First up - The World Premiere of Wendy Houstoun's new work for Antonia Grove - Small Talk is on at the Merlin Theatre, Frome on Tuesday the 21st February, followed by an repeat performance on Wednesday the 22nd at St. George's Hall, Hinton St George, when Somerset Youth Dance Co will also be doing a curtain-raiser.
Antonia is without question one of the best contemporary dancers working in the UK today and so it is an amazing opportunity for you to see, close up, her extraordinary technique and expertise. And of course, what Toni is doing with Small Talk is extending her range to develop dance as a kind of cabaret, calling up those one woman shows of the great stage singers of the past – Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Ethel Merman etc – but transposing that idea to the dance genre. It is a great opportunity for dance students to see a performer at the height of her powers taking an incredible risk –she could walk into any company in the world if she chose – by reinventing herself, to extend her range, and this is exactly what dance students will need to do if they are serious about making a career for themselves in the performing arts: they will need to take charge of their careers and develop a range of transferable skills. Antonia is the living embodiment of that necessity.
Choreographer Wendy Houstoun is one of the most challenging, funny, and clever dancemakers in the UK today. Her work uses a broad range of different performing techniques onstage, just one of which is dance. Hugely entertaining, sharp and right on the money when it comes to observations about the world around us, we wouldn’t miss this event. Wendy’s work is in demand internationally, so it’s a huge coup for us to have her world premiere in Frome.
Book tickets here for Hinton St George. And for the Merlin shows, here. Also for more details on the company click Probe Dance
The final event in our Dance Week is Exposed, on Saturday night 25 Feb at 7.30pm at Bath Spa Live – University Theatre, on the Newton St Loe campus of Bath Spa University. Exposed is an open platform event for young and emerging choreographers to test out their work, or work-in-progress, onstage before a live audience, with professional feedback and critical response after the performance. The evening will be introduced and facilitated by Take Art’s Cath James, and Head of Dance at Bath Spa – Chris Lewis-Smith.
Tickets are just £5.00 to see the next generation of dancemakers in our region.
No need to book for Exposed, just turn up at Bath Spa Live on the night. Directions can be found here:
Take Art is committed to programming work of this quality, of this risk, and bringing genuinely groundbreaking, world class art into village halls, and feel that it is absolutely the right thing to be doing for our audiences across the county.