Oxford Dance Writers

Award-winning dance company, Ballet Black, returns to Oxford Playhouse on Friday 1 November 2019 with a triple bill of bold and inventive choreography.

The exciting programme contrasts inventive story telling in a lively showcase of three modern ballets, commissioned especially for Ballet Black. Ingoma (song) by company dancer and choreographer Mthuthuzeli November, is a fusion of ballet, African dance and singing. This world premiere and Barbican co-commission portrays a milestone in South African history and imagines the struggles of black South African miners and their families in 1946 – when 60,000 of them took courageous strike action.

The second ballet is a revival of Martin Lawrance’s Pendulum, an intimate duo premiered in 2009, and the choreographer’s first work for the company. CLICK!, an original, up-beat piece by Scottish Ballet’s chorographer-in-residence Sophie Laplane, also a world premiere, completes the triple bill.

Performance:  Friday 1st November 8.00pm

Venue:  Oxford Playhouse, 11-12 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2LW

Tickets: £10 to £25 | Discounts available  Book online here or call the Box Office on 01865 305305

Age guideline: 7+ (more…)

A huge inflated plastic bubble fills the theatre space, we remove our shoes and are ushered in 8 at a time, told to stand, sit or move around as we please (but like most audiences, don’t budge once we decide to sit!).  The bubble is constantly being filled with air and we must enter quickly so the entrance can be zipped shut again to avoid too much deflation.

Once inside the audience huddle in small groups on the floor.  There is an air of anticipation and curiosity. Throughout the space hang white mesh sculptures moulded into the shape of body parts.  These ghost images bob up and down in the space as the air level fluctuates and the final members of the audience are let in.  Three dancers enter with them and begin to walk about the space. They appear human but there is something very alien about them at the same time.  A soundtrack with a voice begins, and the dancers are signing the words, the voice repeats itself ‘we have decided not to die’. (more…)

A beautifully intimate friendship, a shared curiosity and a lot of satisfying movement.

Following a lovely curtain raiser from the inclusive dance company Parasol Dance Group  full of talented young dancers, 111 begins with an empty scaffolding in soft lighting waiting to be occupied.

Joel Brown (a paraplegic dancer and singer-songwriter, currently dancing with Candoco Dance Company) enters the space, gets out of his wheelchair and begins a solo of floorwork. This solo was the first of many highlights from the work; Brown fluidly glides across the floor releasing into a series of rolls, balances and spirals. He then begins to tell us how the partnership with Eve Mutso (freelance dancer and choreographer, former Principal Dancer of Scottish Ballet) began, and about a series of notes he sent to her each starting with “Eve I have to tell you something.” (more…)

Puzzle Creature is a multi-disciplinary dance work by Neon Dance that asks us to forget our mundane everyday and immerse ourselves in the magic of movement.  Inspired by the death-eluding architecture designs of Arakwara and Madeline Gins, director Adrienne Hart has collaborated with three exceptional dance artists to create an immersive dance experience.

From the Cornerstone foyer, step inside an inflatable set design and allow yourself to be transfixed by performers dressed in wearable artefacts created by artist Ana Rajcevic as they transport you through choreographed action. Accompanied by a newly commissioned score for eight speakers by composer Sebastian Reynolds, this unique performance combines British and Japanese Sign Language and audio description alongside Reynolds’ evocative score.

Guaranteed to be a transformative experience, join us for Puzzle Creature and enter a space where there is no barrier between the artist and the audience.

Performance:  Wednesday 23 Oct 2019 7:30pm

Venue:  Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, Oxon OX11 7NE

Tickets: £14, £12 concs, £5 for under 26s: 50% Members Discount.  Book online here, or call the Box Office on 01235 515144

Find out more about Neon Dance here

After a successful run at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, dancers Joel Brown and Eve Mutso are delighted to be invited to be part of IF Oxford, Science and Ideas Festival, inspiring conversations across Oxford.

111 (one hundred and eleven) is a powerful duet between these two exceptional dancers as they explore their different strengths and vulnerabilities. Joel is a paraplegic dancer, self-trained, who dances with Candoco – the UK’s leading inclusive dance company and Eve is former principal dancer with Scottish Ballet.  111 is the number of vertebrae Joel and Eve have between them…hypothetically. Eve moves like she has a hundred, Joel’s spine is fused and he jokes he only has 11.

“The power of intimacy burns through this beguiling duet from Eve Mutso and Joel Brown” ★★★★ THE LIST

”…poignant, moving and forward-facing choreography.” FJORD REVIEW

Joel Brown and Eve Mutso first met in 2015 in Scotland, when Scottish Ballet, Indepen-dance and Marc Brew Company were exploring creating a new work. From the first time they danced together, there was an instant rapport. 111 is the result.

“…visually striking… their arms combining in a hybrid semaphoring of graceful resourcefulness.” ★★★★ THE HERALD

“moving duet is something special” ★★★★ THE TIMES

Performance:  Tuesday 22 October 7pm

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

Tickets:  £10 – £14 Book online here or call the Box Office on 01865 263990

Duration:  2 hours approx.

The performance will begin with a set from Parasol Dance Group, and be followed by a open discussion with the performers, a medical researcher and inclusive youth project workers.

Audio description
There is pre-recorded audio description available for the show. If you would like to access this, please contact the If Oxford team: askus@oxscifest.org

You can find further information about the project here (more…)

On Sunday, Oxford Dance Forum celebrated Evolution, its three-year professional development programme for dance artists, funded by Arts Council England and Oxford City Council. Events were free to attend, but had sold out quickly and I was lucky to catch performances by Jenny Parrott, Naomi Morris, and Joëlle Pappas with musician Christopher Redgate, before a discussion led by dance dramaturg Miranda Laurence.

Jenny Parrott’s part-planned, part-improvised performance of With or without (tea and cake) in the OFS Café created an intimate and friendly atmosphere as she led us through a daydream laced with absurdity and gentle humour, built around ordinary domestic objects (a cup of tea; a ball of wool; a hat …). Initially her props were hidden beneath a cloth but she was visible, then in a neat reversal she removed the cloth so that we could see the objects, before covering her face. It was an enjoyable opening to this part of the afternoon programme. (more…)