National Youth Dance Company

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Frame[d] Marketing Pack Spring 2015

National Youth Dance Company in Frame[d]. Photo by Tony Nandi

Contents

- Billing and credits - Key contacts - Introduction to NYDC - Target Audience - Selling Points - Brochure/website copy - Social media - Sample direct mail - Key press quotes - Press strategy overview - Sample press release - Box Office briefing notes - Tour dates - Biographies

Billing and Credits National Youth Dance Company present Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Frame[d] National Youth Dance Company is supported using public funding by Department for Education and Arts Council England (please note there should be square brackets around the d in Framed) Full billing for programmes: National Youth Dance Company present Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Frame[d] For this new commission, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui reimagines outstanding moments from his repertoire; Babel(words), TeZukA, Puz/zle, Loin. Director & Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Extracts from Babel Co-Choreographed by Damien Jalet Assistant Choreographers Navala Chaudhari, Leif Firnhaber, Elias Lazaridis, Elie Tass Set Designer Antony Gormley Lighting Designer Adam Carrée Costume Designer Alexandra Gilbert Music Direction Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui featuring compositions and arrangements by

Shogo Yoshii, Johnny Lloyd, Fischerspooner, Olga Wojciechowska, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Von Biber, Patrizia Bovi, Gabriele Miracle, Mahabub Khan & Sattar Khan

NYDC Dancers Al’manni Alli, Josh Attwood, Jahmarley Bachelor, Estelle Banthorpe,

Harry Brooks, Jamie Buchanan, Olivia Doyle, Annie Edwards, Tyrell Foreshaw, Lucia Fortune-Ely, George Frampton, Harry Galloway, Agnes Galpin, Luke Harden, Alexandra Haydon, Benjamin Head, Meshach Henry, Louis Herbu, Christopher Hicks, Lydia Hiraide, Tommy Hodgkins, Niamh Keeling, Conor Kerrigan, Lloyd Lovell, Hannah Mason, Sean Moss, Rishard-Kyro Nelson, Claire Niesyto-Bame, Jasmine Norton, Greta O’Brien, Folu Odimayo, Jack Parry, Connor Scott, Louisa Sutherland, Chad Wakefield, Molly Walker, John Watson, Hallam Wood.

Creative Producer Jane Hackett The work is created in partnership with Eastman. National Youth Dance Company is supported using public funding by Department for Education and Arts Council England

Key Contacts Marketing Manager Lucy White 020 7863 8104 Lucy.White@sadlerswells.com Press Officer Agnish Ray 020 7863 8114 Agnish.Ray@sadlerswells.com

Assistant Producer Zara Rush 020 7863 8094 Zara.Rush@sadlerswells.com Company Manager Hannah Kirkpatrick 020 7863 8139 Hannah.Kirkpatrick@sadlerswells.com

Introduction to National Youth Dance Company National Youth Dance Company, hosted by Sadler’s Wells, creates and performs innovative and influential dance, bringing together some of the brightest dance talent from across England to work with internationally renowned Associate Artists. Since its creation in 2012, NYDC has worked with three outstanding Guest Artistic Directors to make brand new work: Jasmin Vardimon, Akram Khan and most recently Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Joining NYDC can be a life changing experience, presenting career possibilities and raising aspirations, self-esteem and confidence, besides introducing the very best of professional dance practice. For more info on how to join NYDC, see www.sadlerswells.com/nydc

Target Audience - Young people who are interested in getting into dance. - Dancers and dance students. - Regular dance attendees. - Past attendees of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s shows (Sutra, Babel and milonga) - Theatre studies students interested in set design

Selling Points The Company

- NYDC are a company of dancers brought together from across England. - They rehearse in school holidays as a professional company. - They have worked with some of the biggest names in dance including Jasmin Vardimon,

Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. - They have performed all over the UK including at Latitude Festival and as part of the

Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. - NYDC Company Dancer Connor Scott won BBC Young Dancer 2015 on Saturday 9 May 2015.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is a renowned Flemish/Moroccan choreographer and dancer. - His curiosity about different cultures and dance styles has led to some incredible

productions including Sutra with monks from the Shaolin Temple, m¡longa with world champion tango dancers and Dunas with virtuosic flamenco dancer Maria Pagés.

- He was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders. - He has won many awards including an Olivier Award in 2014 for Puz/zle. - He is a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist

The show - This production is made up on reimagined moments from Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s repertoire

including Babel(words), TeZukA, Puz/zle and Loin. - The set is designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Antony Gormley who is most famous for

his figurative sculptures including The Angel of the North. - TeZukA premiered at Sadler’s Wells in 2011 and was inspired by the work of Japanese

Manga artist Osamu Tezuka. - Babel(words) was the final part of a three part trilogy created by Cherkaoui and Damien

Jalet. It won an Olivier Award in 2011 for Best New Dance Production. - For Puz/zle, Cherkaoui worked closely with musicians – Corsican polyphonic group A Filetta,

Lebanese singer Fadia Tomb E-Hage and Japanese musician Kazunari Abe – to identify various themes that can shape a song.

- Loin was created following an invitation from The Grand Theatre de Geneve to make a piece for its ballet company using music from Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s Dir Rozenkranzsonaten.

