Body Politic presents theDECADE, 10th anniversary hip hop dance and theatre showcase, Pegasus Theatre, 10th September 2022

Body Politic is delighted to announce theDECADE, a one-night only hip hop dance and theatre showcase celebrating the company’s 10-year anniversary on 10 Sept 2022 at Pegasus Theatre, Oxford. The evening will include a restaging of Body Politic’s seminal 2015 dance film BREEZEBLOCKS, and a bespoke production created with young dancers of Oxford; it will also feature fun and energetic performances from London’s renowned Impact Youth dance company, Oxford’s street dance specialist Step 2 Dance, internationally renowned and multi competition-winning Definitives. Other guest performers include The Movement Initiative from Portsmouth, Oxford’s TPD Youth Company, Jayde Edwards from London and Jamaal O’Driscoll from Birmingham.

The audience will be invited to stick around for a post-show Q&A with Artistic Director Emma-Jane Greig, drinks and a live set by DJ SPINADA.

Body Politic’s Artistic Director Emma-Jane Greig said: “I can’t believe that Body Politic has been running for 10 years. I feel really proud of what a huge milestone this is. It’s been an incredible journey. And it feels really special to be able to come back to Pegasus Theatre, the heart of where it all started. Both as a young person performing on the Pegasus stage and later working as part of the Pegasus team. It’s where my inspiration and ultimately where Body Politic was born. I hope that many people can join us in celebrating the community, the place, and the people who have contributed to such a unique and special organisation that prioritises the creativity and empowerment of young people and their experiences.”

As a flagship female led organisation, Body Politic launched at Pegasus Theatre in September 2012. Since then, its work has empowered young people from under-represented communities through dance, on and off the stage.

From nationally acclaimed theatre productions THEM and Father Figurine, to community classes, young people’s leadership programmes, and initiatives such as Summer Camp 22 (supported by the Department for Education and Marcus Rashford’s Holiday Activities and Food programme), young people’s wellbeing and growth has been at the forefront of the organisation.

Georgia Bradley, Director of People, Programmes, and Partnerships at Pegasus Theatre said: “Our partnership with Body Politic feels so special. We’ve been working with them for 10 years and it’s been amazing seeing what this partnership has produced. They are such a key part of Oxford’s dance community and we’re proud to have them as our company-in-residence. We can’t wait to see what they’ve created this time!”

Date: Saturday 10th September 7.00pm

Venue: Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RE

Tickets: from £12, book online here

Running time: 120 minutes

Age Guidance: 11 years+

Find out more about Body Politic here

 

Dancin’ Oxford Festival 2022 4th-16th March

Dancin’ Oxford‘s Spring Festival features exciting guest companies, local companies and newly commissioned work as well as a host of participatory activities such as workshops and discussions. Here follows a list of performances, with links to more information and booking details:

Moving With the Times, now in its 11th year, features three new works from exciting emerging companies, co-commissioned by Dancin’ Oxford and Pegasus Theatre. In Excessive Human Collective‘s piece Post Truth Whatever, three female performers create and broadcast propaganda in a fictional world which is eerily similar to our own. Night People Events present The Rave Girl; housed within a colourful visual landscape, the rave girl explores how hype, rave, and expression can collide, creating a complex, yet otherworldly persona that demands to be seen. In light of the horrific murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, Phoebe Tompsett Dance work The Daily Male casts a stark light on the measures that women are forced to take every day simply to remain safe.

Date: Friday 4th & Saturday 5th March 7.30pm

Venue: Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RE

Tickets: £13, concessions £10 Book online here

Recommended age: 12 years+

For the Festival Opening Oxford’s Westgate shopping centre will come to life with a series of short shows from national and local companies to make you think, smile and want to dance. Richard Chappell presents Infinite Ways Home – a multisensory production that explores ritual, rave and human connection. Unlock the Chains Collective depicts a community united in grief and anger as it remembers and mourns the lives of those lost at the hands of the state. This outdoor piece is commissioned by Dancin’ Oxford and supported by TORCH. Joli Vyann presents an innovative duet fusing circus, dance and theatre – blurring the boundaries of dance and circus skills. Also performing will be vibrant and talented youth dance troupes from across Oxford including Step2 Dance, Body Politic, TPD Young Artists and Mini Professionals. Join the Zumba party for fun and to learn some moves.

Date: Saturday 5th March 12.00-5.00pm

Location: Leiden Square, Westgate, Queen St, Oxford OX1 1TR

Free, and suitable for all ages

KHAOS & HYMNOS – Chhaya Collective

A double bill of two extraordinary dance pieces about women resisting oppression. In HYMNOS, inspired by the story of Iranian artist Saba Zavarei and her online platform Radio Khiaban,”even the most captured woman guards the place of the wildish self, for she knows intuitively that someday there will be a loophole, an aperture, a chance, and she will hightail it to escape.” In KHAOS live musicians join six contemporary dance artists to revel in the joy, tenderness and the power of wild women.

