Wow.....

So this was my first nottdance as part of the festival team and cor blimey, what a remarkable 10 days we had!! I can't remember when I last experienced such a crazy range of emotions, from laughing until my belly hurt at New Art Club on the launch night, eating so much food at the wonderful Jam cafe that I felt quite ill, losing my breath after joining the Dance4 'running man' crew at Broadmarsh Shopping Centre, crying at Rosie Dennis talking about paradise to her decoy duck, enjoying an early morning walk through the city centre with Bodies in Flight, gaining so much respect and admiration for the local Sneinton residents performing in Street Dance and finally putting on my heels and dancing the night away at our Neolonga! I feel in love several times over the festival, with so many charming, beautiful and inspiring performances..... what a wonderful wonderful festival!!

Let the planning for 2010 begin.....

Helen x

A lovely stroll through Sneinton streets, kicking up the leaves and watching some visual insights into the lives of the locals- what a delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon with my little one. He was captivated throughout Street Dance and laughed in all the right places.

Les SloVaks was just wonderful can't wait for another dose when they next visit the UK.

Rosie's snow dome tale left me sadly reminiscent, yet warm and satisfied. Very ready for a snowy festive season...

Can't wait for nottdance's 21st birthday next year- it'll be my 12th experience of it!

Steph x

Last piece of nottdance

It was a great last day, but the very last piece - TEN by Hetain Patel - turned out to be a true highlight of nottdance09. The performers created an effortless transition from the light informal approach of the start to a serious, beautiful and moving finale. Their natural sincerity combined with great technical skills was always captivating to watch, even at the end of a long day.

Thanks to those onstage and off who worked on this piece for such a brilliant experience. I hope lots more people get to see it!

Rachel

Oblivia will stay with me for a while..

You look good! OOh yeahhhhh! Wooop! Looking good!

Kirsten x

The party has come to the end...

So here we all find ourselves, in the midst of post-festival blues. Post adrenaline, post excitement, post artists and events and beers and dialogue. Post nottdance. Feels like a bit of a sad place to be. It's like clearing up at the end of a mad party.

Reflecting on the week, in my post-manic daze is, however a nice place to be. The momentum of the festival began in the grandeur of Nottingham's Council House Ballroom (and what a spectacular opening to the festival that was) and ended in Fat Cats Cafe Bar with an Argentinean Tango party. And the in between was pretty colossal I have to say, from breakjazz in the Broadmarsh (yes, nottdance got down with the kids) to visually rich multimedia performance and from 5 improvising SlovaKs to local Sneinton residents dancing on their street. nottdance had it all.

The festival team have laughed, cried, thought, ate, slept (and not slept), breathed, walked, watched, drank, talked, danced (and not danced) nottdance. But despite a huge wave of tiredness hitting the team, there is a real sense of achievement in the office.

nottdance felt extraudinary.

nottdance felt brave.

nottdance felt like a challenge, but it also felt human, honest.

Let the planning for next years begin!

Linzi

Waking-up on final Saturday and trying not to feel a sense of loss at the festival coming to an end.... reminding myself to live in the moment.

Firstly I thought I just say that I'm so proud of the team at Dance4. The festival has been great, the energy and skills they have have had all the artists being effusive about their time with us. Thank you team.....

Les Slovaks - in short a great show. Full of fun and surprise the company of men led us through a delightful exploration of their bodies, their relationships whilst playing with the mood and response from the audience. A genius show that left us all wanting much more. The company then spent the rest of the night outside smoking.

Oblivia - a collaboration with Anna Krzystek this charming, but deeply sad show had us all laughing, cringing and dancing. To quote an audience member "I loved dancing in my seat to Tina Turner, felt sad with the movement motifs exploring the hype of celebrity, was hilarious"

Off to observe the workshop now. Many people arriving today to spend the final weekend with us. More soon

Bye blog

Paul

Dear Blog,

Sorry it’s been a few days since my last entry. Life has been busy since we last met and the city of Nottingham has been drawing me away from you…… I’m back although only momentarily.

What can I say, the last few days have been some of the best dance experiences I’ve ever had in the UK. I’m bound to say that as Artistic Director of the festival, but there has been something special about the city coming alive with dance.

Miguel Pereira – an intense experience that I’m still processing. I originally saw this work earlier in the year in Madrid and although found it moving I was not prepared for experiencing it in a space that can do anything. In Madrid I saw it in a basement space, low ceilings and a poor PA meant the show was slightly more intimate, but by no means as intense and physically challenging. At Lakeside I was able to experience the work in such a way that emphasised the starkness of the work and created a sound scape that was literally moving, the audience was rocking, dancing or with fingers in ears whilst sub woofers under the auditorium had us all buzzing in our seats. Miguel certainly gave us an experience that was both primal and disobedient, but magical.

