JULY 2023
ALLYENE DANCE
FAR FROM HOME
WINNERS OF BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE COMPANY AT NATIONAL DANCE AWARDS 2023
“Far From Home brings to the stage the humanity of told and untold stories by voices not always heard.”
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Bringing Alleyne Dance’s dynamic, powerhouse style to the stage, ‘Far From Home’ is a hard hitting, atmospheric, abstract narrative dance production. Performed by 6 professional dance artists, the performance ensemble will highlight the emotional and mental stresses of migrant families, as well as the impact on communities where migrants ‘settle’, as we unpick the meaning of tolerance and practice of integration.
“A real gem.” Lyndsey Winship, The Guardian
Links
JULY 2023
SPOKEN MOVEMENT
FAMILY HONOUR
‘Family Honour’ examines the eponymous concept through the eyes of a young girl trapped in the moral codes mandated by her immediate environment, confronting her past ‘sin’ against tradition. Abandoned by her father, she seeks solace from memories resembling him.
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The performance draws the audience into a world where hip-hop isn’t just rubbing shoulders with theatre, but is theatre.
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Family Honour won the prestigious French choreographic competition Danse Elargie and 2019’s Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition with Family Honour.
“Sophisticated in its use of hip-hop language for theatrical ends.”
The Guardian
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JULY 2022
HOFESH SHECHTER, SHETCHER II
CONTEMPORARY DANCE 2.0
A rhythmic, fiercely energetic and exhilarating performance by the award winning company Shechter II.
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Contemporary Dance 2.0 unleashes the intensity of Shechter’s signature ensemble work combined with an eclectic sound-score of club-like euphoria and throbbing beats.
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In a work that is dipped in ironic references to pop culture and making a playful take on Shechter’s own art form, in Contemporary Dance 2.0 only one thing is certain, the dancers do it their way.
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Inspired by the original production created for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani in 2019 Contemporary Dance 2.0 is re-imagined by Shechter II, the very best of the next generation of world-class performers aged 18-25.
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Contemporary Dance 2.0 is produced by Hofesh Shechter Company and co- commissioned by Düsseldorf Festival!, Espace 1789 Saint-Ouen, with production support from Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza, and a production residency at Arts Depot, London.
‘The mighty contemporary choreographer – a combination of dance-maker and rock-star, but with film-director sensibilities.’ The Times
JULY 2022
ALEXANDER WHITLEY DANCE COMPANY
ANTI-BODY
Bits and bytes flicker in the cold light, while wild, expressive bodies move between translucent screens. Three dancers are immersed in streams of motion responsive visuals, presenting a symbiotic relationship between body and technology.
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Through a live motion capture system, the dancers become at once set, lighting and characters in a narrative where the boundaries between self and other, human presence and digital pattern, become increasingly hard to define.
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Set to an electrifying and soul-stirring score by Mercury Prize nominated composer Hannah Peel and music producer Kincaid, Anti-Body explores our drive to transcend the material constraints of the human body and the promise of freedom this dream is built upon. Charting different courses through an illusory visual world of abstract code and uncanny beauty created by digital artists Uncharted Limbo Collective, the performers represent the many questions and tensions facing humanity as possibilities for life in a disembodied form become ever more real.
SEPTEMBER 2021
KENNEDY MUNTANGA
GREATER THAN LION
The contemporary dance performance Greater than Lion choreographed by Kennedy Junior Muntanga premiered at Messums West in September 2021.
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Muntanga is one of the most exciting new names in contemporary dance and follows in the footsteps of talented choreographers whose emergence has been supported by Messums West.
SEPTEMBER 2020
THE MATSENA BROTHERS
GEOMETRY OF FEAR
Eight dancers took to the stage at Messums West for a new performance ‘Geometry of Fear’ choreographed by our Performance Associate Anthony Matsena.
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Anthony became our Performance Associate for 2019/20, the result of that process was a new work, made in response to the repercussions of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and uses – as its start point – the creative energy of Elisabeth Frink’s output and her recreated Woolland Studio, installed in the historic barn at Messums West.
SEPTEMBER 2019
ANTHONY MATSENA
WHEN IT ARRIVES
Anthony Matsena began dancing from a young age, training in hip-hop and street dance. His work was part of the Sadler’s Wells Young Associates programme ‘Together, not the same’ in 2019. He previously performed at Sadler’s Wells in 2015 as part of Apex Rising with National Youth Dance Wales and has performed professionally for Joseph Toonga as part of Just Us Dance Theatre.
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His new work ‘When It Arrives’ looks at the process needed for the transformation of one from body and spirit to a free roaming spirit and is inspired by the words of James L.Hallenbeck, M.D.
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“Death may arrive with a bang, but more often it comes quietly, without so much as a sigh. The moment of death is sacred in the deepest sense, and words do it no justice. It is a time to witness silently a passing.”
SEPTEMBER 2019
RUBY PORTUS
SHALL WE JUST RETIRE TO THE LAKE?
Ruby Portus is an NYDC Alumni and graduated from London Contemporary Dance School in 2017. Her work was part of the Sadler’s Wells Young Associates programme ‘Together, not the same’ in 2019. She previously performed in Home Turf and Elixir Festival 2017 at Sadler’s Wells and is currently completing her MA in Dance Performance at Northern School of Contemporary Dance as a member of Verve.
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Ruby’s piece ‘Shall we just retire to the lake?’ is a satirical, glitzy, feminist, cabaret-style, physical theatre duet that smashes outdated ideas of what it means to ‘be a woman’, and offers new possibilities for us all to try on for size, whoever we are and however we identify.
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Originally commissioned by Sadler’s Wells, London, as part of Young Associates Mixed Bill 2018, the piece was reworked specially for the tithe barn at Messums West.
JULY 2018
ALEXANDER WHITLEY
NOUMENA | ULYSSES | BETWEEN TWO FIRES
Furthering our connection with contemporary dance we presented a triple bill of works by the Alexander Whitley Dance Company, including the world première of Between Two Fires. A Sadler’s Wells New Wave Associate and former Choreographic Affiliate of The Royal Ballet, Alexander Whitley has developed a reputation for his bold interdisciplinary approach to dance making, producing technologically innovative and thought-provoking stage productions as well as exploring the creative possibilities being opened up by new digital platforms.
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For this special weekend at Messums West, Alexander returned to his roots with a triple bill of beautiful, stripped down contemporary dance works.
NOVEMBER 2016
RUSSEL MALIPHANT
CONCEAL | REVEAL
Russell Maliphant’s internationally renowned contemporary dance group commenced the series of exhibitions concerned with The Human Form. ‘Conceal | Reveal” was an evening of dazzling physical performance marking the ongoing collaboration between the award-winning Choreographer Russell Maliphant and Lighting Designer Michael Hulls. Together they have developed a unique and unparalleled language between movement and light that is acclaimed the world over. One of the first artists to see the space at Messums Wiltshire, Russell Maliphant’s response was immediate and powerful. The evening included Piece No.43, a quintet commissioned in 2015 for Conceal | Reveal with a score by Mukul and costumed by Stevie Stewart and the iconic work Two x Two.