Date: Thursday 10th March 7.30pm

Venue: The Mill, Spiceball Park, Banbury OX16 5QE

Tickets: £16 Book online here

Recommended age: 13 years+

Body Politic – Them

Directed by Emma-Jane Greig and with choreography by L’atisse Rhoden, THEM flicks through the journal pages of three survivors of sexual violence, exploring the women’s struggles to navigate the trauma and its impact on their mental wellbeing, their loss of self, and finding healing. Inspired by American poet and novelist Kim Addonizio’s poem To The Woman Crying Uncontrollably In The Next Stall, this powerful and gripping display of hip-hop dance draws movement from the stark and vivid imagery of her words.

Date: Friday 11th March 7.30pm

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

Tickets: £14 (concessions £12, under-25 £10) Book online here

Recommended age: 14 years+

Stay after the show for Talk About Dance, an opportunity to join Body Politic Artistic Director Emma-Jane Greig in conversation with independent dramaturg Miranda Laurence, share your thoughts, ask questions and join the discussion. 8.45-9.30pm, free.

Wriggle Dance Theatre – Squidge

Do you squish or squash, handshake or hug, stretch out or snuggle in like a bug? A truly magical and funny interactive dance show with live music and digital projection, taking a light-hearted look at our sense of touch and how it influences our everyday lives; at its heart a tale of  friendship and compromise. An immersive shared experience to delight children and their grown-ups alike.

Date: Saturday 12th March 11.00am and 2.00pm

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

Tickets: £8 (concessions £6) Book online here

Running time: 50 minutes Suitable for ages 3-8 years

Watch the Squidge film and participate in a workshop at the Mill Banbury – find out more here

Richard Chappell Dance – Infinite Way Home

Critically acclaimed choreographer Richard Chappell presents his most ambitious work to date, a multisensory production that explores ritual, rave and human connection. Using a diverse choreographic language of ballet, contemporary dance and improvisation, Infinite Ways Home looks to redefine our sense of community and home, in a mesmerising feast of colour and pulsating sound. Performed by an ensemble of extraordinary dancers, it features electronic music by award-winning experimental duo Larch, alongside live violin by acclaimed soloist Enyuan Khong.

Date: Monday 14th March 7.30pm

Venue: Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2LW

Tickets: £10 – £16.50 Book online here

Duration: 60 minutes Suitable for ages 7 years+

Stay after the show for Talk About Dance, with choreographer Richard Chappell and Miranda Laurence, to share your thoughts, ask questions and join the discussion. 8.45-9.30pm, free.

Botis Seva – BLKDOG

A beautifully brutal commentary on how the youth of today are coping in a world not built for them. Through emotionally charged Hip Hop dance, BLKDOG reveals how self-discovery leads to self-destruction. Through haunting childhood memories and adult life traumas, how do we fight through our vices to find a sense of peace? The music has grown from a long-standing collaboration with Torben Lars Sylvest and words performed by  Far From The Norm and guests. Tom Visser’s lighting brings a dark smog of disillusion, while hooded caps and padded costumes by Ryan Laight echo the protection and comfort of childhood. BLKDOG won an Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2019 and in 2021, and has been was nominated for a Black British Theatre Award 2022 for Best Dance Production.

Date: Wednesday 16th & Thursday 17th March 7.30pm

Venue: Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2LW

Tickets: £10 – £26 Book online here

Suitable for ages 11 years+

Find a full programme of Festival activities including participatory workshops here

 

Think Human Festival: Dancing Human Rights by event curator Dr Dana Mills

Why host an event which presents dance work focusing on various human rights issues in 2020?  This is a volatile time for many of us in the world, although the concept and ethos of human rights enables us to reflect upon the fact that at any given time human beings are fleeing persecution and seeking to affirm their human rights.  And so, in our turbulent times it is urgent to ask—what is our commitment as artists and human beings to the idea and practice of human rights?

My own introduction to human rights came a long time before I knew what that concept entails.  My political education was on the pro-Palestinian Israeli left, and so I’ve come to learn of human rights from the wrong side of history.  Even when my every day was shielded by walls and checkpoints from events of huge historical consequence occurring sometimes less than a few miles away, I knew well these events are part of my own life. And I realized early on that no one is free until everyone is free, and our human fate is entangled in others and so we have responsibilities towards them.

 

Body Politic Birthday Showcase at Pegasus Theatre Saturday 21st September 2013

BODY POLITIC CELEBRATES FIRST BIRTHDAY WITH A WORLD-CLASS LINE-UP.

On Saturday 21st September Body Politic is hosting an exclusive dance showcase to mark its first birthday at Pegasus Theatre. The showcase boasts to be one of Oxford’s biggest urban dance showcases to date, with performances from professional crews and companies such as Sky1’s Got to Dance recent semi finalists Poison.  There are fourteen crews and companies from across the UK involved in the dance showcase with styles including Hip-Hop, Contemporary and Commercial. Crews and companies from as far as Nottingham and Portsmouth will be strutting their stuff on stage alongside local artists and groups from Oxford.   Guaranteed to have you dancing in your seats and shouting for more!