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Oxford Dance Writers 
February 19, 2010 at 4:50 pm
A weekend of dance…
Dancin’ Oxford was officially launched on Tuesday 16th with a reception and performance in the cavernous showrooms of Mini Plant Oxford. Work on show featured vibrant performances by Crossover Intergenerational Dance Company led by Cecilia Macfarlane, and local hip hop troupe Messy Jam, as well as a new piece for Oxford Youth Dance Company incorporating live dance and film and inspired by the spectacular robots of the Mini production line. There will be a further opportunity to see this piece at the Tac-au-Tac Dance Theatre performance at the Playhouse on 28th March.
This weekend the Festival really gets going with Pasion de Buena Vista at the New Theatre on Friday 19th February, and Tavaziva Dance Company’s Wild Dog at the Headington Theatre on Saturday 20th February. During the day on Saturday you can catch Dance Bites – mini dance performances happening on the hour every hour at locations in the centre of Oxford. Sunday 21st brings the first of the ever popular Dance-A-Thon days of taster workshops, this one at Headington Theatre. Check the Dancin’ Oxford website for full details.
Just received the following news of a last minute treat for lovers of Butoh and improvisation from Paul Mackilligin of Cafe Reason:
This Saturday, 20th Feb 2010 – Itto Morita and Mika Takeuchi – Butoh performance in Oxford
“Following their recent performances in London, Itto Morita and Mika Takeuchi have decided to give one last butoh performance in Oxford before returning to Japan. Sorry for the short notice, but if you can make it I think you’ll be glad you did. This will be the last chance for quite a while to see these renowned butoh dancers perform outside Japan.
I’ve seen Itto perform a few times but never with his usual butoh partner Mika, so I’ve very much looking forward to it myself. We are very fortunate to have had Itto here in the UK for the last several months and I for one have been inspired by his teaching and have learnt a lot from the few classes and workshops that I have been able to attend.
Saturday 20th February at 7:30pm
The Drama Studio
Oxford Brookes University
Headington Hill Campus (not the Gypsy Lane Campus, and not Harcourt Hill!)
Headington Hill
Oxford
FREE ENTRY (Donations will be requested to cover the artists’ travel expenses.)
An open ‘jam session’ will follow at around 9pm for musicians and dancers.
Directions: from Oxford, follow High Street over the river to the roundabout at The Plain, take first exit (St Clements) and continue past traffic lights and straight on up Headington Hill, past the park, and then take the first driveway to the left near the top of the hill. Go past the gatehouse and take the 2nd turning on the right. The Drama Studio is a smallish, squarish building with railings outside the door, set back from the main driveway. Last time I checked, parking was still unrestricted on Saturday evenings.
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE ENTRANCE DOOR OPENS DIRECTLY ONTO THE STAGE. If you are so late that the performance has already begun, there is no way to let you in without disrupting the performance so you may have missed it! If there is an opportunity (and there may not be) the door will be opened to check for latecomers, but PLEASE DO NOT KNOCK!
Best wishes,
Paul Mackilligin
“The body is the costume of the soul” (Kazuo Ohno)”
February 22, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Platform
Running this week Tue-Sat in the O’Reilly in Keeble.
It’s a collaberation between Freefall and Oxford Dance Society providing an eclectic mix of ten dance pieces specially created for this performance. The show last year was a complete success. The new choreographers are inventive and innovative, working with some great dancers. The collaberation between the socities means that the pieces have wide ranging stlyes, dancers and choreographers from Freefall providing pieces in contemporary and Oxford Dance Society providing jazz. You just don’t quite know what you’re going to get, but it’s going to be good.
That’s running Tuesday through to Saturday 7.30pm in the O’Reilly and is part of Dancin’ Oxford Festival, tickets £5.50-£7.50.
To book tickets, phone 01865 305305
For more information, see http://www.dancinoxford.co.uk or http://www.freefalldance.org.uk
March 5, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Lindy Hop / Swing Dancing
On Saturday 27th March, the Oxford Swing Dance Society is running a social dance at the Headington Community Centre on Gladstone Road starting at 8pm and finishing 11.30. Entrance fee: approx £8. This form of social dancing is partner dancing with frequent change of partners and may be thought of as the ‘grandfather’ of the jive. If you already jive, you’ll be able to join in, or if you think you might be interested in learning this 1930s/40s dance form, this is a good chance to see local dancers and something of the style of the dance … oh and it’s friendly!
March 14, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Two events coming up next weekend as part of Dancin’ Oxford 2010; both involve Oxford-based dance artists so do come along to support!
Arch
Sat 20th Mar at 6.30pm & 8.30pm Sun 21st Mar at 6.30pm Worcester College, Walton St, Oxford. (FREE event. Arrive early as numbers are limited)
Be taken on a journey of discovery where movement, costume, light and sound transform one of Oxford’s beautiful buildings. Inspired by and created for the site offering quietly quirky yet explosive vignettes of dance, sculpture, and music, Arch is a collaboration between the award-winning artists, choreographer Fiona Millward, public artist Jo Fairfax and director/ filmmaker Katja Lehmann. Commissioned by Dancin’ Oxford, Pegasus Theatre with the support of Arts Council England.
Dance on Screen Film Shorts
Commissioned by OFVM Film Oxford
Sunday 21st March (4.00-5.00pm)
Phoenix Picturehouse, Walton Street, Oxford OX2
OFVM Film Oxford and Dancin’ Oxford present an inspiring programme of Dance on Screen for film and dance lovers alike. This popular event will feature Xtend IV (Movement in the Built Environment) – an international selection of dance films curated by South Hill Park, alongside the premiere of three short films (commissioned by OFVM Film Oxford) and made by Oxford-based dance film-makers Ana Barbour, Naomi Morris and Roly Carline.
Booking in person or by phone on 0871 704 2062
Tickets: £6 / £4 concessions (£1 off for Dancin’ Oxford Pass holders)
March 14, 2010 at 6:35 pm
An Oxford University event of interest to the dance community:
9th week, Wed. March 17th 2.15pm in The Lecture Theatre at the Ioannu Centre for Classical
and Byzantine Studies (66 St Giles)
The Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama are hosting:
Mark Franko (Professor of Dance), U of California, Santa Cruz, who will speak on
‘Martha Graham: From Mythic Journey to Psychoanalytic Voyage (1947-1953)’
All welcome. The event will be followed by refreshments.
March 24, 2010 at 1:18 pm
At 7pm on Wednesday 31 March the Phoenix cinema, Oxford, is showing a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet’s Les Flammes de Paris, recorded earlier on the day at the Bolshoi Theatre. Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky; Composer: Boris Asafiev
For more information: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Phoenix_Picturehouse/Whats_On/All/Date/film/Les_Flammes_De_Paris/
March 25, 2010 at 3:39 pm
A weekend of dance coming up:
BAREdance Contemporary Movement Workshop – Friday 26th/Sat 27th March, 10-12.45, Oxford Playhouse Top Room
BAREdance performance, Weds 31st March-Sat 3rd April, Burton Taylor Theatre. 6.30pm.
Charlie Morrisey Professional dance workshop – Sun 28th March 1-5pm, West Oxford Community Centre
‘Once Upon a Dance’ – Tac-au-Tac Dance THeatre and Oxford Youth Dance Company, Sun 28th March 5pm, Oxford Playhouse Theatre
ODF Professional development Class with Charlie Morrisey, 10-12am, The Regal, Cowley Road.
See http://odfonline.org.uk/weekly-class.php
and http://www.dancinoxford.co.uk
for more details!
December 30, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Great!