Dance Umbrella Announces 2018 Programme

Dance Umbrella will take place from 26 September - 21 October 2018.

· Dance Umbrella 2018 opens with Big Dance Theater's UK debut at The Old Vic with 17c, a romp through the bracingly frank diaries of Samuel Pepys co-directed by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar.

· Sasha Milavic Davies' everything that rises must dance is a compelling celebration of female movement created with more than 200 women from across London.

· Guest programmer Freddie Opoku-Addaie curates his second Out of the System - a festival-within-a-festival at Shoreditch Town Hall which features three vibrant nights of international dance and music.

· Ivan Blackstock will present CRXSS PLATFXRM as part of Out of the System, with new artists bringing fresh perspectives to street culture and dance.

· In Red at Southbank Centre's Purcell Room Beijing-based choreographer Wen Hui invites audiences to look again at a famous Chinese ballet from the period of the Cultural Revolution as part of Southbank Centre's China Changing Festival.

· Armed with a turntable, portable speakers and sheets of flooring, the Olivier-nominated Colin Dunne takes on the 'undanceable' music of the enigmatic Tommie Potts in Concert at The Pit, Barbican Centre.

· Dimitris Papaioannou returns to Dance Umbrella with his enigmatic exploration of life in the internationally acclaimed The Great Tamer, making his debut at Sadler's Wells.

· A plethora of cardboard tubes, playful choreography and percussive sound combine to form KoKERS a show for 3+ years by Dutch company Dadodans.

· The effortlessly engaging Le Patin Libre defy every convention of figure skating to evolve a new dance form - on ice. The Montreal-based company return to Dance Umbrella with the UK premiere of Threshold at Alexandra Palace Ice Rink.

· Dance and theatre dramaturg Ruth Little will speak at the National Theatre as part of the Dance Umbrella Lecture series, followed by a Q&A led by Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone. Plus a multitude of extra events, talks and screenings throughout festival 2018.

Dance Umbrella, London's flagship festival of international dance celebrates its 40th anniversary this autumn and announces its full 2018 programme today.

Emma Gladstone, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Dance Umbrella, introduces the programme:

"Each Dance Umbrella festival has its own flavour, and this year is no exception. In our 40th year, it is a tribute to founder Val Bourne CBE that the strength of the foundations she laid in 1978 enable us to still stand here today. I'm thrilled that we'll be kicking off DU 2018 with our first ever performance at The Old Vic, introducing London audiences to the remarkable Big Dance Theater, and closing the festival at the Alexandra Palace Ice Rink with the highly anticipated return of Le Patin Libre.

Looking back at the pioneering role Dance Umbrella has played in London's cultural landscape, I am extremely proud that we remain an independent organisation, with performances happening in more locations than ever before. World class, International Artists from twelve countries are heading our way this year in a programme of unpredictable variety and celebration of dance like no other."

THE FESTIVAL:

17c - BIG DANCE THEATER UK PREMIERE

The Old Vic: Wednesday 26 - Saturday 29 September 7.00pm

Saturday 29 September 2.30pm

Press performance: Thursday 27 September 7.00pm

Opening the festival will be the UK premiere of 17c by Big Dance Theater, a romp through the bracingly frank diaries of Samuel Pepys, the Londoner who danced, sang, strode, bullied and groped his way through 17th century life, recording every detail for posterity.

Co-directed by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, Big Dance Theater layers movement, text, music and video into a century-spanning work that reveals the Baroque hipster's compulsions as a startling precursor to our own social media-obsessed times. Pulling the past into the present, Big Dance Theater revives the lost voices of Bess Pepys and her contemporary, the radical feminist playwright Margaret Cavendish.

From periwigs to lamé, historical literature to contemporary blogs, 17c comes from a New York ensemble renowned for their maverick approach to classical material, in this their first visit to London.

Presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with The Old Vic.
With support from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST DANCE - SASHA MILAVIC DAVIES

WORLD PREMIERE

Greenwich Peninsula: Saturday 29 September 2pm & 4pm
BOXPARK Croydon: Sunday 7 October 12.30pm & 2pm
Press performance: Saturday 29 September 4pm

At once meditative and mechanical, Sasha Milavic Davies' everything that rises must dance is a compelling celebration of female movement, incorporating both the everyday and the universal. This free performance is created with more than 200 women from across London.

