Category: News

Leeds Dance Partnership is currently in the final phase of its Arts Council England, Ambition for Excellence funded project. There are two remaining artist-led seed commissions taking place in the summer of 2023 with Gracefool Collective and Keira Martin.

Throughout 2023, Leeds Dance Partnership will be working together to define priorities and next steps for the Partnership. This will include some scoping around current and planned activity and collective working around future ambitions.

The Partnership remains collaborative, ambitious and motivated to build on the successes of the past seven years, further contributing to Leeds as a City of Dance.

We are delighted to announce that in collaboration with LEEDS 2023, five seed commissions have been awarded for independent dance and movement-based artists and organisations in Leeds following an open call.

LEEDS 2023 will work closely with these artists and organisations to develop inspiring new projects which complement the world class dance offer in our city.

Seed Commissions

• Gary Clarke, Artistic Director of Gary Clarke Company, will explore Leeds’ rich history and relationship with the River Aire. Using the river’s course as a pathway, Gary will create a fast-flowing river of people using movement, choreography, costume and live music. Currently regarded as one of the UK’s leading independent contemporary dance artists, Gary has worked with some of the world’s most prolific dance companies and choreographers and has developed a growing reputation for creating his own extraordinary dance work of various sizes and scales.
  
• Keira Martin, Irish contemporary dance artist and musician, will collaborate with Romani Gypsy storyteller and award-winning picture book author, Richard O’Neill, to develop a performance of Ossiri and the Bala Mengro. With an international career spanning over 20 years, Keira is a versatile storyteller, telling stories of the underrepresented through mesmerising Irish contemporary dance, music, song and culture. From a working-class background, Keira’s work openly highlights social and political issues related to identity, gender, social justice, culture and class.
  
• Joseph Mercier & Alexah Tomey-Alleyne will bring together 23 Leeds and West Yorkshire-based emerging dance artists who experience difference or otherness (because of their race, sexuality, gender, disability, class) and invite them to collaboratively create a series of solo performances connected by a large group improvised score. Alexah is a mixed Afro-Caribbean female artist from Leeds whose work balances making, performing, writing and advocacy. Her practice draws upon her culture and heritage as a means of exploring the moving body; her black identity is central within her work which she uses to explore blackness. Joseph is a queer artist working across disciplines, primarily in dance, live art and contemporary theatre. He works as an independent artist and also as co-director of performance collective PanicLab.
  
• Douglas Thorpe (Mad Dogs Dance Theatre) will collaborate with Director Rod Dixon (Red Ladder) and Writer Andrea Heaton (Fidget Theatre), on a brand new physical dance theatre production based on experiences and stories from working as a local taxi driver in Leeds. After training at London Contemporary Dance School, Douglas joined Phoenix Dance Theatre where he danced over a twenty-year period. Since 2008, Douglas has developed powerful and highly physical dance through Mad Dogs Dance Theatre including commissions for ACE Dance and Phoenix Dance Theatre.
  
• Akeim Toussaint Buck will collaborate with Ashley Karrell to pilot Beat Motion Mass, a flash mob experience where a multitude of people will meet in public to perform as a dance and vocal ensemble. Born in Jamaica and raised in England, Akeim is an interdisciplinary performer and maker and graduate from Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Akeim creates performance work fusing dance, film, poetry, beat-box and singing to tell stories for a wide range of audiences.

There’s still time to get involved in LEEDS 2023, who are regularly announcing new opportunities for artists, organisations and participants to get involved, continuing to celebrate our city region. Take a look on the LEEDS 2023 website.

As part of their ongoing commitment to keeping older adults dancing, maintaining social interaction and supporting their older participants Yorkshire Dance has curated a celebratory week to coincide with International Day of Older People on Thursday 1st October. 

The week will challenge the stereotypes of age and older bodies in dance with classes in Vogue, break dancing and an African Dance Master Class.  These online classes will take place on Zoom and are part of an exciting programme of events and classes to celebrate the older body dancing.  

It is crucial to the work of Yorkshire Dance to advocate for inclusive processes that facilitate people from a wide range of backgrounds to discover the power of dance in daily life. 

