10th Anniversary Tour 2016 Touring and Education Information Pack Booking now for Feb - June 2016 Performances -Workshops -Residencies -Curtain raisers www.mapdance.org mapdance - a summary “Breakneck energy, ironic vulgarity and voracious vitality” londondance.com mapdance is an established exciting company of young, dynamic dancers recruited nationally and internationally. mapdance performs diverse repertoire by renowned and upcoming contemporary choreographers. This year the company is celebrating its 10th anniversary with specially commissioned works and reconstructions of repertoire by Richard Alston (RADC), Liz Aggiss, Kevin Finnan (Motionhouse), and Israel Aloni/Lee Brummer (ilDance/Sweden), as well as re-staging Schemes Dreams and Machines by Abi Mortimer (Lila Dance) from the 2015 tour. The mixed repertory offers a refreshing mixture of dance theatre, intricate lyrical choreography, fast-paced athleticism and wry humour. It is a programme that will appeal to both seasoned dance viewers and audiences new to dance and is of particular relevance to dance students at GCSE, BTEC and A-level. In addition to the performance programme, mapdance also offers a range of educational work including residencies, one-off workshops and the opportunity for young people to perform alongside the company, opening the show with a specially created ‘curtain raiser’ – guaranteed to bring an audience of friends and family. Contact For booking, availability, fees and any further information regarding performances and residencies please contact: Libby Battaglia [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)7867 721 233 mapdance - the details Celebrating the company’s 10th Anniversary and following an intensive 2015 tour, mapdance, University of Chichester’s MA student performance company is offering its 2016 production. Touring nationally and internationally from Feb to June 2016 the company will be commissioning works from: Richard Alston (Richard Alston Dance Company) Liz Aggiss Kevin Finnan (Motionhouse) Israel Aloni/Lee Brummer (ilDance/Sweden) The company will also re-stage Schemes Dreams and Machines by Abi Mortimer (Lila Dance) from the 2015 tour. Ranging in style and emotion, mapdance’s programme offers a diverse and refreshing evening of short dance works. mapdance is jointly directed by Jerwood Award Winner, Yael Flexer (Flexer & Sandiland), and Detta Howe. The company adopts a broad approach to dance making and performance by working with established artists as well as young choreographers. Past mapdance commissions include works by British choreographers Nigel Charnock, Shobana Jeyasingh, New Art Club, Ben Wright, Laila Diallo, Rick Nodine and Jonathan Burrow among others as well as new work and reconstructions by international choreographers Lucinda Childs (USA), DedaDance (Germany/Israel), Ofra Idel (Machol Shalem/Israel) and Gregory Maqoma (South Africa). The company is keen to work in partnership with venues, festivals and promoters, creating special events and participatory educational and performance projects. The young dancers of mapdance are recruited nationally and internationally, bringing an invigorating mixture of high quality dance experience to the company. Over the years the company has included dancers from Taiwan, Japan, China, Canada, U.S.A., Romania, Estonia, Cyprus, Italy, Norway, Germany and Malta alongside dancers from across the United Kingdom. The growing reputation of mapdance has led to increased competition for places in the 2016 company. Alongside touring, mapdance also offers tailor-made educational residencies, delivering one-off workshops, creating dedicated choreographic projects or making short ‘curtain raisers’ with participants to complement the touring programme. All workshops and residencies are led by the members of the company. Guest Choreographers & Works - 2016 RICHARD ALSTON/ MARTIN LAWRANCE- Roughcut (1990) Richard Alston’s rehearsal director and associate choreographer Martin Lawrance will be re-staging Alston’s renowned work Roughcut (1990). First performed by Rambert Dance Company and later by the Richard Alston Dance Company in 1999 the work was made to celebrate the energy and exuberance of Rambert’s young dancers at the time and has therefore been specially selected to celebrate mapdance’s 10th anniversary. The throw-away energy of the movement is anchored by a very specific use of the body’s weight and pull and this emphasis articulates and syncopates the music’s intricate rhythmic impulses. Richard Alston choreographed his first work in 1968, as a student of the newly formed London Contemporary Dance School. In 1972, he formed the UK’s first independent dance group Strider. In 1975 Alston went to New York to study at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio and in 1980 became Resident Choreographer