Articulture, in collaboration with the Wales Outdoor Arts Commissioning Consortium (WOAC) are excited to announce three new commissioned pieces of work for presentation at eight tour dates across Wales in 2016.
Here is a brief introduction to this innovative new works, and where you can see them this summer below.
Follow Articulture and the artists via their online streams for updates on the work development and shows.
Dripping Tap Theatre Company (pictured above) – ‘Webster & Jones: A pocket guide to Wales’
A comic, participatory adventure. Joining two intrepid Victorian explorers on their quest of discovery to conquer the great outdoors!
This piece follows the journey of an intrepid, yet hapless, explorer and his faithful guide as they quest through the great outdoors of Wales towards their ultimate goal: the summit of Mount “Snowed On”.
It combines free ranging, interactive, walkabout performance that actively draws in the crowd and a scripted performance that sees both characters converging on a set location to train for the explorer’s mission to ‘conquer nature’.
Playing on the theme of our relationship with nature and our futile desire to master it, the two characters journey through comic adversity to a realisation that there is ‘no place like home’, exploring the idea of belonging within our landscape, and our interaction with it. Bilingualism is at the very core of this piece; the explorer character is the archetypal Victorian English explorer, his companion a salt-of-the-earth Welsh hill farmer.
Working collaboratively with a writer, designer and another circus-theatre practitioner, the aim is to create a rich and full-bodied piece that will be both visually striking and engaging, leaving echoes that the audience will remember when they next undertake their own outdoor adventures.
Tour dates –
- Aberystwyth Arts Centre, TBC
- The Riverfront, Big Splash Festival, Newport – 16 – 17 July
- National Eisteddfod of Wales, Abergavenny – 29 July – 6 Aug
- Wales Millennium Centre, 27 – 29 Sept
- Festival No.6, Portmeirion – 2– 4 Sept
- LLAWN 04 Festival, Llandudno – 23 -25 Sept
- Pontio, Bangor – September TBC
Run Ragged – ‘BAAH’
An urban shepherd(ess) and dog search for their flock of sheep. Eventually all are reunited and a dance unfolds.
A walkabout (or dance-about) using 4 performers blending walkabout improvisation and sections of structured choreography accompanied by pre recorded or live music, whistles and non-verbal sound.
Directed by Jem Treays, design is by long time collaborator Saz Moir. The work features a newly composed score.
In design and tone, the aim is for a funky pastoral urban feel. The dancers wear animal head wear with contrasting street/urban attire and shoes. The movement is a fusion of carefully observed animal relations, human pedestrian movement, contemporary dance and stepping (an urban footwork style).
The look is cool. The interaction with the audience is warm. A fun, witty, fresh and entertaining show, suitable for all the family.
Tour dates –
- Aberystwyth Arts Centre, TBC
- Taliesin Arts Centre, Dance Days, Swansea – 9 – 10 July
- The Riverfront, Big Splash Festival, Newport – 16 – 17 July
- LLAWN 04 Festival, Llandudno- 23 -25 Sept
Follow – runraggedproductions.co.uk, @runraggedance, facebook.com/runraggedproductions
Chloe Loftus Dance – ‘Act of Strangers’
An encounter on a bench that inspires communication, connection and engagement.
In a world where communication is so often made via screens and communities gather online rather in person, an outdoor dance theatre performance that reminds us of the simplicity and warmth of human contact.
A bench would be placed in situ for the day of the performance(s). Throughout the day people would be free to sit on this bench to watch the world go by, talk with friends or perhaps have kind encounters with strangers. At the performance time, two ‘strangers’ arrive at the bench and a beautiful duet unfolds. From recognisably awkward acknowledgements, the pair begin to ‘talk’ through body language and movement. Through comical exchanges, playfulness and daring contact work, the touching story of this friendship unfolds, showing the wonderful potential of the stranger standing next to you.
Tour dates –
- Taliesin Arts Centre, Dance Days, Swansea – 9 – 10 July
- The Riverfront, Big Splash Festival, Newport – 16 – 17 July
- Wales Millennium Centre, 27 – 29 Sept
- Festival No.6, Portmeirion – 2– 4 Sept
- LLAWN 04 Festival, Llandudno- 23 -25 Sept
- Pontio, Bangor – September TBC
Follow – chloeloftus.co.uk, @chloe_loftus, facebook.com/chloe.a.loftus
