Matthew Bourne's New Adventures Announces The Return of DOORSTEP DUETS

Matthew Bourne's New Adventures, in partnership with Farnham Maltings, has revealed the return of Doorstep Duets, touring to communities across the South-East this summer from 13 August to 10 September 2024.

Now in its fourth year, Doorstep Duets offers free opportunities for people to enjoy world-class performance in their local neighbourhood, on their street, in local parks, and through community-based organisations, bringing the joy and wonder of dance to all and making dance more accessible to everyone.

Performances begin on Tuesday 13 August at Farnham Maltings, before visiting Woking, Faversham, Canterbury, Dover, Ramsgate, Margate, Colchester, Norwich and various locations throughout Surrey and Norfolk. This year, Doorstep Duets will visit care homes, youth clubs, libraries, children's hospices, a men's mental health group in Farnham and The Turner Gallery in Margate, to name just a few. In addition, Doorstep Duets will be livestreamed for the first time, taking the production to doorsteps all over the world. Please see listings for public performances.

This year, Hum, has been created by choreographer and movement director Anjali Mehra with original music by Grammy nominated vocalist and composer Luke Brady. Just as the actions of the hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world, are essential to life in the towering rainforest, in Hum one small gesture of kindness to a stranger ripples out to create a community for those who need it most. Hum features New Adventures dancers Anna Maria de Freitas, Luke Murphy, Holly Saw, Molly Shaw-Downie, Xavier Andriambolanoro Sotiya and Mami Tomotani.

Choreographer and Movement Director Anjali Mehra said: “Bringing dance to people that would not normally experience theatre is hugely important and Doorstep Duets is doing incredible things for many communities who, for a variety of reasons, would not otherwise be able to see live dance. I'd love for audiences who don't normally experience live dance to join us at a performance of Hum, and discover how much dance can bring us together in shared joy.”

Anjali Mehra joined New Adventures in 1999 and has performed with the company in Play without Words, The Red Shoes, Swan Lake, Cinderella, and Nutcracker! Anjali happily hung up her dancing shoes to focus on her career in choreography and movement direction in 2019. As a choreographer, Anjali's career highlights include Lord of The Rings at The Watermill Theatre, Flowers for Mrs Harris at Riverside Studios, “Daddy” A Melodrama by Jeremy O'Harris at the Almeida Theatre, The Ballad of Hattie and James at the Kiln Theatre, and Rumi the Musical at the London Coliseum. Anjali is currently Movement Director on the World Premiere of Tupperware of Ashes at The National Theatre written by Tanika Gupta and directed by Pooja Ghai starring Meera Syal.

Find out more www.new-adventures.net/doorstep-duets 

PUBLIC PERFORMANCE LISTINGS 2024

15 August 2024            Farnham Maltings 1.45pm

16 August 2024            Gostrey Meadow 1.45pm

20 August 2024              Faversham Market Square 10.30am & 12.30pm

21 August 2023              The Marlowe, Canterbury 6pm

23 August 2024            Margate - Dalby Square 10.30am

23 August 2024            Margate - Turner Contemporary 12.00pm

24 August 2024            Ramsgate - Newington Community Centre 12.00pm

24 August 2024            Ramsgate - Bandstand at East Cliff 2.00pm

24 August 2024            Ramsgate - Bandstand at Ellington Park 4.30pm

27 August 2024            Haslemere Library 10.00am & 11.00am

27 August 2024            Cranleigh Library 2.00pm & 3.00pm

28 August 2024        Camberley Library 10.00am, 2.00pm (BSL Performance) & 3.00pm (Audio Described Performance)

29 August 2024            Egham Library 10.00am

29 August 2024            Staines Library 2.00pm & 3.00pm

30 August 2024            Banstead Library 10.00am

30 August 2024            Ewell Library 2.00pm & 3.00pm

31 August 2024            Reigate Library 10.00am & 11.00am

31 August 2024            Oxted Library 2.00pm & 3.00pm

Please check the website for performance times:

www.new-adventures.net/doorstep-duets

About Matthew Bourne's New Adventures

Matthew Bourne's New Adventures is an iconic, ground-breaking British dance-theatre company, famous for telling stories with a unique theatrical twist. Since 1987 New Adventures has changed the popularity of dance in Britain, creating works that have altered the public perception of what is possible when it comes to telling stories without words.  

New Adventures is a charity, and its principal funder is Arts Council England. As well as producing award-winning work which dazzles audiences across the globe, we are passionate about the development of emerging talent and increasing diversity and representation in dance. During 2023-24, we delivered 137 talent development sessions to 2,453 attendees. We offer an extensive range of pathways into the company and wider industry for promising young dancers, including Cygnet School, our pre-vocational programme, Swan School, a residency for invited dancers, pro-classes, and workshops.

In our 2023-24 season, 334,500 people attended 277 performances as an audience member, 25,000 saw a New Adventures production in the cinema and there were over 1.4 million engagements with our online content. Audiences had the opportunity to experience 3 on-stage productions from New Adventures: Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet and Edward Scissorhands. 1,200 children and young people across 32 schools and youth / performing arts groups across the UK explored the choreography and themes of Edward Scissorhands as part of our Schools Tour. In addition, we shared our outdoor touring production, Doorstep Duets, with thousands of people in South East England. Working with around 30 partner venues across the UK each year, New Adventures presents its work in more large and mid-scale venues than any other dance company in Britain. 

About Farnham Maltings

Farnham Maltings is a pioneering cultural organisation based in Surrey. Our ambition is to nurture the ecology of independent, contemporary theatre in the South East, connecting artists and audiences locally, nationally and globally. We produce and tour theatre shows to village halls, community spaces, libraries and theatres around the UK and abroad. We are keen to explore new approaches to theatre, supporting artists and projects which encourage new forms, and create experiences which stealthily draw together new audiences. These may be digital projects, work made to be staged in libraries, immersive experiences in cafés, or just a cracking story which delights its audiences. Farnham Maltings supports theatre makers, producers and programmers to make their best work. We develop innovative and inspiring theatre that reflects our belief int he restorative power of the arts. farnhammaltings.com   

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