  Events

• Monday 28 September: Masterclass – Break Dancing with Ella Mesma 2.00pm-3.30pm
• Tuesday 29 September: Masterclass – Voguing with Darren Pritchard 2-3.30pm
• Wednesday 30 September: Masterclass – African/Ghanaian Dance with Nii Kwartey Owoo 2-3.30pm
• Thursday 1 October: International Day of Older People – Dance On Social – 2.30pm. An event about bringing people together through sharing memories of dance, stories of dancing into older age and the legendary Dance On Quiz.
• Friday 2 October: Dance On Launch 12noon-1pm – the re-launch of our physical Dance On session (for 6 weeks) held at Yorkshire Dance, please contact adienivison@yorkshiredance.com directly for more information.

Find out more: https://yorkshiredance.com/whats-on/ 

Header image: Nii, African Dance

This weekend saw Leeds’ first socially distanced live dance event take place since the COVID-19 lockdown was initiated. Good Blood, by independent dance artist Keira Martin in collaboration with Sioda Adams, was performed at Slung Low’s The Holbeck to a sold-out audience on 5 September demonstrating positive signs for the re-emergence of live dance performance in the city.

Good Blood was performed by Barnsley-born sisters Keira Martin and Sioda Adams who use dance, live music, song and storytelling to bring hilarious, nostalgic and familiar family scenarios to the stage. Looking closely at the relationship of two sisters, Good Blood was performed outside, with performers and audiences socially distanced. The free event was primarily attended by members of the local communities around Holbeck.

“It was great to perform and connect with a live audience again after such a long break. It felt particularly special at Slung Low because of the diverse mix of people watching. It was great to be placing theatre and performance right in the heart of a local community and I loved how uplifted people seemed from the whole experience. I take my hat off to Slung Low for the work they’re doing, I don’t see any other arts organisation working with the community in the way that they do. It’s just brilliant!”

Sioda Adams

Good Blood was supported by Leeds Dance Partnership and commissioned by Northern School of Contemporary Dance – Northern Connections, 2Faced Dance Company – The Bench Seed funding, with support from Yorkshire Dance, Vincent Dance Theatre, Spin Arts and Dance City; funded by Arts Council England.

The One Dance UK Awards are an annual celebration for people from across the dance sector to celebrate and reward the people who have made an impact on the vibrant UK dance landscape.

The long list for this year’s awards has now been released, and we’re thrilled to see that Emily Snow, Leeds Dance Partnership’s Freelance Project Coordinator, has been nominated in the Rising Star category. We’ve got our fingers crossed for a win for Emily! 

It is fantastic to see so many nominations from across Leeds and Yorkshire on the long list including David Toole (Stop Gap), CPYDNN, RJC Dance’s Kathy Williams and Nillanthie Morton, Dawn Holgate of Leeds City College as well as nominations for Partners NSCD and Yorkshire Dance.

See the One Dance UK website for the full long list. The short list with three nominees per category will be announced soon.

At Leeds Dance Partnership we celebrate dance from across the city and its surrounding areas. With the current COVID-19 crisis, artists have adapted to keep us all connected to the art of dance. To celebrate International Day of Dance 2020 we’ve brought together some of the content being produced right now – it won’t cover everything so keep your eye on Twitter and follow #IDD2020 throughout the day. And tweet us your activity so we can share. 

Yorkshire Dance have lots going on online and are one to keep an eye on as they plan to release more. For now, you can watch Dancing on My Own, and then have a go yourself. Or for fun for all the family why not try their Saturday Superstars Online classes? It includes classes on street dance, ballet and rhythm and tap.

Northern School of Contemporary Dance will share a short film celebrating their international student community. Featuring students dancing in their homes across the world as they continue their studies remotely under lockdown.

Also worth a look is FLOCK FEST, an art and performance festival curated and produced by the students. There are over 20 videos from independent artists in the online programme.

Northern Ballet are running a Pay as You Feel Season Digital Season where you can see full-length ballets and exclusive excerpts for free. They are just asking for a donation when you watch, if you feel you are able. One to act quickly on is 1984 which is available to watch for free online until 2 May.

Don’t miss Sharon Watson’s Windrush: Movement of the People on MarqueeTV (you’ll need an account or 14-day free trail). The work is a lively celebration of the rise of multicultural Britain and features an uplifting soundtrack from calypso, jazz, gospel and reggae.

And calling all young, aspiring dancers…Phoenix are still accepting applications for all Phoenix Youth Academy cohorts for Autumn 2020. Apply now!

If you want to get moving in your living room, it might be worth checking out the online class offering from Dance Studio Leeds. With everything from ballet to Afrofusion and musical inspired classes. A bargain for £5.

It’s always worth keeping an eye on what DAZL are up to and they are on top of the lockdown TikTok craze too search for them @DAZLDance.

