Doubles brings bursts of colour to the streets in a collision of dance and ping pong. Watch as the dancers spin and slide in this playful pop-up performance that smashes expectations of dance and advocates the importance of safe, positive and accessible public spaces.
Doubles has toured to China, National Theatre, London Olympic Park, School halls, Sports halls, Rural fairs and high streets.
Photography: Stephanie Claire Photography
Commissioned by The Place, Applause Rural Touring, Arts Council England, Sports England and Greenwich+Docklands International Festival. Supported by Table Tennis England, Studio Wayne McGregor, Chisenhale Dance Space and Redbridge Drama Centre.
Dancers: Lorea Burge, Dominic Coffey, Joel O'Donoghue, Hannah Parsons & Ellya Sam.
aKa Dance Theatre Company was co-founded by dance mad Jen Grant and Joe Garbett in early 2014. Based in Taunton as company in residence at Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, aKa have toured their work with Rural touring Initiative across the UK, and to The Place, Glastonbury Festival and anywhere that they can squeeze into!
They are fiercely interested and invested in ensuring that the arts are accessible and enjoyable to all and love nothing more than bringing communities together.
Proudly supported by - Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, Take Art, Spark Somerset, Arts Council England, Somerset Community Foundation, Somerset Mental Wellbeing Service Small Grants Fund, The Old Mill Fund, Barn, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Spiltmilk Dance.
A bizarre kaleidoscope of colour, movement & queerness, Plue is a collision of dance and live art stimulating conversations about rural LGBTQIA+ couples’ experiences of Lockdown. Joe & Elinor are a queer couple. They spent Lockdown together in Somerset, far from their community of friends in London.
Plue is a response to their experience. An exploration of what happens when there is no public space for queer expression. This ambitious project, aims to open meaningful discussions about isolation, queer visibility & expression with rural members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Photography: Rocio Chacon
Working closely with Taunton Pride to invigorate the creative research with diverse, queer perspectives, Plue will create a vibrant online resource for audience’s seeking to contextualise their own Lockdown experiences.
Trailer coming soon...
“…a choreographic form like remote surgery with the haptic feedback coming from the performers. It’s an interesting creative paradigm; choreographic ideas sent by text message — anything from a suggestion, to word play, to a precise instruction” Nicholas Minns, Writing About Dance.
In 2010, Arts Council England’s budget was agreed to be cut by 29.6% by 2014. In 2016, Arts Council England’s funding was announced to not to be changed which was welcomed by Art Leaders and Museum chiefs. A clear strength of people working in the arts sector is compassion, however, the danger of compassion is it altering our ideas upon what we deserve.
NO.COMPANY. is about empowering freelance artists. The unpredictable nature of freelance work can cause feelings of isolation and anxiety.
NO.COMPANY. introduces artists to a new working artist, gives you freedom to create with no restrictions and credits you as a choreographer at a performance and sharing events.
WHERE YOU TO? is A high energy, digital, choose your own adventure website that will dance you through the overlooked treasures of Somerset.
Somerset is full of unseen natural beauty, unexpected stories and unknown adventures. It’s a hidden treasure that tourists overlook in favour of neighbouring counties like Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. Its untouched beauty is too good not to be shared.
Have a go at making your own Somerset dance adventure by following the website link below. (Includes 62 dance GIFS and 32 dance films!)
Commissioned by Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton and made in collaboration with Elinor Lewis Performance Artist.
[Work in progress]
Get lost, get muddy, get curious. Watch the wonders of following your nose. These two happy wriggly campers get tangled up and distracted by natures beauty. Will you help them find their way back?
January 2020 saw the first rehearsal and development of Get Lost hosted at The Point, Eastleigh. Get Lost is a bubbly, wholesome and sweet duet created for outdoor settings. As well as encouraging curiosity and younger audiences to invest in nature, the work aims to showcase male sensitivity and promote a wider range of emotional relationships between men.
Dancers:Joe Garbett and Richard Pye
