Having made Wales my home twelve years ago, I have not only come to appreciate the wonderful culture of the country in which I now live, but, having moved from abroad and now rarely speaking my own mother tongue, I have come to understand something of what it is to feel the loss of a language and culture. Wales has such a rich cultural heritage and such a beautiful language, so I want this show to communicate not only the burning pain of loss, but also the hopefulness of reigniting a country’s future.
My collaborators Tom Raybould, composer, Matt and Jani, filmmakers and digital artists, and Angharad Mathews, set and costume designer, came on board in the autumn where the creative process started. After an initial research period, visiting The National Library of Wales and working with Professor Diarmait Mac Gillochrist from Cardiff University and Gwynn ap Gwilym, a specialist on Saunders Lewis, we embarked on our creation process in January 2015.
With the set designed and built we started our 5-week rehearsal period, during which the music and digital scenery developed simultaneously with the movement. The movement material was created through improvisational tasks and shaped by myself and the dancers through an analytical process. The fusion style of the company was applied right from the beginning of each rehearsal day in the way we conducted our company class. For example, we started off with a breakdance sequence which then got manipulated by a contemporary dancer, who ‘contemporised’ the material instantaneously while teaching it to the others. We then repeated the process with a capoeira specialist until the original sequence had been manipulated by the various influences and a new movement vocabulary existed. This approach to fusion was defined during my Creative Wales Research Award.
The dancers themselves have a very individual approach to fusing their individual dance styles. While all of them are trained in contemporary dance, they also specialise in breakdance, capoeira and parkour. It is due to this approach to fusion that the movement material created becomes rich in content and seamlessly connects the various styles.
The show will receive its premiere at The Riverfront, Newport, Friday, February 27 and then tours.
Combining high-energy, fast-paced contemporary dance, breakdance and parkour, TÂN explores the political and cultural awakening in Wales over the past century, taking an arson attack in the 1930s in North Wales as its centrepiece.
Setting the stage alight with a moveable set, archive footage and an original soundtrack by BAFTA-winner Tom Raybould, this work explores themes of identity, freedom and the power of transformation.
TÂN will be complemented by an extract of SPIN, a resounding success at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014.
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Can’t wait to see the finished product. The extract from TAN shown at the Welsh Theatre Awards in January was amazing! The movement language was beautifully crafted and performed by the three strong male dancers, using the techniques Sandra mentions above, and certainly offered a unique and detailed approach to mixing up movement styles. A great team of collaborators too. See you on Friday.
Really excited for Sandra and the whole company. Only hope there’s a chance to see the work for those of us living the wrong side of the Severn…