Programme

About the work:
living, breathing, still. Is a dance film inspired by the aesthetics and ideologies of the 1970’s Punk movement. Punk was about D.I.Y. It was about expression. It was about pursuing new means of creativity and refusing to be censored. Punk was the result of a sense of unease and angst felt by young people. A revolt against consumerism and outdated and oppressive ways of thinking. Punk was an obsession; a soundtrack to adolescence and a way to make sense of the maelstrom of the thoughts and feelings that comes with becoming more aware of life and the wider world. It was an education. So what does Punk look like in 2020? Contained within the four walls of your bedroom? Locked-down and angry as the world around you burns. With the planet in the grips of a deadly pandemic, the environment being destroyed and far right governments coming to power all over the globe, the super-rich grabbing more and more wealth as people starve, and being anti-fascist means you’re viewed as a terrorist by governments, Punk feels more important and relevant than ever.

Biography:
Orla is an Irish born choreographer and dance artist based in the south of England.She works across disciplines and mediums to create visceral performances. Her work utilises multi modes of presentation, often blending visual arts and choreography in order to transform spaces and alter audiences' experience.

Next Choreography Course Director: Alexandrina Hemsley | Next Choreography Producer: Nancy May Roberts
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This festival is a celebration of the Next Choreography 2020 cohort; Angelos Angelidis, Renée Bellamy, Scott Castner, Lilli Wilkinson Chambers, Kyrin Chen, Orla Connolly, Ashlinn de Schonen, Alice Minervini, Saffron Mustafa, Paul Davidson Natt, Adriana Zaragoza Pino, Aisha Sanyang - Meek, Michael Sookan, Jessica Shead, Zoe Tankard , Alison Thomas, Nikhil Vyas, Florence Aurora Woolley

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Lilli Wilkinson Chambers, Jessica Shead and Aisha Sanyang - Meek for their significant contributions to this collaborative process and to the making of this festival.

We would also like to extend our deep appreciation to Rohanne Udall and Jonny Goode for supporting the creation of this work.

Below you will find the details of each work within the festival programme.

About the work:
'Not finding one's way through a city may well be uninteresting and banal...but to lose oneself in a city- as one loses oneself in a forest-that requires a different schooling.' - Walter Benjamin
THE SKY ABOVE is a participatory work for a solo audience, taking the form of an instructional, randomised card-based activity. It guides the participant through a series of actions and interventions, centred around walking through an urban space. It is an intimate encounter between the self and the body, an invitation to notice, and a micro choreography through everyday places.

Biography:
Nikhil is a theatre artist living in South London. His practice takes the form of productions of theatre texts, collaborative performance work, contemporary dance, facilitation and digital art. The work is often lo-fi, repurposing existing fragments of everyday technology, popular culture and music in surreal new ways, and inviting the audience into playful relational frameworks.

About the work:
This film was developed out of a series of workshops that used movement, writing, discussion, sculpting and sound, to challenge our familiarity with time and space. Through a process of defamiliarization, we tried to challenge what we knew, asking fresh questions which pointed toward unexpected openings - stretching out and disturbing normativity by unpicking its order and logic. We listened to and considered the polyphonic pulses, the temporal layers and multiple trajectories of the assemblage that all happen in spite of the timeline of progress, challenging its totality in the building of multiple worlds. We asked how the repetitive motions of capitalist time are held differently in our labouring bodies and reproduced affectively between one another? And how they are negated, deviated from and undermined? Using word games and free writing to inform our movements we worked with and through this negation, moving in and out of linear time searching for an in between space. Pulling together the workshops, pieces of writing and moments from our discussion this experimental film is an attempt to represent a process of thinking, challenging and exploring.

Biography:
Florence is an interdisciplianry artist and filmmaker, whose work is informed by anti-capitalist thought and queer futurity. She sees film, like activism as a way of doing and undoing politics . Her work holds a fascination with what lies between in the blank space amid question and answer. This can be defined as a desire for the non-conforming, for that which is neither here nor there, undefined, un-situated and deviant. Combining experimental moving image, performance and critical theory this enquiry begins.

About the work:
The Night of Dawn is a collaborative sound - movement improvisation project between artist Kyrin Chen and other members of Next Choreography 2020 program. Exploring free sound and movement improvisation from an interdisciplinary perspective, Chen creates sonic-choreographic scores and facilitates workshops for collaborative performances. Chen is also interested in the study of ludonarrative and play-forms in art such as game as listening events.

Biography:
Kyrin Chen lives and works in London and Shanghai. Informed by their interdisciplinary theoretical framework, Chen’s practice seeks to explore the spatial ‘dialogue’ between body and site through attentive auditory and haptic perception in various media, including interactive games, printmaking, fiction, physical workshops/performances, multi-media installation and beyond. Chen’s works interrogate the tension between supposed dichotomies, exploring the spaces between belonging and dislocation, intimacy and alienation. In the course of searching for alternative modes of communication, Chen isolates and recontextualizes familiar sounds, creating new meanings through reconstruction and recomposition, experimenting with the sonic materiality of everyday objects. Responding to architectural spaces, Chen uses small objects to create quiet, delicately textured sounds. A sense of fragility is further expressed through their drawings and etchings. Chen is also interested in collective practice in which the participants co-create the works. Their upcoming workshop-based performance Tinnitus (2021) will address disability, specifically hearing loss through exploring diverse forms of listening.