Rippling with choreography that reproduces the minute movements of daily life while weaving in fragments of folk dance from around the world, the spectacle sets expressive, physical action to an evolving sonic score.

Director and choreographer Sasha Milavic Davies is known for making engrossing large scale work within dance and theatre and here collaborates with composer Lucy Railton. This intriguing project exploring relationships, identity and community receives its world premiere as part of Dance Umbrella 2018.

Presented by Dance Umbrella.

Produced by Complicité.

In partnership with Greenwich Peninsula and Croydon Council.

DANCE UMBRELLA LECTURE - RUTH LITTLE FESTIVAL EXCLUSIVE
National Theatre, Cottesloe Room: Tuesday 2 October 5.30pm - 7pm
Vicky Featherstone in conversation with Ruth Little

In the 2018 Dance Umbrella lecture, dramaturg and writer Ruth Little, in conversation with Royal Court Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone, reflects on the role of live performance as social gesture; a practice of communal movement in the public sphere which is far more than the sum of its (body) parts.

Motive force: performance and the social body.

Theatre and dance originate in the moving human body; in its capacity for physical and verbal articulation, its ability to motivate, demonstrate and orchestrate change. But as our experiences of the world become increasingly distributed and synthetic, as we move from the rhythmic to the algorithmic, what does performance do, what can it enact, that makes it so necessary to our social health, our common good, and our agency in violently divisive times?

Produced by Dance Umbrella in partnership with the National Theatre.

Supported by One Dance UK.

RED - WEN HUI LONDON PREMIERE
Southbank Centre's Purcell Room: Thursday 4 - Friday 5 October 7.45pm

Press performance: Thursday 4 October 7.45pm

Part of Southbank Centre's China Changing Festival

Beijing-based choreographer Wen Hui's first visit to the UK in ten years, Red looks again at the famous Chinese ballet from the period of the Cultural Revolution: The Red Detachment of Women.

Armed with guns, wearing pointe shoes, the all-female fighters of The Red Detachment of Women came to symbolise part of Mao's communist dream. As one of only eight permissible theatrical works of the time, the 1964 ballet was seen over and over by the Chinese.

Choreographer Wen Hui threads extracts, interviews and anecdotal material from original cast members into a dramatic documentary performance that goes beyond the ballet and official Cultural Revolution records. With projected film as a backdrop, she and three other dancers use their bodies as archives, their gestures illustrating stories and evoking memories, in this multi-generational response to this memorable period of history.

Presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with Southbank Centre.

CONCERT - Colin Dunne LONDON PREMIERE
The Pit, Barbican Centre: Wednesday 17 - Saturday 20 October 7.45pm
Press performance: Thursday 18 October 7.45pm

Colin Dunne's Concert brings together two artists united by a deep appreciation of tradition yet compelled by their desire to break it apart: Colin Dunne takes on the 'undanceable' music of the enigmatic Tommie Potts (1912-1988).

Armed with a turntable, portable speakers and sheets of flooring, Dunne enters into a creative dialogue with The Liffey Banks (1972). This rhythmically deviant, melodically resplendent album presents a singular challenge to Irish dance's most celebrated contemporary artist, as he responds physically and percussively to Potts' irregular, richly textured tunes.

Created in collaboration with director Sinéad Rushe and composer Mel Mercier, Concert sees Dunne draw on his extraordinary technique and deep engagement with the music to illuminate it afresh in a negotiation of old and new.

Presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with the Barbican. With support from Culture Ireland.

VIA KANANA - VIA KATLEHONG UK PREMIERE
Part of OUT OF THE SYSTEM

Shoreditch Town Hall: Wednesday 10 - Thursday 11 October 7.30pm

Press Performance: Wednesday 10 October 7.30pm

Guest Programmer Freddie Opoku-Addaie creates his second festival-within-a-festival for Dance Umbrella, which will include Via Kanana, a piece choreographed by South African dance legend Gregory Maqoma.

Pulsating with rhythmic energy and groove Via Kanana stands as an expression of light and hope, defying the adversity and fear caused by corruption in a post-apartheid era. The dynamic artists of Via Katlehong will bring the whistling, tapping, clapping rebellion of the quick-stepping Pantsula movement to the stage. As ambassadors of the culture, a way of life for township inhabitants, they articulate the angst, joy and boundless potential of their streets. Enriched by video and a luminous choral score, Via Kanana speaks of a promised land not yet delivered, and humanity against the odds.