Watch their videos

Leeds City College have curated a series of interactive activities and workshops you can take part in online. Whilst not specifically dance, there’s plenty to keep you creative.

Something for the kids here as BSDC run online classes bringing classical Indian dance, ballet, and other dance styles to the comfort or chaos of your living room.

SAA-UK have developed Baithak LIVE, a season of live streamed performances by some of the best South Asian musicians and dancers. There is content every Thursday at 7pm, and twice a month on Sundays at 11am a special Sacred Sounds for Humanity will be live streamed.

To celebrate the anniversary of ZARA – Mind the Gap’s giant co-production with Walk the Plank in association with Emergency Exit Arts, you can watch it on their website now.

Always a good place to see what’s happening in Leeds, Leeds Inspired are sharing a guide for online events in Leeds including Leeds Digital Festival.

We also recommend checking out Dance Consortia North West’s Collaborative Campaign

Keep Active, Keep Healthy, Keep Social, Keep Dancing

Cheshire Dance, Ludus Dance, Merseyside Dance Initiative (MD) and Company Chameleon are bringing the sector together to celebrate International Day of Dance 2020 which is on the 29th April.

Leeds Dance Partnership are delighted to be collaborating with DCNW and other dance partners from across the North West of England to showcase and spread the transformational power of dance.

Throughout the day, Leeds Dance Partnership will be sharing content, showing how the dance industry is adapting to create virtual dance communities. You can share and find content by using the following hashtags:

#IDD2020 #LetsCreate #DancingConnects

2019 was a big year for Leeds Dance Partnership. Here’s a quick glance at some of our year in numbers.

Thank you to our supporters, including Arts Council England, for helping us grow in 2019 and have plenty to look forward to in 2020.

You can keep up to date with our upcoming projects by signing up to our newsletter.

In 2019 Leeds Dance Partnership continued to grow, working on our mission to establish Leeds as an international centre of dance excellence. With our core members and the wider dance community, we’re proud that this year we have continued our commitment to diversity, ambition, skill, talent, export and research.

Our highlights for 2019 included developing international connections and bringing high quality touring/commissioning to Leeds, putting Leeds dance on the map and supporting independent artistic development.

We supported 15 professional performances in Leeds from international organisations hailing from countries including the UK, Norway, Hungary, Morocco and Japan, as well as a dedicated workshop programme. We were also proud to have supported over 30 independent artists.

Highlights

Artist Fellowships

We delivered our first ever Artist Fellowships scheme, where four artists were selected to work with a host organisation to research and develop a proposed artistic inquiry. We hosted a successful sharing at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in September where artists presented videos, talks and live performances.

Read more

Accelerate

In September, Accelerate: A Skills Development Lab was launched by Yorkshire Dance and Northern School of Contemporary Dance. We’re proud to support this 9-month paid development programme for ten early-career dance artists. We’re looking forward to kickstarting the new year with Accelerate Lab 2 on 30 & 31 January.

Meet the ten Accelerate dance artists

Walking with Leeds

In March, we hosted a cultural walking tour event with producing partners Walking Talking Project. 13 independent artists performed at the event, giving international delegates the opportunity to experience the diverse dance and cultural offer in Leeds. The delegates, who were guests of the International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts Plenary Conference, joined us from as far afield as Australia and Canada. This event was held in association with Absolutely Cultured Hull and the British Council.

Choreographers and Composers Lab

In the summer, we supported Phoenix Dance Theatre’s international Choreographers and Composers Lab, where eight choreographers and composers worked collaboratively to research and develop dance and composition ideas.

Read more

Transform

We were also thrilled to support Transform Festival to present Luis Garay’s Daimón (Argentina/Colombia) and sell-out performances of nora chipaumire’s #PUNK (Zimbabwe/NYC) as part of their amazing 2019 programme.

BBC #DancePassion

In April, we led the northern element of BBC’s #DancePassion, a national streaming event. Leeds was the only site of dance streaming in the North and we were proud to support three independent artists to take part in the event.

Catch up on #DancePassion

On Saturday 16 November, Leeds Dance Partnership supported a workshop at Northern Ballet’s headquarters led by Ballet Black.

The workshop brought together young local dancers from some of Leeds’ dance training schemes, including Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Youth Academy, Northern School of Contemporary Dance’s Centre for Advanced Training scheme and Further Education dance students from Leeds City College.