About the work:
The body as Archive. The body as Library. The body as History. The body as Storyteller. The body as Temporary. The body as Fallible. "The Body As" is an exploration of embodiment, asking what lies beyond somatics, beyond projection, beyond binaries? It asks us to journey into the place where the sinew of our arms intersect with the rumbling of our voices, and to find what lives within that membrane. It is a celebration of the liminal, the temporary, the unknown. And an acceptance of the permanent, the unflinching, the holy. It is bright and rich and sweet. It is slowly fading. It is unvoiced.

Biography:
Scott is a photographer, performance artist, and dancer currently based in Portland Oregon. They are fascinated by the relationship between the physical body and the internal self, and seek to challenge binary ideas about identity. They hope their work will create spaces for self reflection and self knowing.

About the work:
A lonely creature interacts with their objects, each taking on their own sentient qualities. From cooking, dreaming and fixing water pipes, this interior is something of an isolated cosmos, an a-historical, fantastical kitchen sink drama. But what of the outside world? It leaks in in drips and drabs, clues which show that world as not so far from ours.

Biography:
Born in 1999, I am French and Irish, currently studying Fine Art at Goldsmiths University London. I like to describe my work as the constant collaging of different materials and ideas, both digitally and sculpturally. I tend to look at life, actions, objects and movements in the context of domestic spaces. I find this context very generous in ideas and materials surrounding taste, class, historical burdens and notions of public and private. I work in an intuitive way by mixing material and visual explorations with bricolage and anthropological research.

About the work:
Two women exchange wire structures, movement and ideas across locations, exploring freedom and restriction, flesh and frame, considering their autonomy and power over each other and their susceptibility to choices and instructions. Zoe and Alison collaborated across their mediums, exchanging physical structures via the post, movement videos via WeTransfer and discussions and ideas over Zoom. Collaborating despite distance and in a variety of locations, the duo approached this work with open curiosity, and a question mark over what might arise. Consequently, the explorations took the form of several improvisations. What they found included but is not limited to; freedom, restriction, expectation, information, instruction, power, and the limits of it. Considerations of autonomy and choice, power and force, and a comment somewhere about women’s body and what is placed on them. We envisioned this work in a gallery space, and this iteration of it is our best compromise for now. We anticipate that this will collaboration will continue past Next Choreography and that we’ll keep making, growing and exploring as long as the Royal Mail allows us to.

Biography Zoe:
Since graduating from Northern School Of Contemporary Dance in 2019, Zoe has been developing her company Art Is In Motion, creating dance/art installations. Passionate about making work that sits at the intersection between dance and performance art, she uses costuming, set, sculpture and film to create multidisciplinary performances for theatre, gallery and site specific spaces. Her works have been performed at venues such as the Riley theatre, Yorkshire dance and pop up locations in Leeds and London. Outside of her own work she has also collaborated with choreographers and performance artists designing and creating costumes for their works.

Biography Alison:
Alison is an early-career choreographer with a strong passion for and fascination in the human condition. After an undergraduate degree in Human Geography and Social Psychology from the University of St Andrews, she completed a MA in Creative Practice at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, combining her academic and creative work. Her current interest lies in questioning what makes us human, creating socio-politically engaged work, and widening access to dance.

About the work:
Be Different is about finding new ways to create range in movement, putting together street dance and contemporary into experimental dance - I let my feelings and determination to be unique guide my dancing.

Biography:
I have been dancing since I was 14, taking a variety of classes mainly in Street Dance styles. At 18 I joined Corali, a contemporary/experimental dance company for those with learning disabilities. This led to a three year stint with the National Youth Dance Company starting when I was 19. I had the privilege to work with Damien Jalet, Sharon Eyal and Botis Seva. I have performed in a range of different pieces in venues all over the country, some solo, others in ensemble. I have also choreographed a number of dance films for myself and an inclusive project involving Tin Arts, Wheel Fever, Corali and NYDC. Currently, I am studying for a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Dance at LCDS. What sort of artist am I? As an autistic person, dance is an essential way for me to communicate. More and more, I want to use dance to express my feelings about the state of the world and what we need to do to try to stop it being ruined. I guess that makes me an emotional and a political artist for most of the things I do. Currently, I am working on several pieces: one that explores my autism as both an obstacle and an inspiration for my dance; another that looks at climate change; a design for a piece that presents the end of capitalism; and possibly a fourth that gives my views on the current state of the USA.

About the work:
This film concludes a thoughtful process that has given way to conversation, mark making and movement as a means of articulating the unique qualities of a collective imagined space. Drawing from workshops with members of Next Choreography cohort we started to work with text, sound and prompts coming together into a piece of choreography. This film aims to illustrate some of our process, the space built from the collaborative workshop, a portal to the space and time we shared. Join us on Saturday 24th of October to take part in a movement lab centred around joy and resistance. Sign up here...