Brochure/website copy Following sell-out success at Sadler’s Wells this April, National Youth Dance Company head out on tour with their latest work, a new piece by 2014-15 Guest Artistic Director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Cherkaoui is one of the most prolific choreographers working today; a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, he has created more than 30 works. For this new commission, he has reimagined outstanding moments from his repertoire. Frame[d] revisits moments from Babel(words) co-choreographed by Damien Jalet, Puz/zle, Loin and TeZukA, incorporating new ideas and movement from the National Youth Dance Company’s young dancers. Cherkaoui’s unique choreographic process, combined with the power of the vibrant company drawn from across England, illustrates the influence and creativity that emerging dance artists can bring to a professional dance collaboration. The work is created in collaboration with Eastman.

Social Media The hashtag for the show is: #NYDCTour15 You can follow NYDC on Twitter @NYDCompany Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nationalyouthdancecompany Find on Instagram @nydcompany There are lots of resources that can be used to promote the show on social media or made into YouTube playlists. We made three interesting films about the piece before the premiere which can be found on the Sadler’s Wells YouTube channel. The dancers talk about Frame[d] (1:10): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wexiUjgI6u8 The dancers in rehearsal (no speaking) (0:48): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T1AI2jKibE Interview with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (1:10): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZssJE2JyPgw You can also view clips of previous shows: The Rashomon Effect (13:43): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOv_794Q5E8 Performing The Rashomon Effect at U.Dance 2014 (22:50): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ThLSDAjJY A clip from rehearsals of Vertical Road/The Rashomon Effect with interview from Akram Khan (1:27): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06D5XLbtDaQ Some of the dancers wrote diaries about their experiences for The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/dance-blog/2015/apr/07/national-youth-dance-company-sidi-larbi-cherkoui-sadlers-wells-diary Interview with NYDC dancer Folu Odimayo : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05sy2z0 (skip to 1:02:40) Show images and video clips can be downloaded from www.sadlerswells.com/tour-marketing/NYDC15 Connor Scott competing in and winning BBC Young Dancer http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32680433

Sample direct mail

National Youth Dance Company perform award-winning works by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Following a hugely successful premiere at Sadler’s Wells this April, National Youth Dance Company travel to XX with their latest work, a new production by 2014-15 Guest Artistic Director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Drawn from all over the country, the National Youth Dance Company are a troupe of extraordinarily talented young dancers. They come together only three times a year to produce an evening of work that is “unequivocally good” (The Guardian). “This show is about the next generation of dancers. Judging by their decision and intensity of this performance, they are skilful, strong and ready for anything” Daily Telegraph One of the most prolific choreographers working today, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and newly appointed artistic director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders. For this new commission, he has reimagined outstanding moments from his repertoire of hits including two Olivier Award-winning works. “The performers seem scarcely aware of their power, which only multiplies it” The Guardian (on NYDC’s Vertical Road) Frame[d] revisits moments from Babel(words) co-choreographed by Damien Jalet, Puz/zle, Loin and TeZukA, incorporating new ideas and movement from the National Youth Dance Company’s young dancers. Cherkaoui’s unique choreographic process, combined with the power of the vibrant company and Antony Gormley’s striking set, illustrates the influence and creativity that emerging dance artists can bring to a professional dance collaboration. The work is created in collaboration with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Eastman. This intensely beautiful evening of dance must be experienced to be believed. Book your tickets now.

Key Press Quotes **** “NYDC’s work is unequivocally good for its young dancers, but it is also good for audiences, offering a rewarding tour around Planet Cherkaoui” The Guardian “An extraordinary hour of dance” London Dance “This show is about the next generation of dancers. Judging by their decision and intensity of this performance, they are skilful, strong and ready for anything” The Daily Telegraph “The performers seem scarcely aware of their power, which only multiplies it” The Guardian (on NYDC’s Vertical Road)

Press Strategy overview The Sadler’s Wells press team managed media attention around and in the lead up to the world premiere of Frame[d] on 10 April. Venues should engage local/regional press for features, previews and reviews. National/arts coverage secured so far:

Broadcast

BBC Radio 4 Young Artists Day (interview with Folu Odimayo)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05sy2z0

Print/online features

BBC News Online http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-32176928

Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/stage/dance-blog/2015/apr/07/national-youth-dance-company-sidi-larbi-cherkoui-sadlers-wells-diary

London Dance http://londondance.com/articles/features/nydc/

Previews

Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/04/this-weeks-new-dance

Culture Whisper http://www.culturewhisper.com/event/view/id/4235

Reviews

Times http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/stage/dance/article4408852.ece

Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/12/nydc-cherkaoui-sadlers-wells-dance-review

Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/11527293/Sidi-Larbi-Cherkaoui-National-Youth-Dance-Company-Sadlers-Wells-review.html

Bachtrack http://bachtrack.com/review-national-youth-dance-company-sadler%27s-wells-london-april-2015

Dance Tabs http://dancetabs.com/2015/04/national-youth-dance-company-and-sidi-larbi-cherkaoui-framed-london/

Dance Tabs (photo gallery) http://dancetabs.com/2015/04/gallery-national-youth-dance-company-in-sidi-larbi-cherkaouis-framed/

London Dance http://londondance.com/articles/reviews/national-youth-dance-co-sidi-larbi-cherkaoui/

Theatre Full Stop https://theatrefullstop.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/framed-sadlers-wells-review/

