Candoco Dance Company Announces Its 30th Anniversary Season

Today, Candoco Dance Company is thrilled to announce details of its 30th anniversary season. Delayed due to the effects of the pandemic, the season will include new commissions, digital work, and international projects and performances alongside the company's UK touring programme.

From the 10 February - 24 March Feeling Thing, a new digital commission choreographed by Jo Bannon, will have its online world premiere on Sadler's Wells Digital Stage, available to watch for free, followed by Sydney Opera House's UK/AU Digital Season from 1 March. Feeling Thing features three intimate duets between dancer and object, set to an ASMR soundscape. This new work invites audiences to observe the daily duet between our bodies and the objects and technologies that support us and the intimate nature of those relationships.

Watch Feeling Thing from 12.00 on 10 February 2022 here: sadlerswells.com/digital-stage/

For the first time in its 30-year history, Candoco tours to New York in April with Set and Reset/Reset, based on the original work by New York choreographer Trisha Brown and Face In, an ode to intimacy and imagination, by Israeli American choreographer, Yasmeen Godder. The programme also tours to Sweden in May as part of the Gothenburg Dance and Theatre Festival, Sweden's most established performing arts festivals (dates and venues to be announced shortly).

As part of Tate's major retrospective on Trisha Brown Dance Company's seminal work Set and Reset, Candoco will perform its own interpretation of the work, Set and Reset/Reset, in front of the original Robert Rauschenberg set, at Tate Tanks from the 19 - 21 March.

As part of its 30th anniversary celebrations, Candoco has commissioned two compelling new works by London based choreographers Seke Chimutengwende and Annie Hanauer. Seke's new work sees him collaborate with the writer, political journalist and poet, Eleanor Penny for a new dance-theatre work. Annie's new piece will take inspiration from Punk culture and will see her work with musician and artist Fran Lobo. Both works will be presented in a new mixed bill programme this autumn, marking a new model for Candoco's touring performances.

Following its critically acclaimed performances at Sadler's Wells last autumn Candoco's latest boundary-breaking double bill continues to tour the UK this spring with performances at Warwick Arts Centre (1 & 2 March) and The Lowry (10 & 11 May). Featuring new work Last Shelter by Jeanine Durning and Set and Reset/Reset, this double bill from two New York based choreographers continues to expand perceptions of what dance can be.

As well as its performance programme, Candoco's far-reaching learning and engagement work continues this season. Helping to make dance truly inclusive and accessible to all, Candoco is collaborating with The Place and Quiplash to deliver a paid Audio Description Residency for blind and visually impaired artists, as part of The Place's Choreodrome 2022.

This season also sees the launch of Candoco Teaching Artists, an initial two-year artist development programme that will introduce five new experienced artists alongside five trainee artists, to Candoco's vibrant community of dance artists, becoming the face of the Company's learning and engagement projects.

Following a successful collaboration last year, this summer sees the second NYDC + Candoco Summer Residency. For young disabled and non-disabled dancers this residency was launched as a way to address the lack of high-quality inclusive training opportunities currently available for young people. Following last year's residency four young dancers have gained a place in NYDC's latest cohort.

Candoco will also lead a residency with Inspire Youth Arts in Nottingham this spring. This specially commissioned project will bring six disabled and six non-disabled young people together with six Candoco Dance Artists to co-create a new choreography by Jennifer Irons that will be performed alongside Set and Reset/Reset at a dance festival at the Palace Theatre in May.

Through the season Candoco will be celebrating its history and looking forward to the future on its digital and social media platforms. To keep up to date follow #CandocoVoices.

Artistic Director of Candoco, Charlotte Darbyshire said: "I have been lucky enough to be part of Candoco's journey from the very beginning, so it is an honour to help lead the company through its anniversary season and into the future.

"Like many others in the dance sector and beyond right now, we are rethinking about what we do and how we approach all of our work. At the same time, we are looking at how we can meaningfully contribute to being part of the change we want to see and advocating for that change. It feels especially important going forward, to use our profile and privilege to shine a light on artists that work with and alongside us, many of whom are typically under-represented in our artform. We want to celebrate the talent we have around us and engage more deeply with the voices and stories we tell. I am thrilled that Seke and Annie will be creating new works for the company this year.

"Learning and research has always been central to my practice as an artist and teacher and our learning programme will increasingly seek to dig deeper and even more collaboratively, as we provide rich and varied ways for audiences, dance professionals and participants to engage with the work we do. Our approach to access and providing bespoke pathways into the profession feels kaleidoscopic to me, and it is embedded in a passionate commitment to a culture of care, that will see the company take some new steps in the years to come."

Further details for autumn/winter will be announced shortly.

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