2017 Riley Theatre Programme

What’s On Contemporary Dance 2017 at Riley Theatre watch | learn | inspire

Welcome S

erving students, community and the wider audience, Riley Theatre is an atmospheric creative and performance hub specialising in programming dance.

We programme internationally renowned UK and European companies, aspiring and emerging dance artists, and community platforms celebrating achievement and aspiration for all.

In 2017, through our European Connections programme, we are delighted to present four distinctive works by choreographers from different parts of Europe; a chance to see an eclectic range of contemporary dance work rarely available in England. Lenka Vagnerova and Company from the Czech Republic kick off this programme in February, performing GOSSIP – a UK premiere blending physical theatre and live music. May brings another UK premiere, HU(R)MANO, a quartet drawing from urban dance language by award-winning Portuguese choreographer, Marco da Silva Ferreira. In October, following a standing ovation for the company’s first visit to Riley Theatre Spanish choreographer Joan Cleville returns with Joan Cleville Dance performing a new trio; The North. Finally, in November Scottish Dance Theatre bring the mystical and highly theatrical YAMA, by French and Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet.

Interspersed with these events, Northern Connections offers two exciting triple bill showcases presenting ideas by emerging northern based choreographers, selected from a national call out for the quality and ambition of their work. Akeim Buck, Keira

www.rileytheatre.com

Martin and Daniel Phung feature in an April showcase and Joseph Reay Reid, 70:30 Split and Gracefool Collective in September.

Other professional performances to watch out for include an intimate programme of three solos by Crystal Zillwood in February. April brings WELLNESS, by Florentina Holzinger and Vincent Riebeek, as part of Transform 17 - a festival of local international and adventurous theatre for Leeds. Watch out too for James Cousins Company in Rosalind and in November ACE Music and Dance perform TEN, a visceral and exhilarating production inspired by global migration.

VERVE, NSCD’s postgraduate performance company launch their 18 venue UK and European tour in February. They return for a final show in June, providing two chances to catch this physically daring and thought provoking programme of specially commissioned works featuring 11 dancers about to enter the profession. In 2017 Riley Theatre also hosts four visiting postgraduate dance companies from Salzburg, Geneva and the UK. A chance to see the next generation of dancers in commissioned work by international dance makers. Watch out too for opportunities to enjoy and support upcoming talent through student showcases and community platforms across the year.

Altogether we aim to provide a rich and varied performance programme that mixes the local and international.

©Tilly May

January

Friday 20 January, 7.30pm

Spirals: Crystal Zillwood Tickets: Pay as you wish contributions.*

*Suggested prices; £6 adults. £4 Students and unwaged.Proceeds will go to NSCD’s student hardship fund.

D

ancer and emerging choreographer, Crystal Zillwood graduated with Distinction from VERVE, NSCD’s postgraduate performance company, and has gone on to work professionally with choreographers Ben Wright, Gary Clarke, Theo Clinkard and Stephanie Singer.

Following a successful tour of her first solo work, Evolutio, in the UK and Europe, Zillwood presents her work in the form of a triple bill of new and evolving solos.

Spirals, consists of two recently created works - Sleep, and These Hands, along with another chance to see Evolutio. ‘…a beautifully considered, artfully anthropological work… Zillwood conjures

worlds out of thin air’ Donald Hutera, The Times on Evolutio.

‘An undemonstrative but highly articulate performer, Zillwood manages to suggest an expansive vision within a miniature work.’

Sanjoy Roy, The Guardian on Evolutio This presentation is part of CATAPULT, a professional development programme delivered by NSCD and Spin Arts, with support from the Lankelly Chase Foundation. Performing the three works is also made possible with support from Yorkshire Dance, Dance City, Activate Arts, Theo Clinkard and Arts Council England.

Call the Box office: 0113 219 3018 to reserve your ticket

European Connections

©Viktor Kronbauer

February

Wednesday 8 February, 7.30pm

GOSSIP: Lenka Vagnerova and Company, UK Premiere Tickets £10 (£5)

M

ulti award winning Lenka Vagnerova is widely recognised as possibly the most talented Czech choreographer of her generation.

Her choreography is characterised by precise movement quality and detail, the power of human dynamics and explores the physical boundaries of the moving body.

