Dance Consortium PRESENTS
ITS 40th UK TOUR
Three UK PREMIERES by
three leading choreographers:
Reversible by Annabelle
Lopez Ochoa;
The Listening
Room by Theo Clinkard;
and Matria
Etnocentra by George Céspedes
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Danza Contemporánea de Cuba in
Matria Etnocentra – photo Johan Persson
|
Danza Contemporánea de Cuba
Newcastle Theatre Royal
Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd February 2017.
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Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba’s
Andrés Ascanio and
Heriberto Meneses
in Reversible – photo Johan Persson |
Dance Consortium, a group of 17 large scale venues located across the UK, has announced
full details of its 40th tour, Danza Contemporánea
de Cuba’s UK Tour 2017. Last seen in the UK in 2012, Cuba’s vibrant
flagship contemporary dance company will present an exciting programme
choreographed by some of today’s most sought-after choreographic names. The
2017 UK
tour arrives at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd February 2017.
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Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba in Reversible.
Foreground Jennifer Tejeda and Iosmaly Ordoñez
photo Johan Persson
|
For more than five decades, since the company was founded by Ramiro
Guerra in 1959, Danza Contemporánea de Cuba’s (DCC) hybrid and hothouse dance
blend of African-Caribbean rhythms, jazzy American modernism and influences
from classical European ballet has been evoking the sensual heart of the Cuban
spirit through vigorous and highly physical contemporary dance.
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Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba’s
Maikel Pons and Anabel Pomar in Matria Etnocentra
photo Johan Persson
|
Now under the directorship of Miguel Iglesias, the company will present
three UK
premieres during its UK Tour- a mixed bill of recently created work by three
top choreographers: Belgian-Colombian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa; the UK’s Theo
Clinkard; and the company’s very own Cuban wunderkind George Céspedes.
 |
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Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba’s
Laura Ríos and José A. Elias in Reversible
photo Johan Persson
|
Hot Cuban passions,
sass and wit all meet in Reversible by
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
It delves deep into the path of gender matters,
sudden changes in relationships, the games, rivalry and pleasure of being
opponents and dissidents. To an eclectic soundtrack including music by
Jean-Claude Kerinec & Staff Elmeddah, Kroke, Scanner and Eric Vaarzon
Morel, Reversible is a captivating
comment on gender, spoken in Lopez Ochoa’s trademark quirky style, this time
with a Cuban accent. Lighting is by Fernando Alonso and costumes by Vladimir
Cuenca.
Reversible
is performed by seventeen company dancers and premiered in Cuba in 2015. The
original production was sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy in Cuba.
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|
Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba
in Reversible
photo Johan Persson
|
Lopez Ochoa has created work for over forty dance companies across the
world, including English National Ballet and New York City Ballet, and is
currently one of the female choreographers most in demand on the international
scene. In 2012 she created her first full-length ballet, A Streetcar Named Desire for Scottish Ballet. The production
received a South Bank Sky Arts Award for ‘Best New Production’ and a Critics’
Circle National Dance Award for ‘Best Classical Choreography’. Earlier this
year Lopez Ochoa received further critical acclaim for Broken Wings, a new work for English National Ballet’s She Said programme.
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Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba
in Matria Etnocentra
photo Johan Persson
|
The Listening Room, an
exuberant and experimental piece by Theo Clinkard, was created for twenty DCC
dancers and premiered in Cuba in May
2016. It was originally
funded by British Council as part of ‘Islas Creativas’ (Creative Islands) initiative between British Council and DCC to
support the development of new choreography.
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|
Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba
in Matria Etnocentra
photo Johan Persson
|
Set to Steve Reich’s driving score, ‘Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings’,
The
Listening Room is a celebration of expressive and instinctive
dancing. As the performers in headphones respond to an alternate soundtrack of
wildly diverse music and text, the piece invites the audience to create their
own relationships between what they hear and what they see. Lighting is by
Fernando Alonso and costumes are made by Vladimir Cuenca.
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|
Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba’s
Thais Suárez and Niosbel Gonzáles in Reversible
Photo Johan Persson
|
Following twenty years performing in work by
many of the UK’s celebrated dance makers, Brighton based
choreographer, performer and stage designer, Clinkard has swiftly built an
international reputation for creating compelling and visually arresting dance.
