GARBLE 7

GARBLE.

| Mark Bruce | Pina Bausch | Grayson Perry || Problems Made Pointless | Verve | Chris Brown |

ISSUE7SUMMER

TERM

THE PUBLICATION FROM LONDON CONTEMPORARY DANCE SCHOOL

the Summer Issue.

FREELimited Copies

2 | GARBLE

C O N T E N T SI s s u e 7 | J u l y 2 0 1 2

FIND GARBLE ONLINE:+ Read the full issue at WWW.ISSUU.COM/LCDSGARBLE+ On Facebook and Twitter - Search LCDSGARBLE+ For Submissions, Email us @ [email protected]

4 - LCDS Goes Forth - Problems Made Pointless.

7 - The Summer Issue - Staying curious outside the studio.

10 - The Olympics 2012 How to get involved... or where in London to avoid. 14 - Contemporary What? - What do the public know?

18 - In the Best Possible Taste - What DO we like?

20 - Reviews: Pina Bausch, Zoi Dimitriou, Verve and SUM.

22 - Garble Over Lunch With Mark Bruce, on ‘Made In Heaven’ .

26 - Dance Fashion Advice - Chloe Mead talks layers.

28 - What’s On? - In Dance, Art and Theatre.

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GARBLE | 3

What a wonderful summer to be in London. With our bipolar weather and the inevitable Olympian overcrowding, you really should run and hide on a beach in Magaluf... Or Blackpool. In all seriousness, I hope that if you find yourself with nothing to do over the next two months, you will come here for inspiration. We thought of this issue as a celebration: of the life and curiosity of the coming summer, of the end of another academic year, and strangely enough of contemporary dance. Without which, we would all be rather bored. Of course, here we tend to celebrate things by moaning about how awful they are, sorry about that.

On a rather sadder note, we will shortly be losing the third years, who just so hap-pen to be the best third years that have ever graced the halls of LCDS (their words not mine). Wild exaggerations aside, it is safe to say we will all be very upset to see them leave. Though lets not get the hanky’s out yet, panto hasn’t even begun...

The Garble Team:

Editor’s Note.

James MorganJessica SimMari ColbertChris ScottKit BrownDeclan WhitakerEmilia GasiorekCelina Liesegang

Mary BullardDavid SteeleLondon Contemporary Dance SchoolChloe Mead

Editor -Writers -

Special Thanks to -

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JM So, Problems made pointless. Who are you? What do you do?CH We are an improvisation collective, who use dance as our fundamental medium. We also use voice, text, we use physical theatre, we also use mu-sic... to combine all of our skills in completely impro-vised performances.

JM What are your intentions as a collective? Who are you ‘for’?CH We have discussed this quite a lot, and basically our main aim is to inform people and change the way improv is perceived in the arts, and outside of the arts. We feel that improvisation is quite misunderstood, so essentially we want to use performance to enlighten people in the sense that improv is a technique. You don’t just sort of, do what ever you want.

PMP’s logo is m

ade from an infrequently used

punctuation mark called the interrobang, which

combines the functions of exclam

ation and question m

arks. Clever, eh?!JM So what is it that makes your group different to what already exists in performance improvisation? What do you want to contribute to the London improv scene?CH I think, because we are trying to access peo-ple’s understanding of improv, that we are trying to actually plug into the public consciousness, as well as just performing. We really have three stands: to promote, to educate people about improvisation as a life skill, and... TP Perform. CH Yes! Our mission really is to inform people - it’s not quite so much about entertaining.

JM So at what point did you all get together and think, yeah, we can actually do this! We can make money from this-TP Ha!JM Well, maybe at least make a living from it...CH Well after the improvisation into Performance course in third year, we just decided that we wanted to keep going. From working every day with improv we discovered we really enjoyed it. It started as a bigger group, and has got more refined in time, down to the six of us.JM Is it quite fluid in terms of the people involved?CH We have the core six and we occasionally have had people interested in working with us from our original improv course group. I mean, two of us are going to do other things next year, so there will really

I had a chat with Charlie Hendren and Tom Peacock, two members of Problems Made Point-less, a dance collective made up of graduating

LCDS students.

Problems Made PointlessInterviewed by James Morgan

LCDS GOES FORTH

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GARBLE | 5

be four of us for next year. At the moment we’re creat-ing practice to go into schools - one of our main aims.JM Is that Secondary... or CAT level?CH Yes, I mean, also we are going for junior schools, because we want to try and tackle the way that ed-ucation is executed now. It isn’t very improvisation friendly, everything has to be structured, and planned so far in advance. But that’s as well as college and secondary schools.TP I think we are really looking for anywhere we can teach, where we feel improvisation would be really beneficial.CH Because it’s such a human thing - I mean that’s how we actually learn, from being babies, we learn by improvising, we pick up things and playJM I guess we tend to lose that spontaneous impulse as we get older.CH I think because there’s such a focus on being ‘correct’, especially in western society. So I guess our intentions go quite deep...

JM What do your parents think about what you are doing next year?I have to say, I don’t think they fully understand it. My parents are not that artistically disposed - this sort of relates back to what we are trying to do, to edu-cate people about it. I mean they haven’t really seen much. Even people within the arts world, or even dance world haven’t been exposed to much. So I guess its a bit of a stretch for my parents, though they

have enjoyed what they have seen. And actually when you do watch improvised performance, I find it’s very accessible in a sense, because it is so innate.

JM Where did your name come from?CH We were discussing choosing something that re-lates to the process of improvisation. As in, what we are doing is solving problems that we set up ourselves. In our minds we have that philosophy in improvisation that you should never say no, and never get stressed about things. Just accept what is happening in the space, which makes this kind of work very positive, and accommodating I guess. So we decided it really summed up what we were about and was kind of punchy. These are problems... and they are pointless. It also relates to our mission, in that you can actually solve problems through improvisation.JM And also its sort of a play on words because really, improvisation isn’t pointless. It seems like it’s poking fun of that misconception.