Gossip, created in 2015, is a dance theatre piece incorporating live music. Idle talk and

misinformation is a cross-cultural human behavioural phenomenon. Spreading at speed, hurting, discrediting, it turns life upside down. We feed on it, even as we disdain it.

“No doubt, from the outset, that this will be one of the events of the season” Dance Zone, Czech Republic www.lenka-vagnerova.cz

Hear the choreographer/company discuss their career, work and thoughts during a post-show talk on the night.

FREE for ticket holders.

www.rileytheatre.com

February

©Nicole Guarino

Friday 24 and Saturday 25 February, 7.30pm

V

ERVE presents an exhilarating programme of four distinct dance works choreographed by international artists James Cousins, Carlos Pons Guerra, Leila McMillan and Matthias Sperling.

Performed by a company of eleven dancers who trained at some of the world’s leading conservatoires, the work is physically daring and thought provoking.

Carlos Pons Guerra’s Rita is a raucous, full company work inspired by the vestal world of nunneries. What happens when our innate desires are denied expression?

Leila McMillan tackles the continuous cycle of destruction and repair that characterises

VERVE UK Premiere Tickets £8 (£5)

our lives, tapping into the visceral physicality of the dancers with her work Continuum.

Hypnotic and ambiguous, Matthias Sperling’s Soft Power Generator asks: What if movement can generate our future? What future do we need? Finally James Cousins’ A fable of our time, explores the physical and metaphorical borders societies continue to build. With full bodied physicality and intimate duets, the dancers question our precarious dualistic existence.

“An excellent showcase for highly professional individuals who should all have bright futures ahead” Dancing Times on VERVE 16 www.nscd.ac.uk/verve Box office: 0113 219 3018

Postgraduate Exchange

©SEAD

March

Wednesday 8 March, 7.30pm (performing at the Carriageworks Theatre)

BODHI PROJECT Tickets £8, (£5)

T

he BODHI PROJECT is the residential contemporary dance company at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Austria. The company is visiting Leeds as part of a postgraduate exchange programme in partnership with VERVE at NSCD. BODHI PROJECT is a platform for new choreographers in the international contemporary dance scene and the company have presented over 100 performances around the world to rapturous and elated audiences and press alike. www.carriageworkstheatre.org.uk www.sead.at

www.rileytheatre.com

©JoshHawkins

March

Saturday 18 March, 7.30pm

Community Dance Platform Tickets £8 (£5) £20 family ticket (2 adults, 2 children)

N

SCD’s Community Dance Platform brings together community dance groups from across Leeds and Yorkshire to perform work they have created. Featuring groups of children, young people and adults, this evening will celebrate the rich diversity of community dance in the region. www.nscd.ac.uk/learning-participation

Box office: 0113 219 3018

ŠBrian Slater

N Tuesday 21 - Friday 24 March, 7.30pm

Student showcase Tickets ÂŁ8 (5)

SCD student showcase is the perfect opportunity to see a vibrant, dynamic and diverse programme of newly commissioned dance works by professional choreographers. The new commissions will be performed by NSCD students currently enrolled on the undergraduate degree courses.

For undergraduate year one, the choreographers are Jane McKernan, Tiia Ourila and Charlie Morrissey.

Undergraduate year two, the choreographers are Avatara Ayuso and Gavin Coward.

www.rileytheatre.com

April

Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 April, 7.45pm

©Phile Deprez

Transform 17: WELLNESS

H

olzinger & Riebeek are renowned as Europe’s most provocative choreographers, creating radical performance that challenges our understanding of beauty.

In the duo’s first group show, an extraordinary ensemble of performers participate in a surreal training course of fitness, psychotherapy, beauty pageants, sex and yoga; striving to become their own versions of Miss and Mister Universe.

WELLNESS is a dizzying mix of pop-culture, performance art and dance that boldly investigates the body culture of our times.

Florentina Holzinger & Vincent Riebeek £12.50 (£10)

WELLNESS is presented as part of Transform 17, a festival of local, international and adventurous theatre for Leeds – transformfestival.org Warning: this show contains nudity and scenes of a sexually explicit nature. Contains strobe lighting. Age guidance: strictly 18+ Running time: 75 mins

Tickets are available from the Transform 17 box office at West Yorkshire Playhouse – wyp.org.uk / 0113 213 7700. A transaction fee of £1.95 will be applied to all phone and internet bookings.

