Wednesday 25 June 2014

Cape Wrath Residency

This coming week I will be working with Glasgow-based composer Matilda Brown on our common production Footsteps Marking Time, The Cape Wrath Music and Dance Project. The residency will be happening at Scottish School of Contemporary Dance in Dundee, where I've been recently appointed Artist in Residence.

The project started last April with an initial three week research. Matilda walked more than two hundred miles through some of the wildest and most desolate landscape of the Scottish Highlands, becoming (as far we know) the first woman to ever complete the trail on her own.

During that time, I was researching in a studio in the peninsula of Scoraig, a place so remote that can only be reached walking or by boat. During these three weeks, we were in contact by phone and shared music and pieces of text. We also collected images, writing and sounds samples that will feed into the creation process.

For a short taste of the work, check out this video from our April research:

 


Wednesday 18 June 2014

71 Dancers

 


71 dancers is my latest work for young dancers created in collaboration with Scottish Dance Theatre Youth Company, Dalriada Youth Company, Fusion Youth Dance Company and Macrobert Youth Dance Company.

The work is part of the cultural programme of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and, true to the spirit of the games, it has brought together young dancers from Dundee, Argyll, Stirling and Aberdeen to collaborate in the creation of a brand new dance work.

In a series of intensive weekend-residencies, the dancers visited each other's cities and villages, but, most importantly, they got to know each other and learn to think and work as a company. You can see the result this weekend in theatres across Scotland:

Friday 20th June, Go Dance Festival, Glasgow Theatre Royal, BOOK HERE
Saturday 21st June, Macrobert Dance Festival, Stirling.
Sunday 22nd June, Dundee Rep Youth Dance Festival, BOOK HERE


Saturday 14 June 2014

Performances in Barcelona

 
Next Sunday 15th of June my latest work Flors i violes  will be performed at the Teatre Ovidi Montllor in Barcelona. The work was created last February in collaboration with the graduating students of the contemporary dance department of the Dance Conservatoire in Barcelona (Institut del Teatre).

The piece questions the idea of national identity, and the strength and risks that come with it. I was also interested in exploring the tension between collective and personal identity, which I see as a recurring theme in my work. In a way, the piece is a response to the deep political and social crisis that Catalonia and Spain are living at present moment, and the question of how do I position myself as an artist in relation to it.

A further performance of Flors i violes is scheduled for the 18th of June at the Sala La Cate in Figueres. For more info and tickets click HERE.

Sunday 8 June 2014

Achilles I in Germany

© Nicole Guarino

Next Monday 9th of June, I will present the solo Achilles I at the festival TanzArt ostwest in Giessen, Germany. Curated by Tarek Assam and hosted by the Tanzcompagnie Giessen, the festival brings together dance companies from all over Europe, placing a particular emphasis on the exchange of choreographic ideas between artists from Western and Eastern Europe.

Achilles I is a meditation around the notions of struggle, violence and resilience. The solo explores the notion of 'hero' and the ambivalent character of the figure of Achilles, related to both strength and vulnerability, to public and private spheres.

This is the second time I visit the TanzArt festival. In 2011 I was invited to present the duet Dreamt for Light Years. For more information on this year's edition and to book tickets click HERE.