YORKSHIRE DANCE PRESENTS
NEW SEASON OF FRIDAY FIRSTS PERFORMANCES
With a new year comes a new ‘Friday Firsts’ season for Yorkshire Dance.
On the first Friday of every month, Yorkshire Dance organises an evening to showcase work by independent choreographers and dance companies working on the small scale. Each evening has its own theme, helping artists experiment and develop their work, as well as providing a fantastic night of wit and thought-provoking entertainment for the audience.
This spring’s line-up is one of the most exciting yet, with a variation of different work and artists. The monthly performances begin again in February (Friday 6), with Sketch 1: The Live Masterclass, the culmination of the 8-month artist development project Sketch, in which six dance artists have been funded by Yorkshire Dance to research and develop new dance ideas. The group will spend the week running up to the performance together with Dutch dance dramaturg Peggy Olislaegers, who will workshop some of their new material live, giving the audience a revealing insight into what it’s like for an artist to work with a dramaturg – a practice memorably described by New York choreographer Pele Bauch as “like having an extra brain supporting your creative process”, and which is currently less common in the UK than it is elsewhere in the world.
Friday Firsts #30 (Friday 6 March) is This Is Where It’s At, which brings together eight selected choreographers form across the north, ready to showcase their new work. Zoe Parker (Blogger, dance artist and practitioner), describes this evening as a chance ‘to experience work and choreography up close and personal’. Booking a ticket to these performances offers the opportunity to see these new works in their raw state, and help impact the artist’s development.
For the final Friday Firsts of the spring term, Yorkshire Dance is proud to once again present Burst, representing the next generation of dance markers. This is a fantastic opportunity for Yorkshire’s dance students to showcase their talents, and has proved a great success in the past, with a variety of energetic and inspiring work. The pieces displayed on this evening (Friday 8 May) are being selected by the artistic team at Yorkshire Dance, and among them are sure to be some of dance’s brightest rising stars.
Spring does not only bring new Friday Firsts, there are also professional development opportunities, and many chances for the public to get involved. Make sure to take a look on our website to find out more!
Programmes Manager Hollie Harkness Gowers says:
“This spring looks to be one of the best Friday First programmes we have ever had. The programme is an eclectic and exciting mixture of dance and performance works spanning a live workshop with an internationally renowned dance dramaturg Peggy Olislaegers, a scratch night where you can see the freshest work from regional artists, as well as our yearly student and graduate showcase. As well as the Friday Firsts we are very pleased to be inviting Charlotte Vincent and her company Vincent Dance Theatre back to Leeds and Yorkshire Dance to produce a unique opportunity to engage with the Artistic Director and the company’s archive of material. This season’s programme is bursting at the seams with performances every month, professional development opportunities and we are even dancing in Trinity Leeds…”
Check out more on their website at www.yorkshiredance.com.
