January 30, 2004
The Trouble in Cambridge
Article19's journey south to cover the events of British Dance Edition have been dealt a severe blow by the refusal of Assis Carriero, Artistic Director of Dance East the organisaers of the event, to allow any filming to take place during the performances.
Since bringing you full video coverage of the companies taking part at the event was the main aim of Article19 being here it would seem that our time has been wasted.
Article19 would like to apologise to our readers as we will not be able to bring you any video coverage, the very thing that makes us stand out from other dance related websites with endless "reviews" of shows that serve no real purpose.
We will try and bring you an interview with Ms Carriero to find out just why filming was not allowed to take place.
More news as it becomes available. An editorial on this decision will follow on Monday.
at 07:44 PM
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January 28, 2004
BDE Beckons
From today Article19 will be holed up in, what is certain to be, freezing conditions in Cambridge. The reason for the excursion south from the warmth of our roaring hearth is to discover the wonder that is British Dance Edition.
We will not be updating information live from the event since the technology will not allow. Next week however we will have extensive coverage of the event including, to be confirmed, a large amount of video material from the many performances on offer and any gossip, news, interviews, etc that can be had whilst "the Lab" is in attendance.
It may be possible to post some news updates from Cambridge but we are not sure if they have discovered electricity yet, never-mind wireless internet!
See you on the other side!
at 07:46 PM
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January 25, 2004
Big Prizes Beckon
The Place has launched a new competition to give money to choreographers by means of a "competition" replete with judges a ceremony and, no doubt, a few speeches.
The aim of the competition is not at all clear but the practicalities are very clear. You can win money, choreographers and dancers need money to live therefore the motivation for you is simple.
Entry to the competition is via an application form and a 3 minute video. If you are successful at this stage you will then be invited to give a 10 minute presentation of how you would use the £3,000 (is that all? Ed!) to develop your choreographic idea. After much mulling and discussion the panel will decide if you win or not.
If you do win then you take the £3,000 and spend it on a nice holiday while you contemplate a future career in furniture sales! This is after attending the "Place Prize Briefing"; Just kidding.
The "choreographic ideas' created by the winners will then be performed in London over a period of time. At these performances audiences will be invited to vote on the show they like the most and that particular piece will win an additional £1,000 (these prizes are not getting any better, Ed!)
Judges will then decide, after what seems like an absolute eternity, who will win the "big" prize of £25,000.
Giving money to choreographers is always a good thing but the colossal effort required to enter this competition does not reflect the rewards after it is all over. £25k is a hefty chunk of cash but who pays for all the trips to London, for choreographers not based there, to give "presentations" attend "briefings" and of course give the performances?
Here in the Lab this competition looks an awful lot like a promotion exercise for The Place and not a lot else. They get to show a lot of new work for not very much money and it provides them with a good opportunity to build a cosy relationship with Bloomberg, the sponsor.
The recent winner of Fame Academy, paid for by the BBC; a publicly funded organisation, received a £1 million recording contract and a luxury lifestyle. Who says we don't value artists in this country.
If you would like to enter the contemporary dance version of Pop Idol then follow the link below.
at 07:47 PM
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January 17, 2004
Dance Awards Predictable? Never!
The National Dance Awards for 2003 were announced with little pomp and even less ceremony just after the holidays and the "winners" are predictable to say the least.
Among the categories are those for best dancer (Carlos Acosta), audience award (Adam Cooper), best choreography (modern) (Akram Khan), etc, etc. The list is as endless as it is dull. The awards, in the contemporary categories, have all gone to the mainstays of contemporary dance, artists from Siobhan Davies, Rambert, Khan, Paul Taylor Dance Company and so on ad-nauseum.
Particularly impressive is the fact that Adam Cooper managed to win two awards after we exclusively revealed that he is only six and a half inches tall. As our image shows [ click here to see the image ] , obtained from confidential sources, Mr Cooper is indeed of diminutive stature.
The dance section of the Critics Circle (like the Magic Circle but without the rabbits or top hats) makes the decisions about who wins, and that pretty much says it all.
