Luca Silvestrini's Protein Announce Next Double Bill Of Streamed Performances 

Following a double bill of Silvestrini's work for HeadSpaceDance streamed at the start of the month, Luca Silvestrini's Protein continue their Protein 21 Remix digital series with Ride and Stairworks featuring Luca himself. The provocative duet Ride oscillates between aspiration and desire, unbridled passion and respectability, and is accompanied by Stairworks, a piece performed on outdoor staircases by men wearing only white bath towels.

Presented in partnership with The Wapping Project and Woolwich Works and featuring an introduction from Luca Silvestrini, this social commentary double bill marks 20 years of The Wapping Project, 21 years of Protein, and celebrates Luca Silvestrini's long term collaboration with the late Jules Wright, founder and director of The Wapping Project. Ride and Stairworks were commissioned by The Wapping Project for its now former building - the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station.

Ride (2008) was commissioned for Turning the Season, a major exhibition playing with the idea of the Season - the social elite's summer of balls, races, festivals and regattas - and spanning photography, film, sculpture installation and performance. The third Protein's commission from The Wapping Project responded to the sports aspect of the Season with a duet between Ascot lady and jockey, performed by Charlotte Broom and Omar Gordon. Jules Wright described Ride as "...extremely provocative and sexually, sensually in your face. (...) A commentary on class and aspiration."

Stairworks (2001), Protein's first piece for The Wapping Project, was commissioned as part of the Jerwood 10 X 8: Stairworks series, and guest-curated by Siobhan Davies. Eight choreographers were invited to make a 10-minute piece intended to be caught out of the corner of the viewer's eye, and to play with the idea of what a dance performance could be and where it can be performed.

Protein's Stairworks mixes news coverage with Vivaldi's music and images of men wearing only white bath towels. Performed on an outdoor staircase, it could only be viewed through windows and doors from the restaurant inside the building. Following its premiere, the piece became so popular (and re-named Boys in Towels) that its filmed version went on to be shown on screens around The Wapping Project's building in the following years.

To hear Luca Silvestrini discuss the making of both Ride and Stairworks tune in to podcast Past - Forward: The Wapping Project at 20, Episode 2: with choreographers Lea Anderson and Luca Silvestrini.

This programme is part of Protein 21 Remix which broadcasts historical works onto the digital stage.

To post a comment, you must register and login.