Postgraduates showcase performance born out of innovative Grab Lab programme
THE artistic performances born out of an innovative programme created to nurture a new generation of dancers are to be presented by University of Chichester postgraduate students next week.
The RETALE show, held at the institution on Wednesday 27 September, will showcase the work of GrabLab: an Arts Council England-funded scheme which develops graduate dancers away from an educational backdrop.
The performance is the work of choreographers Elisha Hamilton and Jacob Bray who have been commissioned to work with students of the University of Chichester’s postgraduate company mapdance. Elisha, herself a current postgraduate student and affiliate of mapdance, is a freelance artist with a specialism in choreography and improvisation.
She said: “RETALE is a comedic and moving representation of the everyday using live performance, text, voice over, and a cautiously-moving box in order to retell a tale or two. It is a work that is accessible to all who understand the lives of a younger generation/those who have ever felt an adulthood struggle.”
The show, which will be held in the University’s Dance Studio One from 7:30pm, has has already featured at several venues across the country. Its performers have, as part of the wider Grab Lab scheme, recently been providing for the community through outreach work by hosting engaging workshops within nearby schools.
The Grab Lab project was the innovation of University of Chichester associate lecturer KJ Mortimer. It has been developed in association with The Point in Eastleigh and New Dimensions in Dance: a strand of the venue which creating an inclusive landscape in dance performance.
Choreographer Jacob Bray, an alumni of the University of Chichester’s mapdance programme, added: “RETALE is a contemporary dance work created for stage performance – episodic in structure and current in content. It is a sensitive and playful look at the lives of the young at a time, like Britain, desiring security and clarity. Post-Brexit, the work invites you to witness thoughts, feelings and sensations – it is witty and thought-provoking with moments of dance and connection.”
To find out more about the RETALE performance email info@elishahamiltondance.com or visit www.elishahamiltondance.com