Further clarification of just how sappy these awards are is in evidence with this superb bit of groveling on the awards website;
"The dancer image used by the National Dance Awards was especially created for us by Deborah MacMillan. We must also thank Deborah for Anton's enchanted grand piano in the Foyer which he plays so beautifully during the awards ceremony. " Please stop giggling at the back!
We are assuming that the "enchanted" piano was supplied by Pickler, Gibbert & Co. exclusive suppliers of FairyDust® to Tinkerbell and all other inhabitants of Never Never Land®
at 07:49 PM
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January 16, 2004
Dancing on a Dodgy Script
Dance films are rare, major hollywood releases of dance films are even rarer. Looking to history we see that films featuring dance as the main story line have been nothing short of horrific. Flashdance, Footloose, Saturday Night Fever and the most horrific of them all, Billy Elliot (usually referred to in the Lab as "that bloody thing")
Well once again we have another dance film on release featuring Neve Campbell in the starring role. At first you think there is hope for "The Company" because Ms Campbell used to be a professional dancer before retiring through injury. Sadly whatever her talents are as a dancer and actor they are no match for the horrific writing in evidence in this picture and that's just in the trailer.
Apparently the writer, in this case Barbara Turner, is under the impression that choreographers, who all wear sappy scarfs while they're working, stride among their dancers like a colossus spouting such gems as; "it's not the steps babies it's what's inside that counts!" and "thinking the movement is not becoming the movement!", stop laughing at the back!
The reason for this gushing dialogue is almost certainly because the film is based around the supremely unreal world of classical ballet and in this films case the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. Joffrey Ballet are the company responsible for the unintentionally hilarious "Billboards", surely the worst dance piece in the history of absolutely everything.
The above mentioned dialogue is spoken by Malcom McDowell, best known for playing Alex in the film students favourite "Clockwork Orange". We would suggest that any choreographer spouting such drivel to a small group of contemporary dancers would either be;
a) Laughed out of the studio with clear instructions to return when he/she had ceased to be a complete wally.
or
b) Immediatley killed by having a multi function, portable music player inserted in his/her head.
"The Company" will be on major release in the UK sometime in the next 25 years and will no doubt swiftly make its way to DVD. Dance teachers around the globe are almost certainly poised with their credit cards to purchase this film to torment their students and ultimately blight their existence for ever more. (now you're just being silly, Ed!)
at 07:51 PM
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January 15, 2004
Bangarra Dance Theatre on Video
You may be aware, if you are a regular reader of Article19, that we are always on the lookout for good dance video online. Contemporary dance is a small community, even on a global scale, so being able to experience dance companies you may never get to see live is something worth mentioning.
Bangarra Dance Theatre are based in Sydney, Australia and we're formed just 10 short years ago. The company describe themselves as;
"... one of the youngest and oldest of Australia's dance companies. Its living traditions go back at least 40 000 years but it also reflects the lives and attitudes of Indigenous peoples today. This unique company blends traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture with international contemporary dance influences to create a truly Australian dance language."
These elements are certainly visible in their work. The company exhibits a superbly grounded technique. Here in the Lab we can't get enough of contemporary dancers who are more at home on the floor than they are standing up.
Instead of just telling you about what they do the company actually show you what they do with video clips lasting, in some cases, as long as six minutes. Not only that but the pieces are well filmed, for the most part, and they have been encoded for the internet with some degree of care.
Our favourite piece is "Turtle" in which the dancers are covered in oil so they can literally slide around on the stage. Sadly it only lasts just over one minute (the video not the actual piece) but it's worth a look none the less.
So full marks to Bangarra, to view the companies work follow the link below.
Bangarra's Website [video links]
at 07:54 PM
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January 14, 2004
William Forsythe Still/Germany
News reaches us that William Forsythe will stay in Germany for a little while longer after signing a new contract with the city of Frankfurt and other states. We have few details at present but the new company will probably be a smaller group then Frankfurt Ballet which will cease to exist at the end of this year.