Pigeons and Peacocks http://www.pigeonsandpeacocks.com/2015/04/london-life-framed-at-sadlers-wells/

Dancing Times [PRINT ONLY]

Key angles for press: • England’s only national dance company for young people. • Local dancer selected to join NYDC and tour to home town/city/area (where applicable) • Sidi Larbi/Akram Khan/Jasmin Vardimon – top names in contemporary dance, internationally

acclaimed artists prioritising young dancers • Frame[d] is a newly created piece, just for this company • NYDC as an educational example – training and developing the artists of tomorrow, feeding

tomorrow’s artistic landscape • Changing the perception of “youth dance” – NYDC is about exceptional artistic talent,

importance in investing in young talent • Parallels with youth theatre companies – the likes of Helen Mirren being vocal about the

importance recently • Touring productions – importance if touring to said location, reaching audiences all over the

country, instead of London focus Assets available for press:

• Interviews with relevant spokespersons • Rehearsal images • Production images • Individual images of all dancers • Video content (rehearsals, interviews, etc.)

Spokespersons available for interview:

• Jane Hackett, Director of NYDC • All NYDC dancers, for example:

o Conor Kerrigan – 19 – from Tyne and Wear – Goes to Gatehead College and Reavley Theatre School (Been dancing 14 years, started out doing jazz/breaking)

o Lucia Fortune-Ely – 16 – Newham, London - St Angela's and St Bonaventure's Sixth Form Centre (St Angela's Campus) - The Place (CAT) (been dancing 13 years)

o Folu Odimayo – 18 - Morden, Surrey – Glenthorne Academy - The Place (CAT) (been dancing 5 years)

o Louis Herbu – from Mitcham, 18 yrs old, been with the company for 3 years so worked with all 3 Guest Artistic Directors. Not had any formal training, just learnt dance at school. Is into urban styles of dance – is a ‘breaker’

o Conor Scott – from Northumberland, aged 17, winner of BBC Young Dancer 2015 o Annie Edwards – from East Sussex, aged 17, in the ZooNation Youth Company, has dwarfism

All NYDC dancers:

• Al’manni Alli, 18, Croydon • Josh Attwood, 17, Nottingham • Jahmarley Bachelor, 18, Angmering Village West Susex • Estelle Banthorpe, 17, Ipswich • Harry Brooks, 17, Cumbria • Jamie Buchanan, 16, Nottingham • Olivia Doyle, 19, Chesterfield • Annie Edwards, 18, Peacehaven, East Sussex • Tyrell Foreshaw, 18, Croydon • Lucia Fortune-Ely, 16, London

• George Frampton, 17, Cambridge • Harry Galloway, 17, Reyston • Agnes Galpin, 17, London • Luke Harden, 17, Newbury • Alexandra Haydon, 18, London • Benjamin Head, 18, Croydon • Meshach Henry, 18, Sutton • Louis Herbu, 18, Mitcham • Christopher Hicks, 17, Ipswich • Lydia Hiraide, 18, London • Tommy Hodgkins, 16, Devon • Niamh Keeling, 15, Sutton-in-Ashfield • Conor Kerrigan, 18, Gateshead • Lloyd Lovell, 18, Gunnislake Cornwall • Hannah Mason, 17, Harrold Bedfordshire • Sean Moss, Tewkesbury Gloucestershire • Rishard-Kyro Nelson, 17, London • Claire Niesyto-Bame, 16, London • Jasmine Norton, 17, Canterbury • Greta O’Brien, 18, London • Folu Odimayo, 18, Morden, Surrey • Jack Parry, 17, Suffolk • Connor Scott, 17, Northumberland • Louisa Sutherland, Norwich • Chad Wakefield, 17, Wakefield • Molly Walker, 17, Lewes East Sussex • John-William Watson, 16, Leeds • Hallam Wood, 18, Worcester

Sample Press Release A Sadler’s Wells Production

National Youth Dance Company / Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Frame[d] Venue name Date / time Tickets: £ Ticket Office: The National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) returns for its third year with a new intake of 30 talented young dancers who join the eight returners from the previous two cohorts. The company performs its newly commissioned piece created by this year’s Guest Artistic Director, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, at [venue name] on [date] as part of a national tour to locations including Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Ipswich, Bournemouth and Plymouth. This new commission Frame[d] sees Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Cherkaoui revisiting moments from his established catalogue of work: Babel(words), co-choreographed with Damien Jalet, Puz/zle, Loin and TeZukA, incorporating new ideas and movement material from the young dancers. Cherkaoui’s unique choreographic process, combined with the fresh talent of NYDC dancers drawn from across the country, illustrates the influence and creativity that emerging dance artists can bring to a professional dance collaboration. The work is created in partnership with Eastman. Cherkaoui and his artistic team have worked with the dancers over three intensive residencies to create, develop and rehearse the newly commissioned piece. Throughout the dancers’ time with NYDC they are given a unique insight into the dance profession, gaining skills and techniques that will stay with them throughout their careers. The three residencies were spread across the past year, taking place in October 2014, February 2015 and March 2015. Now in its third year, NYDC is fast establishing a reputation for producing high quality performances from a company of dancers who are expressive, brave and energise the dance environment. The new line up of NYDC dancers are being given the opportunity to engage with dance through working at the highest level and with world class resources, working with an artistic team that have exceptional standards and artistic integrity. Jane Hackett, Sadler’s Wells Artistic Programmer and Producer (Creative Learning) and Director of NYDC, said: “We believe in the importance of identifying talent at an early age. These young people have the potential to be the future leaders of the dance world and we want to provide them with as many tools as possible to excel and succeed.” Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells, said: “It’s vital for the health of the dance sector that there is a pipeline of talent feeding it. I firmly believe that those performers should have the opportunity to work to the highest standards and with world class resources, to gain real insight into the dance profession. Through our role with NYDC and other work we’ve been doing with students and young dancers in recent years at Sadler’s Wells, we’ve created a growing network of emerging talent, and I will be watching the progress of those artists with real interest.” Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and NYDC Guest Artistic Director 2014-15, said: “It’s a pleasure to be selected by NYDC as this year’s Guest Artistic Director. I have always