Problems Made Pointless rehearsing in studio 8

Continued over the page...

“These are problems... And they are pointless.”

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6 | GARBLE

Charlie Hendren and Chloe Mead in action. Photos by Problems Made Pointless

you performing for the first time?CH We are actually working tomorrow on [LC3] tour and teaching a workshop as PMP, and then perform-ing at Sadler’s Wells to the Company of Elders. But I guess our first proper event is on...TP July the 18th I think.CH Which is ‘Improv On The Rocks’, at the Wenlock & Essex in Angel. We’ll sell drinks and people can watch us perform, it’ll be a nice informal, fun evening. TP I think it starts at 8 but don’t quote me on that...

CH There will be posters!

JM Is there anything else you would like to tell Gar-ble readers?CH Really only just to Im-provise. Because for me it has been really fulfilling, and has actually changed the way I function in my everyday life. I mean I know that sounds quite deep, but it in that sense it’s really been a learning curve and a really useful life skill. Just the whole philosophy of accepting things... It’s very zen in that way.TP And very therapeutic. CH And fun.

TP Also, I am free and available if anyone is inter-ested!CH Oh my god... Actually, I am also cripplingly alone.JM Oh dear.TP I wasn’t in this interview, by the way. Everything said should be accredited to Charlie. JM Yeah, ok... Well, I eagerly await your first perfor-mance, thanks for the chat!

LCDS GOES FORTH

CH Yes exactly. I guess we’re also a bit like Mac-gyver - you’ve got a problem, how can we solve it? Improvise. Make a little dance thing and it’ll all go away-TP We can fight crime, solve middle eastern con-flict...JM Third world hunger...CH We will save the world! *Cough* … Sorry I’m a little hoarse.TP Neighh.JM Anyway, I hear you are all going to live to-gether, which is pretty cool, it has a very sort of, romanticised artists com-mune vibe...CH Yeah, it is very auspi-cious at the moment, but I think in terms of just be-ing around each other its very important because when we were doing the whole improv into perfor-mance course, we found that because we got to know each other so well, we got a kind of mutual consciousness and un-derstanding of the group. I think living together would be a very interest-ing experience.JM And that’ll create problems that you can solve in performance I guess.CH Do the dishes!JM Haha, while you’re all on stage-CH Which one of you didn’t do the dishes!? Where is the landlord? ...Hello, I am the landlord!TP Wow...JM I am very excited to see you perform - when are

James Morgan

GARBLE | 7

With a full day of class, plus

evening and weekend rehearsals and shows,

the average student at LCDS can clock up

some 50 hours a week of dance focused brain

and muscle work. Granted, it was our own

choice to enter into this world and don’t get me

wrong; I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

But, human beings that we are, there is only so

many hours of dance that we can fully enjoy

and appreciate before our sanity is brought

into question. From my experience, having a

life outside of dance can inform your training,

but more importantly it reminds you of the big,

wide world and everything else in it, and the

person that you are outside of the studio.

Our spare time is limited but if you find your-

self with an hour, a day or even a weekend free

there are many things that you can do away

from the studio. Here are a few of my sugges-

tions. This is not by any means a comprehen-

sive list but I hope that it at least offers you all

ideas for a little escapism. The only question

is, how long have you got?

And if none of this tickles your fancy and

you’re still stuck in the depths of a boredom

hole while away from the barre, consider this:

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no

cure for curiosity” – Dorothy Parker.

STAYING CURIOUS

| Text by Mari Colbert |

James MorganContinued over the page...

8 | GARBLE

Ted.com – TED (Technology, Entertain-

ment, Design): Ideas worth spreading,

presents a variety of inspirational talks and

conferences of global relevance - highly acces-

sible and utterly engaging.

Meditate – I am no expert, but spend simply

10, 15 or 20 minutes in a quiet place, focusing

on your breathing, counting the out breath ‘1’,

the second out breath ‘2’, the third ‘3’ and so

on, allowing your thoughts to come and go, to

find a moment of peace and calm.Stumbleupon.com – a discovery engine that

finds web content on a topic of your choice.

Absorb yourself in the World Wide Web.

Take photos – Pick up your camera or phone,

or ask to borrow a friend’s, step out of your

front door and start snapping anything and

everything that catches your attention. You

will see the world entirely differently, noticing

the smallest details that may otherwise slip

your notice during the rush of day-to-day life.

Go swimming at London Fields Lido –

London’s only Olympic sized heated outdoor

swimming pool. Nothing like a refreshing

morning swim. London Fields, Westside, E8

3EU - £4.10 for adults.

Cook - The morning is a great time to prepare

your dinner for that evening, or to bake your-

self a treat. It is also incredibly fulfilling to eat

a meal that you have made yourself. Check

out foodgawker.com – type in your favourite

food or current craving for a vast list of recipes

incorporating that ingredient.Visit The Welcome Collection – Located

just round the corner from LCDS at 183 Eus-

ton Road, ‘it explores the connections between

medicine, life and art in the past, present and

future’. From my experience, the exhibitions

are always really interesting and well curated.

Free admission.

Visit The British Library – This is one of my

most favourite places in the world. Just to sit

and absorb the atmosphere. There is free inter-

net access, a café with good food and various

exhibitions. Grab a good book or a friend and

over coffee spare a thought for the 150 million

plus collection of books that are under the

same roof…

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STAYING CURIOUS

| How much time do you have? |

GARBLE | 9

| THE SUMMER ISSUE |

Ahhh, the quintessential British pub…

Whether you want some live music, a good

roast or a wobbly wooden bench on which to

perch your beer on a summer’s evening, it’s

tucked away somewhere in The Big Smoke.

For Live music - The Fiddler’s Elbow, 1 Mal-

den Road, Camden, NW5 3HS – Punk, Rock,

Ska, Indie, Soul, Acoustic and everything in

between, encased in its ‘loverly’, authentic,

tobacco stained walls.

