CriticalDance Forum

Some important news for dance in London. Random Dance Company with AD and choreographer Wayne McGregor will become Resident Company at Sadlers Wells, one of the most significant dance venues in Europe. Here are some links to earlier topics about Wayne McGregor's work:

Random Dance in Dance Umbrella 2000

Wayne McGregor and the Royal Ballet

Here is the press release:

RANDOM DANCE COMPANY Becomes Sadler's Wells Resident Company

Random Dance Company moves to its new home at Sadler's Wells in July 2001 and becomes Sadler's Wells Resident Company.

As Sadler's Wells Resident Company:

· Random will be able to have artistic interaction on a personal level with visiting international companies.
· Random's administration will be based in Sadler's Wells. (DELETE offices at 369 St John Street.)
· There will be major collaborations between the Sadler's Wells Community & Education Department and System R, Random's education unit.
· Random will perform the London premiere of its first new work for two years at Sadler's Wells next Spring.

Alistair Spalding, Sadler's Wells Director of Programming says: I have long been a huge fan of the work of Wayne McGregor and his company Random, and I am delighted that they have accepted my invitation to be Sadler's Wells Resident Company. Wayne is developing a language for dance in the future, and that together with the company's commitment to bringing a young audience to dance, makes Sadler's Wells a natural home.

Wayne McGregor, Director of Random Dance Company says: We are privileged to have been asked to become resident company at Sadler's Wells, a building associated with phenomenal international dance and with a prestigious heritage. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to develop our artistic ambitions in a highly supportive environment, and we look forward to being integrated in a dynamic way with all areas of Sadler's Wells' activities.

For further press details contact: Caroline Miller, Sadler's Wells Press Manager 020 7863 8112, caroline.miller@sadlerswells.com or Charlotte Semlyen, Random Dance Company 020 7928 3145, Charlotte@randomdance.org

Web info: www.sadlerswells.com or www.randomdance.org

[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited June 21, 2001).]

<small>[ 26 February 2004, 02:27 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Across on ballet.co Brendan McCarthy has written about a radio interview with Wayne McGregor and has unearthed some useful BBC pages on this exciting choreographer:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1760.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1760.html</A>

Click<A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000517.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Press Releases</B></A> for information on Random's tour of new work Nemesis.

<img src="http://www.het-muziektheater.com/educatie/images/broch_random2.jpg" alt="" />

PRESS RELEASE

RANDOM DANCE
ANNOUNCES 2003 PROGRAMME OF WORK
AND OFFERS FULL-TIME CONTRACTS TO DANCERS FOR THE FIRST TIME

PROGRAMME OF WORK 2003

Alpha - a new piece for children aged 8+ developed in association with the WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) tours nationally and internationally in the spring. Running alongside the tours is a NESTA-funded project developing a new model for delivering dance activity to schools via web-casting.

Polar Sequences – the first time Wayne McGregor has commissioned outside choreographers to create new work on Random Dance. The triple bill of new works by Rui Horta, Shobana Jeyasingh and Wayne McGregor will tour nationally and internationally in the autumn.

Nemesis – international touring to Amsterdam, Slovenia, Croatia, Venice.

Education Residencies – in Wales, Islington and Nottingham.

NEW PERMANENT CONTRACTS OFFERED

Random Dance became the first independent contemporary dance company to commit to its dancers by offering full-time permanent PAYE contracts. This gives dancers the security of guaranteed income, holiday and sick pay. The company will also be providing private health insurance for the first time.

Joining six long-standing members of Random Dance - three of whom have been with the company for seven years - are four dancers who will be working with Random for the first time. Claire Cunningham, Laila Diallo, Odette Hughes, Matthias Sperling, Hilary Stainsby and Amanda Weaver are joined by Fred Gehrig, Leo Lerus, Benny Maslov, and Ngoc Anh Nguyen who come to Random from a variety of international locations.

Random has also taken on a full-time paid apprentice – Frederick Opoku-Addaie – who first started dancing when working with Random on community projects in East London at 17, before going on to graduate from London Contemporary Dance School in 2002.

For more information please contact Charlotte Semlyen, Random Dance 020 7278 6015, charlotte@randomdance.org.

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PRESS RELEASE: 14/11/03

Wayne McGregor awarded an Arts Council England /Arts and Humanities Research Board Arts and Science Research Fellowship with Cambridge University for Choreography and Cognition: a joint research project.