believed that more needs to be done to nurture young talent, and it is initiatives like these that have the potential to truly change the dance landscape for young people. I am confident that these dancers will excel beyond expectations.” Claire Niesyto-Bame, one of the NYDC members, said: “Although we are all from different areas of England and come from different backgrounds and circumstances, we were all born with the same passion. NYDC brings us together and feeds our hunger for dance; it has already provided us with knowledge and experience that we will undoubtedly carry with us throughout the rest of our dance journeys.” Originally funded for a three year period from 2012, National Youth Dance Company has been granted continued financial support for another year by the Department of Education and for another three years by Arts Council England, from the National Lottery and Grant in Aids funds, as part of a commitment to arts for young people and to nurturing and developing exceptional artistic talent in the country. Press night: XXX Press contact: XXX Press images: NYDC National Tour 2015 Fri 10 April Premiere Performance, Sadler’s Wells, London Sun 21 June mac, Birmingham Sat 4 July Dance City, Newcastle Sun 12 July The Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds Tue 21 July DanceEast, Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich Thur 23 July Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth Sat 25 July As part of U.Dance2015, Plymouth NOTES TO EDITORS: About National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) Founded in 2012, and hosted at Sadler’s Wells, NYDC is an exciting new company that aims to create and perform innovative and influential youth dance, drawing together some of the brightest young talent from across the country to work with Sadler’s Wells’ internationally renowned Associate Artists. NYDC is funded jointly by Arts Council England and the Department for Education, from the National Lottery and Grant in Aid funds. Since NYDC’s inception in 2012:

• 1000 young people have worked with the company. • NYDC has delivered 47 workshops in 21 different venues across 17 towns and cities. • Over 18,000 people have seen the company perform. • NYDC has featured in 23 performances, visiting 15 different venues across the UK, including

some leading theatres in the country. • 90 dancers have joined the company, working intensively with renowned dance artists including

Guest Artistic Directors: Jasmin Vardimon (2012-13), Akram Khan (2013-14) and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (2014-15). These 90 dancers come from 43 different towns and cities in England.

About Sadler’s Wells Sadler's Wells is a world leader in contemporary dance, committed to producing, commissioning and presenting new works and to bringing the very best international and UK dance to London and worldwide audiences. Under the Artistic Directorship of Alistair Spalding the theatre’s acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. Since 2005 it has helped to bring over 90 new dance works to the stage and its international award-winning commissions and collaborative productions regularly tour the

world. Sadler’s Wells supports 16 appointed world class Associate Artists and 3 Resident Companies and nurtures the next generation of talent through its National Youth Dance Company, Summer University programme, Wild Card initiative and its New Wave Associates. Located in Islington in north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since, with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera all having started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 9% of its revenue from Arts Council England. About Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Artistic Director of Royal Ballet Flanders, is one of the most prolific choreographers working today. A Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, he has created more than 20 works and is acknowledged as one of Europe’s most exciting choreographers. His productions include zero degrees (2005, with Akram Khan, Antony Gormley and Nitin Sawhney); Faun (which premiered at Sadler’s Wells as part of In the Spirit of Diaghilev); TeZukA (2011, based on the iconic work of manga artist Osamu Tezuka); award winning Babel (2010) and Dunas (2009, with celebrated flamenco dancer/ choreographer Maria Pagés); Sutra (2008), and his recent tango inspired, Sadler’s Wells Production, m¡longa. About Arts Council England Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. ACE support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £1 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

Box Office briefing notes About the show National Youth Dance Company are a cohort of vibrant young dancers working with some of the biggest names in dance. For this production, they are working with world renowned choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui who has reimagined moments from some of his best loved productions. Running Time One hour (no interval) Special Effects No strobe or haze effects are used in this production Age suitability There is no nudity, swearing or adult content in the show. Therefore, it is open to all ages. How to join the company For information on how to join the company, please see sadlerswells.com/nydc where you can sign up to attend an experience workshop. The 2015 experience workshops take place on the following dates: Saturday 23 May Swindon Dance, Swindon Sunday 24 May Plymouth Dance at Plymouth University, Plymouth Monday 25 May mac, Birmingham The Dancehouse, Manchester Tuesday 26 May Sadler’s Wells, London Wednesday 27 May DanceEast, Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich DEDA, Derby Thursday 28 May The Point, Eastleigh Dance City, Newcastle Friday 29 May Lincoln University, Lincoln Wyke College, Hull Saturday 30 May Marina Studios, Brighton Sunday 31 May Yorkshire Dance, Leeds LIPA, Liverpool Tour Dates Sunday 21 June mac, Birmingham Saturday 4 July Dance City, Newcastle Sunday 12 July Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds Sunday 19 July Latitude Festival, Suffolk Tuesday 21 July DanceEast, Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich Thursday 23 July Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth Saturday 25 July As part of U.Dance 2015, Plymouth

