Rosie Kay Dance Company presents
‘5 Soldiers: The Body Is The Frontline’ 2015 Tour
Newcastle Dance City
Thursday 14th
& Saturday 16th May
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
Rosie Kay Dance Company, the international award-winning
dance theatre company headed by artistic director and choreographer Rosie Kay,
will tour its thought-provoking and extremely moving 5 Soldiers: The Body Is The Frontline from 23 April to 13 June visiting
Dance City in Newcastle on both 14th
and 16th May 2015.
With the commemorations of WWI in
the news, 5 Soldiers shows how the
human body is still central to all conflict, the impact and injuries lasting
long after the headlines fade.
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
The tour, the first of its kind in
the UK, will see the company working in partnership with
theatres, military bases and the Army Welfare Service. This unique style of
intensive tour model comprises of two months of community outreach work in each
location, leading to a weekend of events, community performances, the
professional shows and post-show talks with Kay, the cast and a local
Commanding Officer.
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
The tour will engage with local theatre
and non-theatre venues, including building theatres in drill halls and in
Officers’ Clubs, to develop a relationship between military bases and the local
arts community through a huge community engagement programme working with communities,
service personnel and their families, young people and veterans. In advance of
the full show, a 20-minute version of the piece will be performed in the town
centre by the professional company.
No-holds-barred, 5 Soldiers delivers Kay’s trademark
style of intense physical and athletic dance theatre. The work received
audience and critical acclaim in 2010 and 2011, and has been endorsed as
‘getting it’ by its military audiences.
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
Says General Sir Nick Parker, KCB,
CBE: “Rosie Kay’s use of dance to help create a complex
and nuanced picture of conflict is one of the most innovative and compelling
initiatives that I have experienced in the aftermath of Iraq and Afghanistan. It demonstrates how art can be used as a powerful
tool in the healing process, how it can touch the extended family of those who
have been caught in the horror of battle and how it can send a universal
message about the soldier. It is an extraordinary achievement which will make a
difference to many people.”
Supported by Arts Council England
and Army Benevolent Fund, The Soldiers’ Charity, the 5 Soldiers tour will open at Birmingham REP on 23 April, marking five years to the day since
the work received its world premiere at International Dance Festival Birmingham
2010.
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
5 Soldiers is a
moving, dramatic and unique work that looks at how the human body remains
essential to war, even in the 21st century.
A visceral ‘tour de force’ of the
senses, 5 Soldiers provides an
intimate view of the training that prepares our soldiers for the sheer
physicality of combat, for the possibility of injury, and the impact conflict
has on the bodies and minds of everyone it reaches. The piece has a powerful
physicality, moments of humour and is full of honesty, all inspired by input
from serving and former soldiers.
Kay’s moving exploration of war
was made following an intense period of field research when she joined The 4th
Battalion The Rifles for two weeks and experienced full battle exercises on Dartmoor
and Salisbury Plain. Kay then visited the military rehabilitation centre, Headley Court, to see the effects of conflict and training on
the soldiers’ bodies.
The 2015 tour sees Kay re-work 5 Soldiers. Says Rosie Kay, artistic
director of Rosie Kay Dance Company: “This
tour is so exciting for the company- we really want more people to see the
work, and experience the power of the message.
Despite advances in technologies of war and the treatment of war
injuries, so many people are going to be dealing with the impact of our long
stretch of operations. This affects not
just soldiers, but their families, their friends and it affects us as a
society. We have a responsibility to
understand what it is we ask our soldiers to do, and how it affects them.
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
We know 5 Soldiers really resonates with serving and former soldiers, and
so we are widening our tour to include performances, talks, a symposium and an
incredible outreach programme across the whole of UK. It’s an
ambitious programme for us as a company, and combines all our years of
experience from making outdoor work, site-specific work, community engagement,
high quality touring work and professional training and development.
We aim to make an impact with this
tour and make people see conflict and the repercussions of war in a new way.”
New to the company are five
outstanding dancers – Duncan Anderson, Chester Hayes, Sean Marcs, Oliver
Russell and Shelley Eva Haden – during the intense six-week rehearsal period
they will participate in a weeklong military exercise with The 4th
Battalion The Rifles on the Salisbury Plain.
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
5 Soldiers brings together an
exciting mix of collaborators: designer Louis Price, composer Annie Mahtani,
Dramaturg Ben Payne, lighting designer Mike Gunning and visual artist David
Cotterell.
Kay is one the world’s leading
female choreographers with a reputation for making strong, intelligent work
that tackles interesting subjects with exciting collaborations. In 2012 the company
was nominated as Best Independent Dance Company by the National Dance Awards, Critics Circle. Kay choreographed the 2013 feature film Sunshine on Leith, directed by Dexter
Fletcher, with songs by The Proclaimers. In 2013, Kay was the first
choreographer to be appointed the Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the School of Anthropology
and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford.
On The Web:
Twitter: twitter.com/rosiekaydanceco
Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/614462912022029/
Trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHbUMQL0z9Q
5* Review
in The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/stage
5 SOLDIERS: THE BODY IS THE FRONTLINE – 2015 tour dates
23-25
April // BIRMINGHAM, Repertory
Theatre, Broad Street, B1 2EP
2
& 3 May // OXFORD, Wolfson College in partnership with Defence Studies
Department, King’s College London at the UK Defence Academy and Swindon Dance Tickets:
www.5soldiers.co.uk // 0333 577 5700
7-9 May // LONDON, The Rifles Officers’
Club, 56 Davies Street, London, W1K 5HR
 |
Dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes,
Sean
Marcs, Duncan Anderson,
Oliver
Russell – Photo: Tim Cross
|
14 & 16 May // NEWCASTLE, Dance City, Temple Street, NE1 4BR
23 & 24 May // BLANDFORD The Semaphore Arms,
Blandford Camp, Dorset DT11 8RH, in partnership with Pavilion Dance South West www.pdsw.org.uk // 01202 203630
29 & 30 May // MANCHESTER, Home & Rusholme
Army Reserve Centre, Norman
Road, Manchester M14 5LH // Tickets: www.homemcr.org // 0161 200 1500
5 & 6 June // YORK, Theatre Royal &
Imphal Barracks, enter via Holland Road, York YO10 4JT Tickets:
www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk // 01904 623568
12 & 13 June //
BRECON, Theatr Brycheiniog, Canal Wharf, Brecon, Powys LD3
7EW Tickets:
www.brycheiniog.co.uk // 01874 611622
5 SOLDIERS: THE BODY IS THE FRONTLINE - Age
Guidance is PG - Running Time is 60 minutes
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