Learning
Avant Garde Dance teamed up with Strike a light Festival in Gloucester in celebration of the opening of the kings square.
Our participation team, Ellis Saul and Dani Harris-Walters, worked with seven individual groups of young and inclusive people over the course of 6 weeks in order to create a spectacle for the people of Gloucester to be amazed by.
With over 100 performers of ranging ages and abilities, each group would weave and intertwine with another, creating an aesthetically overwhelming show of talent. Every group had a special moment for friends and family to enjoy, and the ultimate climatic moment was bringing everyone together for a mass flash mob finale, including the chance to perform with the main and second company.
As part of the London run for our digital tour of The Rule of Seven, an Illegal Dance Short Film. We kicked off with an exciting 2-day live, in-person Screening at Rio Cinema, Hackney’s Iconic and most loved community Cinema, with an exclusive Limited Capacity Immersive Experience. Every place has a story, and Rio’s narrow corridors and stairwells invited you to discover the secrets of Illegal Dance.
In true Avant-Garde style, it wouldn’t be an immersive performance without a participation opportunity, combining generations of dancers to perform simultaneously in an impactful design. Not only did members of AG2//COMPANY G.O.T.F., Avant Garde’s training second company, partake, but also a selection of students from Winchester University.
Working with participation lead, Emma Stansall, AG were able to work with the students of Winchester intensely for 3 rehearsals to create their own layer of the show. Using the corridors and creative spaces of the cinema to move as their carefully curated characters for a series of mini-performances, and also in and around the perimeters of the main auditorium with the chance to perform with the first and second company.
Hackney: JUBILEE project
Avant-Garde has teamed up with Hackney shed in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.
Our participation team, Ellis Saul and Adam Coyne, will be working closely with an inclusive group of young people, aged 11-to 19, over the course of three days. During this time, the team will deliver company classes, as well as create an exciting dance piece specifically for the group to perform on the last day of the event, to friends and family, at B Six College. There will also be a specialist workshop on the last day for the young people to enjoy.
Stay tuned to see how it goes.
Following on from Hackney, as part of the London run for our digital tour of The Rule of Seven, an Illegal Dance Short Film. We arrived for one day only, with two exciting live, in-person Screenings at the spectacular scenes of Walsall Arena, with an exclusive Immersive Experience.
Much like in Rio Cinema, Avant-Garde made use of the unlikely locations around the arena, as prime spaces for miniature individual performances to fully immerse your senses as you follow the breadcrumb trail guiding you through; enhanced by lighting, sound and visuals, creating a stunning live installation.
Working with Walsall college students for weeks online, prior to the immersive event, our participation team were able to deliver a series of workshops as well as teach the specific sections of choreography that were going to be performed. This was followed up with an exciting in-person workshop, days before the tech rehearsal to refine and expand the dramatic characterisation of each dancer in preparation for an exhilarating show.
“This was the students’ first experience of being involved in an audience participation piece. It gave them valuable exposure to the reactive and interactive nature of performance art and how to stay in character even when an audience is surprised, concerned, or shocked by some of the things they are seeing.
- “It’s helped them develop a new form of resilience, as well as the confidence to be up close and right under an audience’s gaze. This will help them massively going forward”. – Lecturer from Walsall College, Julie Wright
- “Educational and enjoyable” – Elyse Mannion
- “The experience changed my outlook on dance” – Norelle Annon
- “An extraordinary experience” – Ebony Lawrence
- “I am grateful for the opportunity we had to work with Avant-Garde and it helped me become more confident in different styles of dance” – Courtney Peach
- “A truly amazing experience that I was so lucky to take part in.” – Madison Sault
- “An amazing and unique experience with a clever way of learning which I will never forget” – Indya Ashburn
- “It was an experience every dancer should have and it was incredible to be a part of such an abstract piece” – Keirah Sullivan
- “Amazing, extraordinary and inspiring are all the words I would use to describe my experience with Avant-Garde ” – Neve Reddington
Walsall: Working with the Walsall schools
Participation member, Stefano A. Addae and AG2//COMPANY G.O.T.F. member and newly trained participation assistant, Roseann Dendy, delivered a week of fun and engaging workshops to four different primary schools from around Walsall.