Biographies

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Choreographer My first dalliance with art was not dance, but drawing. As a child I wanted to draw reality and all the images I associated with it. For example, the clouds and what I could see in them, and people and the shadows they cast. They were ‘surrealist-type’ drawings: realistic but never just the bare facts. It was my way of interpreting the reality around me. But eventually I started to get impatient. The two dimensions were no longer enough. Then I started dancing, and the nice thing about dancing is that you have to dance constantly to see the drawing. Moreover, you are both the pencil and the draughtsman. Dance is always a temporary drawing, it disappears when

the movement ends. So the drawing can be written over, or rewritten at any time. Each performance has to be drawn again the next evening. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s first experience as a choreographer was with the ‘contemporary musical’ Anonymous Society, director Andrew Wale’s salute to the music of Jacques Brel. Cherkaoui also danced in this production for which he won several awards including the Fringe First Award and the Total Theatre Award in Edinburgh, and the Barclay Theatre award in London. Rien de Rien, Cherkaoui’s first choreography as a member of Les Ballets C. de la B. artistic team, toured Europe in 2000 and won the Special Prize at the BITEF Festival in Belgrade. He worked on this production with singer and dancer Damien Jalet, who introduced him to Italian folk songs and went on to have a great influence on his later creations. The six dancers in Rien de Rien, whose ages ranged from sixteen to sixty, have a thorough command of as many different dance styles and techniques: from classical ballet through salon dance to the hand gestures we all make when we speak. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui regards them all as equally valuable sources for a contemporary dance language. This eclecticism fits in very neatly with a theme that is close to his heart: equality between individuals, cultures, languages and means of expression. Rien de Rien went on a marathon tour and also won him the Promising Choreograph prize at the Nijinski Awards in Monte Carlo in 2002. That year Larbi and Nienke Reehorst also led a workshop for mentally disabled actors at Theater Stap in Turnhout, which led to the production Ook. This collaboration was a revelation. The individuality, directness, empathy and stamina of the Stap actors taught Larbi more about what it takes to be a ‘performer’ than all his previous professional experience together. At that point Stap actor Marc Wagemans joined the group of kindred spirits who have accompanied Cherkaoui through his career. In July 2002 he took part in Le Vif du Sujet in Avignon, dancing in It, a Wim Vandekeybus production, inspired by a short story by Paul Bowles. “Cherkaoui pulls out all the stops. His body seems to have been uprooted and is inaccessible. When his foot touches the back of his head, it is as if the upper part of his body doesn’t know there is also a lower part. The body fights with itself, juggles with the air between his hands, twists itself into a thousand curves.” (from ‘De Standaard’, EVC, 19/07/02). In the autumn of 2002 Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Luc Dunberry and Juan Kruz de Garaio Esnaola (from the Sasha Waltz company and initiator of the project), created D’avant for the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz in Berlin, which combines medieval songs from the thirteenth century and

contemporary dance. D'Avant is a highly physical production, which succeeds in coupling lightness and relativisation with important social phenomena such as fanaticism, physical violence and moral apathy in a mosaic of styles. This production is so close to the performers’ heart that it is a permanent part of the repertoire. 2003 saw Cherkaoui storm Europe with the much-acclaimed Foi, which revolved around the nature and power of belief – and went on to win the Movimentos Dance Prize in Germany. At the request of the Festival d’Avignon, in July 2004 Larbi presented a new project with Les Ballets C. de la B. Entitled Tempus Fugit, the piece calls into question the apparent absoluteness of time. People the world over seem to use the same concepts of time, but time is experienced and interpreted in different ways in different cultures. In Tempus Fugit an ensemble of fifteen performers from just about every corner of the world explored their own cultural past. Each of them tried to take control of time, which took the form of diverse dance rhythms and speeds. Tempus Fugit focused on the Mediterranean, the Arab and Central African worlds and on their mutual relationships. In December 2004 Cherkaoui made In Memoriam at Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, and for the Ballet du Grand Théatre de Genève he choreographed Loin, which was premièred in April 2005. In 2005 Larbi worked with Akram Khan for the first time. Akram Khan is also a dancer and choreographer with dual ‘roots’: the son of Bangladeshi parents, he grew up in England. Together they created and danced the production Zero Degrees about the effect of their mixed cultural backgrounds. Zero Degrees was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award in 2006, and went on to win two Helpman Awards in Australia in 2007. For België danst, a special nationalwide edition of Bal Moderne staged out in the open air in twelve Belgian cities simultaneously on July 16th 2005, Sidi Larbi worked with Damien Jalet to create a new choreography, Ik hou van jou/je t’aime tu sais, to music by Noordkaap and Marie Daulne. Corpus Bach followed in the spring of 2006 in which Larbi and Nicolas Vladyslav explored the theatrical effect of Bach’s cello suites. Larbi also made a new creation for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Mea Culpa (premièred in April 2006). In August 2006 his new creation End, made for the Cullberg Ballet, had its première at the Gothenburg Dance and Theatre Festival. The piece, made during the fighting between Israel and Hezbolah in Lebanon, clearly bears marks of the geopolitical realities that paralleled its gestation. 2006 also saw Larbi shift base back to his hometown, Antwerp: Guy Cassiers, the newly appointed director of the prestigious Het Toneelhuis theatre invited him to step on board as associate artist. Rehearsals on Myth, Larbi’s first production with Toneelhuis and one of the most encyclopaedic pieces in his repertoire, began almost immediately. Myth opened in June 2007 but before that, audiences at the impressive new opera house in Copenhagen discovered L’homme de bois, Larbi’s ballet for eighteen dancers from the Royal Danish Ballet to music by Stravinsky (May 2007). Furthermore, at the request of the Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration, a museum in Paris, Larbi and photographer/film-maker Gilles Delmas created La Zon Mai, an extraordinary three-dimensional video installation in the shape of a house filled with footage of dancers who reveal themselves through dance in the privacy of their homes. Larbi accepted Guy Cassiers' invitation to join all the other Toneelhuis artists in making a site-specific project in Antwerp's Bourla theatre, based on A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters in April 2007.

