Scottish Dance Theatre artistic director Jean Cleville says about tonight's show at Eden Court 'If dance is not your thing, this performance is about to prove you wrong!'
BEFORE presenting a double bill of cutting-edge dance choreography in two pieces at Eden Court tonight (Tuesday) at 7.30pm, Scottish Dance Theatre will be holding a special pre-show discussion between artistic director Joan Clevillé and Eden Court boss James Mackenzie Blackman.
The talk at 6.30pm before the performance will include the two men sharing four decades of combined experience working in dance.
James and Joan will talk about the life behind the scenes of a major touring dance company.
The event with Scottish Dance Theatre's artistic director is both an introduction to the two works that Scottish Dance Theatre will present at the One Touch Theatre – and there will also be a special opportunity to get an exclusive preview of James’ future vision for dance at Eden Court. Tickets are not needed for the event which will be held in the Maclean Room at Eden Court from 6.30pm.
Speaking about the two dance pieces Process Day and The Circle, Jean Clevillé said: "They are two dance works by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, who work as a team in Israel, and Emanuel Gat, who is based in France.
"They are some of the hottest names you can find in the dance scene at the moment. We were very lucky to have them working with the company!
"Similar to watching two short-films by different directors, the pieces are completely different and give you a snapshot of what is happening in dance right now."
For the dancers, performing both pieces on the same night is a big deal.
Jean said: "These are two of the most physically demanding works in our repertoire.
"Performing them together is a huge challenge for our dancers but a real treat for the audience! Together they take us on a journey from the individual to the collective, from darkness to playfulness, from restriction to freedom…"
Jean Clevillé spoke about the different ways the choreographer approached their pieces.
"With Process Day, Sharon Eyal has a completely unique way of moving. She would improvise in the studio and the dancers would literally have to catch her movement!
"Then they spent a long time crafting all the minute detail to make it a set choreography that works like a precise clockwork!
"In The Circle, at the other end of the spectrum, Emanuel Gat was not interested in movement by itself, but in how the dancers can use it to connect with each other. Rather than set choreography the dancers run through a series of tasks or challenges so every time they rehearse or perform the piece, something different happens!"
Jean Clevillé is excited to return to the North of Scotland – having taken the dance company's production Loop to Findhorn a few months ago.
He said: "As Scotland’s contemporary dance company, we want to bring high-quality dance to every corner of the country. There is a big dance audience in Inverness and Eden Court has become our Home in the Highlands! If you love dance, you will be blown away by the virtuosity and the talent of the company and the top quality of this particular programme.
"If dance is not your thing, this performance is about to prove you wrong!
"People who never watch dance tell me that Process Day feels like going out clubbing or to a gig, and that The Circle is like watching a football match on the edge of your seat!"
Full details below of the two pieces being performed tonight (Tuesday) at Eden Court's OneTouch Theatre at 7.30pm:
Process Day
Creation and choreography: Sharon Eyal
Lighting Design: Emma Jones
Music: Gai Behar
Rehearsal Director: Naomi Murray
Dancers: Kieran Brown, Luigi Nardone, Adrienne O’Leary, Jessie Roberts-Smith, Oscar Pérez Romero, Pauline Torzuoli, Johanna Wernmo, Genevieve Reeves* and Matilda Bjärum*. * Apprentice dancers
Sharon Eyal was born in Jerusalem. She danced with the Batsheva DanceCompany between 1990- 2008 and started choreographing within the framework of the company’s Batsheva Dancers Create project.
Eyal served as associate artistic director for Batsheva between 2003-2004, and as a House Choreographer for the company between 2005-2012.
During 2009 Eyal began creating pieces for other dance companies around the world: Killer Pig (2009) and Corps de Walk (2011) for Carte Blanche Dance of Norway; Too Beaucoup (2011) for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; Plafona (2012) for Tanzcompagnie Oldenburg, Germany.
In 2013 Eyal launched L-E-V with her long-time collaborator Gai Behar.
Over the past six years since L-E-V was founded, the company had more than 200 performances some in the most exclusive venues and festivals around the world such as: The Joyce Theatre – NYC; Jacob's Pillow; Sadler's Wells – London, UK; The Montpellier Danse Festival – France; Julidans – Amsterdam.
Alongside their work with L-E-V, Eyal and Behar had also been commissioned to create for external companies: the Nederland Dance Theatre- Sara (2013); Bedroom Folk (2015); Feelings (2016); Salt Womb (2016); Half-Life for the Royal Swedish Ballet, and more.
