Leading on from the success of JOURNEYS 2019, MÓTUS presents the first of 2020’s exciting dance festival activity: Spring Bites.
Throughout March 2020, MÓTUS is staying true to its value in bringing dynamic dance to Milton Keynes, giving you the chance to see and engage with some fantastic leading companies in dance and dance theatre, who will be working within our communities to share their work and wisdom as artists.
Catch live work from Company Chameleon and Joli Vyann for free, in Middleton Hall of the centre:mk on 14th and 15th March, starting at 12:30pm on both days.
Focusing on the highest quality of dance performance; Spring Bites is a performance and workshop programme scheduled to offer community inclusion in dance activity at every level, from primary schools to professional companies.
With dance diminishing in our universities, this programme will highlight the transferable skills employed through partaking and engaging with dance, challenging views of dance as a ‘soft subject’ within our education system and offering understanding of potential career pathways with dance as a wealthy learning guide.
Company Chameleon will be one incredible contributor to Spring Bites, booked to lead 8 skills workshops and career talks in 8 schools across Milton Keynes, before the chance to see the company in performance action with Of Man and Beast.
Athleticism and beauty; Company Chameleon’s unforgettable outdoor dance piece explores and uncovers the many faces of masculinity.
Told through a series of conversations created through dance and movement, Of Man and Beast provides a powerful and sensitive look at male dynamics and behaviour. The piece follows a male group of friends in a range of different scenarios.
Bravado is high and aggression is rife - you have to be tough, funny, fast if you’re part of the gang. With complex group dynamics and a shifting pecking order, cracks in the group begin to appear, and soon the characters are forced to question, their individual identity and just what it means to fit in and belong.
Tightly packed and purposefully fast, Of Man and Beast is different throughout, showcasing Company Chameleon’s unique physical style and a rich mix of dance and movement techniques. Anthony Missen’s choreography is both gritty and graceful and is brought to life through the stunning athletic ability of the five exceptional male dancers.
A thought-out soundtrack adds to the drama and features Rage Against The Machine alongside original music by award-winning composer, Miguel Marin. Don’t miss the chance to see this stand out piece of dance theatre from one the UK’s home-grown professional dance companies.
MÓTUS spoke to Co-Artistic Director of Company Chameleon, Kevin Turner, to get a feel for the exciting input the company will be bringing to Spring Bites:
THINKING ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE OF DANCE GROWING UP, AND THINKING ABOUT PREPARATION FOR LEADING WORKSHOPS IN SCHOOLS FOR SPRING BITES; HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH YOUNGER GENERATIONS?
KT: I’ve had some mentors in my life and teachers that have come to me on my journey at certain points that have given me so many gifts, ideas, possibilities and hope and a broadening of horizons in so many ways, that I’d feel it would be a dishonour to them not to carry on the torch and pass it to the next generation, which I know sounds like a bit of a cliché but I do believe in that.
It’s a duty to do that I think, if you carry yourself in that way, the way my mentors did. If I could then impact somebody else to go on their journey and they get that sense of passing on as well, that’s how it all works.
It’s really important that people get a good first experience – they may decide it’s not for them but [that experience] opens their mind to discover more of what dance can be.
WHAT CAN MK SCHOOLS YOU’LL BE WORKING WITH EXPECT A COMPANY CHAMELEON WORKSHOP FOR SPRING BITES TO LOOK LIKE?
KT: I want to make it fun with warm ups, learning new skills, maybe learning a small dance and then the last part has to be about creativity because that’s important to me.
Not to blow my own trumpet, but I’m lucky in feeling like a painter with lots of colours in front of me, looking at the young people in front of me and sensing where they are as people, the characters in the space, and offering what I think will work for them to experience most.
Seeing the people in the space, reading the space and deciding how I get each person to feel their body in a different way, learn different skills that may have felt too difficult to start with but were made achievable from guidance and demonstration and allowing them to understand that they can make their own dance. I’ll have a sense of rigour and discipline for safety reasons but you’ve got to have fun and a sense of play too.
I’ll offer guidelines, not rules because rules are there to be bent, so open to the young people offering their ideas and creativity.
IF YOU COULD USE THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE COMPANY CHAMELEON’S WORK, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
KT: Athletic, Creative, Real.
Be sure not to miss the opportunity to ask more questions about life as a dancer, and see their work in Middleton Hall.
For more information click here
