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This is our forum for news, interviews, reviews and most important your comments, thoughts and whatever about Dance Umbrella 2002. We're going to drip feed the material into the forum this year, so it will be worth coming back here regularly. Click to go to the Dance Umbrella website where all the performance details are up already

Click here for our Special Page which acts as a reference for all the links for the Festival.

As always there is a wealth of riches to be enjoyed this year and Val Bourne's Introduction on the Special Page gives a good overview.

It's advisable to book early especially for the big names. And remember that the Robin Howard Theatre (The Place as was) rewards early bookers with much cheaper prices.

<big>Enjoy! And Don't forget to POST on Criticaldance</big>

<small>[ 09-05-2002, 11:25: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

PROMINENT DANCE - THE JERWOOD PROMS
by Donald Hutera

It could be the best arts bargain in Britain: £5 a ticket for standing room at Sadler’s Wells. It’s the Jerwood Proms, which this year encompasses performances by White Oak Dance Project (12 - 13 Oct only) Richard Alston Dance Company (15 - 16 Oct) and Rosas (18 - 19 Oct). There is a precedent: last year Umbrella presented Stand Up For Dance, it’s first-ever ‘Proms’ events, in the same venue. 200 stalls seats were removed, allowing up to 450 people to stand at the front of the theatre and watch up close the work of Mark Morris or Michael Clark for a mere fiver.

Now The Jerwood Foundation has contributed funds to allow the scheme to continue. The organisation already sponsors the Umbrella-administered Jerwood Awards. This year’s festival features the work of a handful of past Award winners: Carol Brown, Yael Flexer (Bedlam Dance Company), Akram Khan, Charles Linehan and Fin Walker (Walker Dance).

About the Proms, Jerwood Director Roanne Dods says, “Young people can be inspired into a lifelong passion for the arts by the opportunity to see excellent work early on. So often now it can be prohibitively expensive for them to see the great artists of our time. I hope that this unique Jerwood Proms initiative at Sadler’s Wells will stimulate a devotion to dance that will last for years.”

<img src="http://www.jerwood.org.uk/images/stidio.jpg" alt="" />
<small>The Jerwood Centre from their website</small>

Press Release

Dance Umbrella and the
Jerwood Charitable Foundation

PERFORMANCES:

Dance Umbrella 2002, London's 24th festival of contemporary dance, features performances from five previous Jerwood Choreography Award winners.

CAROL BROWN DANCES
Mon 30 Sep - Wed 2 Oct The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre

Following the success of Machine for Living at GDA last year, Dance Umbrella presents a double bill from Carol Brown in promenade. In collaboration with architect Stewart Dodd, choreographer Carol Brown sites the sensual duet Nerve within an architectural structure. The programme is completed by a showing of the film Idea of Sea by Carol Brown and Tobin Rothlein, shot on location in Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

In 1999 Carol Brown was the winner of a Jerwood Choreography Award, which supported the initial creation of Nerve.

BEDLAM DANCE COMPANY
Fri 4 - Sat 5 Oct The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Bedlam Dance Company perform Flexible Shorts, a collection of old favourites and new commissions including Short Term by David Dorfman, Jamie Watton's trio Lifelong and artistic director Yael Flexer's witty signature work, Yes?

In 1997 Yael Flexer was the winner of a Jerwood Choreography Award.

CHARLES LINEHAN COMPANY
Tue 22 - Wed 23 Oct The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre

Charles Linehan Company performs a double-bill of Linehan choreography. His latest piece, a duet entitled Grand Junction is a Dance Umbrella commission and is presented alongside a new and re-worked version of Speak, Memory, one of last year's festival commissions.

In 1998 Charles Linehan was the winner of a Jerwood Choreography Award.

AKRAM KHAN COMPANY
Thu 24 - Fri 25 Oct Queen Elizabeth Hall

Akram Khan Company perform a triple-bill of contrasting choreographies: the solo Loose in Flight, the trio Rush and the quintet, Related Rocks. Blending Kathak with contemporary dance, Akram Khan, a Dance Umbrella favourite is fast developing a world-wide reputation for his beautiful and compelling dance works.

In 1999 Akram Khan was the winner of a Jerwood Choreography Award.

WALKER DANCE & PARK MUSIC
Tue 29 - Wed 30 Oct The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre

Walker Dance & Park Music perform a triple-bill of Fin Walker's work, including the brand new trio, The Self. Also performed are the solo Moment to Moment and the physically demanding quintet, The 3 of Us.

In 1999 Fin Walker was the winner of a Jerwood Choreography Award, which supported the initial creation of The 3 of Us.

AWARDS:

The Jerwood Choreography Awards offer a rare opportunity to identify and celebrate the excellence and commitment of young dance artists in this country.

"Dance and drama are at the forefront of our support for the arts and young people. The Choreography Awards pump oxygen into the creation of new work and enthuse the young choreographers and their dancers."

Alan Grieve, Chairman, Jerwood Charitable Foundation

The Jerwood Choreography Awards are a joint initiative between the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and the Arts Council of England. They are different from other awards in that they encourage a degree of experimentation to further choreographic development within a structured and supportive environment.