“They do it differently. They turn the rules upside down…if for only one second of our lives we could be as free as they are!”

Zone 02 Box office: 0113 219 3018

Thursday 27 April, 7.30pm

Northern Connections

©Boneshaker photography

Tickets £9 (£5)

A Triple Bill showcasing work by emerging choreographers based in the North of England.

T

he first of two such events this year, the evening promises three diverse approaches to movement, articulately performed by talented dancers working across the region.

First up, Windows in Displacement, choreographed and performed by Akeim Toussaint Buck. An autobiographically sourced solo blending dance, song and spoken word to explore personal narratives, ancestral memory and the shifting (and increasingly urgent) politics surrounding the movement of people.

Good Blood, by Keira Martin. Performed by the choreographer and her sister, Sioda Martin, this duo looks closely at the relationship between two siblings.

Entertaining and familiar scenarios are refreshed and brought into focus to shed new light on family ties; the bonds that hold us together and the people that make us.

Lastly, Depart by Daniel Phung Dance.

A work exploring loss in all its forms and performed by Phung and dancers.

A compelling depiction of endings and relived sorrows, fusing contemporary and urban dance theatre styles.

Discover more about the artists during a chaired post-show discussion on the night. FREE for ticket holders.

www.rileytheatre.com

April

“Choreography that feels freshly minted...Cousins is a talent to watch.”

The Guardian

Saturday 29 April, 7.30pm ROSALIND: James Cousins Company Tickets £12 (£7)

V

enture deeper into the modern metropolis, where conservative days turn into wondrous nights. Follow the curious and courageous Rosalind as she embarks on a pursuit of enlightenment, fueled by love and oppression.

400 years on since Shakespeare wrote his iconic play As You Like It, what has changed in society? In this unique production, created in collaboration with rising stars of the British and Korean dance scenes, Cousins asks if a woman still needs to

adopt a stereotypical masculinity in order to find equality in our modern world?

In the space of a few years Cousins has achieved more than many choreographers manage in a lifetime. He has created works for dance companies across the globe including Scottish Ballet and the National Ballet of Chile, choreographed on rising pop sensation Anne-Marie and been hailed as the future of British dance by Time Out magazine and Matthew Bourne.

Box office: 0113 219 3018

N S C D

May Postgraduate Exchange

Thursday 4 May, 7.30pm

mapdance Tickets £8 (£5)

“…leaping and turning in zesty spurts with an insouciance that leaves nothing to chance” Donald Hutera, The Times

m

apdance, University of Chichester’s MA touring company performs diverse repertoire by renowned and upcoming contemporary choreographers.

This year the company has commissioned

new works by Shobana Jeyasingh, Lea Anderson, Cai Tomos and Hagit Yakira.

The mixed repertory offers a refreshing mixture of dance theatre, intricate lyrical choreography, fast-paced athleticism and wry humour.

www.mapdance.org Box office: 0113 219 3018

©Jaruga

European Connections

Thursday 11 May, 7.30pm

HU(R)MANO: Marco da Silva Ferreira Tickets £10 (£5)

H

U(R)MANO, translated as brother/ human, is a piece by the award-winning Portuguese choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira, exploring the notion of human urban movement and the shift between the collective and the subjective individual.

www.rileytheatre.com

We live in ourselves. We all live in ourselves.

You know so little and even so, what remains to us is this body in multiple compositions.

A sort of limited edition.

Using a shared language of movement the four performers explore alternative states of being, transforming and mutating their bodies into abstracted gestures in space, continually pushing and searching for the meaning and value of their physical actions. www.pensamento-avulso.jimdo.com

May Postgraduate Exchange

Tuesday 16 May, 7.30pm

EDge Tickets ÂŁ8 (ÂŁ5)

E

Dge invites you to go beyond the expected and stimulate your mind with an evening of bold performances.

14 exceptional dancers perform unusual work by a collection of new and award-winning choreographers.

Three freshly created works by Tony Adigun, Patricia Okenwa, Karen and Allen Kaeja appear alongside Strange Blooms, a restaging of the Shobana Jeyasingh creation that explores the anatomy of plant cells under a microscope.