On 19 September 2003 the Arts and Humanities Research Board and Arts Council announced a Fellowship Award of £29,925. be presented to the joint research project Choreography and Cognition. This is one of 16 other awards each ranging from £22,000. - £35,000., funded jointly by the AHRB and Arts Council. The award supports a six-month Research Fellowship hosted by the University of Cambridge¹s Department of Experimental Psychology for Wayne McGregor and a group of collaborating scientists from the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience to research connections between choreographic processes and the study of movement and the brain/mind.

The project, initiated by Scott deLahunta (Arts Researcher, Writing Research Projects) and Wayne McGregor, asks what might be discovered by opening up the choreographic process to alternative modes of looking, analysis and questioning through the participation of the collaborating scientists. The team will participate in the development of new methods of artistic/choreographic and scientific research through a series of intensive workshops in the rehearsal studio.

"As a choreographer interested and committed to a rich exploration of physical languages and movement systems this project affords a real opportunity for me to look differently at my methods of working and potentially generate new ones." Wayne McGregor

"The aim is to seek a cross fertilisation of ideas within a shared research processes that will enhance innovative thinking in both domains." Scott deLahunta

The project will be coordinated by Cambridge University experimental psychologist Dr. Rosaleen McCarthy, who said cognitive psychology was "very bad on the whole at dealing with expressive movement and a sense of the body and the self. This is something that is confronted all the time by choreography."

The collaborating scientists from centres in Cambridge and Birmingham, Philip Barnard, Alan F. Blackwell, Rosaleen McCarthy, Anthony J. Marcel, Alan M. Wing have a variety of research interests including: macro theory for cognition and emotion; cognitive dimensions of notations; bodily sensation/ representation and self; object recognition and spatial processing; kinematic analyses of movement and its timing.

The project continues until the end of February 2004 and is the preliminary research phase into Random Dance¹s new work, AtaXia that premieres at Sadler¹s Well¹s on 3-5 June 2004.
<http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats_on/2003_2004/random.asp>
Box Office: 020 7863 8000

<small>[ 15 November 2003, 02:46 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Dear Random Friends,

Switch on to BBC FOUR Television tonight at 7pm for NEMESIS - the screening is presented by Wayne McGregor.

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FULL DETAILS LISTED BELOW
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DANCE SEASON DEBUTS ON BBC FOUR

Wednesday 19th November
7.00pm-8.00pm

NEMESIS - Wayne McGregor

Random Dance celebrated its 10th anniversary year in 2002 with the ambitious new work Nemesis, which explored the relationship between body, screen and machine: extra-terrestrial dance meets Reality TV.

In an explosive partnership with Jim Henson¹s Creature Workshop (animatronic experts and creators of The Muppets, Lost in Space and The Dark Crystal), Scanner (composer, musician and sound creator), Ravi Deepres (video artist) and Lucy Carter (lighting architect and designer), choreographer Wayne McGregor created his first piece for Random in two years.

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Head of dance programming for BBC Television, Ross MacGibbon says: ³This season will bring the best and most innovative dance programmes to our screens. The aim of Dance Week is to stimulate those already familiar with the genre, as well as introducing novices to this colourful world with revealing documentaries. I'm delighted that BBC4 has demonstrated - in the most exhilarating way - its commitment to dance by showcasing such a depth and range of dance on screen from around the world. It¹s a must for all dance fans as well as those who love performance of any kind.²

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www.randomdance.org
RANDOM DANCE on Tour
Polar Sequences & Alpha
Tour dates: <http://www.randomdance.org/random/index.html>

"Dangerous, compelling, fast and extreme. Utterly splendid." Time Out, London
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Jamie McLaren
Marketing Officer
Random Dance
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Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Avenue
London, EC1R 4TN
Direct Line: (020) 7278 6015
Fax: (020) 7278 5469
Main Line at Sadler's Wells: (020) 7863-8198
Email: <jamie@randomdance.org>
Web: <http://www.randomdance.org>
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LOADED FASHION MAGAZINE - Out Now
Wayne McGregor is featured in the latest Loaded Fashion magazine (autumn/winter edition). Great Expectations - tomorrows pioneers from the world of the arts showcase four new designers. Pg146-149. Includes interview with Wayne.
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