Clinkard launched his own company in 2012 to develop work that explores the
communicative potential of the body and the empathetic nature of dance in
performance. In 2015, he was one of three choreographers selected to create a
work for the renowned Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch as part of their very
first evening of new work after the passing of its founder, the visionary Pina
Bausch.
Matria Etnocentra by
the company’s resident choreographer and dancer George Céspedes sees 23 dancers moving to a drill-like rhythm in this award-winning
work: following its world premiere in Havana in 2015, Céspedes
was awarded the Critique Villanueva Award 2015 by the Union of Writers and
Artists of Cuba for ‘Best Choreography’.
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Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba
in Matria Etnocentra
photo Johan Persson
|
To music by Nacional Electrónica and Hermanos Expósito including
interpretations of the music of Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve), costume design
by George Céspedes and lighting by Ariel Capote Granado, it is an exciting
group work that portrays the tension between the fluidity of music and dance
and the regimented nature of daily life in Cuba.
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|
Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba’s
José A. Elias and Stephanie Hardy in
Matria Etnocentra – photo Johan Persson
|
Following DCC’s last UK tour, Céspedes’ Mambo 3XX1
was nominated for Olivier and TMA
awards for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Dance’. Born in Holguin in Cuba in 1979 Céspedes studied at National
School of Dance in Havana
and joined DCC as a dancer in 1998. As a principal dancer he has performed in
more than 19 works in DCC’s repertoire. He has created works for many companies
including DCC, Ballet Nacional de Cuba and National School of Dance.
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|
Danza Contemporánea de
Cuba’s
Andrés Ascanio and
Heriberto Meneses
in Matria Etnocentra –
photo Johan Persson
|
Miguel Iglesias, Director of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, said: “With thanks to an
ongoing relationship with Dance Consortium and the kind welcome of the UK audiences, we are
extremely pleased to return to England, Scotland and Wales with three UK premieres. It is with
great pleasure we will present works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Theo Clinkard
who worked in collaboration with the British Council during the Creative Islands project and our very own
George Céspedes whose work Mambo 3XX1 was so greatly received by audiences and
critics in 2012. We hope the 2017 tour helps to build on the exciting and
ever-growing relationship between Cuba and the UK.”
Ros Robins, Dance Consortium’s Executive Director, said: “Marking Dance Consortium’s 40th
tour, we are looking forward to welcoming Danza Contemporánea de Cuba back to the UK, hot on the heels of the
fantastic success of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater tour. Over a seven
week period Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater visited ten Dance Consortium
theatres, with 34 performances to over 40,000 theatregoers. In addition, 5879
people enjoyed 37 educational sessions led by Ailey dancers and rehearsal
director Matthew Rushing inspired 45 of the UK’s most talented young dancers in
a week-long Intensive in collaboration with DanceEast. We are currently talking
to visiting companies about how we continue to build these unique opportunities
and eagerly await the arrival of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, yet another internationally
renowned company to the UK.”
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:
@danceconsortium #DanzaCuba2017
Dance Consortium presents Danza Contemporánea de Cuba UK
Tour 2017
Tue 14 & Wed 15 February at 7.30pm
Royal Concert Hall NOTTINGHAM
Fri 17 & Sat 18 February at 7.30pm
The Lowry SALFORD
QUAYS
Tickets: 0843 208 6000 www.thelowry.com
Tue 21 & Wed 22
February at 7.30pm
Theatre Royal NEWCASTLE
Thu 23 February at 8pm
Barbican Hall LONDON
Tue 28 February & Wed 1 March at 7.30pm
Wales Millennium Centre CARDIFF
Wales Millennium Centre CARDIFF
Fri 3 & Sat 4 March at 7.30pm
Theatre Royal PLYMOUTH
Theatre Royal PLYMOUTH
Tue 7 & Wed 8 March at 7.30pm
Brighton
Dome BRIGHTON
Fri 10 March at 7.30pm
Eden Court
INVERNESS
Tickets: 01463 234234 www.eden-court.co.uk
Tue 14 & Wed 15 March at 7.30pm
Festival Theatre EDINBURGH
Festival Theatre EDINBURGH
Fri 17 & Sat 18 March at 7.30pm
Marlowe Theatre CANTERBURY
Tickets: 01227 787787 www.marlowetheatre.com
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