For Food and Drink – The Duke of Wel-

lington, 119 Balls Pond Road, N1 4BL –

Food sourced from fresh produce and a great

selection of real ales and lagers, all at a very

reasonable price.

For Beer Garden and Atmosphere – The

Ranelagh, Bounds Green, N11 2EU – Well

worth the travel north on a cool and breezy

summer’s evening.

Hampstead Heath – For a brisk dip in the

lake and a picnic over looking London. Go

for a walk and see if you can find the Hol-

low Tree.

Go on Safari through Hackney – Start by pick-

ing up fresh produce for the day and doing a

spot of vintage shopping in Broadway Market,

which runs from London Fields Park to the

Regent’s Canal. Continue down Goldsmith’s

Row to Hackney City Farm and have a chat

with a whole host of farm animals, including

Larry the Donkey and the biggest pig I have

ever seen. And finally, although only open on

Sundays, end at Columbia Road Flower Mar-

ket for a walk through an urban meadow.

Get creative with ceramics– Zebra Ceram-

ics,110 Alexandra Park Road, Muswell Hill,

N10 2AE – Drink endless amounts of tea

or coffee and paint the hours away. A great,

personalized gift.

An Evening Off

A Whole Day

STAYING CURIOUS

| How much time do you have? |

10 | GARBLE

THE OLYMPICS 2012| Text By Jessica Sim |

For the London resident, the fact is inescapable - the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are com-ing to London.

Tube and television advertisements, job no-tices, Olympic icons, and endless other snip-pets of information have covered the city and our inboxes, telling us how to get involved and counting down the days to each of the thousand of events. Having last hosted the games in 1908 and 1948, London is striving to better the world’s expectation. If you haven’t yet seen the posters, it is time for London to put on the ‘greatest show on earth’.

Yet with London already overflowing with traffic, people, and events, hosting an addi-tional mass of athletes, supporters, and tour-

ists is not a simple task. Despite the fact, the city has all ambitions to take it on – it is now advertising 42 venues across London to host a total of 57 events.

Engulfed in our busy lives and in the midst of a dance degree, the ‘big games’ may have, by now, slipped into our periphery. For some, a summer vacation to escape the city could well be the smartest-of-plans. But for others, this is a once-in-a-life-time event. The city is hosting uncountable events in celebration of the Olympics, and in irony of such “economic times,” the majority are the arts (coincidental? I think not!) Big Dance 2012, running from 7th - 15th of July is to be “the UK’s biggest celebration of dance.” So if the advertisements have not yet done their job, there is still plenty more to see, to get involved with, and to join in ‘Countdown’.

GARBLE | 11

THE OLYMPICS 2012

Iris (Chia-Yun Huang) BA1: Opening Olym-pic Ceremony, 27 July 2012“It is a really interesting project, I’ve learnt some street dance which I never learnt before. It is a good experience to be involved with, I’m looking forward to be on the stage.” Katie Neil BA1: Opening Olympic Ceremo-ny, 27 July 2012

Eleni Papaioannou BA1: Opening Olympic Ceremony, 27 July 2012

Julie Anderson BA2: Opening Ceremony, 27 July 2012“I am participating in a section of the Open-ing Ceremony choreographed by Temujin Gill and Sunanda Biswas. I look forward to an intensive rehearsal period and the experi-ence of being apart of, what is for me, a huge celebration!”

Tim Clark BA2: Opening Olympic Ceremo-ny, 27 July 2012“Being a part of the mass spectacle has taken me away from the contemporary world and into a more commercial style, working with a huge number of performers, many of whom have done very little dance. Currently, the majority of the choreography has been learnt and we've moved to a location which is the same size as the stadium, and soon our rehearsals will venture into the stadium itself to prepare for the opening ceremony... Exciting times!” Gemma Shrubb BA3: Opening Olympic Ceremony, 12 August 2012, dancing for choreographer, Akram Khan“Running up to the Olympics, it has already become very busy and exciting with rehears-

als. They began in mid-June with 5 weeks of intense rehearsing with Akram Khan and the rest of the company. I can’t actually go into any details, as there are a lot of contracts and things being left as a surprise for the ceremony! The audition process was really great and gave me an insight to his work and the intense strength, passion, and knowledge he has as a dancer and choreographer. It’s an incredible opportunity to not only be part of the London 2012 Olympics, but to work alongside such a world renowned choreog-rapher.”

Laura Robinson BA3: Closing Olympic Cer-emony, 12 August 2012, dancing on pointe with 80 girls from the Royal Ballet“Not entirely sure what we will be doing yet as they are keeping it hush until we start rehearsals… But we have had lots and lots of measurements taken and they have given us lots of free shoes which is always a bonus!” Albert Ciasktek, Anna-Kay Gayle, Alistair Goldsmith, Thomas Hands, Poh Hian Chia, Robyn Holder, Alfric Ni Chaoimh, Jemima Storey, Sophie Thorpe BA2: The Four Cor-ners Project, 12 – 14 July 2012“The Four Corners Project is part of the city of London festival which is celebrat-ing its 50th anniversary. There are 4 schools involved in the project being, NSCD, Laban, Central School of Ballet and our very own LCDS. Each school has been working with separate individuals. Our choreographer is Ponciano Almeida, who is primarily known for his capoeira, and is now choreograph-ing a contemporary piece. This piece will be shown as part of the collective from the schools on the 12-14th of July this year.”

