Of pictures and solos and wanted dancers...

For the past 6-7 months I have been working on a solo. The opportunity to do so came about accidentally - I had intended to create a piece for at least 3-4 dancers but was too busy with work to go and find them! I am now in the 3rd stage of development, having completed two 7-day residencies in April and August at Clarence Mews. 

Space @ Clarence Mews

The starting point for this solo was Nicosia in Dark and White, a fantastic book of incredible images.

In the meantime, my day job ended and I have now started a masters programme in choreography, which has been fantastically exciting! I now have the opportunity to develop more non-solo work so I'm on the look-out for dancers yet again!

Mid-residency news

So the residency is not quite turning out as I had originally imagined it would. For starters, I have been working solo for the majority of time. That is to be expected, I guess, given the last minute nature of my call for dancers. But it is progressing well. And I do seem to be devising a sort of long term plan for this as yet unnamed piece so yay me!

New year, new project

A collection of incredible images has inspired my new project. The general theme is abandonment, to leave or be left behind.

• I am looking for dancers of all ages, genders, sizes. Some contemporary dance training and a willingness to participate actively in the creative process are necessary. You need to be available from Sunday 10th to 17th April every day (about 4 hours a day, mostly afternoon and early evening excluding Monday 11th). The piece will be developed in Hackney, London in the space of a week, culminating in a studio performance. There might be possibilities for future performances.

Please send an email to piecebypiecedance@ymail.com by the end of Saturday 9th April with a short paragraph about yourself and your previous dance experience. Feel free to also email any questions you may have. Do make sure you include a mobile number so I can text you the address of where we will be working.

As we are not funded, sadly there is no money - even for travel expenses. However it will be a great opportunity for gaining further dance/performance experience and working in a truly fantastic space for a week!

The next stage - quick! Before I hit 31!!!

Piece By Piece company choreographer Despina Mavrou is looking for female dancers for the next stage in development of her latest piece, "The Big Three... oh"

About the piece:
Having recently turned 30, I decided to create a piece about some of the issues that started creeping up - perceptions of age, combined with issues of unfulfilled career potential, insecure housing, the dreaded biological clock and the way all these things affect women in particular (see previous posts for more info). As a first stage, I developed movement material alongside text and worked during a 10 week residency at Clarence Mews with actress Rachel Drew to present the work in June 2010. The next stage will concentrate on developing ways to communicate the ideas behind the piece solely through movement.

About the dancers:

• Some contemporary dance training and a willingness to participate actively in the creative process (including using your own thoughts, stresses, experiences or anecdotes to create movement) is necessary.
• It would be a plus if you are around late 20s or early 30s, although other perspectives that come with different ages (younger or older) would also be welcome!
• You need to be available from 2nd to 8th August every day (about 4 hours a day, mostly afternoon and early evening).
• The piece will be developed in Hackney, London in the space of a week, culminating in a studio performance. There might be possibilities for future performances.

Please send an email to the address below by the end of Sunday 1st August with a short paragraph about yourself and your previous dance experience – no need to send whole CVs! Also feel free to bombard me with any questions you might have, no matter how trivial (as long as they relate to this project). Make sure you include a mobile number so I can text you the address of where we will be working.

As we are not funded, sadly there is no money - even for travel expenses. However it will be a great opportunity for gaining further dance/performance experience and working in a truly fantastic space for a week!

Email: piecebypiecedance@ymail.com