September 2007 brought the première of Apocrifu (Apocrypha) commissioned by La Monnaie in Brussels. Apocrifu is a musical encounter with the Corsican a capella polyphonic singing of A Filetta. The group's music provides the backdrop for Larbi's new creation in which he also dances. The title is telling: a concise but key scene from Apocrifu (in which the three dancers take it in turns as three-headed monsters to read aloud from the Talmud, the Koran and the Bible) makes it clear that the difference between apocryphal and canonical is more a question of perspective or authority than of content or value. In this way Larbi treats in a light-hearted manner a broader theme that has been with him for a long time: the intrinsic equality of different cultures and religious viewpoints. That theme returns in Origine, his second piece for Toneelhuis, one in which he brought two male and two female dancers - all from different parts of the world - together with the Sarband Ensemble (première February 2008). Again Larbi chose an unusual approach to the musical tradition and with that music he provided the leitmotif for a choreography that subtly examines topical political issues. Light-heartedly but unmistakably he touched on themes like immigration, alienation, and our excessive consumerism before abandoning them to an increasingly abstract dance vocabulary. Sutra, Sidi Larbi’s brand-new project in collaboration with Antony Gormley, Szymon Brzóska and monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, was produced by Sadler’s Wells where it had its world premiere in May 2008 before touring across the globe through 2008 and 2009. The piece fetched him a nomination in the Best Choreographer (Modern) category at the 2009 National Dance Awards in Britain. It also won the 2009 Ballettanz award for Best Production of the year. In August 2008, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui received the title of Outstanding Choreographer of the Year by Ballettanz – the European dance journal – and its committee of forty dance critics from all over Europe for his work across 2007-2008. In the same year, Sadler’s Wells, London, named him an Associate Artist. In February 2009, he received the Kairos European Cultural Prize endowed by the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung, lauded by the jury “because he raises fundamental questions about human existence through movement and because of the connections he makes between elements of different cultures”. 2009 brought his first commissioned work for an American company: Orbo Novo (meaning The New World) choreographed for the New York-based Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet premiered at the historic Jacob’s Pillow dance festival in July 2009. The piece, made for sixteen dancers, was another collaboration with composer Szymon Brzóska. Autumn 2009 will probably stand out as the season for duets: Cherkaoui choreographed Faun on James O’Hara and Daisy Phillips as part of Sadler’s Wells’ collective evening In the spirit of Diaghilev, and won much acclaim with Dunas, his encounter with Flamenco legend, Maria Pagés. For Dunas he was awarded the Giraldillo Award for Best Show at the Bienal de flamenco in Sevilla in 2011 and the National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Performance (Modern) in 2012. He also presented a sneak preview of Play, a gentle meeting with kutchipudi danseuse Shantala Shivalingappa, towards the end of the year. 2010 marks a watershed year in the trajectory of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: the launch of Eastman, his company, which is in residence at Toneelhuis and is project partner of Art Campus De Singel, Antwerp, and the revival of seminal Foi mark January. In April, De Munt hosted the world premiere of Babel, choreographed together with Damien Jalet, the third part of a triptych that began with Foi

