From: Gulb Marketing
Sent: 15 July 2015 11:01
Subject: MOTIONHOUSE - dancing with JCB diggers in 'FRAGILE' at bOing!
Internal Family Festival
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Media release: 9 July 2015
Dancing
with diggers - international touring company Motionhouse
launches newly commissioned large-scale outdoor show Fragile
Innovative
JCB machine dance performance set to wow festival goers in Glasgow and
Canterbury this summer
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On 25 & 26 July in Glasgow,
and 29 & 30 August in Canterbury, festival goers will be the first to
experience Motionhouse's new, family-friendly outdoor show, Fragile -
a dramatic performance of agility, precision and strength featuring company
dancers and JCB diggers.
Fragile is
co-commissioned by Conflux, Merchant City Festival and Gulbenkian, University
of Kent, with support from Creative Scotland, Glasgow City Council, Arts
Council England and sponsored by Scot JCB and AB 2000. The newly created work
builds on Motionhouse's previous innovation between dancers and the machines
from one of the world's foremost manufacturers of construction equipment.
Fragile, a
unique and exhilarating, on-the-edge-of-your-seat production, will see athletic
dancers and daunting diggers move in conjunction with large, cube-shaped, metal
structures that will become additional performance spaces to house the
acrobatic movements synonymous with Motionhouse.
Highlighting the company's
ability to perform in a range of theatre and non-theatre spaces, two versions
of Fragile will be performed in contrasting locations at the end of July
and August bank holiday weekend:
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Sat 25 & Sun 26 July on Candleriggs Square in Glasgow's
Merchant City district during Surge Festival as part of Merchant City
Festival (2.00pm and 4.30pm)
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Sat 29 & Sun 30 August on the grassy slopes of the
University of Kent's Gulbenkian campus during bOing! 2015 family festival (1.30pm
and 4.30pm)
Kevin Finnan MBE, co-founder and
artistic director of Motionhouse, and movement director and choreographer for
the London 2012 Paralympic Games and the company's celebrated The Voyage
that launched the London 2012 Festival in the West Midlands, said: "Presenting
our new work Fragile during two major UK arts festivals in Scotland and England
this summer marks another exciting time in Motionhouse's almost thirty-year
history. Fragile promises to be a wild, exciting trip for festival goers, full
of hold-your-breath moments where audiences will marvel at the incredible
performers who continue to take our work to new and thrilling physical levels."
Finnan continued: "In
Fragile I'm exploring the speed of the urban environment and how a city is
continually changed by people passing by. The people of the city are like the
atoms in the Hadron Collider- they smash together, there's a relationship, a
moment, and then they're back into the swirl of acceleration. In addition to
the interaction with the machines, we've been exploring a new language with a
series of metal cubes. A fragile network of human connections
spins through it all at great speed. It's been an interesting concept to play
with, and one that results in a large-scale spectacle that will challenge our
artists and engage festival audiences."
Alan Richardson, Conflux
Director, said: "Conflux's core mission is to develop street
arts, physical theatre and circus across Scotland. As such, it is important
that we bring world class companies to Scotland, both for the experience of
audiences in Scotland and to develop Scottish artists through residency
programmes. Motionhouse, as one of the world's best dance and physical theatre
companies, provides for all of this, working with local emerging artists for
three weeks to develop their skills, as well as providing the sector and the
public at large with an extraordinary new outdoor theatrical experience.
Bringing a new large scale show from Motionhouse to Surge Festival also assists
in the development of Surge as an internationally recognised festival."
Lorenzo Mele, Executive Producer
for Merchant City Festival said: "Motionhouse has been
bringing exciting work to Merchant City Festival for a number of years?it is
always dynamic and innovative and appeals to the broad cross section of
audiences that the festival attracts. It delights people who don't think of
themselves as a dance audience. As the festival has expanded in both size and
ambition, we are keen to host Scottish and world premieres. It reinforces
Glasgow's reputation as a place where original work is made and seen. The
Motionhouse project enables both experienced and emerging artists to work
alongside each other, which is such an important part of the talent development
process, and that is a key part of Merchant City Festival's role in Glasgow and
in the Merchant City in particular."
Liz Moran, Director of
Gulbenkian, University of Kent, said: "We wanted to bring
something totally new to Kent for bOing! 2015 and it seemed to me that
Motionhouse were the perfect company to commission for this. The quality of
their work is incredible and they are constantly breaking new ground, but their
spectacular productions are accessible to everyone, whatever age or experience
of theatre and dance. This is exactly the kind of work we want at bOing! and I
know our audiences will be blown away by Fragile."
Fragile
requires great skill and precision from three talented digger drivers who will
tour with the company to Glasgow and Canterbury. JCB digger driver Kevin
Burrow from Okehampton in Devon, said: "Driving a digger with dancers
and choreography involved has opened up an exciting world of performance and
dance for me. The results of professional dancers working with machines is
breath-taking and driving a digger will never be the same! Now I attend other
performances by Motionhouse and really love what the company does. It's a
pleasure to work with a professional and friendly dance company and I'm really
looking forward to working on the new production Fragile in Glasgow &
Canterbury."