The students were able to learn more about Ballet Black’s Ignoma, a mix of pointe work, contemporary and African dance which was performed at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds.

The workshop was split into two parts including a ballet technique class led by Cira Robinson and a contemporary repertoire session led by choreographer of Ignoma Mthuthuzeli November.

The students had a great time, with lots of brilliant feedback:

‘I learnt how to move my body in different ways’

‘Challenging, ground-breaking, strong’

‘an amazing piece of choreography’

‘I enjoyed learning part of the South African piece as it was different and I enjoyed learning about the background behind it.’

‘It challenged me’

‘(I learnt) a new drive to dance – passion and motive’

Phoenix Dance Theatre is delighted to announce the names of the eight participants taking part in the 2019 Choreographers and Composers Lab. Solomon Berrio-Allen, Jamaal Burkmar, Harriet Macauley and Michael Marquez are the four selected choreographers taking part in the Lab and Anthony Davey, Eunseog Lee, Christella Litras and Angela Slater are the four successful composers.

Funded by Jerwood Arts and Leeds Dance Partnership, the Choreographers and Composers Lab brings together the eight participants for a two week intensive where they will be mentored by Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director, Sharon Watson, and composer, creative director and cultural activist, Shirley J. Thompson.

The eight participants will be joined by eight professional dancers and four musicians to support their creative explorations. During the intensive the Choreographers and Composers will take part in guest lectures delivered by industry professionals and be set creative tasks aimed at expanding their knowledge of collaboration.

The 2019 Lab focuses on broadening the artists’ creative capabilities rather than the production of a final work, to give those taking part the freedom to take risks and experiment.  

A little about the participating artists:

Solomon Berrio-Allen

Solomon is an award-winning choreographer and freelance dance artist based between London and the South East. Training originally in breakdance Solomon then went on to train on the Trinity Laban CAT scheme and later at P.A.R.T.S, Brussels and Rambert School of ballet and contemporary dance. In 2017 Solomon was awarded the first place prize at the Copenhagen International Choreographic Competition for his work Helium.

Jamaal Burkmar

Jamaal Burkmar is a choreographer and movement director based in the Midlands. He has been the recipient of countless awards and commissions such as: One Dance UK’s Trailblazer Fellowship, New Adventures Choreography Award and the choreodrome commission awarded by the The Place. Jamaal’s choreographic style takes influence from the R&B music that he choreographs to.

Harriet Macauley

Harriet Macauley is a choreographer, Artistic Director and founder of InDance, Barcelona. As a dancer she has performed with Wayne McGregor Random Dance, Rambert and Richard Alston Dance Company.

Michael Marquez

Michael Marquez is a current company dancer with Phoenix Dance Theatre based in Leeds. As a choreographer he defines himself as an admirer of problem solving with a liking for complex group dynamics, poetic and theatrical devices and narrative themes often infused with a spark of lightness and joy. Michael trained at the Julliard School in New York and upon graduation was awarded the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship to pursue and develop his choreographic voice. He has created both site specific and more classical proscenium dance works.

Anthony Davey

Anthony is a composer and music producer based in West Yorkshire. Anthony has composed music for a variety of mediums and most notably was commissioned to write and record the full score and theme music for the BBC1 series, Home from Home, starring Johnny Vegas and Emilia Fox which aired in March/April 2018.

Eunseog Lee

Eunseog is a composer and educator based in Coventry. He holds a Master’s in music composition from the University of Oxford. Eunseog’s compositions are often inspired by religious narratives and infuses Korean instruments with Western.

Christella Litras

Christella is a composer, music director and educator based in Leeds. She has worked with a range of organisations including Leeds Playhouse and Opera North working on both original commissions and with their youth groups. Christella has performed with the likes of Rihanna and been a support act for Beverly Knight and Jamiroquai.

Angela Slater

Dr Angela Slater is a composer based in Staffordshire. She is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the Illuminate ​series. In her AHRC-funded PhD in composition at the University of Nottingham, Angela developed an interest in incorporating different aspects of the natural world into her compositions. She has been working on a series of works that engage with the natural world, musically mapping certain aspects into the fabric of her music.

 

On Saturday 18 May, the Grand Final of BBC Young Dancer saw Northern School of Contemporary Dance student Max Revell awarded the 2019 title. Broadcast on BBC Two from the Birmingham Hippodrome, Max competed alongside five dancers between 16-21 years old from the Ballet, Contemporary, South Asian and Street Dance categories.

