Dance in Scotland Raising the Barre

From International touring to British showcasing, February is set to be an exciting month for dance in Scotland.

British Dance Edition

From 3 -6 February British Dance Edition, a biennial showcase of dance from across the UK, will be hosted by DanceXchange in Birmingham. The event attracts 500 dance presenters from the UK and internationally who participate in a curated programme of performances, events, presentations and debates. The aim: to showcase the British dance scene by providing a snapshot of an ever expanding industry.

David Massingham, Artistic Director for BDE 2010 describes his approach; 
‘At the heart of this BDE is a selection of performances that, for me, encapsulate the artistic drive of our British dance scene, with work emanating from three different countries. It has been said that British dance has, in the past, been characterised as being about steps, not concepts. So, in this BDE, there has been a desire to programme work that is underpinned by a conceptual idea or a line of investigation that makes the dance more tangible to the viewer’

Three Scottish choreographers will be presenting work as part of this year’s curated programme; Anna Krzystek, Dudendance Theatre (Clea Wallis and Paul Rous) and Iona Kewney.

Choreographer and solo artist, Anna Krzystek will be performing Figure This, originally premiered at the New Territories festival in Glasgow in 2009.

The work was created as part of Anna’s Scottish Arts Council Choreographic Fellowship, and annual  award of up to £25,000 available to an individual, mid-career choreographer in order to provide a substantial period of time for exploration and experimentation. 

The Scottish Arts Council is supporting a number of Scottish programmers, producers and companies to attend BDE 2010 and to coincide with the event, is publishing a revised edition of Dance in Scotland, a directory of companies and choreographers making work in Scotland. The publication celebrates the spirit of ambition in the Scottish dance sector and provides information on the diverse range of artists creating dance in Scotland

More Info

If you would like to receive a copy of Dance in Scotland, please email Sarah.Bryant@scottisharts.org.uk

In 2014 British Dance Edition will be coming to Scotland, hosted by Dance Base, the National Centre for Dance. For more information on BDE 2010 visit www.bde2010.co.uk

International touring news…

A number of Scottish dance and theatre companies have received support to take up international touring opportunities. So far, support has been offered for;

• Tabula Rasa Dance Company to take their production of Dilly Dilly to two dance festivals in February 2010: Take-off: 4. Festival Junger Tanz” at Tanzhaus in Düsseldorf, Germany and then on to the Krokusfestival in Hasselt, Belguim. These are both festivals specialising in dance for children.
• Puppet State Theatre to take their show, the Man Who Planted Trees to Sydney Opera House for ten performances in November-December 2010. 
• The Arches to take Nic Green’s Trilogy to the Barbican and Battersea Arts Centre in London in January 2010, to Dublin Fringe Festival in September 2010 and to Belfast Festival in October 2010.
• Claire Cunningham to tour ME: Mobile/ Evolution to Tanz Bremen (Germany),Rybnik Theatre Festival (Poland), Naples Teatro Festival (Italy), Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (Belfast) and Dogheda Arts Festival, Cork Midsummer Festival, Caidre Festival and Earagail Arts Festival (Ireland), following on from involvement in Made in Scotland 2009.
• Graham Maley, Theatre Director to take his production of Djupid to Tasmania as part of ‘10 Days on the Island Festival’.

These opportunities are being supported as part of Made in Scotland and are a direct result of performances that took place at the Fringe 2009. Made in Scotland in a partnership between the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Federation of Scottish Theatre and the Scottish Arts Council, supported as part of the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. A key aim of which is to maximise the benefit for Scottish artists on the international platform.