Research residency in Dundee

Next Monday I will start a two week research residency in preparation for my upcoming full length creation Plan B for Utopia. The residency is supported by Creative Scotland and Scottish Dance Theatre, and it will take place at the company's headquarters in Dundee.

Together with dancers Solène Weinachter (SDT, Lost Dog, Jan Fabre, Gecko) and John Kendall (from balletLorent), we will explore the notion of ‘utopia’ and its relation with our everyday lives, both in a collective and a private context. We will be looking at the cycles of dissatisfaction, hope and disappointment that seem to drive our journeys through life (and through history). Finally, we will explore different ways of weaving choreographic and text-based elements, as well as playing with different narrative frameworks for the future work...

As part of this residency, we are offering free professional dance classes during the second week of  the residency: 6th - 10th October. The classes will be also an opportunity to meet and network with other independent dance artists based in Dundee and the East Coast. On Friday 10th of October, there will be a public sharing of the research at 2pm.

Classes will start at 10.30am at SDT's studio at Dundee Rep Theatre. They are free but spaces are limited. If you are interested, book your space on jcleville@yahoo.com 

Last week of 'The Glass Menagerie'

I was recently invited by director Jemima Levick to work as a choreographer for Dundee Rep Theatre's production of The Glass Menagerie.

Based on autobiographical events, the play is set in the claustrophobic environment of the Wingfield's apartment in St. Louis, during the times of the Great Depression. With a cast of only four actors, the work is a deeply personal, touching and profound tale of love and loss, and it is widely regarded as one of Tennessee Williams most powerful and haunting memory plays.

Dundee Rep's production premiered on 3rd of September and  has been received with unanimous critical acclaim:

"Levick's impressionistic and mould-breaking re-imagining of Williams's poetic intentions is an exquisitely poignant construction that breathes fresh heartbreak into one of the saddest plays ever written."
★★★★ The Herald

"three magnificent central performances from Robbie Jack as Tom, Millie Turner as Laura, and the great Irene Macdougall as a robust, creative and passionately maternal Amanda...And they are supported by a splendid cameo from Thomas Cotran" 
★★★★ The Scotsman

"Levick is to be commended for having a serious dialogue with a classic"
★★★★ The Times

"a touching revival of Williams' southern domestic drama"
★★★★ The Guardian

"Seventy years after Williams wrote his semi-autobiographical play, the craftsmanship of his words still has the power to astonish."
★★★★ The List

"Depicted with incredible clarity through these characters, it is a haunting production that, in the pleasant disguise of illusion, gives us the truth of human nature"
The Courier

The Glass Menagerie will be on Dundee Rep's stage until the 20th of September, for more information and to book your tickets click HERE.

 

Good news for team Frida

Team Frida with their Herald Angel Award at Dance Base!

Falling in Love with Frida, the latest creation of Glasgow based choreographer Caroline Bowditch, was recently awarded with a Herald Angel Award during the Edinburgh Fringe festival. The work was received with five stars reviews and a completely sold out run at Dance Base, Scotland's National Centre for Dance.
 
I had the privilege and the pleasure to join Caroline during her research trip to Mexico a year ago, and to collaborate with her and the company as Artistic Advisor during the creative process.
 
Falling in Love with Frida explores the life, loves and legacy of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). More than a mere 'biopic', the work is also a reclaiming of a disabled artist, and an enquiry into how we shape what we are remembered for and how much can we really control others' memories of us.

Tickets were sold out again last weekend for Caroline's performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank Centre in London. The work was part of the Unlimited festival, a showcase of the best performance and visual art work by disabled artists in Britain.