From The Place, our very own participants:

And how they are taking part.

| THE SUMMER ISSUE |


12 | GARBLE

Olympic Games27/07 – 12/08

36 events

22 screens across the UK – to view the games, news, community events, arts and media for FREEIn LONDON, find your patch of grass @ Hyde Park, Potters Field, Victoria Park, Waltham Forest, or Woolwich

The Official London Shop – for Olympic goods and souvenirs – among other locations, find them @ Pad-dington Station, Heathrow Airport, Westfield, and Canary Wharf(MAP: Paddington, Heath-row Airport, Westfield, Ca-nary Wharf, all noted in red)

The English Flower Garden – 15 000 hand-thrown ceramic flowers by Paul Cummins @ Chiswick House and Gardens, London, 25 April – 17 September 2012(MAP: letter O)

Showcase of Olympic and Paralympic medals @ British Museum, London, 8 February – 9 September 2012, FREE(MAP: letter M)

Events to follow and join:Olympic Torch Relay: Lit in Greece, the Olympic flame arrived in the UK on the 18th May 2012. 8000 torchbearers then carry the torch through 1000+ UK cities, towns, and villages in the following 70 days.Find out when the flame will be nearest to you by checking the “Olympic Torch Relay route” online at www.london2012.com/torch-relay/route London 2012 Festival:12,000+ events & performances across UK of art, outdoor carnivals, comedy, dance (including Big Dance 2012 of dance events from 25 000+ artists), film, museum & heritage, books, theatre & performance, music, fashion, and food.21 June – 9 September 2012Visit them online at london2012.com/festival The events extend far from London, to Wales, Aberystwyth, Rochdale, Glasgow, Blackpool, Cambridge, Belfast, and be-yond…Locations in LONDON are marked in orange.

GARBLE | 13

Paralympic Games29/08 - 09/0921 events

Olympic Park - Location of Olympic venues including the Olympic Park where the Opening and Closing Cer-emonies will be held(MAP: noted in red)

Iconic Spectaculars – “Olympic rings in iconic locations” – among other locations, spot them @ St. Pancreas Internation-al, Channel Tunnel, and Birmingham Airport(MAP: St. Pancreas Int’l and Channel Tunnel noted in red)

Shobana Jeyasingh Dance - @ St. Mary’s Old Church, London, 28 – 30 June 2012, FREE(MAP: letter L)

Greenwich World Cultural Festival - @ Eltham Palace Gardens, London, 1 July 2012, FREE(MAP: letter K)

Tanztheatre Wuppertal Pina Bausche - @ Sadler’s Wells and Barbican Centre, London, 6 June – 9 July 2012 (on sale from 2011!)(MAP: Sadler’s Wells - letter J, Barbi-can Centre - letter I)

Dance and performance events @ South-bank Centre: Creating a Spectacle - self-propelled underwater wheelchair from artist Sue Austin, 31/08 - 09/09Fusional Fragments - Mark Brew, 31/08Leaving Limbo Landing - Caroline Bowditch, 31/08 - 09/09Boomba Down the Tyne - Lawnmowers, 02/09Candoco Unlimited - Candoco Dance Company, 06/09Private Dancer - Janice Parker, 21/06 - 09/09The Impending Storm - David Toole and Lucy Hind, 0709 - 08/09(MAP: Southbank Centre - letter E - and noted in red)

14 | GARBLE

Just a few of the responses I’m sure we have all experienced when questioned about what we actually do in this building.

It occurred to me recently that the contem-porary dance circle is a fairly closed one; I often see the same faces time and time again lingering around Sadler’s fag in hand, boasting their gold dust tickets for next weeks world premiere and discussing the latest shock gos-sip from compa-nies X, Y and Z.

If the audiences for contem-porary dance are made up of mostly peo-ple involved in dance, with the exception of say the Matthew Bournes of the world, I was in-trigued to find out what the general public make of it all. We headed out into Blooms-bury, two minutes away from the Country’s leading powerhouse for dance to see if any-one had a Scooby-Doo about what on earth goes on at The Place.

Our results were varied and although some people had more of an idea than we expect-ed it was safe to say that noone had know-ingly watched contemporary dance. It was apparent that people had formulated ideas based on something they had seen or heard from other people. Much like many peo-

ple think all Mod-ern Art looks like a Mark Rothko paint-ing, the publics view of contemporary dance was weird and not so wonder-ful. What was more striking is that peo-ple hadn’t heard or even seen The Place even though they were sat in Tavistock Square two minutes away - including two guys that ate lunch at The Place cafe most days!

So it may be fair to say that contemporary dance exists for itself and the people directly involved. With such a closed circle of regulars, reserved only for those with 3 years training or a strangely in-vested interest, it’s not hard to begin to ask “What’s the point?”. We’re basically in it for ourselves - now how self centered is that? +

Choreographer extraordinaire Chris Brown, breaking boundaries as usual...

“Have you ever been to see any contemporary dance? Could you name a choreographer?”“No erm... Chris Brown?”

CONTEMPORARY WHAT?| Text by Declan Whitaker |

“Will we see you on Strictly next year?” “Is that like Diversity?” “Ooh, like So You Think You Can Dance?”

GARBLE | 15

G: We’re writing an article on contemporary dance and wondered if you’d ever heard of con-temporary dance?

H: I’ve heard of it yeah.

G: So what’s your understanding of it?

H: Like dancing from today. Modern day dancing.

G: Yeah perfect. Have you ever been to see any contemporary dance? Could you name a choreog-rapher or company?

H: No erm... Chris Brown?

HOPE

ART AND CULTURE

G: We wondered if you knew anything about contemporary dance? N: Not really no.

G: What’s your impression of what it might be?

N: I think I’ve seen a couple of shows where they do contemporary dance. Somewhere between bal-let and fusing it with other types of dance.

G: Have you heard of The Place?

N: Nope?…

G: It’s where we study, just 2 minutes away. So what shows have you seen?

N: It was something with the Pet Shop Boys, but I can’t remember the name.

G: Javier De Frutos - The Most Incredible Thing?

N: Yeah, I enjoyed watching that. If you guys have any shows I’d love to come and watch. I love watching dance but there’s no where really to go see much.

Of course we swiftly directed this lovely lady to The Place, and the upcoming grad shows.

