From: Gulb Marketing

Sent: 15 July 2015 11:01

Subject: MOTIONHOUSE - dancing with JCB diggers in 'FRAGILE' at bOing! Internal Family Festival

 


 

 

?

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

 


?

 

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:

?         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)

?         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.

 


?

 

 

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

 


?

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