Since June we’ve been pretty busy. As soon as the lights went down on Find Me Amongst the Black at London’s recently re-opened South Bank we headed off to Umbria for a two week artists residency courtesy of the Esterni Festival of Contemporary Arts. After two weeks of sitting, eating, drinking, laughing and talking, all conducted in the baking forty degree Italian sunshine, we left browner, happier and wiser than when we arrived. On the rare occasions that we left the city’s mad dogs alone in the sun, we rediscovered the delights of Subbuteo in the festival bar.
On our return to England we headed straight into the visual development of Tom Sapsford’s new dance work, Regina. This was all created in rain sodden Somerset in darkened indoor spaces. Italy couldn’t have felt further away, but the piece, Tom’s effervescence (and damned fine cooking) all helped make it feel just as charming. The full length piece should premiere sometime in 2008.
In September it was back to Umbria to produce a new installation, inspired by our Subbuteo experiences of the summer. Fatball was a full scale version, with a projected pitch, and ball, using human players and real goals. The game was installed for the Esterni festival, just outside the bar (FAT) where the real Subbutteo pitch sits.
We arrived back in London at the end of September and went straight into a twelve week rehearsal / development period as the video artists for DV8’s new piece, To be Straight with You. As expected, the work was hard and the pace relentless. But it was exhilarating and intriguing too.
Meanwhile Fatball headed off to Perugia, whilst Flock (our ICA/Royal Opera House commission) toured South West England. Thanks to the support of Dance South West over 10,000 people in Plymouth, Taunton, Salisbury, Bournemouth & Truro dipped their toes into Flock’s digital swan lake.
Then in December it was off to Berlin for the premiere of the DV8 piece. The work heads off next to Australia, before touring the UK, Europe, and the USA.
We’re now working on a brand new installation called The Hive. This will premiere in Grand Canal Square, Dublin on February 1st 2008, and run until February 6th. It’s been commissioned to celebrate the opening of Dublin’s new Science Gallery and is presented by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority in collaboration with the Science Gallery . The piece is described below;
The Hive is a public shared experience consisting entirely of projected light and sound through which the audience can come and go. By entering the work the audience take control of one part of an interactive ‘Fantasia’ which is driven by their movements and the changing rhythms and timbres of the music.
Imagining a number of encounters with otherworldly life forms and environments; at times, swarms of tiny insect-like creatures flow through the space and swarm around the audience, weaving and flowing across the stage. Behind the scenes, computer models of swarms, cellular automata and fluid dynamics drive the projections, providing a link between the real world and this science-fiction fantasy.
Before we go to Dublin we’re also spending time on ‘Projecting Performance’, our research project with the University of Leeds; readying Eng-er-land for a new lease of life in the USA; and producing a short promo film for Arts Council England.
More soon…