NANCY


16 | GARBLE

G: We’re asking members of the public if they know anything about contemporary dance. Have you ever had any interaction or experi-ence with contemporary dance or what it might be?

L: [Laughs] A Long time ago I did go with a friend who was interested in dance to a very strange performance art type thing. Certainly a dance performance that I would call contem-porary dance.

G: Can you remember where?

L: It was in London but not a major produc-tion, perhaps students or people based at a dance school.

S: I may have done years ago but I can’t remember. Not live anyway but I like watching things on BBC 4 and on TV but I can’t recall seeing anything live.

G: Can you remember what you’ve seen on TV?

S: Not specific productions but yeah…

G: We constantly get asked what is contempo-rary dance and struggle to answer as it’s such a broad spectrum. Could you hazard a guess? Sum it up in a sentence?

P: Not traditional? Not classical ballet or ball-room dancing.S: Less structured and more...contemporary.L: I’d say it’s actually movement to music. Where movement and music are integral to the perfor-mance and then you can layer other things on top. But movement and music.

G: Ah, very interesting.

L: Yeah and the human form. So are you con-temporary dancers?

G: Yeah, going into second and third year at The Place.

L: Oh okay. But I guess with that you’d have to do your share of ballet and physical fitness.

G: Yeah we do ballet that underpins our con-temporary every day amongst other things. Thanks for the chat!

LYNNE, SUE AND PAM

GARBLE | 17

STEVE AND GARY DIANA

G: We study contemporary dance and were inter-ested in the publics view of what that might be, do you have any idea?

D: Well it’s my personal idea, so I don’t know for sure but maybe modern dancing. Not like R’n’B, like ballet but contemporary - I don’t know how to define it.

G: Neither do we! Have you been to seen any con-temporary dance?

D: No but I’ve seen a ballet in Greece.

G: We’re trying to see if the public have any aware-ness of contemporary dance, have you ever heard of it?

S: I’ve heard of it, but couldn’t define it.

G: Have you ever seen anything you would describe as contemporary dance?

P: I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s abstract or mod-ern? I’ve seen ballet but never contemporary.

ART AND CULTURE

Profuse apologies to our interviewees, we didn’t get your names so we made them up.

DECLAN WHITAKER

18 | GARBLE

| Text By Declan Whitaker |

In a recent documentary on Channel 4, transvestite Turn-er Prize winning artist Gray-son Perry questioned the taste values of the social classes in Britain.

Venturing out into a cross section of life-styles, Perry delved into the rites, rituals and taste decisions of the working, mid-dle and upper classes. His research culmi-nated in a series of tapestries illustrating in a brazen and undiluted fashion a still life representation of taste, as a socially

complex culture. Perry’s comments on taste had me questioning taste in dance…

I honestly can’t remember the last time I thoroughly enjoyed a piece of dance. Leaving performances mildly amused, entertained in parts, with my thoughts being moderately provoked, it’s more of-ten the case that I mildly despised, was frustrated in parts and moderately pissed off by the piece. I think it’s fair to say that dance and choreography don’t intend to do this or that neither myself or the Garble team have all the answers - but it seems that either we’re at a standstill in

IN THE BEST POSSIBLE TASTE

GARBLE | 19

ART AND CULTURE

dance and have seen it or before, or, as Perry unveiled, it’s all a matter of taste.

To quote Oscar Wilde: “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to al-ter it every six months”. Perhaps dance is as frivolous as fashion, changing monthly and with an ambition to be as dissimilar from last season as possible. This determination to move onwards and onwards with no re-flection on what has been established, has on one hand, meant enormous growth in an art form less than a hundred years old, but has accelerated at such a rate that the need to shock and ex-cite has made way for the ludicrous and ill-conceived.

Have we seen it all be-fore? Is it a matter of taste? Later in the issue Emilia Gasiorek chats to choreographer Mark Bruce about his piece ‘Made in Heaven’. A piece I think would be more appropriately titled ‘Dragged from Hell’ – however that’s a matter of taste, but something that arises from the interview is the need for choreographers to apply multi-media and theatrics to pieces. It would have to be astonishingly inventive movement for a full length piece to captivate it’s audi-ence with pure dance. So choreographers add things: projection, sculpture, video,

text, music, props, the list really is endless nowadays but all these things are intrinsi-cally based on a taste decision. By applying a strong dose of your own taste into a piece, as Perry revealed in his programme, you in-evitably ostracise a proportion of your au-dience. People who find these things not to their taste will disconnect somehow, mak-ing the success of the piece to them lesser. This in turn makes way for different types of

dance, the plain and safe, and the extreme and unclear.

In the 50’s we wit-nessed Graham with her shocking mod-ern dance removed as far from the ballet a la mode as possible. The 70’s saw revolu-tionary ideas from Cunningham and the Judson church collec-tive. The 80’s was the Kingdom of Clarke, with his radical fet-ishised costumes, re-naissance and recon-

struction of ballet technique and the 00’s have produced innumerable figureheads in dance. Each have developed distinctive vo-cabularies and aesthetics: Bourne, Shechter, McGregor, but somehow it seems the shock and spark caused by personas gone by has dwindled. +

Find ‘In The Best Possible Taste’ on 4od for the next few weeks.

Tweet @lcdsgarble with your opinions.

