Sadler's Wells Will Host Second Public Sharing of New Work By The 2023/24 Young Associates With FOUR

Sadler's Wells will present the second public sharing of new work by the 2023/24 Young Associates BLUE MAKWANA, Elisabeth Mulenga, Maiya Leeke and Roseann & Sula at Sadler's Wells Theatre with Four on Tuesday 15 October. The evening comprises of four pieces choreographed by the dance artists and showcases each of their distinct and diverse voices as they take this step on to the main stage.

The young artists have been developing their practice over the course of Young Associates Programme; in November 2023 they each presented a duet the Lilian Baylis Studio. Four follows on from last year's presentation, scaling up the work for a larger space as the final artistic presentation in the programme. This provides the opportunity to work with a company of young emerging dancers and an exciting creative team to realise their work on a grander scale.

BLUE MAKWANA fuses different dance styles to make work that is entertaining and continuously evolving, she is aiming to create work which exhibits the highly technical and versatile skillsets of the dance performance artists she works with. MAKWANA was in the fourth cohort of National Youth Dance Company (NYDC).

BLUE MAKWANA said: ‘I feel incredibly privileged, excited and immensely grateful to have the opportunity to present my work on the Sadler's Wells stage. My experience as a Young Associate has been joyous, educational, insightful and it has been an opportunity which I do not take for granted.'

Elisabeth Mulenga is a dance artist whose work is at once unflinching, tender, and intimate, and takes inspiration from film directors to explore the human psyche. Her work embraces contradicting narratives, previously exploring themes around grief, sexuality, hauntology and solitude. Mulenga is an alumnus of the eighth cohort of NYDC and won the Choreographic Innovation Award in the final of BBC Young Dancer 2022.

Eliabeth Mulenga said: ‘I've seen the Sadler's Wells stage transformed for so many different people's worlds. I feel my creative world has already been questioned and expanded by the possibilities of this incredible stage.

Being a Young Associate has been so nourishing. Choreographers are often asked to have a distinct identity, I find Young Associates gives you the trust, support and space to fluctuate for a while. We lose some things and return to them, abandon an idea of ourselves we had, and still have the certain opportunity to present work two years after being selected despite potentially being an entirely different choreographer from when we started.'

Maiya Leeke's work is rooted in her background as a jazz saxophonist and as a classical flautist, combined with her enquiry into communication of movement and discovering a physical language of hope. She was a finalist on BBC Young Dancer in 2022 and was a dancer in Greta Gerwig's box-office record-breaking film Barbie.

Maiya Leeke said: ‘Being a Young Associate is a joy because it gives the opportunity to live the experience alongside four other choreographers, to be inspired by their practice and by the works they produce! I feel really lucky to be surrounded by people who champion each other as much as we all do and for another opportunity to present my work at Sadler's Wells.'

Roseann & Sula are a dance theatre duo whose work responds to the world as they see it, they are continually questioning the human condition and its intersections with queerness, patriotism, religion and class. Working to establish a high-octane movement vocabulary, Roseann & Sula are finding a language that allows for intensity and honesty within the body.

Roseann & Sula said: ‘Being the first Young Associate Artists working as a collective at Sadler's Wells has been super exciting. We are really looking forward to presenting a work at this scale, finding space to be ambitious with our ideas and allowing ourselves to react instinctually to what the work needs.'

The Young Associates programme supports talented 18-24-year-olds and 18-30 for d/Deaf and disabled choreographers for two years, providing a crucial first step into their career as choreographers.

Lucy Clarke-Bishop, Producer for Young Associates said: ‘We are proud to be platforming these young choreographers on a large scale. They are exciting and important artistic voices whose work will be a valuable asset to the dance ecology.'

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