Physic: an evening of poetry, music and movement curated by Professor Alice Oswald, Oxford Botanic Garden 17th July 2022

Physic is a unique and special evening curated by Alice Oswald, the University of Oxford’s Professor of Poetry, as part of Oxford Botanic Garden‘s 400th anniversary celebrations. In this roving performance of music, poetry and dance, each artist responds to the Garden as a place of healing. The event will commence at 7.00pm, welcominng visitors to enjoy the Garden after hours, and will include a diverse range of performances from renowned artists that will include poetry, music and dance. The settings will be closely matched to the style of the piece, including music in the Conservatory, dance among the Herbaceous Borders, and performances in the Rainforest and Waterlily houses. This rotational experience will culminate in a finale in the Upper Garden. The event is supported by TORCH, the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities.

Confirmed performers include:

• Alice Oswald will be performing Against Leaves – a protest against deciduousness.
• Stevie Wishart will be performing her extraordinary blackbird transcriptions on violin, accompanied with poems performed by Alice Oswald.
• Saju Hari will offer danced interventions to the performances.
• Peter Oswald will be performing his poem-version of a story, Filo D’Oro and Filomena, collected by Italo Calvino, and several other flower poems written in Bristol.
• Erica McAlpine will be reading from a sequence of short rhyming poems based on the flowers she sees and grows in Oxfordshire.
• A performance of Kiki Katese’s work – more information coming soon.

Date: Sunday 17th July, 7.00-9.00pm

Venue: Oxford Botanic Gardens, Rose Lane, OX1 4 AZ

Booking: Tickets £20, book online here

Find out more about the event and the artists here

 

DANSOX Summer Schools, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Oxford 11th-25th July 2022

Dance Scholarship Oxford (DANSOX) hosts no less than three exciting summer intensives this July. International artists, writers, choreographers and guests explore themes of creativity and dance-making in relation to other arts. Alice Oswald and Saju Hari explore epic through different media; Thomas Page Dances develops current research on Commonalities; emerging dancers at Rambert School and the Royal Scottish Conservatoire make new dance narratives by and about women.  Guest lecturers include international dance critic Alastair Macaulay and eminent biographer Lyndall Gordon. Visitors are welcome to drop in at any time to watch the processes unfolding, but do book places for the public sharing events listed below.

Venue: Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY

Alice Oswald with Saju Hari and Dancers 11th-14th July

Oxford’s Professor of Poetry Alice Oswald collaborates with internationally renowned contemporary Indian dance and martial arts expert Saju Hari, developing work for the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama All-Night Epic project to come in 2023.

Public Sharing including Q&A: 14th July 5.30pm

Thomas Page Dances: Commonalities 15th-20th July

Thomas Page Dances develops new dance work and discusses the themes of commonality in relation to dance theories, histories and practice.

Public Keynote Guest Lecture given by Alastair Macaulay: ‘Commonalities, Communities, Utopia’ 15th July 11.30am

Public Sharing of the work with Thomas Page Dances including Q&A: 20th July 5.30pm

Deborah Norris, Rambert School and Guests: Women and Choreography 21st-25th July

This exciting choreographic intensive brings together a group of students of the Rambert School and the Royal Scottish Conservatoire in classes and workshops with guest teachers Kate Flatt, Jennifer Jackson and Susie Crow, and to make new work.

Public Keynote Guest Lecture given by Lyndall Gordon: Charlotte Brontë (Villette) 21st July 5.30pm

Public Sharing of Woman-Made! An evening of new short ballets created by women including Q&A

25th July 5.30pm

To book for Keynote Lectures and Public Sharing events please email Professor Sue Jones here