EMPTY ORCHESTRA to Launch UK Tour: Catch the Hit Dance Show This Autumn

Hit dance show Empty Orchestra will launch a UK tour this Autumn after sell-out shows in London and Yorkshire last year. Combining contemporary dance with live karaoke, Empty Orchestra is a hilarious hour of karaoke classics, beautiful choreography and gloriously out of tune singing.

From dance artist Lewys Holt's company perfectly serviceable, Empty Orchestra explores the vulnerability, power and uncomfortable feelings of cringe inherent to karaoke. Featuring Holt and Luke Divall and Inari Hulkkonen, each dancer takes their turn at the mic whilst the remaining two become backing dancers, lip-syncing and encouraging each other into the spotlight.

The show received critical acclaim in 2022 with two sell-out runs at The Place and Yorkshire Dance, securing Arts Council Funding for a UK tour this Autumn across Exeter, Bristol, Fife, Worcester, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Nottingham, Greenock, Aberdeen, Wolverhampton and Derby. perfectly serviceable have also announced that all shows on the UK tour will be BSL interpreted.

Holt's previous work includes major commissions, such as performances for the Arts Council Collection's 70th Anniversary Exhibition curated by Ryan Gander and the UK premiere of Laura Swanson's exhibition Beneath the Mask. They have collaborated with prominent International Artists including Tino Sehgal, Sally Marie, New Art Club, Rosemary Lee and Christopher Owen. They are also the co-curator of improvised performance night Roadhouse with their partner Eleanor Sikorski (Nora, Dancing Museums II).

Empty Orchestra was selected for The Place's 2021 Choreodrome programme and is supported by Dance4 and Arts Council England.

Dancer and choreographer Lewys Holt said:

"I'm interested in pop music and the way it instantly connects with people, distracts them, frees them and allows them to become more themselves, but also how it has shaped society to a degree. It has a brainwashing quality, along with its emotional liberation. What I want to do with this show is find ways of engaging with pop music in ways that are not pre-prescribed. How can we find the emotions in the margins of these songs? How can we sing between the notes to find a pleasure independent of the pleasure it tries to sell us? I think dance is the answer.

"I think audiences will enjoy the opportunity to witness a new way of dealing with these songs that they know so well. There's a real party vibe to the piece, but it's coupled with a sort of bleak, otherworldliness, which is equal parts disconcerting and intriguing. Plus - there's plenty of opportunities to sing along!"

Website: http://www.lewysholt.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perfectly.serviceable/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lewysholtdance

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LewysJBHolt

TOUR DATES

12th September, 7.30pm - Exeter Phoenix | tickets | 01392 667080
20th- 21st September, 7.30pm - The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol | tickets | 0117 902 0344
29th September, 7pm - Worcester University | tickets |
4th October, 6.30pm - Byre Theatre, Fife | tickets | 01334 475000
26th October, 7.30pm - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham | tickets | 0121 446 3232
2nd November, 7.30pm - Chapter Arts, Cardiff | tickets |029 2031 1050
4th November, 7.30pm - Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, Greater Manchester | tickets | 0161 912 5616
9th November, 7.30pm - Nonsuch Studios, Nottingham | tickets | 0115 8371950
15th November, 7pm - Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock | tickets |01475 723 723
16th November, 6.30pm - The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen | tickets | 01224 641122
24th November, 7.30pm - Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton | tickets | 01902 321 321
30th November - Déda, Derby, 7.30pm | tickets | 01332 370 911

perfectly serviceable

Welsh/Canadian dance artist Lewys Holt works with their company perfectly serviceable, who are based in Leeds, UK. Together they make performance works that twist the boundaries of dance, theatre, stand up comedy, karaoke night, improvisation and live art to make strange, bold and witty performances that deeply touch audiences with their unique sensitivity and charm.

Lewys Holt

Lewys Holt is an interdisciplinary dance artist based in the UK. They work as a dancer, choreographer and curates Roadhouse with Eleanor Sikorski.

Born in Mold in North Wales and raised in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Lewys studied BA dance at De Montfort University (2010-13), they went on to an MA in Performance Practices from De Montfort University the following year (2013-14). Their practice, while focusing on dance, spans comedy, visual arts and devised theatre. Their dance practice is concerned with release and improvisation.

Lewys has been supported by various organisations such as Dance4 and Yorkshire Dance to secure Arts Council Funding to develop their solo works. They are also an associate artist at Attenborough Arts Centre and a member of Chisenhale Dance Space.

Inari Hulkkonen

Inari Hulkkonen is a Finnish dance artist based in Leeds. With an interest in movement, language and poetics, Inari's work comprises dance and text within the mediums of solo choreography, durational performance and improvisation. She works as a dancer and collaborator with artists such as Vanessa Grasse, Swen Steinhauser, Lewys Holt and Kuan-Yu Chen.

Inari is a CATAPULT Artist 2019/20 (Northern School of Contemporary Dance & Spin Arts) and Accelerate Artist 2019/20 (Yorkshire Dance & Northern School of Contemporary Dance, funded by Leeds Dance Partnership). She is a winner of Poetry Debutant Competition by Finnish literary magazine Nuori Voima in 2017.

Inari trained at Northern School of Contemporary Dance (2013-2016) and as part of SMASH - an intensive training in experimental physical performance in Berlin (2016).

Luke Divall

Luke is a dancer based in Wales. His interest lies in dance's ability to connect people, be it in a performance, a studio, outdoors or on a dance floor. He has worked on performance and research projects with people including Theo Clinkard, Jo Fong, Wee/Francesco Scavetta, Fevered Sleep, Christoph Winkler and Simone Mousset. Alongside working for others, Luke teaches dance in a variety of contexts to a wide range of people, from amateurs to professionals, children to the elderly.

The Place

Located in the heart of London, The Place is a creative powerhouse for dance development that is leading the way in dance training, creation and performance.

One of Europe's most exciting, innovative dance spaces, where artists from all over the world come to push creative boundaries, to experiment and to perform outstanding new work for audiences who expect to be surprised, inspired and delighted. The Place is home to London Contemporary Dance School, a 288 seat theatre, an extensive range of classes, courses and participatory opportunities for adults and young people, and professional development programmes for artists.

Yorkshire Dance

Yorkshire Dance want to change the world and work with dance makers from all backgrounds who do so, however big or small. They're passionate about social justice and want to support artists who ask questions of themselves, their work and the world.

They work in partnership with five sub-regional dance development hubs, covering the whole of Yorkshire. Each hub is a partnership of local organisations and agencies from a variety of sectors, each with an interest in dance: the education sector, the sports sector, the arts sector, the local authority sector and the health sector.

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