Prepare to question your expectations.

Discover what life is like as a dancer with a touring company by attending the post show Q&A session.

www.lcds.ac.uk/edgestudy

Box office: 0113 219 3018

Keep a look out for...

ŠNicole Guarino

Collaborative Arts Week commencing 22 May

In the Collaborative Arts module at NSCD our third year students will come together with a variety of artists and venues across Yorkshire to explore and enhance their understanding of other artistic disciplines and the ways in which these can relate to contemporary dance. This module enables final year students to dedicate themselves to creating innovative and exciting site-specific performances and installation works. Guided by Susanne Thomas, Artistic Director of leading site-specific performance company, seven sisters group, and Clive Wilkinson, this year’s graduating students will produce a remarkable series of events programmed to take place in unusual locations across Leeds.

Check out the news section of our website for more information and to book in May

www.rileytheatre.com

Get involved!

Adult, youth and children’s classes at Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Courses start term times

Search ‘Northern School classes’

N S C

C

June

Postgraduate Exchange

Wednesday 7 June, 7.30pm

Adaptation Zone: Le MARCHEPIED Tickets ÂŁ8 (ÂŁ5)

T

hrough ADAPTATION ZONE, choreographers Corinne Rochet and Nicholas Pettit study how to enter on stage: this ritual symbolizing the passage from one universe to another.

To enter a stage is to be thrown into the void, to define space by your body and expose yourself entirely to the public.

ADAPTATION ZONE explores the modalities, the dramaturgy and the characteristics of this specific moment. www.marchepied.ch

www.rileytheatre.com

©Nicole Guarino

June

Friday 9 June, 7.30pm

VERVE Finale

V

ERVE presents an exhilarating programme of four distinct dance works choreographed by international artists James Cousins, Carlos Pons Guerra, Leila McMillan and Matthias Sperling.

Performed by a company of eleven dancers trained at some of the world’s leading conservatoires, the work is physically daring and thought provoking.

Carlos Pons Guerra’s Rita is a raucous, full company work inspired by the vestal world of nunneries. What happens when our innate desires are denied expression?

Leila McMillan tackles the continuous cycle of destruction and repair that characterises our lives, tapping into the visceral physicality of the dancers with her work Continuum.

Tickets £8 (£5)

Hypnotic and ambiguous, Matthias Sperling’s Soft Power Generator asks: What if movement can generate our future?

What future do we need? Finally James Cousins’ A Fable Of Our Time explores the physical and metaphorical borders societies continue to build. With full bodied physicality and intimate duets, the dancers question our precarious dualistic existence.

“An excellent showcase for highly professional individuals who should all have bright futures ahead” Dancing Times on VERVE 16 www.nscd.ac.uk/verve/ Box office: 0113 219 3018

©Justin Slee

Saturday 24 June 3pm and 7.30pm

Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) End of Year Show Tickets £8 (£5 concessions) £20 family ticket (2 adults, 2 children)

T

he Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) is part of a national intensive programme for 11-17 year olds who display exceptional potential and passion for dance.

NSCD’s CAT come together to showcase some of the brightest young dance talent in Yorkshire. Students will perform work created by some of the UK’s most exciting choreographers and dance artists. www.nscd.ac.uk/learning-participation/ cat/

www.rileytheatre.com

©Brian Slater

June

Wednesday 28 June, 7.30pm

Access to Higher Education Graduation Performance Tickets £8 (£5)

N

SCD’s Access to Higher Education Diploma is recognised nationally for preparing dance artists to undertake further in depth professional training. This year’s diverse group of talented and energetic dancers is definitely one to watch. The end of year performance includes original choreography by the students created as part of their programme of study. www.nscd.ac.uk/study/foundation

Box office: 0113 219 3018

©Josh Hawkins

July

Saturday 1 July, 4pm and 7.30pm

Learning & Participation Annual Showcase Tickets £8 (£5) £20 family ticket (2 adults, 2 children)

N

SCD’s Learning & Participation provides dance classes and courses for people of all ages. This celebratory performance will feature a number of groups performing work they have created throughout the year including Saturday School, NSCD Youth Dance Company, Adult Creative Dance, Adult Technique Choreography & Performance and NSCD’s Centre for Advanced Training (CAT).

