The past meets the future when Trisha Brown’s pioneering work from the 80s is back in a new guise, and two brand new works have their world premiere.

The American choreographer and dancer Trisha Brown was one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and one of the most important pioneers in the postmodern dance movement.

After the world premiere of Brown’s piece Set and Reset in 1983 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, Trisha Brown Dance Company became a world name. The work was considered groundbreaking in postmodern / abstract choreography and remains Brown’s signature work.

During this year’s festival, the audience will have a rare reunion with Trisha Brown Dance Company’s original choreography – in a new costume. The same evening, the audience will experience two very fresh dance pieces created by the remarkable choreographers Annie Hanauer and Seke Chimutengwende. 

The three works are performed by the British dance company Candoco Dance Company, recognized across national borders for its very distinctive performances. The company praises different ways of seeing and making art, invites the audience to a dialogue on the theme of dance and disability and expands the perception of what dance can be.

About the pieces

IN WORLDS UNKNOWN – SEKE CHIMUTENGWENDE

Seke Chimutengwende is a british choreographer, performer, movement director and teacher who has used movement and text in his artistic work since 2006. Chimutengwende has created a number of choreographic works, performed over 70 solo improvisations internationally and worked ensemble-based with dancers, actors and musicians. Seke is currently making It begins in darkness, which will premiere in September 2022, a group choreography looking at ghosts and haunted houses as metaphors for how histories of slavery and colonialism haunt the present.

In his work In Worlds Unknown, created especially for the dancers of the Candoco, Seke Chimutengwende uses text, sound and movement to illustrate a fragmented world where people have lost their way. The play explores ideas of loss, navigation, communication and coexistence.

Insight filmer:

Insight into In Worlds Unknown, by Seke Chimutengwende: https://youtu.be/lIKH1290JLs

Jamie McCarthy, Composer, shares his creative approach: https://youtu.be/EHhrs8r-aXs

Ben Ash, Dancer, on improvisation, and creating text: https://youtu.be/Ubvxgyx_ZM8

Markéta Stránska, Dancer, shares her experience of Seke’s process: https://youtu.be/AyJkGv25eCM

Vanessa Abreu, Guest Artist, on collaboration: https://youtu.be/Q3Mheh4nNmI

Ihsaan de Banya, Dancer, on text, movement and sound: https://youtu.be/QH9QEAA0E8w

soft shell – ANNIE HANAUER

Annie Hanauer is an American dance artist living in London and France. She has performed, choreographed and taught for over a decade. She describes her artistic work as facilitating meetings between people, whether as a performer, in meeting with the public, a group of dancers through a choreographic process, or with students in a learning environment. Hanauer is fascinated by human bodies in motion, the connection our bodies have in the wider world, how they are read socially, what they carry, and, moreover, the body’s infinite potential through movement. She believes in the body’s capacity to empathically connect to situations and people, and the power to express what is implied, felt, beyond language.

In soft shell, Hanauer examines our need to place people in categories, and tries through her refined dancing art to find a space where the messy elements of man can exist without limit.

Insight videos:

Insight into soft shell, a new work by Annie Hanauer: https://youtu.be/3hPcpkrB3VM

Ihsaan de Banya, Dancer, shares his experience of the creative process: https://youtu.be/42aTMObcI88

Anna Seymour, Dancer, shares her experience as a deaf dancer in this creative process: https://youtu.be/RbIb-IPVtSw

Vanessa Abreu, Guest Artist, speaking about exploring private and public spaces: https://youtu.be/ELtX1Xuwj-I

Annie Hanauer, Choreographer, on developing soft shell: https://youtu.be/zynua88cpU4

SET AND RESET / RESET

Since 2011, Candoco Dance Company has performed various re-creations of Trisha Brown’s choreographic works. The re-creation is a prime example of the changing nature of choreography. In Set and reset / Reset, the company returns to Brown’s original choreography, but adds impulses and qualities that belong to today’s dance scene. This will be a reunion the audience most likely never has seen before.

Insight filmer:

Set and Reset/Reset Guide

Performance presented in collaboration with ZAMEK Culture Centre in Poznan, Poland, for the project ‘Obecność / Presence’. Obecność / Presence” benefits from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway Grants, provided through the EEA Funds.