Creative Labs

CREATIVE LABS

Creative Labs provide practical support for established and emerging artists to explore new ideas and methods, as well as artistic mentoring. Creative Labs usually finish with an informal sharing on the Friday at 16.30. These Friday gatherings provide an informal networking opportunity with kindred spirits.

Interested in applying for a Creative Lab? Please email: sorcha@dancehouse.org

Sharing on Friday 20 Jan 4.30 at SCOTTISH BALLET
ALAN GREIG DANCE THEATRE / GRANT SMEATON

Do You Nomi? Greig and Smeaton will be in residence to collaborate on an exciting new Theatre and Dance collaboration. The residency is based on the life and music of visually and vocally bizarre performer Klaus Nomi. Openly gay Nomi was once the darling of the alternative New York cabaret scene in the 80s, catching the public imagination with his operatic vocal take on pop standards. His life ended in tragedy, when he became one of the first high profile celebrities to die from the newly diagnosed AIDS virus. www.alangreigdancetheatre.com

Sharing on Friday 27 Jan 4.30 at UKTHEATRE SCHOOL
ANGIE DIGHT

Three Feet Left (Working Title) As co-founder of interactive performance company Mischief La-Bas, Angie Dight is embarking on a new project to explore exactly what dance might be when approached with irreverence, humour and an affectionate disregard for conventional rules. Drawing on her own strengths and experience as an independent solo dancer and live artist, she will develop and direct this ‘Experimental Dance Troupe‘ in collaboration with seasoned performers Jim Callaghan and Adura Onashile. All three have approached ‘dance’ from very different directions in the past, but all share a strong sense of ‘theatre’ which they hope will influence the results of this collaborative collision. Image by Angie Dight www.mischieflabas.co.uk

Sharing on Friday 3 Feb 4.30 at SCOTTISH BALLET
PENNY CHIVAS

During her recent experiences at ImplusTanz, Penny re-discovered what are essentially “Impossible scores”, and has commissed Robbie Synge to write such a score for her to practice over the course of a week, to essentially deepen her understanding of performance as a practice. What is it to fully commit to a movement practice that has no set end goal, and how also to stay fully alive and engaged whilst doing what may seem to be the same thing again and again?

Sharing on Friday 17 Feb 4.30 at UKTHEATRE SCHOOL
YVONNE MCCOMBIE

Altered Images:  Yvonne aims to expand on work begun at Axolotl Gallery’s exhibition opening in May 2011.  Exploring how we perceive ourselves and the way we show different facets of ourselves to others; Yvonne has been working with ideas of slow transitions from one extreme to another (e.g. beauty and ugliness, youth and age, good and bad) using contemporary dance, contact improvisation and physical theatre techniques to develop ideas. Image by MonkeyTwizzle.

Sharing on Friday 2 Mar 4.30 at UKTHEATRE SCHOOL
MAITE DELAFIN

During this Creative Lab, Maïté Delafin will explore parallel emotions creating a journey of transformation. She will explore time as a sense looking to create a timeless place where the audience can live a suspended moment. Various collaborators might join her through out the week to feed this exploration. www.cienux.com Image by Maria Falconer 

Sharing on Friday 9 Mar 4.00 at FIRHILL COMPLEX
RODOLFO RIVAS FRANCO

Rodolfo will be working on different moods/characters to illustrate certain ideas surrounding the concept of Angels as supernatural beings whom may also crave the simplicity and passion of human beings. The work will take shape combining dance and some aerial equipment. Rodolfo will also run a free aerial workshop on Thursday 8 March 2.30-4pm. For booking & info please email Rodolfo on info@spinalchord.com  Image by Tanja Hall.

Sharing on Friday 16 Mar 4.30 at CCA
DIANE TORR

TURNING SEXTY will be a milestone performance in Diane’s career as a dancer/performer. The age of 60 allows an opportunity to look back, and how to move forward as a dancer.  Diane will explore movement through “the ages” of the previous six decades; Graham, Cunningham, Anatomical Release, Contact Improvisation, and the Japanese martial art of Aikido.  Diane also worked as a go-go dancer in New York, and will be calling upon this experience to add the “sexiness” to the “sexty”.  Anatomical Release Technique will form the basis of a dance metaphor reflecting the aging process.   As this performance is concerned with aging, Diane will also examine the process of moving in the other direction – from the vertical to the horizontal. TURNING SEXTY will confront stereotype notions of aging and “the drama” around turning 60, and hopefully enable a new perspective on this inevitability. With music by Michael Francis Duch and Seasick Steve.

Sharing on Saturday 23 Jun 4.30 OUTSIDE LOCATION IN GLASGOW
TOM PRITCHARD

WHO RUNS THIS TOWN?!  Tom Pritchard in collaboration with Ellie Dubois and David Banks begin a questioning of how we can reclaim our outside spaces as places for the body to be athletic, expressive and curious through Parkour and improvisation practices. Running through public spaces this residency also questions where such simple activities of physical play are ‘permitted’ and discover who makes the decisions of where and how we can be expressive. Follow the exploration on twitter at #thepresentstage, including live updates on our run routes each day.

Creative Labs in Summer 2012 will be announced soon!