Post-show each night the party continues with DJ Rabiah.

Freddie Opoku-Addaie is an East London-born choreographer, performer, and educator with Ghanaian roots. He has danced with companies such as Company Wayne McGregor and Candoco Dance Company, and had his own works featured in Dance Umbrella as well as internationally in Europe, India and North America.

Invited to be Dance Umbrella 2017-19's Guest Curator - Opoku-Addaie's first Out of the System was held at Rich Mix in 2017, featuring a series of short works in a variety of spaces. This year features a full length South African work, a week long professional residency, alongside the durational street culture event CRXSS PLATFXRM.

Presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with Shoreditch Town Hall.

CRXSS PLATFXRM FESTIVAL EXCLUSIVE
Part of OUT OF THE SYSTEM
Shoreditch Town Hall: Friday 12 October 6pm

A wave of talent. A fresh perspective on dance and street culture. A space for what's next.

Conceived by Ivan Blackstock, artist, innovator and co-founder of BirdGang Dance Company, CRXSS PLATFXRM elevates the underground, uncovering hidden genius from within London's street culture and beyond.

Featuring a live freestyle dance battle, presented in collaboration with Rain Crew, experimental sounds and multifaceted performances from Paris-based Gonzy and established and under-the-radar artists, gathering to drive forward an ever-morphing scene. With nods to fashion, art, music, tech and film, this showcase combines highlights and finales from the summer edition in Peckham including new work from visual artist, Izaak Brandt and extra features specially brought together exclusively for Dance Umbrella.

Presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with CRXSS PLATFXRM and Shoreditch Town Hall.

THE GREAT TAMER - DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU UK PREMIERE
Sadler's Wells: Tuesday 16 - Wednesday 17 October 7.30pm
Press performance: Tuesday 16 October 7.30pm

Dimitris Papaioannou returns to Dance Umbrella with his enigmatic exploration of life in The Great Tamer, an elemental yet epic production that seduces the imagination with scenes of birth, death, destruction and reconstruction.

In a dreamlike universe between illusion and reality human bodies distort and unite, raw materials take flight, hidden objects emerge from the ground, uncovered in feats of simple invention. Paying homage to the Old Masters Papaioannou draws on his roots in the fine arts, his Greek heritage and the history of humankind to create a witty and surreal feast of visual delights.

An artist whose work spans theatre, dance and film Papaioannou first attracted recognition for directing the ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics. This internationally acclaimed work marks his debut at Sadler's Wells.

Contains nudity.
Presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with Sadler's Wells.

KoKERS - DADODANS LONDON PREMIERE
Stratford Circus Arts Centre: Saturday 29 September 11am
artsdepot: Sunday 30 September 11am & 2pm
The Place: Saturday 6 October 10.30am & 2pm
Watermans: Sunday 7 October 11.30am
Press tickets available for all performances

A plethora of cardboard tubes, playful choreography and percussive sound combine to form a show perfect for both the young and the young-at-heart.

In KoKERS inventive landscapes are built and broken apart as the dancers balance, flip, throw, twirl and jump around the playground they have created.

In this satisfyingly simple performance, the dancers soon realise that the most fun is to be found when they combine forces. Gaia Gonnelli, Artistic Director of Dutch company Dadodans, is well known for her ambitious and spirited work that encourages children to use their own imaginations. The performance ends with the young audience being invited onstage to play among props so simple they can be recreated at home.

For ages 3+
A Dance Umbrella Orbital London Tour in partnership with artsdepot, Stratford Circus Arts Centre, The Place and Watermans.

THRESHOLD - LE PATIN LIBRE UK PREMIERE
Alexandra Palace Ice Rink
Thursday 18 October 8.30pm
Friday 19 - Sunday 21 October 6.15pm & 8.45pm
Press performance: Thursday 18 October 8.30pm

Effortlessly engaging, their exhilarating movement characterised by pure invention, the quintet of Le Patin Libre defy every convention of figure skating to evolve a new dance form - on ice. The Montreal-based company last wowed London audiences in Dance Umbrella 2014 with their award-winning Vertical Influences (recently seen on BBC2).

