Unleashed – The Winter News
30 April 2015
WHAT’S GOING ON – A NEW MAKEOVER!
So how does a dance organisation get the equivalent of a new haircut or a new makeover? Well it’s a new website of course! We maxed out the credit card (sorry Polly) and built a new shop front that is completely mobile compatible. You can now find out about everything we do and all the fabulous people and ideas that keep East London Dance on trend. Please take a few moments to take a look, wander round and let us know what you think.
FRESH FROM THE STUDIO – WORD!
During September we were proud to commission Alesandra Seutin (VOCAB Dance) to research and develop a brand new work. WORD! is a site-responsive dance production tackling relevant issues of youth culture and stereotypes. It is set on an inner city housing estate, featuring spoken word and set to an original score. Alesandra presented the work-in-progress to a specially invited audience who were led on a powerful journey across the De Beauvoir Estate in Hackney. Keep your eye out for the full public show next year.
OUT AND ABOUT – THE RIVER
This summer we produced a spectacular site-specific promenade performance along the River Thames. The River was choreographed by Natasha Gilmore and featured 100 dancers, singers and musicians aged 11 – 85 years. Despite the heavens opening, the dancers wowed the audiences in Canary Wharf as part of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and Big Dance. The River was then presented as part of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival with our older dancers, Leap of Faith, as the special guest group. Check out the film here.
BEHIND THE SCENES – WEEKENDS ARE GOING TO BE BIG
Out with the old Dance Currents festival and in with the new East London Dance Weekenders. We are mixing up our programming model so that our audiences can dive in to a jam-packed interactive programme of different dance experiences, creatively curated under themed weekends. We are kicking off in March with Club Cultures – celebrating clubbing, club dances and all the good bits in between. Next up will be a weekend for children and families centered around the highly acclaimed children’s production, Varmints, and its big themes of environment, regeneration and alienation.
OUR PEOPLE – JAYE MARSHALL
Jaye was part of The Fi.ELD (Future Innovators. East London Dance) in 2013 and was awarded a bursary to attend the Pioneers of Hip Hop summit. The weekend intensive gave Jaye the confidence to network professionally, which she says contributed to her recent success of joining the cast of X Factor the Musical in the West End. Jaye is now back with us, teaching the adult street dance class on a Tuesday night. If you want to see this bright spark in action – come take her class!. And if you want to follow in Jaye’s footsteps, we are currently recruiting for The Fi.ELD.
PARTNERS IN CRIME – UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON
We are delighted to announce our long-term partnership with University of East London (UEL) and the dance team in the brand new University Square just over the road. They have been sharing their gorgeous studios with us and our artists to nurture new work, and we are building links for their students to develop their sector experience and employability skills. Their artist residencies have already supported MakeAMPLIFY, Ella Mesma, Duwane ‘Spaarx’ Taylor, Avant Garde Dance and Vocab Dance.