Thanks to Ballet-Tanz for the information below;
"FORSYTHE'S CONTRACT SIGNED TODAY!
After month of quarrels, the city of Frankfurt signed the contract with William Forsythe today, to facilite an inter-state cooperation between Hessen and Thuringia, Dresden and Frankfurt. The contract
will secure an continued existence of a new and independent ensemble, while Ballet Frankfurt will stop existing by the end of the 2004 season."
More news on this as we receive it.
at 07:56 PM
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January 12, 2004
BDE 2004 Roll Up, Roll Up
The only dance festival in the world that members of the public can't actually go to begins this month on January 29th.
Now to say you can't go may be stretching it just a bit but it is true to say that there are only a few shows open to the public. British Dance Edition is more of a showroom for contemporary dance where the promoters of the world can peruse what's on offer from the best of British companies. Some companies, such as Motionhouse for example, are more notable by their absence.
The idea is that as many companies as possible perform small sections of existing work in as short a period of time as humanly possible to as many people as possible. When we say as many people as possible we mean people that can book performances and organise overseas tours. The whole thing used to be part of a dreadful dance competition with an incomprehensible name that was held in France. Since there is no mention of this nonsensical "competition" in the publicity we can only hope it has been consigned to drawer marked "The Dome and Other Crap Ideas!"
On show will be the likes of Jasmin Vardimon, BareBones, Rambert and Charles Linehan to name but a few. There are some performances open to the public but you need to buy your tickets quickly because there are not many to be had.
We may or may not be bringing you extensive coverage of this festival, more news to follow.
BDE2004 runs from January 29th - 31st in Cambridge.
at 07:59 PM
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January 06, 2004
Resolution 04
It is that time of year again. The time of year for 105 choreographers to crawl from beneath their warm blankets and expose themselves to the general public and get a good roasting on the bonfire of public opinion.
Resolution, in case you don't know, is a large and very long festival for new and not so new choreographers and dance companies to perform a new piece of work. The evenings are separated into three types namely; Aerowaves, for overseas companies, First Footing, for new companies and Evolution, for returning companies. Held in London, the performance programme begins early January and ends in the middle of February.
The festival is a little different in that the companies take a financial risk on their show doing well along with the two other companies they share an evening with. If they get no audience then they have to pay the full hire fee of the venue (the Robin Howard Theatre), if they sell tickets they might actually make some money.
This may be the only chance you will ever get to see most of these companies because good or bad a lot of them don't survive too long beyond the end of the festival so show them some support. Tickets can be had for as little as £5.
Resolution is running now and continues until 14th February.
at 08:00 PM
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January 05, 2004
2004 The Year of the Koala!
Hello dear readers and welcome to 2004 a year which we have dubbed "Year of the Koala". No disrespect to the Chinese, we love you dearly, but the year of the monkey is just not good enough.
In the immediate future of Article19 we have interviews with Vanessa Cook, dancer with Motionhouse among many other things, Rosie Kay multi award winning, dancer/choreographer and Richard Alston of Richard Alston Dance Company fame (you don't say, Ed!).
We will also be bringing you articles from a few new writers including, the aforementioned, Vanessa Cook, Helen Parlor and Susan Cunningham.
Last year had highs and lows for Article19 and for dance in general. This year we are looking to be bigger, better and even more extensive in our coverage of what goes in the the wide world of dance in all it's contemporary forms. There will be more points of view, more video and more editorial because we have the feeling that Article19 is not causing nearly enough mischief so that needs to change (hooray, Ed!). By the end of today the listings will be fully updated with all the performances from Resolution which begins today and runs for the next 6 weeks.
If you are the person responsible for promoting dance performances then send us your listings, send us your images and said us free food* and we will get your show in there. Images mean we can run a featured listing on your show and make it a bit more noticeable. You don't have to be a big posh dance company for that since featured listing is free we'll put anybody in it as long as you have a decent photo.
We are currently still updating the site to the new design on some pages so bear with as all will be well by the end of tomorrow.
So......... stay slippy!
*optional
at 08:01 PM
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