with Ballet Rambert, and was Artistic Director from 1986 until 1992. Alston became Artistic Director of The Place in 1994 and formed Richard Alston Dance Company in the autumn of that year. Over the past 20 years he has made over 40 dances for this company. Alston is an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (in Dance) at Surrey University, and received an Honorary MA from University College Chichester. In 1995 he was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France and in 2001 he received the CBE in the New Year Honours list. In 2008 he received, from the Critics Circle National Dance Awards, the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement. Martin was born in Leicester. He trained at Coventry Centre for the Performing Arts and then at London Contemporary Dance School. He first worked with Richard Alston whilst performing with the postgraduate performance group 4D. He danced with Richard Alston Dance Company from 1995 - 2007 having over 25 works created on him. In 2000, Martin was invited by Meltdown Festival director and composer Scott Walker to make Thimble Rigging to an original score. In June 2003, Martin presented a full evening of his work at The Place, and in 2004 Charge was commissioned for The Place Prize. Creations for RADC: About Face, Brink, Stealing Poison, Body & Soul, To Dance and Skylark, Lie of the Land, Other Than I, Madcap, Burning. For Ballet Black: Pendulum, Captured, Limbo. For Scottish Ballet: Run For It, Dark Full Ride. For Ballet Manilla: Misfit or Maverick, Rebel. LIZ AGGISS - Face the Music ...........There May be Trouble Ahead! (2016) Celebrating the company’s 10th Anniversary, Liz Aggiss completes the final part of the trilogy for mapdance. It began in 2008 with Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage. It segued in 2014 into Cut with the Kitchen Knife. This new work for 2016 gathers up momentum to complete unfinished business, tie up the loose ends and deliver the final blow. Always expect the unexpected! For the past 35 years Liz Aggiss has been devising and touring her work nationally and internationally; from her early days in the 80’s supporting punk legends The Stranglers with her cabaret troupe The Wild Wigglers, to her classic solo Grotesque Dancer (1986), to her award winning dance film Motion Control (2002), to her unconventional performance lecture Survival Tactics (2010), and cross disciplinary performance The English Channel (2014). Framed by contextual research that uses the personal and historical as reference, her performances have a distinctive expressive, grotesque, British music hall movement style, and integrate text, film and humour. Her work embodies feminist dance practices and resists the ‘authority of formal conventions. Liz Aggiss has received numerous awards, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Brighton and has an Honorary Doctor from the University of Gothenburg. KEVIN FINNAN Kevin Finnan will be making a specially commissioned new work for mapdance 2016. He is interested in the use of spectacle in movement and creates work that is dynamically engaging and emotionally driven. Kevin Finnan is known for his trademark approach that integrates elements of circus and acrobatics with contact choreography to create the distinctive style that Motionhouse is renowned for. Kevin is founder and Artistic Director of Motionhouse and choreographer and movement director for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. He was made an MBE in 2013 for his services to dance – a sector he has been contributing to since creating Motionhouse with Louise Richards in 1988. Finnan is also renowned for questioning the traditional use of performance space, with his creation of extraordinary dance spectacles including his work with JCB diggers and dancers, performances at heritage sites, on beaches and in disused buildings, outdoor shows and bespoke events for cultural capital celebrations in Copenhagen and Marseille-Provence. In 2012 he collaborated with Legs On The Wall for the large-scale outdoor performance, The Voyage. Finnan has an MA in Contemporary Performing Arts, a PhD in Theatre from Warwick University where is also a Research Fellow and is Associate Artist of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival. ABI MORTIMER - Schemes, Dreams and Machines (2015) Inspired by the sketches, inventions, architecture and artistry of Leonardo da Vinci, Schemes, Dreams and Machines captures the sensation of time and movement within his paintings and ‘zooms in’ to the details of individual relationships. Abi co-founded Lila Dance in 2006, and received arts council funding to direct 7 works on the company, completing 2 tours including national and international venues and festivals. She received choreographic mentorship from Hofesh Shechter and amongst