Above - Grayson Perry, In The Best Possible Taste, Channel 4. Opposite -‘The Upper Class At Bay’ - Rii Schroer

20 | GARBLE

REVIEWS.Five pieces comprised Verve’s programme, ranging from James Cous-ins’ athletic duet Dark In The Afternoon to Akram Khan’s Vertical Road, which saw all 12 of the company’s dancers on stage. Further works performed by the postgraduate performance company of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance included that of Jordan Massaarella (a recent graduate from Northern), Milan Kozanek (resi-dent teacher at Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance) and Lea Anderson MBE. Choreographically, moments of engaging and interesting artistry were few and far between but the dancers were tremendously strong, both individually and as a collective. This facet was made most apparent in the climatic Vertical Road where lighting, choreography and musical score have been beautifully crafted together by Khan into a haunting and compelling piece. With this and Lea Anderson’s more theatrical Dynamo the programme was diverse but this is small compensation for the uninspiring and overall disappointing choreography. +

Mari Colbert

Verve 2012 @ Robin Howard Theatre

In the rather optimistic 500 word preface, I was informed that the piece was ‘about’ a great number of things: time, space, structures, language, the French film La Jetée, misbehaving objects, spirits, lost towers, and the phrase “You May”. By the end of the post show talk this list had doubled in length. Not only did it seem like Dimitriou lacked a clear idea of what she was creating; but neither did the other 8 people in-volved in the creative process. Collaboration is one thing, but this was unashamed creation by committee, complete with board room table and vote counting.

Structurally the work was episodic, with no linear pathway from sec-tion to section. Plain, two-dimensional movement was broken up by sections of inconsequential speaking, and moving strange cloud-on-a-stick structures around the space. Though arguably the layer with the most clarity, the text was given no physical context within the work and was mostly made up of grand but unfounded statements: “this space will never be the same again”. The dramaturgist had employed the much overused technique of repeating and gradually changing words, presumably in order to create profound and thought provoking contra-dictions. However this just translated as cliché and predictable. Ultimately, I was only once surprised during the piece and that was when it ended. I must have just assumed it would last forever. +

You May - Zoi Dimitriou @ The Robin Howard

James Morgan

GARBLE | 21

ART AND CULTURE

A story about simultaneous crossed emails, between Richter and McGregor deciding upon the stimulus, makes this piece all the more fateful. Based on the book SUM by David Eagleman, this chamber opera is a thought provoking reflection of what happens when we die. The first time Richter and McGregor collaborated was in 2008 for the Royal Bal-let on ‘Infra’ to rave reviews, and although this piece was considerably more stripped back, it’s integrity and style, helped along by Eaglemans wonderfully contemplative stories made this piece a success.

12 excerpts of the script were delivered in a variety of ways, predomi-nantly through three enormously talented opera singers, but also through text, projection and speech. Set in the round, the four walls and floor were eerily white, reminiscent of a hospital ward and hosted intri-cate lighting projections from Lucy Carter. The piece balanced musings of both poetic and scientific situations in the afterlife. By far the most moving, was the idea that our life is reordered, so that everything shar-ing a quality happens at once, so we might spend twenty-seven hours in pain and yet experience only 14 minutes of pure joy - an incredibly humbling thought about the human condition.

With the orchestra set in a pit in the middle of the round, Richters music became all the more enchanting. Rolling themes continued for extended periods of time but to no irritation. Ominous and uplifting in equal measures, the singers thrived off music that seemed to exude a musical projection of their emotions.

Refreshingly free of dance, although curated by McGregor, this piece was incredibly inclusive for a first time Opera goer. A must see if re-vived! +

Declan Whitaker

SUM - Mark Richter and Wayne Mcgregor @ The Royal Opera House

Nur Du - Pina Bausch@ Sadler’s Wells

Emilia Gasiorek

Pina Bausch’s Nur Du (Only You) was hands down incredible! Having only ever seen her work from DVD or YouTube I was interested to see how it would feel live. If I felt the dancers brought energy and vivacity over the screen, it was nothing to the power and exuberance on stage.

Nur Du, first performed in 1996, presents a series of vignettes, solos, monologues, duets and incidents which all explore the human condi-tion. Danced against Peter Pabst’s ginormous set of tree trunks, evoca-tive of Californian redwoods, Bausch draws upon the American West. From one women worrying that her man has not arrived, another pull-ing down endless pairs of underwear and an American cheerleader describing her team’s cheers the piece looks at how we encounter each other, presenting fear, hope, strength and frailty. The movement was incredibly graceful and theatrical interspersed with quick gestural sec-tions. I have to hand it to the men however. While they were not the most lavishly dressed and therefore at times stood out less visually, they moved with such control and ease which was such a pleasure to watch. The work was a long as the set is big, lasting three and half hours, but have no fear the seats in the Barbican are incredibly comfortable! +

22 | GARBLE

His latest piece ‘Made In Heaven’ is full of the most unexpected twists and turns. Performed at Wil-ton’s Music Hall (‘the city’s hidden stage’ which it quite literally is), the setting of worn away stone walls lined with photographs of past performers ooze history and charm. A perfect example of the marriage between setting and performance.

From some far corner of Bruce’s imagination spills the most hybrid piece of work I think I have ever seen. From a blind sheriff, to a mermaid, to a baby with cherub’s wings, to a life-sized shark Bruce covers it all. For me the piece took me to an utterly surreal and dream-like land full of strong

visual images. Perhaps it was the opening image of a sleeping girl in gingham dress bringing with it a sense of humanity, which provided such a contrast to everything that unfolded that led me to that strange land. The enjoyment of his work is certainly a matter of taste and for some he may simply have gone too far. One could argue I guess that there were too many visual images rendering the piece a little too overwhelming. I spoke to Bruce afterwards to find out more about this latest piece and his work as a choreographer.

