ARTHUR PITA/ HEADSPACEDANCE

Stepmother / Stepfather

touring Autumn 2017

“a work of comic, perverse originality, fabulously staged and expertly performed” The Guardian (on Snow White in Black) “fans of both vigorously clever, tongue-in-cheek dance and genuinely ghostly romance ought to be tickled and intrigued” Time Out (on Stepfather)

Nominated in three categories in the 15th National Dance Awards (Best Independent Company; Dancing Times Best Male Dancer (Jonathan Goddard); and Outstanding Female Performance (Modern) (Clemmie Sveaas), HeadSpaceDance is the brainchild of pedigree dancers Charlotte Broom and Christopher Akrill who came together to commission new work to perform.

As their next project, HeadSpaceDance is collaborating with award- winning choreographer Arthur Pita, reimagining two of his earlier works to present a darkly surreal double bill of dance theatre which they are co-producing together, Stepmother / Stepfather. Arthur Pita has won critical acclaim with his own productions God’s Garden, The World’s Greatest Show and The Little Match Girl. His adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis at the Royal House won Olivier, South Bank Sky Arts and Critics Circle National Dance Awards.

Stepmother leads us into a menacing world where macabre folklore meets the grotesque of Hollywood. A waiflike ‘Snow White’, living as a single parent, is pursued and poisoned by her abusive stepmother, leaving her unruly brood of children to reap her revenge on the vile ‘Wicked Queen’.

Inspired by the folk punk song ‘Country Death Song’ by cult American band Violent Femmes, Stepfather tells the grisly tale of a twisted family situation. Spiralling into a hellish world of incest and murder, the search for redemption is ultimately played out beyond the grave.

With a stellar cast (Christopher Akrill, Jonathan Goddard, Clemmie Sveaas, Valentina Golfieri and Nadia Adame), Stepmother / Stepfather premieres at Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich on 28 & 29 October. Arthur Pita is Portuguese, was born in South Africa and studied dance in Johannesburg. He came to London in 1991 where he trained at London Contemporary Dance School, gaining a masters degree.

His choreographic work includes BoomShe SheBoom, Bugger, a Fairy Tale and Camp at The Place Theatre. God’s Garden, a co-commission from DanceEast and ROH2 at Jerwood Dance House DanceEast and Linbury Theatre Royal Opera House and was revived for a UK tour and The Little Match Girl, Jerwood Dance House DanceEast, uk tour, Sadlers Wells, Taiwan tour and The World’s Greatest Show at Greenwich Dance, Jerwood Dance House and Royal Opera House.

Commissions include Snow White in Black (National Dance Award Modern Repetoire)for Phoenix Dance Company performed at Sadler’s Wells, And Then Gone for Bare Bones performed at the Linbury ROH, The Stepfather for CandoCo Dance Company, Mischief (TMA Award Achievement in Dance) a collaboration with Theatre Rites commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and Dance Touring Partnership recently revived at The New Victory Theatre Broadway, Dancing in the Dark for Images of Dance, Romeu e Julieta for Dancando com a Diferenca (Madeira), Utopia a site specific commission for the International Dance Festival Birmingham, The Art of Ikettes for Intoto Dance, God’s for London Contemporary Dance School Graduation, The Metamorphosis (South Bank Award for dance, National Dance Award for best modern choreography and Olivier nomination) for The Linbury Studio Theatre Royal Opera House and The Joyce Theatre New York, A Dream Within A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Olivier nomination) for Ballet Black and Volver Voler a solo for Ed Watson for Men In Motion at London Coliseum and La Versiliana Festival Tuscany. Facada a duet for Russian ballet stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev as part of Solo For Two at Sergerstrom Centre for California, Stanislavsky Theatre Moscow, London Coliseum and City Centre New York, La Bala a solo for Thiago Soares performed at Theatre Municipal of Rio de Janeiro Brazil, The Ballad of Mack and Ginny for Edward Watson and Wendy Whelan as part of Other Stories The Linbury Theatre Royal Opera House and CASSE NOISETTE (party scene) for Paris Opera Ballet.

As a collaborator Arthur has choreographed for Mappa Mundi, Women Beware Women and Detroit for the Royal National Theatre, Caledonian Road and Becky Shaw for the Almeida Theatre, La Boheme and Show Boat at the Royal Albert Hall, Idomeneo with Placido Domingo for Los Angeles Opera, Frankenstein for Derby Playhouse, La Forza del Destino for the Lithuanian State Opera , Israeli Opera Tel Aviv, The Gambler for Opera Zuid, Carmen for House, Den Norske Opera, also filmed in 3D, Le Donna Del Largo and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for The Royal Opera House, WEST SIDE STORY for Municipal Festival of Larnaca in Cyprus, Street Scene (Evening Standard Award Best Musical) for The Opera Group and Young Vic, Theatre du Chatelet Paris, The Winter’s Tale for Royal Shakespeare Company(Stratford, London and New York), La Cenerentola for Garsington Opera, ed for Minnesota Opera and The Glass Menagerie for the Young Vic, Mojo for Theatre Rites/Barbican, Salzburg Festival, New Victory Theatre Broadway, The Death of Klinghoffer for ENO, The Bodyguard The Musical for the Adelphi Theatre West End, Les Liaisons Dangereueses for Donmar Warehouse. Film work includes the finale number for Sunshine on Leith directed by Dexter Fletcher and for Alex Garland’s new feature film Ex Machina.

