Clearcut

So here I am at my desk. There’s blank paper, a pot of pens and I’m trying out a new gizmo – Mindnode to make my brainstorming look a bit more beautiful (and legible). I’ve been thinking and gathering ideas with the Rachel, Maddy and Vicky (the Clearcut team) over the past few months about gender, producing, artists and how to make things better. I think there’s some fabulous dance happening and some great schemes like rural touring that are really getting dance out to the non-regular audiences. There are great women leading some of our dance organisations – Helen at Rambert, Zannah at PDSW and Wieke at Yorkshire Dance amongst many others. But I’m also frustrated by lack of opportunities for producers and leaders outside of the conventional settings. So many great producers making amazing things happen with little resource save their own passion, determination and the artists’ genius. Where is the new generation of producers? How do we support people to move into this work to meet the constant demand for managers and producers without watching as people fail and get stressed instead of being supported to achieve and fail more safely! So, with these questions in mind it’s back to the brainstorming…[Kyla]

A friend of a friend has an office space available – check it out here https://www.gumtree.com/p/flats-houses/desk-space-to-rent-in-shoreham-by-sea/1226414317?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Although the crocuses are flowering the park and there is a thin sunlight trying to break through the clouds, I’m looking back this morning. Last October Clearcut brought together dancers drawn from across the South East and West, dance artists and academics and some theatregoers for good measure to present a day of workshops, debates and performance. All celebrating dance by mature dancers.

The reason I’m looking back is that all the final elements have come together – a mini film to give an overview of the day and Arts Professional published an article about a ‘new dawn for dance’ due to the rise in interest in older people’s dance.

If you haven’t caught up with what happened at Lifetime take 5 minutes to look at the film and article here:

https://weareclearcut.com/new-project-lifetime/

Please do leave comments if you have any thoughts, suggestions or maybe work with mature dancers and would like to be involved in future Lifetime events.

Photos: Matt Bartram, top left is a workshop participant and right is Dance SIX-O in performance, bottom is participant in dance workshop during Lifetime

Taking time to read the obituaries for Rosemary Butcher this morning. I was fortunate enough to have a few sessions led by her when she was a lecturer at University of Surrey. I remember being completely intimidated at first..this legend of dance I’d only read about in my A level Dance studies. In the flesh she was gentle, calm, questioning. I also remember being caught off guard by her seemingly simple yet deep piece for the Place Prize. Without doubt a unique choreographer and influence on many today. Feeling grateful for the contribution she made through her life. Link to: An overview on obituaries available on londondance.com

[Kyla]

Hofesh Shechter

Barbarians

Featuring gold catsuits (imagine you are in the flames of hell – well hotter than that – that’s how hot we are” one dancer quips about his body temperature), lederhosen and powerful futuristic lighting scanning the audience like a barcode. Barbarians was, for me, a searing performance that left me confused, excited and questioning. Thundering music reminding me of my clubbing days and intense performances especially by Maëva Berthelot and Sam Coren combined in a performance that has lingered on in my mind since October at The Dome, Brighton. [Kyla]

http://www.hofesh.co.uk/productions/hofesh-shechter-company-productions/hofest/hofest-barbarians

Link to Barbarians trailer