OF RIDERS AND RUNNING HORSES CREATIVE TEAM Director: Dan Canham Associate Director: Laura Dannequin Music: Sam Halmarack & Luke Harney Performers: Anna Kazsuba, Isabelle Cressey, Odilia Egyiawan, Tilly Webber, Tanya Richam-Odoi Costume Designer: Bianca Ward Production Manager and Lighting Designer: Greg Mickelborough Tour Producer: Helen Edwards Producers: MAYK THANK you Bristol Old Vic, Emma Bettridge at Bristol Ferment, Trinity Community Arts, Jonathan Andrews at NCP, Enlightened Lighting, Alan Burgess at Amber Audio. Of Riders and Running Horses is commissioned by Dance Umbrella, Pavilion Dance South West and Theatre Bristol and produced by MAYK. Supported using public funding through Arts Council England. Research and Development was supported by the Jerwood Choreographic Research Project, with funds from The Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Appetite, Birmingham Hippodrome, Dance Umbrella, DanceEast, DanceXchange, Greenwich Dance, Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, Independent Dance, Pavilion Dance South West, and The Place. Additional research and development support from Bristol Old Vic Ferment and Trinity Community Arts. Photo: Paul Blakemore
DIRECTOR S NOTE The urge to transform one s appearance, to dance outdoors, to mock the powerful and embrace perfect strangers is not easy to suppress. And why, in the end, would anyone want to? The capacity for collective joy is encoded into us almost as deeply as the capacity for the erotic love of one human for another. We can live without it, as most of us do but only at the risk of succumbing to the solitary nightmare of depression. Barbara Enrenreich Dancing in the Streets. The germ of the idea for what has become Of Riders and Running Horses was sparked some years ago in the Molly dances of East Anglia, the straw bear festival of Whittlesea, the tar barrels of Ottery St Mary. At the time, the immediacy and the humanity of these folk events inherent within them the possibility for transformation and collective joy 1 called out to me as a captivating alternative to the sterile conditions in which dance in particular is so often presented for an audience s passive consumption. I am incredibly fortunate to have been able to work with a group of extraordinary collaborators on this project, from the dancers to the producers each of whom have led the way by virtue of their generosity, skill and fearlessness all of them athletes of the heart 2. We have worked together over five weeks, interrogating what it means to dance, what it means to dance to music, to play seriously and to allow your humanity and your womanhood be seen. By them all I am humbled and full of respect and admiration. I must thank Laura Dannequin in particular my partner and co-director on this project, who has at turns guided, challenged and inspired with her crucial interventions. We have aimed to create an opportunity for people to come together, for strangers to look each other in the eye, for the vigour and power of a group of women dancing for themselves and for others to allow itself to be seen. And in spite of the state of the world, in spite of continual personal and global existential threats, in spite of it all, we ve aimed to give rise to the chance, which we need much more of on this crowded planet, to acknowledge the miracle of our simultaneous existence with some sort of celebration. 1 After Barbara Enrenreich 2 After Artaud Dan Canham, May 2015.
CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES Dan Canham works as a theatre-maker and performer. At the heart of his work lies an exploration that puts the performer(s) and the stories of real human experience in the spotlight. The aesthetic of the live work is detailed but often stripped down, leaving space for the performers to conjure onstage without the clutter of overtly literal design. Dan is interested in the collective imagination of performers and audiences and uses intricate sound design and movement as playful narrators throughout the work. Dan has previously worked as a performer for Kneehigh Theatre, DV8 Physical Theatre, Punchdrunk and Fabulous Beast among other companies. Dan s previous work includes 30 Cecil Street and Ours Was the Fen Country. Laura Dannequin is a French-born performer, choreographer and maker based in Bristol. Previous work includes Dance Dark Dance, Land, In the Making and Hardy Animal. Laura is Associate Director at Still House, and has collaborated with Dan Canham for many years. Co-creations include West of Nowhere (2004) and 30 Cecil Street, and Laura has been outside eye on Ours Was the Fen Country, and Assocate Director on Of Riders and Running Horses and How Tender the Man. Luke Harney is a producer, drummer and DJ whose work is founded on the best traditions of the craft but focuses clearly on the unknown and unheard. He has previously written music for a large number of professional dance pieces including White Caps by Wilkie Branson and Soundclash by Kwesi Johnson for Phoenix Dance. Under the name Typesun he produces rugged underground UK soul music and frequently receives DJ support from such luminaries as Giles Peterson, Mr Scruff and Mary-Ann Hobbs amongst others. His next single (entitled Icebergs/Water Song a version of which appears in this production) will be released on the 25 May via Root Elevation Recordings. Sam Halmarack is a musician, theatremaker and sound-designer. Alongside collaborations with artists including Tom Wainwright, Bodies in Flight, Tom Marshman, Duncan Speakman, Dearheart Ensemble and the Engage programme with Bath Theatre Royal. Sam also toured extensively with his band The Master Chayniis and was one half of Chew Magna, an electro-pop duo. His work for theatre includes Sam Halmarack and the Miserablites. In 2012, he joined forces with Stuart Bowden and the inimitable Bryony Kimmings for a A DIY Nativity at Cambridge s Junction. Sam is a member of Residence, an artist led organisation creating space for artists to make performance, live art and theatre in Bristol. He is currently developing a new show, Always and Totally Forever. MAYK is a producing organisation based in Bristol and led by Kate Yedigaroff and Matthew Austin. MAYK works collaboratively with artists and audiences to make extraordinary projects happen in unusual ways, including Mayfest, Bristol s annual festival of contemporary theatre. MAYK also works long term with a number of visionary artists to develop, produce and tour inspiring new work. MAYK has worked with Dan on all of his projects through Still House. mayk.org.uk