Biography Renée:
Renée is an interdisciplinary artist from south east London. Using her background in filmmaking, documentary photography, visual arts and dance to inform her artistic practice, Renée’s work is an ongoing investigation into expressing the many realities of the human experience. Renée is a graduate of London College of Communication, with a BA (Hons) in Film and Television and a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design. She is currently undertaking a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She is interested in making work that is down to earth and breaking down barriers to entry within the arts.

Biography Saffron:
Saffron Mustafa; artist, dancer, urban design student

About the work:
'Sometimes I wake up in tears' is a collective hallucination, an investigation of our subconscious. An open mirror into our most intimate thoughts and fears. Born as a shared diary, as a playful way of staying in touch with each other during lockdown. The evocative power of the mysterious abysses we were entering inspired movement an extemporaneous choreography. Holding as sacred the process of sharing our nocturnal anxiety and idyllic refuges, we invite the viewers to join our dance open heartedly.   Dreams as an escape, dreams as unspoken desires. Dreams as prophecy simultaneously from the past and from the future. Dreams as a point of convergence and intimacy between the performers and the public, a contact during times of physical distance. Dreams as vulnerable creatures, imaginary friends that demand our care and attention — a mirror into our emotional landscapes. A hallucinatory realm to allow the discontinuity of the self. Dreams as momentary freedom, a rupture from the tentacles of capitalism and the new constraints of life during pandemic. Dreams as an equally existent reality. A revealing and liberating realm to get to know the monsters within us while performing other possible worlds.

Biography Angelos:
Angelos enjoys dancing his way out of feelings of lostness, searching for softness in movement and in listening. He works as a carer, writes for the Dance Art Journal and makes video art when he is not baking or gardening. He is committed to keep exploring the art of dance independently and all things DIY.

Biography Alice:
As an artist and writer, I am interested in finding ways to rediscover a deeper sense of self, desires and forms of sociality. I work mostly with writing, dance and performance. I'm currently doing my MA Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths. My research Comizi d'Emigrazione investigates the interrelations of the politics of loving, migration and queer Italy.

Biography Orla:
Orla is an Irish born choreographer and dance artist based in the south of England.She works across disciplines and mediums to create visceral performances. Her work utilises multi modes of presentation, often blending visual arts and choreography in order to transform spaces and alter audiences' experience.rla is an Irish born choreographer and dance artist based in the south of England.She works across disciplines and mediums to create visceral performances. Her work utilises multi modes of presentation, often blending visual arts and choreography in order to transform spaces and alter audiences' experience.

About the work:
Remember that most of the things will work again after unplugging them for a little while, including you. (@culturapositiva) Is important to give some time to stop and disconnect from everything, provide ourselves with self-care and self-love. Sometimes it is as simple as taking a relaxing and nurturing warm and calm bath. A bath can become a ritual to clean negative energy and recover from a stressful day, a place to meditate or even create art. What do you do to unplug and what is your creative ritual? “Bath ritual” is the result of two of the many workshops I had the pleasure to take part in the Next Choreography course at Siobhan Davis. Alexandrina Hemsley introduced and talked about rituals. According to the dictionary definition, a ritual is a series of actions or type of behaviour regularly and invariably followed by someone. It also can be called routine, as an example, the way you brush your teeth or you tidy up your bed. One of my rituals is taking a warm bath that recharges and clean my energy, helps to heal my body and disconnects my mind. I play some relaxing music and I use Epsom and Himalaya salts, bath balls, candles and essential oils. Once all is set up, I apply a face and hair mask to nurture my hair and my skin, I meditate and I dive into the water, just keeping my nose and mouth outside to be able to breathe deeply. If I am in the mood, I make some soft movement. Rebekah Ubuntu introduced us to produce our own sounds and music tracks. In her workshop, she sends us a task to record the sound around us for 60 seconds and another task about to create a soundtrack from a phone application she made us download. She inspired me to create my own sound for “Bath ritual” project. I have recorded the sound of the tap water, a piano sound that I rewind, my own voice, the rain from London (my current home) and the sea from Spain (my birth home). After a few tutorials, I have managed to put all together.

Biography:
Adriana is originally from Spain and based in London since 2013. She is a versatile dancer influenced by different kind of styles of dance, starting from ballet at the age of 4, furthermore Hip Hop, House, Salsa et cetera. She likes fusion styles. She studied NCFE performing arts Level 1-2, Access to Contemporary Dance Level-3 and she is currently studying a BA (Hons) Diverse Dance Styles degree at IRIE.! Dance Theatre partnership with Roehampton University where she is exploring Contemporary, Urban Styles, African, Caribbean and Ballet. On the side, she is taking part in the Next Choreography course at Siobhan Davies with Alexandrina Hemsley and Nancy May Roberts leading the course. She started to work in the fitness industry at the age of 16. She teaches diverse fitness classes as such as Zumba, Ballet Fit, Tabata and Body Conditioning. She got her personal trainer L-3 certificate in London and delivers face to face and online sessions. My mission is to promote a healthy lifestyle, positive energy and help others to achieve goals in a sociable, enjoyable and welcoming environment with my knowledge and experience.