A MOTORWAY flyover, a windfarm, and an old swimming baths are not normally associated with dancing but they are about to be transformed into venues when Glasgow hosts its second international dance festival.
As well as performances from international artists at Tramway in the city's southside, there will be four nights of dance and music at clubbing venue SWG3 and a dance tour of community centres. It’s all part of a concerted effort to make dance more accessible to audiences and establish the art form as part of the Glasgow scene.
“We are trying to make a platform for dance in Glasgow which for a while it has not had,” said Tim Nunn, programme director at the Tramway and for the Dance International Glasgow festival (DIG).
“The first time we held the festival in 2015, 20 per cent of people who came to shows at Tramway had never been to a dance show in their lives and they had a great time. It’s also worth noting that as well as big, high-profile international events we tour community centres around Glasgow.
“These are just as important because what we found last time is that people who had been to see shows at their locality then came into the city centre to see more, which is exactly what we want.”
Out of this World by writer/director Mark Murphy
WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
Nunn believes that many people are surprised by how much dance has evolved in recent years.
“People have the impression that modern dance is people moving in abstract shapes around the stage with leotards on, but dance is now far more direct and often very funny," said Nunn. "There is no sort of subliminal physical language for people to work out what the show is all about. It can be very personal, very intimate, and it can be shocking."
He added: “At least two of the dance artists in the festival describe themselves as virtually doing stand-up dance as they perform the same anecdotal story telling that you get from a stand-up comedian.
“Eleanor Sikorski takes that experience of when you think of a perfect reply to something but it is too late – she has expanded that into a very funny show about why it happens to her all the time.”
Sikorski’s show is part of a double bill with Mothers by Frauke Requardt, which is about the experience of being a new mother.
“She thinks that not everything about birth and being a young mother is communicated,” continued Nunn. “There is a darker side to it and things that have to be personally overcome in these first years that you don’t get support for and can be very hard.
“Again she uses a dark comedy to explain that, and it’s going to be quite a shocking show in many ways.”
VOID by Mele Broomes
WILL THERE BE BALLET?
The opening weekend of DIG features a new work by Scottish Ballet that Nunn reckons will be a surprise to many. Each Other is choreographed by Israeli-Dutch duo Ivgi & Grebe and is “a bit out there”, he says.
That same weekend DIG is presenting a new show from UK dance master Siobhan Davis. The show is free and will be performed in the Tramway gallery, with visitors able to come and go as they please.
“It involves six or seven of the best dancers in the UK, including Davis, and is really amazing,” said Nunn. “People can come in and spend an hour or five hours in the gallery and watch lots of different dance unfolding.”
Land is a common theme at this festival and is a topic that has become more popular in recent years, according to Nunn. The world premiere of Into The Mountain by Simone Kenyon has been inspired by the Scottish writer Nan Shepherd and her book The Living Mountain, and The North by the Joan Clevillé Dance Company tells the story of a young man’s journey in a search for meaning in an unpredictable environment.
Following a similar theme is the Borders-based Alex Rigg, who will be doing a site specific-performance at Glasgow Neilston community windfarm.
WHAT ABOUT THE FLYOVER?
Land is the theme for Is This A Wasteland from Charlotte Spencer Projects at the old bus station site on Victoria Road as well as Void by Mele Broomes, which is inspired by JG Ballard’s Concrete Island and will be performed at dusk under a flyover of the M74 motorway.
Another highlight is Material Men from Shobana Jeyasingh, which mixes Indian classical dance with more modern forms to the music of a live band.
Rock star Patti Smith’s music will be part of the UK premiere of Velvet Petal, performed by Scottish Dance Theatre and inspired by the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. “It’s punky and fast-moving. Another fantastic piece,” said Nunn.
Jack Webb, who was named the One To Watch in last year's Sunday Herald Culture Awards, is to present a new piece at SWG3, and the same venue will host a performance by dance artist Lucy Suggate and electronic music artist James Holden. “It’s quite a coup to get both of them together in a new show,” said Nunn.
Children are catered for too, with free shows and hands-on activities.
DIG runs from April 21 to May 21 and is programmed and produced by Tramway and Glasgow Life.
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