Candoco Dance Company's PLAYING ANOTHER to Kick Off UK Tour Tonight

Candoco Dance Company, the acclaimed contemporary dance company of disabled and non-disabled dancers, is twisting perceptions of what dance is, who can dance and who enjoys it in Playing Another, an evening of two new full company works that will be touring nationally this Autumn. PLAYING ANOTHER, featuring Let's Talk About Dis and Notturnino, will be on tour today 2 October - 10 December in London, Bournemouth, Nottingham, Lancaster and Salford. For more information, visit www.candoco.co.uk.

Renowned for exciting and inspiring audiences, Candoco bring about change in thinking about dance and ability. The company has won numerous awards and in 2012 they performed at the London 2012 Paralympic Closing Ceremonies in front of a global audience of more than 7 million.

Let's Talk About Dis

Choreographer Hetain Patel

Lighting Design: Jackie Shemesh
Costume Design: Valentina Golfieri
Dramaturgy: Eva Martinez
Associate Choreographer: Lorena Randi

In his first company commission Hetain Patel has created a humorous and intimate piece that builds on an exploration of the dancers' individual personalities and physicalities, interrogating questions of what identity is and how it is formed, challenging audiences to think beyond surface appearances. Hetain has worked closely with the dancers and is using their personal stories and experiences in the piece. He is also exploring Candoco's identity, how it is perceived both within and without the company. The piece is very tongue-in-cheek and leverages humour from poking fun at prejudice and the assumptions people make about disability. As many of the dancers are from non-English speaking backgrounds, foreign language also features in the piece, accompanied by 'translations' (perhaps deliberately inaccurate) into English and BSL. Hetain is a celebrated visual artist and one of Sadler's Wells' New Wave Associates. His TED talk 'Who Am I? Think Again', a performative interrogation of identity, inspired by Bruce Lee and performed with Yuyu Rau, has been an internet sensation with over 2 million views.

Notturnino

Choregrapher Thomas Hauert

Music: From the soundtrack 'Tosca's Kiss' directed by Daniel Schmid
Lighting Design: Chahine Yavroyan
Costume Designer: Natasa Stamari

Thomas Hauert's new piece Notturnino is a playful and poignant full company work that takes inspiration from the documentary Tosca's Kiss, a touching film that follows the lives of retired opera singers living in a nursing home in Milan. Using the soundtrack from the film, the piece is scored by fragments of conversation, reminiscences and great operatic works performed by the ageing singers. Through humour and melodrama Notturnino explores the fragility of the human condition. Hauert has created a tightly structured improvisational score with Candoco's dancers, resulting in a truly unique experience for each performance. Topical issues of ageing, vulnerability, fragility are all resonant within the piece and these are experiences shared by disabled and non-disabled people.

Candoco Dance Company's Artistic Co-Director Stine Nilsen says "We have had the opportunity to work with two incredible choreographers this year, resulting in a terrific double bill. We always strive to push boundaries with all our work and this double bill offers a beautiful mix of stunning dance, operatic music and live art. It's a treat for both seasoned attendees of contemporary dance and those new to the art form"

For those who have seen Candoco's work before, you don't want to miss this exquisite new programme which celebrates different ways of making dance. This is an entertaining and fun programme, which invites the audience to get up close and personal with the dancers, revealing the many facets of Candoco.

CHOREOGRAPHERS:

Thomas Hauert - After training in Rotterdam, Swiss Thomas Hauert moved to Brussels in 1991. In 1998, he founded his company ZOO and created Cows in Space, awarded at the Rencontres de Seine-Saint-Denis. Since then, he has created with ZOO more than 15 performances, most often group pieces, among them Verosimile, modify (Swiss Dance Prize 2005), Accords and MONO. In 2011 he created the duets From B to B with Àngels Margarit (Current Dance Works Prize 2013 in Switzerland) and Like me more like me with Scott Heron (nominated as "Oustanding choreography" in New Orleans). His piece for young audiences Danse étoffée sur musique déguisée premiered in 2012. Hauert has also created pieces for Alma Txina (Mozambique), the Laban Centre, P.A.R.T.S. (Brussels), the Zürich Ballet and Toronto Dance Theatre. Widely presented in Europe and beyond, his work develops from research on movement, with a particular interest in improvisation-based processes exploring the tension between freedom and constraint, individuals and the group, order and disorder. The relationship between dance and music is also central to his approach. In 2012-13, Hauert participated in the project "Motion Bank" of The Forsythe Company.