In both Glasgow and Canterbury,
the professional Motionhouse company of 6 full-time dancers, an associate
dancer and 3 digger drivers will be joined by 3 new Motionhouse apprentices
(beginning a six-month apprenticeship with the company), and 4 young dancers
currently in training at Trinity Laban and Northern School of Contemporary
Dance. In Glasgow, the cast will also be joined by a further 8 emerging local
artists and young dancers, giving them the rare opportunity to work with an
established and internationally recognised company.
Motionhouse is also mentoring
aspiring production technicians during the process of building and performing
Fragile in Glasgow.
ENDS
Please note: Media and
photographic opportunity in Glasgow with full cast and diggers on Wednesday 22
July at 4pm. Kevin Finnan, dancers and digger drivers are available for
interview on request. For more details and to confirm your attendance please
contact:
Jane Bailey at Motionhouse 01926
887052 //07854 872566 Jane_at_motionhouse_dot_co_dot_uk
Simon Harper at Simon Harper
Public Relations: 07810 863408 simonharperpr_at_gmail_dot_com
Notes:
Fragile by Motionhouse is
co-commissioned by Conflux, Merchant City Festival and Gulbenkian, University
of Kent, with support from Creative Scotland, Glasgow City Council, Arts
Council England and sponsored by Scot JCB and AB 2000.
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About Motionhouse - Pushing
movement to its limits since 1988
Powerful Performance | Striking Spectacle | Daring and Dynamic
Dance
Motionhouse creates awe-inspiring ?4D' spectacles where music,
visuals, dance and physical theatre integrate to form a seamless immersive
experience. The company's distinctive style takes movement to its limits,
integrating elements of circus and acrobatics with contact choreography and
breath-taking dance.
Motionhouse
prides itself on producing shows of outstanding quality that are exciting,
accessible and enjoyable for all.
Founded
in 1988, Motionhouse is based in
Leamington Spa and tours to theatres and festivals at home and across the
globe. The company's ambitious experimentation with setting, action and
context have become an integral part of its trademark style.
Motionhouse's
Artistic Director Kevin Finnan MBE was
Choreographer and Movement Director for the Opening Ceremony of
the London 2012 Paralympic Games. His interest in exploring and questioning the
traditional use of space in performance has led to the creation of
extraordinary dance spectacles including the acclaimed Machine Dance for JCB
diggers and dancers, site based performances at heritage sites, on beaches and
in disused buildings, and a series of outdoor shows that tour festivals and
other outdoor venues across the UK and Europe. In recent years, Finnan's
preoccupation with the human condition and our connection with the world in
which we live, has led him to create a series of pieces which explore the place
that humanity occupies within the natural world, with Scattered in 2009
and Broken in 2013.
A wide
ranging education and participatory programme runs parallel to Motionhouse's
touring performance work. A
respected and key player in the UK dance scene, Motionhouse is supported using
public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
The
2005/06 production Perfect is a set piece on the GCSE Dance curriculum
in England and Wales and the company has developed a series of educational
workshops and teaching resources entitled PerfectED to support the study of
this piece. The 2007/08 show, Driven, also features on the A Level
Performance Studies syllabus and Motionhouse offers workshops to support
students and teachers in their study of the work.
www.motionhouse.co.uk
// _at_MotionhouseDT // facebook.com/Motionhouse
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Merchant City Festival takes place 25
July - 2 August in Glasgow's cultural quarter. This is the 14th Merchant City
Festival. Merchant City Festival showcases many different art forms including
street theatre, visual art, dance, music, comedy, film, heritage, design, food
& drink & many more. Discover more at www.merchantcityfestival.com // Find us on Facebook / MerchantCityFestival and follow us on
Twitter _at_merchcityfest
SURGE is Scotland's annual festival
of street arts, physical theatre and circus. Delivered by Conflux in
partnership with Merchant City Festival, SURGE fills the streets and unusual
spaces of Glasgow with exciting new Scottish work, cutting edge international
performance, masterclasses and community workshops, each year in July.
Conflux runs projects to develop streets arts, physical theatre
and circus in Scotland. We work with artists, performance companies, community
groups, and educators at all levels of experience and provide regular platforms
for displaying and developing work. http://www.conflux.co.uk/surge-festival/
Find us on Facebook:
ConfluxScotland // Twitter: _at_ConfluxScotland //Instagram:
ConfluxScotland
bOing! 2015 is an international
festival for all the family, bringing to Kent some of the best performers and
artists from across Europe. www.boingfestival.com
Find us on Facebook: boingfamilyfestival // Follow us on Twitter
_at_boingfestival // Follow us on Instagram: boingfestival