Wow. I’m still struggling to put words to what I’ve just seen…Don’t feel you have to talk about it. It’s quite a lot to take in. It’s the type of piece where I really need to go away and think about it. Firstly, I’m interested in how you wanted people to see it. Would you like the au-dience to search for a logic behind it or simply to see it as a series of visual images? I found that I was searching for the former but would perhaps under-

MARK BRUCE| Interviewed By Emilia Gasiorek |

Formed in 1991, the Mark Bruce Com-pany is a dance theatre group famous for its wildly imaginative work. With loud music, an interest in Greek mythology

and a hint of grunge Mark Bruce produces incredibly powerful work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

GARBLE | 23

GARBLE OVER LUNCH

stand it more in the context of the latter.I don’t think you need to find a logic. There defi-nitely is one. I don’t require the audience to un-derstand or find that. My intention is simply for an audience to leave with an image or something that makes sense and has some meaning to them. Everyone can take what he or she wants from it. I aim to conjure and evoke something within peo-ple. This ties in really nicely with my previous experi-ence of working with you. I recall you speaking about the importance of creating something that remains with people. Something that may be hard to pin down and clearly identify. Going back now, what first interested you in dance? What led you to dance?

nation of dance and drama; do you think that grad-uating students have sufficient training for this?I don’t think that dance theatre is a particularly new and modern thing. It’s just simply not always the fashion. But it’s just what has always interested me and is what I want to explore. I think, how-ever, there is a lack of preparation for this sort of work. Many theatre schools provide ‘movement’ classes but with a dancer’s training it is left to the individual to seek out a more theatrical training. Dancers need to be interested in working theat-rically. There is this pocket of work that encom-passes dance and drama and there isn’t enough training for it.

From working with you previously on sections from the two Greek plays The Bacchae and An-tigone it seems that a lot of your work centres on Greek mythology and tragedy. Is this a subject you are particularly interested in or do you feel that it lends itself well to dance theatre?

I’ve always had a personal interest in Greek tragedies, starting really at school. I feel that they connect with life at a basic level. I mean that with many daily instances you can find an equivalent in mythology. I find that the aspects of the stories leave me with something. I’m in-terested in this idea of something intangible staying with you. It doesn’t matter what this is,

Photo opposite and over page, by Farrows CreativeAbove by Stephen Berkeley WhiteI wasn’t initially interested in dance, although

I grew up in that world. Both my parents were dancers so I got a lot of experience from them, es-pecially my dad [Christopher Bruce]. But it wasn’t until I was older, and realised that I missed it, that I went back to it for my own sake. I now create work that I want to, that makes sense and is true to me. I notice that your company is called a ‘dance thea-tre’ group, would you explain what this means for you?Dance theatre for me is exactly what the title sug-gests: dance and theatre. My work, as you can see clearly with Made In Heaven, asks the dancers to do both.Tied with the above question, there seems increas-ingly more demand for pieces that involve a combi-

“Many theatre schools provide ‘movement’ classes but with a dancer’s training it is left to the individual to seek out a more theatrical training.”

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24 | GARBLE

could simply be a feeling, an impulse or something I can’t shake off. This is what I like about them. I’m also interested in the idea of rituals, which runs so strongly throughout Greek mythology. Making work is a ritual. The dancers are on stage for real, they are dancing for real and are partaking, in a sense, in a ritual. Through the piece they reach an-other state of being. As the Greeks say, ‘Dionysus was here’. Dionysus is a god of epiphany, the ‘god that comes’. In a sense the dancers have arrived, they have attained something ‘other’. I’m interested in how you start a new project. Can you tell me a little about your choreographic pro-cess?

I never start conceptually. I prefer to start from an image, a dream, simply something that comes to me. It’s like finding something in the sea, that you pick up, treasure, polish and nurture. Some-thing like that remains wedged in your conscious and you know that you want to explore it and find some sort of logic. It’s like a series of images of pieces in a big jigsaw that you’re trying to fit to-

gether. This process is all encompassing; covering the movement and performance of the dancers and the visual set which unfolds and changes. One informs the other. You have to be sure in your mind about what you want. For example I al-ways knew that I wanted to have a shark (Made In Heaven). You have to know what you want, spend the money and do what you want.

Having worked with Mark Bruce with students from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in or-der to create a series of short collaborative pieces, this sense of ambiguity resonates. Bruce advo-cated that the beauty of pieces can often be found through different interpretations. I learned that while it is important as a choreographer to remain sure of what you want, you have to be equally open to letting your piece be understood in differ-ent ways. My interpretation of Bruce’s piece may have been quite different to his, or the person sit-ting next to me, but I know that does not matter. I certainly left the venue with something, and an awe for how rich, imaginative, wacky and anar-chic dance theatre can be.… +

“Many theatre schools provide ‘movement’ classes but with a dancer’s

training it is left to the individual to seek out a more theatrical training.”

GARBLE | 25

EVERYTHING ELSE You need to see...

GOODBYE LOVELY THIRD YEARS! After a slightly rowdy (there was food involved) and very emotional graduation party, Garble would like to say an enormous thank you, and farewell to all of the graduating third years. In particular, to our three Gar-blers: Mari Colbert, Jessica Sim and Chris Scott, who have been on the team from our humble beginnings. Thanks for all of your hard work and for being generally awesome. Every one of you will be missed around the building, though I am sure we will be seeing plenty of you sneaking into morning classes next year.

Big Dance 2012Big Dance kicked off this week in St Pancras Station, with performances of works by LCDS students, Louise Lloyd and Thomas Hands, plus several Youth Groups and a specially commissioned work by Katie Prince, cre-ated on ZooNation. Obviously Arlene Phillips and Boris Johnson were there to add the comedy factor to festivi-ties, Boris remarking that “The UK are not only among the financial leaders of the world, but the best at art, dance.... umm and everything else!” If you missed the perfomances throughout the station on Thursday, and all the wonderful speeches, you can catch the Channel 4 special at 4pm on Sunday 15th July, and appreciate all of the fantastic train related metaphors. “Big Dance 2012 is pulling into a station near you!”

26 | GARBLE

Why It Works:

Hair is swept up. Practical yet bang

on trend. It says: “I’m here to dance but can look sleek

doing it.”

The unbuttoning creates a gor-

geous ‘V’ neckline which reveals a

contrasting burst of red to compli-ment her natural

skin tone.

Bold horizontal stripped onesies

are flattering and relaxed. Effort-

lessly chic.

The purse clutch works with the

earthy red and is an understated yet

bold accessory to this minimalist

look.

The footwear is right on the ‘sport socks’ trend. Per-

fect colour choice to continue the stripe pattern.