A student on NSCD’s BA (Hons) Dance (Contemporary) course, Max was given a Wildcard entry to the Grand Final after just missing out in the Street Dance category. After performing three stunning pieces – a self-choreographed solo Subject Number 6, a duet with former winner Tom Hughes Lloyd titled Stranger, and a solo choreographed by Dickson Mbi named Unstrung – he was named BBC Young Dancer 2019.

Alongside Max two more talented NSCD students, Max Cookward and Adanna Lawrence, made the Contemporary category final. Max is a former student of both the Northern Ballet and NSCD CAT programmes, while Adanna aspires to go on to join VERVE, the postgraduate company of NSCD.

Leeds-based choreographers also shone in this year’s competition. Kenneth Tindall, Artistic Director of Digital and Choreographer in Residence for Northern Ballet, choreographed Solo for C for finalist Chloe Keneally. Kenneth was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in a new Dance Production at the Broadway World UK Awards 2017 and has been nominated for several other high-profile awards including Best Classical Choreography at the National Dance Awards. He saw his first full-length ballet, Casanova, broadcast on SkyArts and Digital Theatre. He is currently creating a new full-length work for Northern Ballet, Geisha, to be premièred in 2020. Sharon Watson, Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance Theatre, choreographed Me, myself & I for finalist Max Rawcliffe, a young contemporary dancer. Sharon has previously lectured at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and as Artistic Director of Phoenix was named Yorkshire Woman of the Year in 2017. Sharon received the first English Women’s Award for Arts and Culture in 2018, was named as one of the Cultural Leadership Programme’s Women to Watch and has created numerous acclaimed new works for Phoenix Dance Theatre including Windrush (2018) and Melt (2011).

Photo Jane Hobson

Monday 29 April is International Dance Day, a day to celebrate all things dance. To get in on the action, Leeds Dance Partnership will be taking over Art Council England’s Instagram, so make sure you’re following them for updates on @aceagrams.

The BBC’s #DancePassion was a celebration of the UK’s flourishing dance scene in collaboration with One Dance UK. #DancePassion week ran from 31 March – 6 April with a full day of livestreaming on Friday 5 April from dance hubs around the UK.

Leeds was the only livestream hub in the North of England, hosted by Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Featured videos included Dancing on My Own by Sara Lindstrom, commissioned by Yorkshire Dance, and performances from Leeds artists DAZL, RJC Dance,  Möbius Dance, Akeim Toussaint Buck, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Kenneth Tindall / Northern Ballet, DeNada Dance Theatre and Gracefool Collective were live streamed and can still be viewed on the Dance Passion website.

We are delighted to announce that João Maio is joining our board as an independent representative.

João is an independent dance artist and creative producer based in Leeds. He has worked with companies such as Carlos Pons Guerra’s DeNada Dance Theatre and Rosie Kay Dance Company.

After completing an MA in Dance and Creative Enterprise, and the 2018 UK tour of Rosie Kay Dance Company’s MK Ultra,  João  started working part-time as a Creative Producer for Open Source Arts, a grass-roots community development organisation.

João joins us at the end of the month as we say goodbye to Rachel Fullegar of Gracefool Collective as she comes to the end of her term on the board.

The Independent Board Member place is now a 12 month appointment and we are developing activity to engage with more independent voices.

Leeds Dance Partnership is excited to support Transform festival 19. Transform celebrates the independent and adventurous spirit of Leeds focusing on reimagining what theatre can look like.

This year, the Festival runs from 26 April – 4 May at venues across Leeds. Leeds Dance Partnership are supporting #PUNK by Nora Chipaumire and Daimόn by Luis Gray

Visit the Transform website to find the full programme.

Leeds Dance Partnership offers support for independent artists through its Artist Fellowship scheme. As part of the scheme artists work with a host organisation in response to a creative brief, developing strong relationship between independent artists and major organisations in Leeds. The artists receive a fee, a training budgets for their own development and support throughout their fellowship from both their host organisation and other partners.

The incredible artists in our 2019 Fellowship are:

• Vanessa Grasse – Artist Fellow at Leeds Beckett University
• Hannah Buckley – Artist Fellow at Northern School of Contemporary Dance
• Jamaal Burkmar – Artist Fellow at Phoenix Dance Theatre 
• Lucy Suggate – Artist Fellow at Yorkshire Dance 

At the end of the fellowship, the artists and organisations will share their learnings or created works at an event open to the public and industry guests.