HeadSpaceDance, based in London, was established by dancers Christopher Akrill and Charlotte Broom in 2012 with a commitment to curate and produce original dance works which draw on their considerable experience as performers. Their inaugural programme was Three and Four Quarters, a six part programme of solos, duets and trios by four choreographers: Javier de Frutos, Didy Veldman, Luca Silvestrini and Mats Ek. All the work was commissioned, with the exception of the Mats Ek piece which was a revival of a duet from Light Beings. Three and Four Quarters was commissioned by ROH2 and ran at the Linbury Theatre for four nights in 2012. It was extremely well received by the press and public. This encouraged Akrill and Broom to forge ahead with their venture and to respond to the Royal Opera House’s suggestion of a second commission in 2014. If Play Is Play was performed in the Linbury Theatre for five nights in April 2014 and at DanceEast in June.

Charlotte Broom was a Principal Artist with Northern Ballet Theatre, then joined Cullberg Ballet. Choreographers/Directors worked with: Mats Ek, Johan Inger, Jiri Kylian, ohad Naharin, Didy Veldman, Stijn Celis, Luca Silvestrini, Javier De Frutos, Cathy Marston, Will Tuckett, Christopher Gable, Massimo Morricone, Matthew Dunster and Gillian Lynne. Performing credits include: Juliet, Kitri, Odette/Odile & the title roles in Carmen, Giselle & Cinderella (NBT), Aurora in Mats Ek’s Sleeping Beauty, Ghosts, Pinocchio, Faeries, Thief of Baghdad, Wind in The Willows, The Cathy Marston Project (ROH2), The Most Incredible Thing, Dr.Faustus and Two Gentlemen of Verona (Dir: Matthew Dunster). Movement directing credits include: Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park), Macbeth and Lightning Child (The Globe), The Misanthrope and Twelfth Night (Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse), The Saints (Southampton Nuffield) and Juno And The Paycock (Bristol Old Vic)

Christopher Akrill began his career in Scottish Ballet then worked with Northern Ballet Theatre, Scottish Ballet, Malmo Ballet, Hannover Ballet, Deutsche Oper Am Rhein Dusseldorf and Cullberg Ballet. Choreographers/Directors worked with: Toby Dye, Matthew Dunster, Richard Jones, Aletta Collins, Frantic Assembly, Arthur Pita, Quinny Sacks, Mark Bruce, Rufus Norris, Will Oldroyd, Francesca Jaynes, Mats Ek, Javier De Frutos, Jiri Kylian, Stijn Cellis, Ohad Naharin, Didy Veldman, Crystal Pite, Alexander Ekman, Johan Inger, Gillian Lynne, Will Tuckett, Cathy Marston, Christopher Gable, Massimo Morircone, Youri Vamos, Oleg Vinagradov, Luca Silvestrini, Matthew Dunster and Nannette Gluhak. Performing Credits include: The Hairy Ape (the Old Vic), the Odyssey (Wiltons Music Hall), Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird (Regents Park, Barbican), Badger in Wind In The Willows (Duchess Theatre), Lucky in Waiting For Godot (Be Me Theatre Munich), Dr Dee (ENO), The Most Incredible Thing (Sadler’s Wells), Le Orfeo ( Silent Opera), Cabaret (Lyric Theatre), Pinocchio (Linbury Theatre), Ghosts (ROH2), Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, She Was Black, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty (Cullberg Ballet, Mats Ek), Mercutio in Romeo And Juliet (NBT, Malmo and Dusseldorf), Ebernezer Scrooge (NBT), Carabos in Sleeping Beauty (Hannover), Mats Ek’s Carmen (Dusseldorf). TV and film credits include: The Corridor (RSA Films and Black Dog Films, directed by Toby Dye), Muppets Most Wanted (James Bobin), Anna Karenina (Joe Wright), Mr Selfridge 2nd series Movement Direction: Imogen (Globe Theatre), Mametz (National Theatre Wales). Awards received: The Christer Holgersons award from the Carina Ari Memorial Foundation. The Riksteatern Award for artistic contributions and excellence in dance.

Booking Details

Availability: autumn 2017 Touring Company: Running time: 60 minutes plus interval Venue specification: Large small or Middle Scale venue with performing area of 10 metres x 10 metres. Black dance floor, lighting and sound equipment as standard. Cost (UK only): £2000 Contact: Sarah Trist [email protected] 07757 654790 Website: www.stdma.com