Eyal received several awards:
The French Professional Association of Dance & Theater Critiques at the Chaillot National Theater in Paris (2017)
The prestigious Fedora Prize (2017)
The 12th Belgrade Dance Festival’s Jovan Ćirilov Award (2017)
The Landau Prize for the Performing Arts in the dance category (2009)
Eyal was named – Chosen Artist, by the Israeli Cultural Excellence Foundation (2008)
The Ministry of Culture Award for Young Dance Creators (2004)
Gai Behar was born in Jerusalem in 1977.
He has been of wide influence of Tel Aviv’s live music, art and nightlife scenes from 1999 to 2005. He produced live music, underground artistic events and techno raves. In addition, Behar maintained more established partylines (Syntechtich, Dark Disco, Night Rox and more) in clubs such as Maxim, Shoken 17, TLV and Deep. Between 1999-2005 Behar also curated and produced the events Man Without a Shirt in Tel Aviv. The first event was co-curated by Uri Katzenstein, the second included works by Sharon Eyal. Together with Ori Lichtik, Behar played in Anna Frank 14 – a techno-acoustic line-up based mainly on minimalistic rhythms and melodies.
The Circle
Creation and choreography Emanuel Gat Assisted by Michael Löhr
Music composition The Circle features various tracks from Ultravisitor by Squarepusher. Courtesy of Warp Records.
Lighting design Emanuel Gat
Costume Designer Thomas Bradley
Rehearsal director Naomi Murray
Dancers: Kieran Brown, Harry Clark (Guest Dancer), Yosuke Kusano (Guest Dancer), Luigi Nardone, Adrienne O’Leary, Jessie Roberts-Smith, Oscar Pérez Romero, James Southward (Guest Dancer), Pauline Torzuoli, Johanna Wernmo, Genevieve Reeves* and Matilda Bjärum*. * Apprentice dancers
Emanuel Gat was born in Israel in 1969. His first encounter with dance was at the age of 23 during a workshop led by Israeli choreographer Nir Ben Gal. Few months later he joined the Liat Dror Nir Ben Gal Company with whom he toured internationally. He started working as an independent choreographer in 1994.
Ten years later, Emanuel founded his company Emanuel Gat Dance at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tl Aviv, with whom he has created several pieces of which Winter Voyage (2004) and The Rite Of Spring (2004) won a Bessy Award; K626 (2006) and 3for2007 (2007), before choosing to settle in France, at the Maison Intercommunale de la Danse in Istres. Silent Ballet” (2008) was the first piece created in France, followed by Winter Variations”in 2009 and Brilliant Corners in 2011.
In 2013, Emanuel Gat was associated artist to the Montpellier Danse Festival for which the company developed the project Up Close Up proposing two new works: The Goldlandbergs and Corner Etudes, a photographic installation “It’s people, how abstract can it get ?” and a choreographic event Danses De Cour. In 2014, Emanuel Gat creates Plage Romantique, a one-hour work for nine dancers, in the Agora courtyard during the 34th Festival Montpellier Danse.
Emanuel is associated choreographer to Montpellier Danse Festival for the seasons 2016-18 and has presented SUNNY, a choreography for 10 dancers in collaboration with musician Awir Leon who is playing live. In 2017, Emanuel presented his second project as part of his residency at Montpellier Danse, which included two productions: a unique collaboration with the Ballet de l'Opera de Lyon, TENWORKS (for Jean-Paul), a program of ten short new pieces mixing dancers from both companies; and DUOS, a series of duets presented at different public locations around the city of Montpellier during the festival.
In 2018, Emanuel collaborates with the prestigious Ensemble Modern and creates Story Water at the Cour d'Honneur during Festival d’Avignon. Gathering 12 dancers, 13 musicians and a conductor, Story Water examines the space between dance and music, with Dérives 2 by Pierre Boulez for the first time in the choreographic field. The score is also composed of Fury II by Rebecca Saunders and FolkDance, co-composed by the Ensemble’s musicians and Emanuel Gat. Emanuel is associated choreographer at the National Scene of Albi in 2016 and from the season 2018-19, he is associated choreographer at the National Theater of Chaillot in Paris, for three years. Emanuel is regularly invited to set his work and create new pieces for dance companies around the world, including the Paris Opera Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, ICK Amsterdam, Tanztheater Bremen, Le Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Ballet de Marseille, The Royal Swedish Ballet, Polish National Ballet, Ballet de Lorraine, Cedar Lake, Ballet British Columbia and Ballet de l'Opera de Lyon among others.
Also you can read a previous interview with Jean and our entertainment reporter Kyle Walker here: www.whatson-north.co.uk/whats-on/theatre/scottish-dance-theatre-gets-findhorn-in-the-loop-182183/
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Margaret Chrystall