Anna Kazsuba was born in Wolverhampton, and graduated from London Contemporary Dance School with a First BA Hons in 2009. She became an apprentice with Scottish Dance Theatre and was subsequently contracted for their Autumn tour. In 2011, Anna began working with Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre for the production, Rian, and the Stravinsky Double Bill production The Rite of Spring and Petrushka (2013) touring both nationally and internationally up until 2014. She has performed in operas such Rusalka (Grange Park Opera, 2011) and Candide (Opera National de Lorraine, 2014) and co-founded DISH Dance collective in 2012. More recent projects include working with Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre and Catherine Young (Ireland). Isabelle Cressy trained at The Northern School of Contemporary Dance, graduating in 2009. Since then she has worked nationally and internationally as a dancer, actress and musician. Companies/Theatres include: Punchdrunk, PINCH, Karla Shacklock Company, Lisa May Thomas, Danceroom Spectroscopy, Peut-Etre Theatre, Cscape dance, The National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and The Egg Theatre amongst others. Odilia Egyiawan is known for her alternative hip hop style and in 2011 became the UK winner of SDK (Europe s biggest Street Dance competition) and represented the UK in Czech Republic. She has performed with the top street dance companies including Zoonation Into The Hoods, Boy Blue Entertainment, D-Clash all female freestyle group by Nike and is associate director for Avant Garde. Her teaching experience includes Pineapple Dance Studios, Dance Works, Studio 68 and workshops overseas. Odilia has also danced for artists from the likes of Beyonce, Usher, Rita Ora, Cheryl Cole, Major Lazer, LaToya Jackson and The Brit Awards, MOBO Awards, London 2012 Olympics, The Royal Variety Show and many more. Tilly Webber trained at London Contemporary Dance School, where she attained her BA Hons. On leaving she started work with Michael Clarke Company and since then has worked with various choreographers and companies, including Marc Brew (CandoCo), Lorena Randi, Rosie Kay Company, Dam Van Hughn, Aletta Collins, StillHouse (Ours Was The Fen Country), Junk Ensemble(Ire). Alongside this she has performed in operas, music videos and independent film projects, which ultimately has determined a varied career in performance. Tanya Richam-Odoi is a freelance dancer, choreographer, teacher and performance artist. She has worked for leading contemporary companies in the UK, including Phoenix Dance Theatre and DV8 Physical Theatre, and with renowned choreographers Darshan Singh Bhuller, Henri Oguike, Didy Veldman, Robert Cohan, Arthur Pita, Javier de Frutos. Her love of performing extends to operas, aerial work, puppetry, film-making, script-writing, singing, musicals, commercial and extra work, to all of which she adds her unique Scottish flair. Bianca Ward originally trained as a textile designer. Bianca has honed her skills and applied them to costume, working as a Costume Designer/Supervisor and Maker. This year she has costume supervised Our House for Pimlico Opera at Belmarsh Prison. Other recent projects include supervising Madame Butterfly for Opera Project and 101 Dalmatians for The Tobacco Factory Theatres. Bianca trained at Central Saint Martins and Bristol old Vic Theatre School. Greg Mickelborough has worked as a production manager and lighting designer for numerous national and international touring shows, festivals and theatres, including BBC Proms, The Two Wrongies, Bryony Kimmings,
Ragroof, BandBazi, 30 Bird, the awardwinning theatrical production Dip Your Toe, Sue MacLaine, Brightonshed, fanshen, Karavan Ensemble, Stillpoint Theatre, Victoria Melody, Spymonkey, Tall Stories, Arch 468 and aerial dance company Gravity & Levity. Greg was the former Venue and Technical Manager of The Basement, and Production Manager for Festibelly music festival, and is currently part of the team converting St Mark s Chapel in Brighton into an arts centre and creation space. He lives in Brighton and runs ultra-marathons. www.gregmick.co.uk Helen Edwards has recently relocated back to Bristol to work as a freelance producer after several years of living and working in London. Helen is the Assistant Producer with Theatre Orchard on Theatre Shop which reinvents an empty high-street shop into a live arts performance venue in Clevedon, North Somerset. Prior to freelancing Helen worked at the National Theatre as the Youth Programme Coordinator co-producing Young Studio an artist development scheme for 16-21 year olds, the National Centre for Circus Arts and Salisbury International Arts Festival. As a theatre producer Helen specialises in artist development and participatory work and projects that engage with public and community spaces. www.helencedwards.com stillhouse.co.uk mayk.org.uk @stillhouselive @maykithappen