Northern School of Contemporary Dance’s acclaimed postgraduate company VERVE will be performing at The Ffwrnes on Tuesday 24 April as part of their 20 date tour across the UK and Europe this spring.
Under the direction of Matthew Robinson the company has worked with acclaimed choreographers on the international scene to create four exhilarating and refreshingly original new dance works. The group, based in Leeds, comprises fourteen exceptional dancers who have trained at some of the world’s most prestigious dance schools.
VERVE performances offer audiences a chance to witness the next generation of dance artists on the cusp of their professional careers, and an opportunity to sample some of the very best in contemporary choreography today.
This year’s line-up includes new works by international choreographers Hannes Langolf (Germany) and Sita Ostheimer (Germany), a reworking of the award-winning ‘Riders’ by Lenka Vagnerová (Czech Republic) and a new work by VERVE Artistic Director Matthew Robinson (UK).
Birds are the inspiration for Lenka Vagnerová’s ‘Riders’ (Winner of Dance Piece of the Year, Czech Dance Platform 2013), which has been reworked especially for the company. Fourteen dancers take on bird-like behaviour and movement in a work that captures the raw power of the natural world.
‘NEVERSINK’, created by Artistic Director Matthew Robinson, is a physically poetic and vivid reminder to embrace transformation and Hannes Langolf has worked with the dancers to create ‘wolf’, an athletic piece that explores pretence and bravado through body language and spoken word.
Completing the diverse repertoire this year is ‘NOBODY ‘CEPT YOU’ by Sita Ostheimer, which delves into emotional worlds, layering rhythm, sound and light to explore longing and desire.
Artistic Director Matthew Robinson said: “This year we are touring a thrilling programme of highly physical, theatrical dance works, created by myself and three international choreographers. Performed by fourteen exceptional dancers from across the world, this varied programme of work will share with audiences a glimpse of what is happening right now in dance. It is a programme with collaboration at its heart, featuring costume, light and sound design by an international array of collaborators. I look forward to hitting the road with the company and sharing this exciting repertoire with audiences across the UK and beyond.”
VERVE is at The Ffwrnes on 24 April at 7.30pm
Tickets for the performance are FREE