Fevered Sleep to Present MEN & GIRLS DANCE in Brighton

Fevered Sleep produces thought-provoking projects that challenge people to re-think their relationships with each other and with the world. 'MEN & GIRLS DANCE' is politically charged, dynamic, delightful, and is performed by a cast of five professional male dancers and nine girls aged 8-11 drawn from the local community. With full support of parents, the girls spend two weeks with the company devising and rehearsing the show before the public performances.

The girls performing in Brighton were cast after local dance development charity South East Dance put out an open call. "Our auditions take the form of a workshop," says Fevered Sleep co-Artistic Director, Sam Butler. "The girls get to play and have fun, learn a short routine together with one of the men, and we enable them to perform part of the show without them realising!"

On bringing 'Men & Girls Dance' to Brighton, Jamie Watton, CEO/Artistic Director at South East Dance said: "We truly feel there's an appetite to get involved with the kind of art that isn't afraid to challenge, explore and respond to controversial issues. This is why 'Men & Girls Dance' is an important project; it really matters to us and it matters even more that we can make it happen here in our home city."

The cast of girls dancing in 'MEN & GIRLS DANCE' at South East Dance are:

Amira Ali, 9 Stanford Junior School, Brighton
Camille Ash, 8 St Pauls C of E, Brighton & Hove
Daisy Clarke, 9 Carlton Hill Primary School, Brighton
Edie Seymour-Williams, 11 Patcham High School, Brighton / East Sussex Dance
Ella Letton, 10 Carlton Hill Primary School, Brighton / Beacon Arts
Gwen Moylett, 9 Carlton Hill Primary
Alonna Flexer-Sandiland, 8 West Hove Junior School, Holland Road / Magic Moves Dance
Romi Warde-Robinson, 11 East Sussex Dance
Sorrel Barnes, 8 St Andrews Primary / Rox School of Dance, Hove

Dancers:

Kip Johnson (Protein Dance, Vincent Dance, Lea Anderson)
Nick Lawson (Aletta Collins, Marc Brew, h2Dance)
Matthew Morris (DV8, Siobhan Davies, Clod Ensemble)
Robbie Synge (RoseMary Lee, National Theatre of Scotland)

"We live in a time when the very idea of men interacting with children in a public space causes anxiety," says Fevered Sleep co-Artistic Director, David Harradine. "There's got to be another way of being; there's got to be the possibility for play, and care, and tenderness, and empathy, and love. That's why we're doing this project; to celebrate the potential for play and care and tenderness and empathy and love."

The production uses newspaper as a key design element. "The design is a direct response to the role of the print media in creating a negative perception of relationships between men and girls," continues David Harradine. "We've all been aware of tabloid sensationalism...so we take newspaper and we literally rip it up, and repurpose it, and reuse it; we turn it into a thing of beauty...we approach those negative headlines head on, and we dance all over them, until they're no longer visible, until positive stories take their place."

Fevered Sleep produces a free newspaper that's distributed around town, featuring creative writing about the themes of the piece, submitted by locals and others connected with the project.

Fevered Sleep will be in residence for two weeks prior to each performance, and will also create a pop up space called The Talking Place, hosted by Fevered Sleep Associate Artist Luke Pell, who will host conversations that bring people together to talk about the themes of the project. The Talking Place will take place at The Cowley Club, 2 London Rd, Brighton BN1 4JA. For more, visit www.feveredsleep.co.uk.

Fevered Sleep presents:

'MEN & GIRLS DANCE'

October 27th-29th Brighton, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, BN1 9RA
October 27th, 28th at 7.30pm; October 29th at 3.30pm and 7.30pm
Tickets: £12/£10 concessions. Box Office: 01273 678 822
Tickets: www.attenboroughcentre.com/events/222/fevered-sleep-men-girls-dance
www.southeastdance.org.uk

Watch the trailer for the performance below!

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South East Dance is a leading arts organisation based in Brighton and focused on developing dance locally, within the region and as part of a national network. SED aims to ensure the best dance by the most talented artists gets made and that people from all walks of life have greater opportunities to enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of dance. Artists are given the opportunity to truly discover new and unexpected ways of pushing their creativity and evolving their choreographic practice. Over the last two years 185,000 people have benefited from SED's work; the organisation has most recently supported 250 artists, co-commissioned 43 new dance works and presented 158 performances. www.southeastdance.org.uk

Photo Credit: Lou Johnston

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