It’s always one of the first questions ‘non dancers’ ask when they come to The Place: “Why do they have one trouser leg up and the other one down?”. To which we will quite often reply “Erm. I really don’t know!” This is however, just one of the distin-guishing trends we sport so convincingly as style choices. Here are a few ‘on the up’ and ‘going down’ of our eclectic ‘School Day Looks’.

Going Down The sports short over trackiesThis fashion faux pas is an unfor-givable offence. And to those of you who will try to defend it. No it doesn’t ‘help you slide’.Cartoon patterned Pyjama bottomsOne would have hoped by 18 you can distinguish between your home and educational establishment, and wondered if you ever stopped and questioned why, when you’ve thought: “oh there only £3 in the sale”Ripped ClothingWhen your shirt is so ripped you cannot distinguish which is the head hole perhaps it’s time to get a new one. ‘Homeless’ is not a look!

The high school gym shortsBreezy yet ap-propriately dig-nified. Adding a splash of retro to our contempo-rary look.The long sleeved Tee round the waistWrapped round the slimmest part of the waist gives even the boxiest or figures the illu-sion of curves whilst the main body of the Tee drapes behind and elongates the back.The sports sockWhether you pull them up or let them slip down, these are an essential to every ‘School day’ look choose a neutral white or grey to avoid any unnecessary colour clashes.

THIS ISSUE’S BEST DRESSED

On The Up

TEXT BY CHLOE MEAD

GARBLE | 27

G People learn something every day and a lot of the time it’s that what they learned the day before, was wrong.

What do you have to say to Garble readers this issue, oh wise one?

SONIA SAYS:

One of many full length performances in the Robin Howard Theatre which you can stream live, for free! Check out The Place’s Video Channel on Youtube. Also look out for the Place Prize nomination videos.

VIDEO CORNER

Verve 2012: YouTube

National Anthem, by Lana Del Ray: YouTube

Instagram contrived, faux nostalgic and with a coat of sugar thick enough to render you toothless, I still somehow man-aged to love this video. It’s because she’s sexy isn’t it...

Written and directed by Andrew Adamson (Shrek and Narnia), this feature film fuses narrative and circus per-formance with 3D awesomeness. Released late 2012

Cirque du Soleil - Worlds Away 3D Trailer: YouTube

A sweet animated short about Barney, a man with a reversed sense of gravity. Make sure you watch until the very end!

Reverso, ArtFX: Vimeoby Kimberly Honma / Clément Lauri-cella and Arthur Seguin

What’s On? Our Top Picks...

19th June - 9th September: Yoko Ono, ‘To The Light’ @ Serpentine Gallery - This extensive and reflec-tive exhibition examines the great impact Ono has made on contemporary Art, featuring both new and archival work, from large scale installations to film and performance. Part of the London 2012 Festival.21st June - 23rd September: ‘BP Portrait Award’ @ National Gallery - Exhibits the very best of contem-porary portraiture from artists around the world - A must see for art and portraiture lovers! 28th June - 14th October: ‘Edvard Munch, The Modern Eye’ @ Tate Modern - An incredibly emotionally charged exhibition showcasing Munch’s work as a modern artist. 13th July - 19th September: Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2012 @ The Photographers Gallery - This exhibition features the four shortlisted artists, showcasing their diverse approaches to photography, from portraits taken in the toxic waste dumps of Ghana, to exquisite images of everyday moments.18th July - 8th September: Damián Ortega, ‘Traces of gravity’ @ The White Cube, Mason’s Yard - This Mexican artist’s work explores economic, aesthetic and cultural situations with a punchy political imme-diacy in an accessibly mischievous manner, sculpturally manipulating everyday objects and functions.

ART

DAN

CETH

EATR

E 2nd June – 5th September: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ @ Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre – a Shakespearian comedy in a unique outdoor setting; a perfect summer evening outing.Until 15th July: Sweeny Todd @ Noel Coward Theatre - Jonathan Kent’s thrilling and unforgettable new production of the amazing musical, with two world class performances from Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton. Its only on for a four week run so grab a £20 ticket before its gone.28th July – 27 October: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ @ The National Theatre – A play based on Mark Haddon’s award winning and heartfelt novel, a peculiar mystery to discover the murderer of Wellington the dog.

9th - 14th July: The Public House @ Unit 237 Shopping Centre, Elephant & Castle - Hiru Dance pre-sents a pop up home for performance, with 10 works created in response to the created living space. Performances, workshops, discussions and experiments last for the whole week, both day and evening, so make sure you pop in! Visit www.publichouse.hirudance.org for more info and tickets. 6th - 13th July: LCDS Graduation @ The Robin Howard Theatre - We hardly need to advertise, but make sure you support your graduating 3rd years in their last shows on the 6-7th and 9th-13th.18th July: ‘Improv on the Rocks’ @ Sit back with a drink in hand, and watch the new Improvisation col-lective in their first performance event. It will be a cheap, chilled night, so check it out.10th - 13th July: New Movement Collective - Casting Traces @ Testbed 1, Battersea - “Inspired by Paul Auster’s seminal novel “The New York Trilogy”, dance architecture, film and specially commissioned music meet to create a world of illusion, mystery and shadow-play, where nothing is what it seems.” 12-14th July: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company - Too Mortal @ St Pancras Church“Exploring notions around the church as a place of enquiry as well as solace, the work offers an intimate and thought-provoking respite to the busy hubbub of the streets outside. 12th - 14th July: Like a fish out of water @ Hampton Pool - a multi-sensory event in which audience members follow a journey around one of London’s lidos experiencing site-specific and recorded perfor-mance from the English National Ballet19th - 20th July: Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker - Fase @ Tate Modern - A chance to see de Keersmaek-er’s early minimalist piece either in a full length ticketed showing or a shorter free performance.* Get booking now for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Rosas and Batsheva - all of whom will be at Sadler’s Wells later this year, and will likely sell out. *

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