Oxford Dance Writers

Company Chordelia arrived for their third visit to Oxford’s North Wall with their latest production The Chosen garlanded with four and five star credits following a successful opening at this year’s Edinburgh Festival. While touring extensively north of the border this Scotland based company does very few performances in the south, so Oxford audiences are lucky to see it, and to have been able to trace the development of the company’s distinctive style through earlier works about legendary dancer Nijinsky, and Lady Macbeth. Director Kally Lloyd-Jones’ latest piece is a moving meditation on life and death, an intense hour which nevertheless reaches out directly to engage emotionally with its audience; a company of fine dancers come across as believable individuals whose moods and travails we can all identify with. (more…)

Oxford’s next Dance Scratch Night presented by Oxford Dance Forum (ODF) will take place at the Old Fire Station on Tuesday 24th September.  Another exciting opportunity to support the emerging work of local and regional dance makers.  Artists showing their work for this edition will be Gemma Peramiquel, Jenny Parrott and guest artist Attila Andrasi; and there will also be a chance to view a film (work in progress) by Naomi Morris & Phil Oakley.

Performance:  Tuesday 24th Sptember, 7.30pm

Venue:  Arts at the Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AQ

Tickets:  £5, available online here, or call the OFS Box Office on 01865 263990

Oxford University’s Archive of Performance of Greek and Roman Drama (APGRD) presents Beyond the Text: Chorus in the twenty-first century, a lecture/performance of choruses from Euripides’ Medea, with Marie-Louise Crawley (choreographer), Struan Leslie (Dramaturg, Movement Director), Malcolm Atkins (Composer).  This presentation is the culmination of a week-long workshop with a chorus of professional dancers and students kindly supported by DANSOX, C-DaRE (University of Coventry) and the Oxford University Classical Drama Society (OUCDS).

Performance:  Thursday 26 September, 5pm

Venue:   Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX1 4DY

Tickets:  Free all welcome; no booking required.

You may also be interested in the APGRD’s free multimedia/interactive ebook on the performance history of Euripides’ Medea – find out more

The award-winning Company Chordelia (Nijinsky’s Last Jump, Lady Macbeth: Unsex Me Here) return to The North Wall with their latest production, direct from its world premiere at Edinburgh Fringe 2019.  Created and directed by Kally Lloyd-Jones, The Chosen is an intensely moving dance piece about dying and embracing the art of living.

How do we choose to live in the face of the inevitable and how do we think about the final stage of our life cycle? Increasingly, as medicine advances, knowledge of imminent death has become a reality for everyone; The Chosen addresses our individual mortality from the shifting perspectives of ourselves and our loved ones.

“elegant and eviscerating” ***** The Stage

Performance:  Saturday 14th September 8.00pm

Venue:  The North Wall Arts Centre, South Parade, Oxford OX2 7JN

Tickets:  Full Price: £16, Concessions: £14, Members: 15% off

Available online here, or call the Box Office on 01865 319450

Age Guidance: 12+

Dance Audience Club 6.30pm

If you are curious about dance, but sometimes feel a bit stumped about how to process it or talk about it, then Dance Audience Club is for you! A friendly, informal opportunity to give language to an art experience that can sometimes feel a bit difficult to pin down.

This pre-show discussion is an independent project led by Miranda Laurence, supported by The North Wall and Oxford Dance Forum. It’s free to take part, with discounted tickets to The Chosen. To book your place, email Amy Walters on waltersa@thenorthwall.com

Open Rehearsal 2pm – 5pm

Drop in to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of The Chosen as part of Oxford Open Doors.

Find out more about Company Chordelia here