Box office: 0113 219 3018

ŠJosh Hawkins

Wednesday 5 to Saturday 8 July, 7.30pm

Graduation BPA3 Tickets ÂŁ8 (ÂŁ5)

O

nce again we say goodbye to our graduating cohort at the end of their challenging three year contemporary dance training at NSCD. This promises to be an evening of vibrant and inspiring www.rileytheatre.com

dance including original work created by students and a range of visiting dance artists including professional choreographers Kerry Nicholls, Jos Baker and Joan Cleville.

These performances will aim to represent the diversity of the contemporary dance scene and the broad range of opportunities open to our highly-skilled and versatile graduates. Please join us as we celebrate their achievements.

September Thursday 28 September, 7.30pm

Northern Connections

©Lidia Crisafulli

Tickets £9 (£5)

A second Triple Bill showcasing work by emerging choreographers based in the North of England.

B

lue Monday, choreographed by Joseph Reay-Reid, combines spoken word and a strong physicality, Blue Monday follows the stories of three individuals who each want to escape their everyday, ordinary lives. The work is set to a soundtrack straight out of the 1980s & Manchester’s ‘Hacienda’ Nightclub.

New work (title tbc), by 70:30 Split. A new work created by 70:30 Split’s artistic directors Lydia Cotrell and Sophie Unwin, for two male performers, examines male physicality and the psychology of the

crowd. Wearing dehumanising uniforms the dancers are pushed into increasingly more risky and compromising situations.

New work (title tbc) created and performed

by Gracefool Collective who are Rachel Fullegar, Kate Cox, Sofia Edstand and Rebecca Holmburg. Using their signature blend of dance, theatre, comedy and politics. This new piece sees the four woman strong creative and performance collective wrestle with the social expectation to ‘couple up’. Expect irreverent physicality, sharp writing and arresting characters.

Box office: 0113 219 3018

October European Connections

Thursday 5 October, 7.30pm

THE NORTH: Joan Clevillé Dance Tickets £10 (£5)

It’s a place we all know, but we have never been... A forest, a desert of ice. The land of ancient gods, wild animals and strange creatures. The home of the Terrible and the sublime...

www.rileytheatre.com

Blending elements from dance, physical and object theatre, The North follows a man’s journey in search of meaning in an unpredictable environment. A place with its own sense of time and space, where being lost is the norm and letting go the only way to survive. www.joanclevilledance.com

©Brian Slater

November

Thursday 16 November, 7.30pm

TEN: ACE Dance and Music Tickets £12 (£7)

Unimagined destinies reflect the fragility of life At a time when more and more people across the world find themselves having to leave their own lands, ideas of home and belonging are unknown.

Inspired by global migration, TEN is centred around the relationship between two brothers. Full of intense physical power and very human fragility, TEN explores the concepts of moving away, looking at how and why people choose unimagined destinies over the lives they’d always thought they’d live.

Combining contemporary dance with an essence of Flamenco, Kathak and ACE’s inimitable Afro-fusion style, TEN is a visceral and exhilarating dance production. www.acedanceandmusic.com

Box office: 0113 219 3018

©Brian Hartley

Thursday 23 November, 7.30pm

“From the moment the mystical lighting feintly illuminates it, the wonder begins” Broadway Baby With set design by renowned visual artist Jim Hodges (Association Internationale des Critiques d’art), YAMA explores the mythology associated with mountains inspired by the pagan and animist rituals practised among the mountains of Tohoku, Japan. YAMA is an awe-inspiring piece that gathers energy as it grows.

Choreographer Damien Jalet has been responsible for some of the most revered productions of the last 10 years, including www.rileytheatre.com

YAMA: Scottish Dance Theatre Tickets £10 (£5)

Babel (Laurence Olivier award 2011) and has worked with Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and on a radical re-staging of Bolero with Marina Abramovic at the Paris Opera.

Jalet’s hypnotic choreography, and the tangled ensemble of exceptional dancers leaves its tingle and stain under the skin. www.scottishdancetheatre.com

©Nicole Guarino

What’s How to On book & Booking

HOW TO BOOK Book Online: www.rileytheatre.com Call our box office: 0113 219 3018 MONDAY TO FRIDAY: 10am – 4pm The box office will re-open an hour and a half before the performance starts.