Hetain Patel - Hetain is one of Sadler's Wells' New Wave Associates. During 2012 and 2013 he completed new commissions for the Tanks at Tate Modern; the Southbank Centre; the Royal Opera House and John Hansard Gallery, Southampton. His work has been seen all over the world including Bodhi Art, New York; Sydney Festival; Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai; and the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing. His TED talk 'Who am I? Think again', an performative interrogation of identity, inspired by Bruce Lee and performed with Yuyu Rau, has been an internet sensation with over 1.2 million views. Hetain Patel on TED Talks: http://www.ted.com/talks/hetain_patel_who_am_i_think_again

COMPANY DANCERS:

Tanja Erhart - Dancer - Tanja Erhart was born 1983 and grew up in Tyrol / Austria. At the age of six Tanja's left leg was amputated because of a medical condition. Since then Tanja explores the world and the possibilities in dance with her various bodies ... her one or her three legs, her crutches and her wheelchair. In Vienna Tanja has danced with both A.D.A.M (Austrian Dance Ability Movement) and danse brute, has trained with Adam Benjamin, Alito Alessi, Wolfgang Stange, Sonja Browne, Vera Rebl, Fabiana Pastorini and internationally with Candoco Dance Company in the UK and AXIS Dance Company in the USA, with whom she has been an apprentice for half a year in 2013 funded by a dance scholarship for abroad of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, The Arts and Culture - BMUKK. In 2012 Tanja graduated as a cultural and social anthropologist in Vienna. Specialized in dance, performance and disability studies, she acquired the skills to reflect, think critically, and grasp connections between scientific theory and the praxis of dancing. She has been with Candoco Dance Company since 2014.

Adam Gain - Dancer - Adam was born in southeast London and trained at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, gaining his bachelor's degree in 2010 before receiving his MA in Dance Performance in 2011. As part of his master's year, Adam performed with Transitions Dance Company, dancing in new works from Lucy Guerin, Martin Nachbar and Melanie Teall, before touring both at home and abroad. Between 2011 and 2014 Adam was a company member of James Wilton Dance, leading him to work on various creations of new works including the opening ceremony for the Rugby League World Cup 2013. During his time with the company, Adam worked as a dancer and rehearsal director, and toured both nationally and internationally. As a freelance artist, Adam has also worked for Springs Dance Company and SKADooSH Dance, as well as working on music videos for Boxes, Bat and Ball & Bassistry. Adam has always enjoyed teaching and leading educational workshops, and as well as teaching on behalf of dance companies, he has taught at Trinity Laban and Bird College on their undergraduate courses. Adam is passionate about filmmaking and enjoys practising the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira and the French movement discipline, Parkour.

Andrew Graham - Dancer - Andrew is a Franco-British dance artist. In 2010, he graduated from Trinity Laban with first class honours and has since worked on several gallery exhibitions, notably at the Hayward Gallery, Tate Modern and White Cube in London. As a choreographer, Andrew toured his solo, Quasi (2010), in the UK and France. He also joined 5x performance group as a collaborative member writing and giving performance lectures and workshops. He and collaborator artist Adam James received a PAL-LAB movement and meaning grant for their research project Vloism. Andrew has been a movement director/choreographer on a variety of collaborative projects including Sam Lee's music video, The ballad of George Collins (Mercury nomination, 2012). As a performer, Andrew has worked with choreographers Darren Johnston (2009), Joe Moran (2011), Gregory Cauvin (2010-11), Victoria Thiérrée-Chaplin and Aurélia Thiérrée, Zoi Dimitriou (2012), Jan Fabre/Troubleyn masterclass (2012).