and continued with Myth. Babel is also the third collaboration with sculptor Antony Gormley. Babel triumphed at the Laurence Olivier Awards 2011, the performance won two Olivier Awards: Best New Dance Production and Outstanding Achievement in Dance for the set design by Antony Gormley. In May 2010, Cherkaoui’s choreography embellished Guy Cassier's vision of Das Rheingold, the first part of Wagner's tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen, at Staatsoper unter den Linden and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Summer and autumn 2010 brought research on more intimate duets. Rein, a focus on purity and its aim for nothingness, is choreographed on Guro Schia Nagelhus and Vebjørn Sundby. Bound, about the ties that bind us in life, is choreographed on and with Gregory Maqoma and Shanell Winlock, both dancers/choreographers from South Africa. Play, Cherkaoui's duet with Shantala Shivalingappa, in which he explores Indian kuchipudi dance, premieres in its final form at De Singel in Antwerp. In 2011 Cherkaoui and Vandekeybus made a new version of It that they created in 2002 and they renamed it IT 3.0. Moreover he choreographed Labyrinth for the Dutch National Ballet, an intimate piece for a group of 19 dancers. He also created TeZukA, a piece for 15 dancers and musicians based on the work of the Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka. At the end of the year he choreographed Constellation, a 16-minute solo for Rising, a composite show performed by Kathak dancer Aakash Odedra. In 2011 Cherkaoui was awarded ‘Best Choreographer of the year’ for the second time by the dance magazine Tanz. In 2012 he worked on Automaton, a choreography for the American dance company Pilobolus, together with Renée Jaworkski. For his own company, Eastman, he developed Puz/zle, premiering at the Festival d’Avignon in La Carrière de Boulbon. This old stone quarry inspired him to take stone as a defining element for the choreography. Together with eleven dancers, the Corsican men’s choir A Filetta, Lebanese singer Fadia Tomb El-Hage and Japanese flautist and percussionist Kazunari Abe he questioned the puzzles that lie behind human relationships. Puz/zle was awarded Best New Dance Production at the 2014 Olivier Awards. That year he also collaborated with Joe Wright on his movie Anna Karenina, for which Cherkaoui helmed the choreography. The final months of 2012 saw Cherkaoui working on a new production for Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, Canada. He also received the Flemish Culture award for Performing Arts. In 2013 Cherkaoui, together with Damien Jalet and Marina Abramovic, created a new choreography of Ravel’s Boléro for the Ballet de L’Opéra de Paris. He also opened m¡longa, a journey into Tango, combining his own unique style with this fascinating and sensual, Argentinean dance, which is a Sadler’s Wells production. Fall 2013 sees the world premiere in Beijing of Genesis, his latest work for his company Eastman, made with Chinese dancer Yabin Wang. In 2014, he created Noetic for the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and he directed his first opera, Shell Shock, for La Monnaie, with music by Nicholas Lens and text by Nick Cave. Cherkaoui was decorated Commander of the Order of the Crown by the Kingdom of Belgium.

Antony Gormley Set Designer Born in London in 1950, Antony Gormley has had a number of solo shows at venues including the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil; Deichtorhallen Hamburg; State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Hayward Gallery, London; Kunsthalle zu Kiel; Malmö Konsthall and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen. Major public works include the Angel of the North (Gateshead, England), Another Place (Crosby Beach, England) and Exposure (Lelystad, The Netherlands). He has also participated in major group shows such as the Venice Biennale and Documenta 8, Kassell, Germany. Gormley won the Turner Prize in 1994,

was made an Officer of the British Empire in 1997 and was awarded a knighthood in 2014. He has been a member of the Royal Academy of Arts since 2003.

Navala Chaudhari Assistant Choreographer Originally from London, Navala works internationally as a dance performer, teacher and choreographer. She began training in Shaolin Kung Fu in 1987 and completed her professional dance training at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance graduating with a BA Honours, 2002. Over the last 13 years she has worked with Andre Gringras, Bawren Tavaziva, Shobana Jeyasingh, Akram Khan, Union Dance and New Movement Collective amongst others. From 2007-2010 she worked with Company Decalage as co-director and collaborated to create Appel and Breaking Point (The Place Prize semi-finals 2008).

In 2009 she made Amaranthne with Kevin Edward Turner (Company Chameleon) and was awarded the Choreodrome scholarship programme to research and develop her own work. Since 2008 Navala has worked extensively with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui as a collaborator, performer and joined his company Eastman in the creation of Babel(words) co-choreographed by Damien Jalet, 2010. Other productions she has collaborated on include Puz/zle (Olivier Award-winner for Best New Dance Production) and a duet Sin co-choreography by Damien Jalet, as part of 4D. She acted as Larbi’s choreographic assistant for the feature film Anna Karenina and theatre play A season in the Congo both directed by Joe Wright. Navala continues to teach worldwide at major dance insitutions and professional dance companies and is constantly researching her own movement vocabulary drawing from her extensive knowledge of martial arts, yoga capoeira, which she has been studying for over 16 years.

Leif Firnhaber Assistant Choreographer Leif grew up in Chile, Germany and Spain and has been based in Brussels since 2008. In Belgium, Leif worked as a dancer with recognised companies, institutions and artists including David Zambrano, The Vlaamese Opera House, Michelle Anne de Mey / Charleroi-Danses, Eastman/Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet. Leif has also toured his own work in collaboration with Vicky P. Miranda. Over recent years he has been involved in a number of freelance projects: choreographic research and creation with Tallinn University (Estonia), choreographic assistant for José Besprovsvany

(Brussels), creation UP (Cie Jozef Trefeli, Geneva), collaboration with Cie La Flux (Paris), as well as an extensive amount of pedagogical activities through movement. These include refugee camps, theatre and circus schools, company classes, conservatoires, workshops and training programs across Europe and South America.

Elias Lazaridis Assistant Choreographer Elias Lazaridis was born in Kavala, Greece in 1981 and began his training at the age of eight in classical ballet. Later on he became an athlete and participated in international competitions (including winning 400m hurdle events) while he was also studying architecture. But his zeal for dance was undiminished and he completed his dance formation at the State School of Dance in Athens while he was working part-time for the Greek National Opera and adLibdances / Kat Válastur. Later he moved on to Brussels for further studies at P.A.R.T.S. (Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker) where he came in touch with various techniques.

