and Cats.
Many students have also worked on numerous television programmes and films and in the commercial sector. Many graduates also are working as independent, creative artists in dance and theatre.
Find out more about the school here
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