Mirjam Gurtner - Dancer - Mirjam grew up in Switzerland and trained at Basel Theatre, the Vienna State Opera and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. She joined Transitions Dance Company in London and completed her studies with an MA in Dance Performance at Trinity Laban. Mirjam has worked with Dance Theatre of Ireland, Henri Oguike, Felix Ruckert (D), Jane Turner, Ace Dance and Music, Bawren Tavaziva, Motionhouse and Robert Moses (US) as well as Basel and Zurich Ballet (CH), amongst others.

Laura Patay - Dancer - Laura Patay grew up in France. She trained at the Lyon Conservatory of Contemporary Dance and at the EPSE Danse School in Montpellier. She discovered hip-hop and jazz dance whist working with the Vendetta Matthea Company in Aurillac. She performed in the creations: E-moi and Climats alongside Isabelle Sissmann-Missal and Murielle Bellin. She has also performed in a number of video works including a film for the Des Arts // des Cinés festival, a music video for Barrio Populo and the dance film Lost in the dust. In 2013 she worked with Nieke Swennen for the European Integrance project (in collaboration with Micadanses, Stopgap, Platform-K and Dance 4). In 2014 she performed in Just a Dancer with Thomas Noone.

Rick Rodgers - Dancer - Rick studied at The London School of Physical Theatre in 2006 under the direction of Ron East. He went on to work as a scare actor and queue line entertainer as well as teaching and performing as a competitive cheerleader. Rick uses a wheelchair following a workplace accident in 2009 and, after a period adjustment, reinvented cheerleading partner stunt work so it could be done by wheelchair users. He has since performed at several National cheerleading competitions in the UK, European championships in France and twice at the World's competitions in Florida, USA. He has performed in street arts festivals as an acrobat, having developed his own methods of wheelchair acrobatics, and is a founding member of the Waifs and Strays Circus Company with which he performed an acrobatics duet at the Inside Out Festival at the National Theatre. Rick was also an aerial performer in the London 2012 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony. He officially began dancing early in 2012 after attending a workshop with StopGap dance company.

Toke Broni Strandby - Toke is Danish, and has just graduated from The Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds finishing with a first class honours degree, also receiving the award for the greatest achievement of the year. Throughout his time at NSCD, Toke has performed and worked with choreographers such as Angus Balbernie, Charlotte Spencer, Jennifer Lynn Crawford and Charles Linehan, but have also been selected to collaborate and perform with the crew of Chris Goode & Company (London) on the two pieces "9" and The Albemarle Sketchbook. Both performed as part of Transform at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds. Toke also took part in the big opening event of Trinity Leeds (2013) with TV coverage by BBC. Before coming to the UK, Toke studied a Dance and Leadership course at Ollerup Academy of Physical Training in Denmark, where after he went on to study at the Bachelor Programme in Teaching Education at Campus Aarhus, finishing his exams in Psychology and Teaching Methods. Since 2009 Toke has taught and delivered his own workshops all over Denmark, but have also been working with DGI (Danish Gymnastics Association) to inspire and mentor in the field of performance and movement, to combine Danish gymnastics, anatomical training and dance.

TOUR LISTINGS:

2 October at 7.30pm

Arts Depot, North Finchley, London

Tickets £16-£12

Box Office 020 8369 5454

www.artsdepot.co.uk

16 October at 7.30pm

Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth

Tickets £10-£5

Box Office 01202 203 630

www.pdsw.org.uk

11 November at 8pm

Nottingham Lakeside Arts

Tickets £16-£14

Box Office 0115 846 7777

www.lakesidearts.org.uk

27 November at 8pm

Live at LICA, Lancaster

Tickets £11-£9.90

Box Office 01524 594151

www.liveatlica.org

2-3 December at 8pm

The Lowry, Salford Quays

Tickets £16-£14

Box Office 0843 208 6000

www.thelowry.com

9-10 December at 7.30pm

Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre, London

Tickets £20-£15

Box Office 0844 875 0073

www.southbank.co.uk

Pictured: 'Notturnino' choreographed by Thomas Hauert. Photo taken by Benedict Johnson.

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