Tickets are now on sale for a new dance theatre show, created by Company of Others which celebrates the courage, strength and resilience of women in the North.
The new show, Crackle. Dust. can be seen on April 27 at Dance City, who also commissioned its early stage work. The show with movement, live sound and spoken word, will also be performed in Bradford, Hexham, Manchester and Stockton, in April and May, before finishing the tour of the North in Byker, Newcastle.
Over 250 women from across the north, including from The Comfrey Project in Gateshead and Byker Community Centre, shared their stories and experience of endings via sound recordings, pictures, videos, blogs, and emails with the dance theatre company, for the piece commissioned by Dance City.
Six dancers and a musician will perform the piece that has collated women’s life-changing experiences of endings whether it is the end of a journey, a career, a love affair, a childhood, fertility, era, friendship or a struggle.
Nadia Iftkhar, from Walker in Newcastle, is the show’s choreographer and the company’s Artistic Director. From disco-dancing in Walker to studying at Newcastle College and Edinburgh before operating as a freelance artist regionally and internationally for 15 years, she returned to the North East to set up Company of Others, after realising that she could have more of a positive impact within communities by leading an organisation rather than working on her own.
Nadia Iftkhar, artistic director of Company of Others said:
“We aim to create work which highlights and shares stories of the human experience, drawn from diverse communities. There are so many ‘stories’ walking amongst us every day but we just don’t have the time and capacity to connect with each one. This show gives these stories space to be heard without the women themselves having to stand up and share their stories.
“By working with communities, we are expanding the diversity of the people who get to create art. We are not just telling their stories but the women as collaborators are shaping their stories at the heart of the creative process. It’s also important to take the show back out to places where women who have submitted stories can easily see it, so we have a good mix of theatre and community venues on the tour.
“The name comes from one of the women’s stories we are telling. Crackledust was her father’s name for lamp lit snow. It a beautiful word and fitting for the amazing stories we are being able to tell.”
Dance City is already the biggest dance employer in the North of England. It commissions original new work like ‘Crackle. Dust.’ as well as presenting the largest dance performance programme outside of London. It offers formal dance training and works with its communities to support the regions creative economy
Anthony Baker, CEO and artistic director, Dance City, said:
“We are very proud that here at Dance City we are able to support dance organisations and the role they play in the creative economy of the North East. Continuing this support plays a key role in our plans for the future that is all about ensuring that people in all of the communities in the region have incredible cultural opportunities equal to or better than the rest of the country.”
‘Crackle. Dust.’ is supported by public funding through Arts Council National Lottery Grants with additional commissioning support from Arc Stockton, Dance City, GemArts, Kala Sangam, Newcastle Culture Investment Fund, Northumberland Arts Development, Sustained Theatre Up North, and Well Newcastle Gateshead.
The performance is 1 Hour 10 minutes with no interval and is suitable for audiences over 16. Tickets are £9.50 / £8. To book tickets for the Dance City performance go to the Dance City website.
