Preview: Resolution! Dance Showcase at the Place, London
From Thursday 8 January to Saturday 21 February The Place hosts its annual showcase of new dance: Resolution!. Over the course of twenty-eight nights, highly varied triple-bills present choreographic work with influences ranging from Indian classical dance to capoeira, via circus, physical theatre, hip-hop and ballet. Themes dealt with include gender, sexuality, immigration, and cultural rituals and traditions.
Established in 1990 to help emerging dance artists and companies make the difficult transition from vocational dance training to the professional performance world, Resolution! has in the past supported choreographers such as Wayne McGregor, Hofesh Shechter, Zoo Nation’s Kate Prince, and the circus-theatre Barely Methodical Troupe (who open this year’s London International Mime Festival). As The Place’s Deputy Director, Adam Pushkin, said before one of last year’s triple-bills: ‘You may be looking at tomorrow’s choreographers tonight.’
Some of the highlights of Resolution! 2015 will be: The Ashes: Dance Collective (Sat 10 Jan), made up of former dancers of Phoenix Dance Theatre; Estela Merlos (Sat 24 Jan), a former member of Rambert who has also performed with Northern Ballet Theatre and DV8; Joan Clevillé (Sat 24 Jan), who has choreographed for Scottish Dance Theatre and worked with Lost Dog; Joshua Beamish (Fri 20 Feb) who presents a duet for Royal Ballet First Artist Nicol Edmonds and Royal Ballet Artist Matthew Ball; the National Centre for Circus Arts (Fri 13 Feb); and Breakin’ Convention (Sat 14 Feb), who co-present Sean Graham and Protocol Dance Company in work that explores themes of race and masculinity.
These are just seven works by a total of eighty-four companies who will be receiving technical advice from The Place’s professional team and taking part in workshops on all aspects of the profession in an event whose ethos, according to The Place’s Director of Theatre and Artist Development, Eddie Nixon, is ‘supporting new choreography and choreography that is about trying out new ideas’.
For more information, and to book tickets, go to www.theplace.org.uk
John O’Dwyer