The workshops were carefully designed to wrap around the themes of the upcoming immersive event ‘The Rule of Seven’, from our world of Illegal Dance, being performed in their local arena at the end of the week, as well as some adapted choreography from the show itself.
Streetly Academy and Pool Hayes Academy were also invited to participate in the performances, and an individual piece was specifically choreographed for and taught to the students to perform as part of the immersive experience prior to the screening.
All schools were invited to watch the event and were thrilled to see what they had been working on come to life around their very eyes.
Winchester
Having worked with Winchester university for many years, Avant-Garde is always delighted to connect with the students and offer additional insight to the already extensive and multifaceted degree course.
Participation led Emma Stansall and Company Member Dani Harris-Walters to work simultaneously with the first-year students over a course of 6 weeks to introduce them to the style and ethos of the company, as well as develop individual solo performances as part of their performance assessment module. This process was achieved through online sessions, pre-recorded lecture tutorials and in-person day-long workshops.
The students were encouraged to thrive in their individuality, paying close attention to characterisation and musicality, but working within the capacity of their own uniqueness. Avant-Garde later went on to assist the assessment process, offering individual feedback for every student.
This opened an exciting door, as a large selection of their students were later chosen to work with the company more intensely for an immersive performance at the Rio Cinema, Hackney. Combining the characterisation, they worked on their solos, with carefully choreographed ensemble movements.
Please see the Hackney header for more info.
- ‘Such an incredible experience learning from such incredible dancers was wonderful to experience such a new way of movement!’ – Abi Aveson
- ‘Amazing experience and chance to work with some incredible people, lovely atmosphere in the rehearsal room, on and off the stage!!’– Abi Buckenham
- ‘It was a totally new way of movement for me, but felt so safe and encouraged to explore throughout the journey of creating work during assessment and also during the Rio performance. Always a professional but friendly environment that a thoroughly enjoyed! Thank you AG.’ – Cerys
- ‘Collaborating with AG was an unforgettable experience. I left feeling inspired and able to celebrate my own originality. I thought beyond dance, showing equal appreciation to all aspects of performance to create work that was innovative. In the hope to inspire others how AG has inspired me. – Nikita
A new representative of our participation team, Adam Coyne, who is a training dancer of AG2//COMPANY G.O.T.F., successfully led a Monday to Friday, week’s intensive working with students of the renowned and fruitful programme Swindon Dance Centre for Advanced Training, otherwise known as the CAT scheme.
Using exclusive company techniques, Adam led intensive mornings of company class and later went on to rework ‘Wilderness’, A Tony Adigun piece commissioned by the Place for Bob Cohen at 90.
By choosing and tailoring this specific work for the Swindon students, they were able to experience the necessary tools when learning advanced repertoire, as well as opportunities for creativity and learning new choreography. The talented group of dancers will be celebrating their week with an exciting performance of the piece in the theatre for their summer show.
- “I enjoyed working as a group to create a refined unison section. I found it challenging to incorporate free contemporary with clear structured chores. I Loved working with Adam, he really communicated all of it with us and felt like we were very much a part of the piece progress.” – Dancer from CAT programme Swindon
- “I enjoyed the creative freedom with a lot of support. I found the timing a challenge. The teacher was very friendly and made it enjoyable while still making us work hard.” – Dancer from CAT programme Swindon
- “Adam was welcoming and always encouraged us to try new movements. I enjoyed the challenge of stepping out of my comfort zone. This intensive was more about exploring movement and he let us come up with a lot of the movement and then Adam would help us mould it into what would suit the dance best.” – Dancer from CAT programme Swindon
Avant Garde Dance Company Ltd.
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Registered Office: The Silver Building
60 Dock Rd, London, E16 1YZ
Email: info@avantgardedance.com
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