Threshold will be the collective's latest show to be brought to London by Dance Umbrella, a performance of gravity-defying grace and danger. At Alexandra Palace Ice Rink, this UK premiere and Dance Umbrella commission will see the charismatic ensemble experiment with the choreographic possibilities of 'the glide' - a state that allows the body to travel at speed through space, without moving. Playing with contrast and change, they zoom towards viewers seated on the ice, combining athletic virtuosity with joyous physicality.

Presented by Dance Umbrella in partnership with Alexandra Palace. Supported by Québec Government Office, London.

Co-producers - Dance Umbrella (London), Danse Danse (Montreal, Canada), Théâtre de la Ville de Paris (France), National Arts Centre (Canada), Nuits de Fourvière de Lyon (France).

FURTHER EVENTS:

TALKTIME

A programme of discussions, talks, articles and more - a place to read, think, learn, question and comment on dance and performance.

Meet The Artists
A chance to hear from the makers in free post-show talks.

Thursday 4 October | Southbank Centre's Purcell Room | Wen Hui | BSL interpreted

Tuesday 16 October | Sadler's Wells | Dimitris Papaioannou | BSL interpreted
Thursday 18 October | The Pit, Barbican Centre | Colin Dunne

OPEN FORUM: Future Facing
A Dance Umbrella event in partnership with Siobhan Davies Dance.
Part of Independent Dance's Crossing Borders series.

Audiences are invited to share their vision for the future with artists spanning four decades of Dance Umbrella's history. The evening is a chance to discuss dreams and tactics for thriving over surviving, and how to shape the world of independent creation in the decades to come.

Tuesday 9 October |7pm | Siobhan Davies Studio | 85 St George's Road SE1 6ER | £7 (£5 concessions)

PANEL DISCUSSION: Out of the System

Beyond the three Ts: Tick Box/ Token/ Tolerated
Artists and industry experts discuss what they are currently confronting in their work.

Audience members are invited to join in the debate about what ideas and practices can shift stale mind sets to move beyond the three Ts: Tick Box/ Token/ Tolerated.

Chair: Oluwatoyin Odunsi (Artistic Director of Vintage Misfits, independent programmer)
Panel: Mina Aidoo (embodiment teacher, artist and author) and Dr Olu Taiwo (Senior Lecturer in Performing arts, University of Winchester).

Wednesday 10 October | 5.30pm - 7pm | Shoreditch Town Hall | £5 or free to Wednesday's Out of the System ticket holders

PLAYTIME

Le Patin Libre Skate Party

Audiences are invited to join Dance Umbrella on the ice after Saturday's performance of Threshold at Alexandra Palace.

Saturday 20 October | Alexandra Palace Ice Rink | £5 (Saturday ticket holders only) and £10, includes skate hire

Children's Front-of-House Workshop

Orbital Tour venues will run free front-of-house events for Dadodans' KoKERS.

Check venues for details.

Via Katlehong Workshop

With dancers from the Via Katlehong Company

Monday 8 October | 7pm - 8.30pm | Venue to be announced on website | £7

SCREENSAVER by Janine Harrington

A kaleidoscopic dance and sound installation with four dancers and musician Jamie Forth coding the soundscape live for each performance. With the dancers in perpetual movement, they humanise the algorithms and complexities of symmetry and geometry used to create screen savers.

Watch the digital version on danceumbrella.co.uk or see it live during the festival. More details to be announced closer to the time via the website.

SKILLTIME

Dance Umbrella believes in nurturing people at all stages of their career. SKILLTIME is aimed at artists, arts professionals and anyone looking to innovate their practice. For further information please see danceumbrella.co.uk/skilltime

Systems Lab
Conceived and curated by Dance Umbrella Guest Programmer Freddie Opoku-Addaie, SystemsLab gives artists' the opportunity to enrich approaches to their practice. Now in its second year, the programme supports ongoing choreographic curiosity, residency opportunities, dialogue and networking initiatives for mid-career UK and International Artists.

Studio Sessions

Studio Sessions returns, connecting national and international industry professionals with UK artists sharing work in progress. Taking place at Rambert and The Place, twelve informal presentations enable presenters, funders and supporters to see work well before it hits the stage. Among those taking part are Lucy Suggate, Mbulelo Ndabeni, Joan Clevillé, Vicki Igbokwe, Rambert and Oona Doherty.

By invitation only. Interested professionals should contact carolina@danceumbrella.co.uk for details.

Saturday 6 and Saturday 13 October | Rambert | Upper Ground, SE1
Sunday 14 October | The Place | Duke's Road, WC1

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