Alongside this installation are a wonderful array of performances that ponder the function and place of time in our society – and that’s where Siobhan Davies comes in. This innovative dance company and choreographer have re-developed a counterpoint performance to Shawcross’s poetic and thoughtful piece. Putting her usual exciting spin on things, Davies has reworked her ROTOR 2010 with ‘a series of appointments’ that tests our human ability to stick to time. The players move rhythmically as hands of the clock but are interrupted by bursts of disruption to their uniformity. At its core the piece offers a manipulation of time, and a reference to the man-made quality of time as we know it.

ROTOR 2013 is also accompanied by an exciting music composition Songbook by Matteo Fargion. Turbulent and haphazard, the score is a cacophony of noise, words and confusion, just as all good contemporary music should be!

Performances of the two pieces run on 17th and 23 -24th August. Tickets are limited and since its also priced as ‘pay what you like’ we think this worthy accessible artwork is worth a bit of your, well, time… (Words: Laura Thornley)

For more info visit: www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/productions/siobhan-davies-dance-presents-rotor

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If like me you appreciate the beautiful weirdness, sublime and eccentricity of French cinema you will appreciate You May!. It takes  inspiration from Chris Marker’s monumental science film La Jetée, (download it from iTunes next time you’re having a quiet Sunday) and asks what it is like to live in contemporary society, where the old paradigm of ‘you can, because you must’ has been changed to ‘you must, because you can’.

With a choreography career spanning over 5 years, Zoi has worked with Sadler’s Wells and danced in New York and Greece – so this is an example of a modern and thought-provoking dance performance you can come to his expect from his company which goes far beyond what you’ll see in the West End.

It’s at The Place on June 12th  for one performance before going on to Bristol. For more info, visit http://www.theplace.org.uk/?lid=12739. (Words: Lucy Palmer) 

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On doing a Greatest Hits tour  

Pete: After 13 years of making work together we found that there was a new load of people (especially in our ventures into the world of comedy) that had not seen a lot of our work.   We thought it would be nice to revisit some of the material that we’d made in the past and rework it from our point of view now.  

 Tom: …and we couldn’t be arsed to come up with a new show.

On fusing comedy and dance

Pete: In the beginning it was just a question of whether we could make something funny that was still a dance show.   Our aim at the time was not to become a comedy double act or even a comedy dance company.  It was just to see what would come out if we tried to make a funny show based around physical ideas.   I suppose we both thought we were quite funny (it was our shared sensibility  and sense of humour that brought us to making stuff together).  

Tom: …and we don’t really ‘fuse’ the two things – we just sit them next to each other in a cafe and see what happens. 

On their influences

Pete: We are influenced by a lot of things both in good ways and bad ways.  We were probably originally influenced to try to make something funny by Reeves and Mortimer and Monty Python and there are number of people working now in comedy that we really like.  Phil Kay is a hero of ours and he will be performing with us at the Place.  Daniel Kitson,  Stewart Lee,  Simon Munnery,  Hannah Gadsby.   But our influences in dance and live art are also important.   Jonathan Burrows, Graeme Miller, Forced Entertainment, The Glee Club, Guy Dartnell.   Then there are films and visual arts and music.   There are so many people doing really great things.  It makes you wonder at how marvelous humans can be.

Tom: We often say we are inspired by each other too. We each work separately as choreographers, performers, writers and directors in different contexts. This brings a lot of outside influence to the world of New Art Club as we grapple with our experiences.  And we both love The Fall.  

On getting into dance

Pete: When I was 21 I saw a piece by the Cholmondeleys and the Featherstonehaughs.   I had never seen a piece of dance before and it amazed me whilst at the same time having that great punk sensibility where it made me feel that I could actually have a go at doing it.  so that’s what I did.  I am both indebted and cross with Lea Anderson for making dance seem so attractive to an angry 21-year-old me with no direction in life.  

Tom: A sneaky teacher at school told me that the interesting movement sessions I was enjoying so much were ‘drama’. It didn’t take me long to work out I wanted to be a choreographer.

On social and political influences in their work

Pete: For me being an artist is fundamentally about creating your own rules.   I moved from being completely embroiled in politics to becoming an artist.  I have no desire to engage in directly political work but I think there is a philosophical discussion being had in all of our pieces.   We fundamentally care about human relationships.  Our working practice is built around a real deep love and respect between us which we openly mess about with.    And we hope to share that with the people that come to see our shows.  We are playful and a bit naughty.   I think comedy can really play role of rule breaker and questioner of accepted beliefs.   

On the future of NAC

 Pete: In the next year or so we’ll be touring our new show Quiet Act of Destruction,  which is an interactive comedy show.    We start doing that in February 2012 and will be touring it around the UK and taking it to Melbourne Comedy Festival.  After that, possibly a kids show, a new show for a group of performers and a new one for me and Tom. Then world domination, fistfuls of cash, drug addled self destruction, a period of quiet, then a press conference and reforming the act for one last big payday, oh no now I’m talking about the Stone Roses –  We’ll probably just tinker along making largely ignored works of misunderstood genius like we have been doing and wait for the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

New Art Club perform Big Bag of Boom (Feat. Phil Kay) on November 4th at The Place.
Tickets are £17 and for more info visit: www.theplace.org.uk

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Wrong.

I was part of a class of about 20 or some females (no token fellas, as the sprightly dancer teacher Debbie jokingly pointed out) and I wasn’t even dressed for the part – so you can imagine my horror when Debbie announced that the class can only be done barefooted (in order for our feet to connect with the floor, she said) and not only were my feet stinky after a hard day’s work, but my toes had not seen a pedicure for a minute. But this collection of ladies made me feel okay about all of that and I’m forever grateful.

The class involved learning a number of exercises (two limbering routines and a foot warmer) and eventually a routine I didn’t have time to stick around to learn to the end. We bent down, rolled up, swung our arms around, pliéd, en croixed, tendu’d, rolled across the floor and attempted to compliment the europhic music playing gently in the hall – and after a few movements, most people picked up the pretty and angelic movements. As for me, maybe it was my poorly fitting jeggings (you know when your ass-crack plays peek-a-boo? Yep, terrible) or my multi-tasking (I was also taking snaps), but I was ridiculously stiff – which is a shame, as I did ballet as a kid and sort of thought plies and leg swings would come rather naturally to me.

Wrong, again.

That said, the taster session inspired me to perhaps dive into this unique world of interpretive dance – if only to restore the belief that I’m still a limber spring chicken who should work on developing her flexibility before its too late. Did I mention that I felt a bit bloated too? Yea, not good. But I think Debbie and the ladies in attendence were absolutely amazing, and I’d be open for them to teach me a trick or two – for my ego, at least.

The Contemporary Dance course begins on Thursday, April 22nd 7:30-9pm at the Macbeth Centre, Macbeth Street W6 9JJ. Visit www.hfals.co.uk or call 020 8600 9191 for more information about this and other courses. (and Special thanks to Elaine and Debbie for accomodating me at such short notice)

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