Previous winners include:

Carol Brown Yael Flexer
Philipp Gehmacher Matthew Hart
Matthew Hawkins Stephen Hughes
Akram Khan Charles Linehan
Liv Lorent Henri Oguike
Tom Sapsford Luca Silvestrini & Bettina Strickler
Ted Stoffer William Tuckett
Jasmin Vardimon Fin Walker

This year's Jerwood Choreography Award winners will be announced and presented by Adam Cooper on Sunday 20 October at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London WC2 at 6pm. The Awards Ceremony will feature performances by past Award Winners Akram Khan, Charles Linehan and William Tuckett. Ralf Ralf are the Masters of Ceremony. Three awards in total will be presented, one for £17,000 and two for £8,500.

PROMS:

Jerwood Proms: 'Stand Up For Dance' is back!

Last year Dance Umbrella's 'Stand Up For Dance' initiative allowed over 4,000 people to enjoy the world's best contemporary dance companies at Sadler's Wells, for just £5 per standing place. This year, with the generous support of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Dance Umbrella presents the Jerwood Proms.

Jerwood Proms tickets, at £5 each, are available for three of the world's most exciting dance companies performing at London's leading dance house, Sadler's Wells:

Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project (Sat 12 - Sun 13 Oct)

Richard Alston Dance Company (Tue 15 - Wed 16 Oct)

Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's Rosas (Fri 18 - Sat 19 Oct)

The Jerwood Proms allows unprecedented access to these events young people, seasoned festival fans and those who may fancy trying something new. Anyone can buy a Jerwood Proms ticket for £5, although advance booking is highly recommended. The standard top price tickets for these events range from £22 to £38. Tickets are currently on sale. To book a place call Sadler's Wells Ticket Office 020 7863 8000.

NOTES:

The Jerwood Charitable Foundation is dedicated to imaginative and responsible funding and sponsorship of the arts, education, design and other areas of human endeavour and excellence. As well as the Choreographic Awards the Jerwood Charitable Foundation supports a series of other initiatives including the Jerwood Painting Prize, the Jerwood Applied Arts Award and, with its parent foundation, the creation and support of the Jerwood Space in central London, a unique resource housing rehearsal facilities, the Jerwood Gallery and Café 171.

Jerwood Choreography Awards

For the £17,000 Award, any choreographer based in the UK with five years professional choreographic experience is eligible to apply. For the £8,500 Awards, any choreographer aged 35 or under with three years professional choreographic experience is eligible to apply.

Dance Umbrella has been appointed Managing Agent for the Awards scheme and will provide moral and administrative support for the choreographers throughout the process.

<small>[ 09-23-2002, 10:23: Message edited by: PressUK ]</small>

Looking back....

Press Release


Over 37,500 attend Dance Umbrella 2002


Dance Umbrella 2002 achieved the highest ever attendance of any festival in the company's history. With 59 public performances in the main festival programme, audiences accounted for an overall attendance of 92%.

This year's festival included a world premiere from Merce Cunningham, dedicated to Val Bourne, and Dance Umbrella commissions from Richard Alston, Siobhan Davies, Charles Linehan and Shobana Jeyasingh, performed as part of the full international festival line-up of 19 companies.

The sell-out success of the Jerwood Proms was considered another highlight of this year's festival. This unique initiative allowed over 2,500 people to see performances from White Oak Dance Project, Richard Alston Dance Company and Rosas at Sadler's Wells for just £5 a ticket.

Outside the London Festival, Dance Umbrella was delighted to present the first ever UK tour from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's Rosas. The company performed its award-winnning work, Drumming, to packed houses in Brighton, Newcastle, Glasgow and Warwick.



And looking forward....

2003 marks the 25th Anniversary of Dance Umbrella, the UK’s

leading annual festival of contemporary dance (Sept – Nov 2003)



Two of the undoubted highlights of next year’s festival will be performances from Merce Cunningham Dance Company @ Tate Modern where Dance Umbrella will be delighted to present Events, and a 25th Anniversary Gala with contributions from celebrated Umbrella alumni.

Dance Umbrella is currently in discussion with Trisha Brown, William Forsyth, to present Ballet Frankfurt’s last London performances under his artistic directorship, and Saburo Teshigawara to present his company, Karas, as well as UK choreographers Jonathan Burrows, Michael Clark, Siobhan Davies, Charles Linehan, Yolande Snaith and Fin Walker.

Other artists due to appear in the silver anniversary festival include Stephen Petronio, presenting the UK premiere of City of Twist with a score from Laurie Anderson, along with a brand new work with music from Lou Reed. Josef Nadj, performing Le temps du repli, a duo with Cécile Thiéblemont with a live score written and performed by Vladimir Tarasov. Plus a new work, Boobies, from Israel’s Inbal Pinto Dance Company.

Venues under the Umbrella next year are due to include Sadler’s Wells, The Place, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican, and, of course, The Tate Modern. Dance Umbrella 2003 runs from September to November.