Since 2007 Elias Lazaridis has been based in London as a freelance dancer/dance teacher. He danced for Hofesh Shecther (Uprising/In your rooms) and Akram Khan (Vertical Road, Confluence, London 2012 Olympic Ceremony). While on tour, he provided workshops on the repertoire of both companies. Lazaridis started working with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in 2009. In 2013 he moved to Antwerp. He participated on the opening act for the film Anna Karenina, directed by Joe Wright for which Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui helmed the choreography. On stage he performed in Das Rheingold, Gotterdammerung, Genesis, Shell Shock and the Olivier Award winning pieces: Babel(words) and Puz/zle. Off stage he was involved as teacher and assistant choreographer in student and youth projects at the Amsterdam School of Arts and National Youth Dance Company (NYDC).

Elie Tass Assistant Choreographer In his youth, Elie Tass engaged in different sports, ranging from soccer, martial arts and power training. Dancing came into play later on, gradually, starting with ballet and later breakdance. After two years of physical education at the University of Ghent, he started a 3-year dance training at the HID (Higher Institute for Dance) in Lier, Belgium. In addition to as series of creations with Thierry Smits and Marc Bogaerts, he participated in Tannhäuser (an opera by Richard Wagner) for Troubleyn/Jan Fabre. In 2006 he started working with les ballets C de la

B/Alain Platel for the creation of vsprs, pitié! and Out of context – For Pina. In 2011 Ross McCormack invited Elie to Australia to work on a short co-creation for Queensland-based contemporary dance company Dancenorth. As part of a double bill they made [SIC]. Elie started to work with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in 2012 and collaborated with him on Puz/zle. In 2013 he and Alain Platel worked on the graduating performance of drama students at KASK in Ghent and temporarily plated Nicolas Vladyslav’s part in Dans, a les ballets C de la B and het Kip co-production. In 2013 he also worked together with fellow-dancers, on a three week brain and body storm in a studio in Seoul which resulted in a showing called no(own)on (working title), that was performed in the LG Arts Centre.

Together with dancer Nicola Leahey, he created a short solo SHINE (VS SHEILA) commissioned by laundry festival Paris. As the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington, he made IVORY, as part of the senior year graduation project.

Shogo Yoshii Composer Shogo Yoshii is a former member of the taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo. He entered the Kodo Apprenticeship Centre in 2003 and because a Kodo member in 2007. On stage, he was featured on taiko drums, metallic percussion, bamboo flutes, kokyu (Japanese violin) and in numerous dance pieces. In 2010, he joined the musical ensemble of Babel(words), choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet. That same year, he served as music director and performer in Arte y Solera’s flamenco piece Dojoji. His original composition Sora

is used in a textbook for Japanese elementary schools students. Shogo was Artistic Director if Earth Celebration 2013. In 2014-2015 he joined the musical ensemble for Spriti, Fractus and in 2015 Pluto choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

Johnny Lloyd Composer After studying jazz music and poetry, Johnny Lloyd travelled the world teaching African-American dance forms, and eventually settled in Europe. In 2003, he created his first full length solo Accidental Artist. He choreographed for avant garde German hip hop artists like Sammy Delux. In Germany he choreographed and co-composed the music for over 10 feature dance productions, all of them critically acclaimed. In 2012-2013 he toured with the co-creation Unpunished, made together with Guilherme Miotto. In 2013 he started dancing with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and worked as assistant choreographer for the Cirque du Soleil creation Kurios. In 2014 Johnny

created the contemporary hip hop piece Traces, in collaboration with Parktheater Eindhoven, Netherlands. Other Tales from the Underground for which he choreographs and composes the music, will premiere at Parktheater in 2016. This year he is dancing in Cherkaoui’s Fractus.

Adam Carrée Lighting Designer Adam Carrée studied lighting at Rose Bruford Collge, graduating in 1997. He went on to work with Central St Martins based at their Cochrane Theatre, working on the Peter Williams Design for Dance seasons, collaborating with design students from Central St Martins, dancers and choreographers from Royal Academy of Dance, Central School of Ballet, London Studio Centre and Rambert School. Carrée has worked on a number of projects with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui including Sutra and Babel(words).

Lighting designs for other companies include: Hobson’s Choice – Drama Centre London, A Taste of Mangoes – Tara Arts, Flavio – Early Opera Company, RSVP with Philine Janssens – The Place Prize. Gameshow – Company Chameleon, The Tempest for Unicorn Theatre, Party for Freedom with Oreet Ashrey – ArtAngel and Smile – Tommy Franzen and Kate Prince amongst others.

Alexandra Gilbert Costume Designer Since graduating from the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d’Angers-l’Esquissee in 1996, Alexandra has been involved in a variety of projects, not only as a designer and assistant (with Damien Jalet, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Arthur Nauziciel, Erna Omarsdöttir, Serge Ricci, Phillippe Decouflé, François Verret, L’Esquissee/Bouvier-Obadia, Cie Cré-Ange). Alexandra now runs the Dragon Yoga Shala in Paris, and holds a diploma in traditional Taoist medicine.