All tickets must be collected by 7.15pm.

Latecomers will be required to wait until a suitable break in the performance before being admitted to the theatre.

Payment methods All major credit/debit cards are accepted and transactions can be made either over the phone, in person or by booking online at www.rileytheatre.com.

Reservations are not accepted.* Please note that tickets are non-refundable unless a performance is cancelled.

Discounts The concessionary rate is available for 16-25 year olds, senior citizens (60+), full-time students and under 18’s.

Access Riley Theatre is wheelchair accessible. This brochure is available in other formats on request. For further information please call the box office (0113 219 3018).

* Except for Crystal Zillwood: Spirals where you can reserve your ticket because of the suggested monetary donation.

Box office: 0113 219 3018

Find us Edinburgh

Newcastle

Leeds Manchester

From North/A61/A6120 (Via Harrogate Road)

Birmingham

London

A61 Leeds Bradford International Airport (approx. 8 miles)

Ch ape ltow nR d.

Cardiff

Louis St.

NSCD

Northern School of Contemporary Dance

Leopold St.

. ck Rd Barra

A58

Sheepscar Interchange

M606

ane it L yP Cla

Follow signs for Chapeltown

Hospital

Regent St.

Nort h St.

University

rion Mer tre Cen

Town Hall

Inne r Rin g Rd .

Bus Sta. d. gR Rin r e Inn Armley Roundabout

t Wes shire York house Play

York Road

Tetle Bre y’s wer y

Train Station Royal Armouries

Find Us Underpass Riley Theatre is easily accessible from M621 Leeds City Centre.

H

JCT 3

JCT 2

Bus: regular services 2, 3, 3A, 48 from LeedsFrom City Centre to Chapeltown Road M62 Recreation Ground (directly outside NSCD).

Car: free parking is available for patrons of the theatre. NSCD is approximately a five minute drive from Leeds City Centre, just beyond the Sheepscar Interchange.

Riley Theatre or unslet Rd ut . rib Northern School of Contemporary Dance st Di t le s 98 Chapeltown Road n u H Leeds JCT 4 LS7 4BH From

M1

Receive regular Riley Theatre news digitally by signing up to our mailing list at www.rileytheatre.com NSCD reserves the right to change or cancel performances. Information contained in this brochure is subject to change. Details correct at time of going to press.

Riley Theatre Upcoming Shows for 2017

Date Time Name

Fri 20 Jan 7.30pm Spirals: Crystal Zillwood

Wed 8 Feb 7.30pm GOSSIP: Lenka Vagnerova and Company Fri 24 Feb 7.30pm VERVE Premiere Sat 25 Feb 7.30pm VERVE Premiere Wed 8 March 7.30pm BODHI PROJECT (at Carriageworks Theatre) Sat 18 Mar 7.30pm Community Dance Platform Tue 21 - Fri 24 Mar 7.30pm Student Showcase Wed 19 April 7.45pm Transform 17: WELLNESS Thur 20 April 7.45pm Transform 17: WELLNESS Thur 27 April 7.30pm Northern Connections Sat 29 April 7.30pm Rosalind: James Cousins Company Thur 4 May 7.30pm mapdance Thur 11 May 7.30pm HU(R)MANO: Marco da Silva Ferreira Tues 16 May 7.30pm EDge Wed 7 June 7.30pm La MARCHEPIED Fri 9 June 7.30pm VERVE Finale Sat 24 June 3pm CAT End of Year Show Sat 24 June 7.30pm CAT End of Year Show Wed 28 June 7.30pm Access to Higher Education Performance Sat 1 July 4pm Learning & Participation Annual Showcase Sat 1 July 7.30pm Learning & Participation Annual Showcase Wed 5 - Sat 8 July 7.30pm Graduation showcase Thur 28 Sept 7.30pm Northern Connections Thur 5 Oct 7.30pm The North: Joan Cleville Dance Company Thur 16 Nov 7.30pm TEN: ACE Dance & Music Thur 23 Nov 7.30pm YAMA: Scottish Dance Theatre Key NSCD performance Postgraduate Exchange Professional Performance

©Brian Hartley / YAMA: Scottish Dance Theatre

European Connections Northern Connections

Transform Festival