13 December 2017
Newsdesk
POP-UP Duets (fragments of love) is a series of 5-minute, contemporary dance duets designed for a wide range of public spaces such as museums, galleries, cafes, libraries etc.
Bringing together the talents of award winners Janis Claxton (choreographer) and Pippa Murphy (composer) with four world-class dancers, POP-UP Duets is designed to emerge from public situations to be enjoyed by invited as well as accidental audiences who find themselves passing by.
The four dancers lined-up for POP-UP Duets (fragments of love) in 2018 are Joanne Pirrie, Albert Garcia, Amy Hollinshead and Valerio Di Giovanni.
In 2018 POP-UP Duets is funded by Creative Scotland to tour extensively across Scotland. The company is excited to announce that the tour will be extended to the UK, Asia, Europe and the USA.
The prestigious invitation to bring work to Jacob’s Pillow (home to the longest-running dance festival in the United States, founded by American modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn, where artists like Mark Morris and Alvin Ailey have created or premiered work), is highly sought after. Janis Claxton Dance is the first Scottish group to perform at Jacob’s Pillow since the Celtic Ballet of Scotland, founded by Margaret Morris, made its U.S. debut at the Pillow in 1954.
Other international dates will be announced early next year, but back on Scottish soil POP-UP Duets (fragments of love) will tour to Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival (May), Hidden Door Festival, Edinburgh (May/June), Merchant City Festival, Glasgow (August), National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (August), Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock and Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries. [Listings below].
This is its first major tour following its initial success offering enormous opportunities for Janis Claxton Dance, the dancers and Scottish culture to impress audiences world-wide with this innovative and emotionally engaging work.
Janis Claxton said “POP-UP Duets (fragments of love) has been an exciting success with both audiences and critics. We are delighted to be touring it in 2018 and especially thrilled to be invited to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. It’s a huge honour.”
Laura Cameron-Lewis, Head of Dance, Creative Scotland, said: “Creative Scotland is pleased to support the creation, development and tour of ‘POP-UP Duets’ by Janis Claxton Dance. This highly artistic and creative piece of dance presents beautifully crafted duets in public places, where audiences can stumble upon them. Janis Claxton has achieved great success with this work, with 5 star reviews during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, securing a comprehensive tour throughout Scotland in 2018 and the prestigious invitation to bring this work to ‘Jacob’s Pillow Dance’ in America.”
POP-UP Duets premiered in August 2016 in the Grand Gallery of National Museum of Scotland as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase for Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In March 2017 POP-UP Duets had an International premier at the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival where the work was re-created with two UK and two Taiwanese dancers for a variety of public spaces.
POP-UP Duets (fragments of love)
Tour 2018
Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival, Scotland - Saturday 26 May
Hidden Door Festival, Edinburgh – 25 May to 3 June
Jacobs Pillow Dance, USA - 16 to 21 June
Merchant City Festival, Glasgow – August 9 and 10
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh - Wed 15 – Sun 19 & Wed 22 – Sun 26 August
Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries, dates TBC
Beacon Arts Centre, dates TBC
Further international dates to be announced early 2018.
Company Background www.janisclaxton.com
Based in Edinburgh and touring internationally, Janis Claxton Dance is a multi-award winning company with a reputation for bringing high quality works to new and diverse audiences including large-scale performances in Scotland’s National Museums and Galleries, Edinburgh Zoo and Edinburgh International Science Festival. Janis Claxton is a leading voice on the Scottish and UK scene and has garnered international attention and invitations for her diverse and unique works and her abilities to craft exquisite material with world-class dancers.
Dancers:
Joanne Pirrie
Joanne trained at the Dance School of Scotland, Bird College and New English Contemporary Ballet School. She represented Scotland in CulturAtlantic Project, Gelabert/Azzopardi Dance, Spain. She work includes for: Yorke Dance Project (touring works by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Robert Cohan); Barrowland Ballet; Janis Claxton Dance; Cohan Collective; Errol White Company; Stephen Pelton; Diana Loosmore; Underhand Dance; High Heart Dance; Ampersandance; Pasodos; Kevin Turner; Malgorzata Dzierzon; and Cagoule Productions. Dance on screen includes: BBC; The Outlander; Belle & Sebastian; and Strange Attractors directed by Marie Liden.
Albert Garcia
Born in Spain, Albert trained classically at the Conservatori Superior de Dansa Illes Balears, before training in contemporary dance at the Conservatori Superior de Dansa de l’Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. Over his career to date Albert has worked with Nunzio Impellizzeri Dance (Switzerland), Cascade Dance Theater, James Cousins Company, Gwyn Emberton Dance (UK) Icosaèdre Dance Compagnie (France), IT Dansa Jove Companyia (Barcelona), and Tanzkompanie Oper Graz (Austria). Besides his dance experience, Albert is fully qualified practitioner of energy and body-work techniques.
Amy Hollinshead
Amy born and raised in Staffordshire, England and completed her professional training at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. During this time she performed in works by Kenneth MacMillan and Mark Baldwin and also danced Itzik Galili's A Linha Curva with Rambert Dance Company. Upon graduating, Amy joined Scottish Dance Theatre in 2013 under the direction of Fleur Darkin. Whilst there she worked with a number of choreographers including Jo Strongrem, Jorge Crecis, Damien Jalet, Henri Oguike, Anton Lachky, Botis Seva and Sharon Eyal.
Valerio Di Giovanni
Born in Italy, at 17 Valerio started professional training at “Balletto di Toscana”, joined the junior company directed by Cristina Bozzolini and Agora coaching project directed by Michele Merola/Enrico Morelli. At 19 he joined Dantzaz Konpainia directed by Adriana Pous. He has performed throughout Europe.Valerio has premiered works by Itzik Galili, Lukas Timulak, Jone San Martín, Karl Alfred Shreiner, Giuseppe Spota, Judith Argomaniz and repertoire by Jacek Przybylowicz, Jacopo Godani, Jean Christophe Maillot, Izadora Weiss, Victoria P. Miranda, Janis Claxton, Wubkje Kuindersma, Fabrizio Monteverde