BreakJazz – had me dancing from the first moment. Great contributions from Break Jazz Company, Robert Hlyton, Hetain Patel and others, but mostly the open Jam made for the most memorable afternoon. Never before has Nottingham seen the sight of professionals dancing with toddlers and even the Dance4 team. Kirsten and I were the most adventurous of staff, but let me tell you that we all have a mean running man!!! The main surprise of the day was suddenly seeing my sisters partner come from the crowd and start moving. His locking and popping was genius. He was inspired by Breaking Convention this year and since has been doing the age old thing of rehearsing in the bedroom, dead proud! Dance Development in practice.

Rachel Krische and Robert Hylton – an opportunity for nottdance audiences and artists to see two virtuosic performers mesmerise us with their ability to challenge our views on dance, but do so with ease, care and gorgeous choreography. I’ve had some amazing feedback about both shows. Most of all I’m thrilled to have got to nottdance a piece that Dance4 commissioned 2 years ago and to support an artist that has a true gift that needs sharing with artists and audiences.

Rachid Ouramdane – I’m left wanting to see so much more and not because we were shortchanged, but because such a beautiful work should live for longer. A complex work that I’ve decided is like watching a car crash or falling over in the street. That moment when the world takes a breath, time slows down as your brain tells you something is about to hurt, well something did. There was a serenity of pace, but coupled with a frenetic structure and vast range of stimuli meant this work was a painful exploration of persecution, loss of identity and heritage, but gorgeous and deeply satisfying. One of the most intelligent, well produced and delicious performances I’ve seen. A real nottdance favourite for me. Rachid is coming back for sure.

Bodies in Flight – so so so pleased to have showcased this regional company within the festival. The early morning walk was a touching experience, one that genuinely made me consider my day, my surroundings and ensured that my horrendous experience of carrying a flag base for 20 mins earlier that morning was vanished from my pain brain. The show was an opportunity to take time to reflect on all those times we’ve thought about what our fellow commuters are thinking, where they’ve come from and going too, what brought them to this point in their lives. The performers sang to us, danced for us and gave us a serene early morning walk that I doubt I’ll have in Nottingham anytime soon. Thank you.

And lastly blog, let me tell you about Hatch. Remember us talking about the need to continue to grow our presence internationally as a voice and showcase for experimental practice, whilst at the same time wishing to acknowledge that we’re a local festival too and that we should ensure we build relationships to the local artist community, well that vision was brought to life last night. Broad Street hasn’t been that lively since the mid-90’s. On a Tuesday night there were hundreds of people walking the streets, grabbing a drink and an eclectic range of artistic experiences. Reckless Sleepers kicked off the evening with Pilots and what followed was the most incredible energy from artists presenting can-can, burlesque, holiday pic slide shows and much much more….. a treat of an evening that contributed to this years festival in style.

So dear blog, must go as have to twitter and iron yet more glad rags. Hope to see you soon.

Paul

Wonderful Weekend!

Wow! What a weekend!!Where do I start...

Well Miguel Pereira's Doo was extraordinary. It had me captured from start to finish. I was encapsulated by his storytelling, filling my mind with colourful images. The rhythyms made by Pak were incredible and I loved the use of live sound being captured on stage and then played back in a incredible climax towards the end. It was almost an unbearable experience, but that challenged me to accept the sound intensity and this unique experience, which seemed to take control of me. It was absolutely incredible!!

Saturday was also brilliant! My mum and dad were up for the weekend to see the events so I gave them a real nottdance experience for the day and took them to the Breakjazz event, the double bill at Lakeside and to Jam Cafe afterwards.

The Breakjazz event was an absolute buzz. Chris, Valerie, Ras Happa and Hetain, put on a magnificent performance in the Broadmarsh centre, which drew a huge crowd. The open jam made it for me. The mixture of up and coming dancers and professionals made it really fun and the encouragement from the crowd was great! I was amazed by Clementine (Vanessa's gorgeous daughter) who can only just walk, yet was bouncing away to the music provided by Ras Happa! I think she may be one to watch! I also managed to throw in one my inverted headstands (it was a proud moment!hahaha), but I take my hat off to Paul who also threw down a brilliant freeze! - He's so down with the Kids!

The Rachel Krische and Robert Hylton double bill, was a fantastic mix. I was really fascinated by Rachel's process and her collaboration with Deborah Hay, and really appreciated the complexity of the performance and it's process. However, my favourite, and my parents favourite piece of the night was Robert's. He is such a beautiful performer and I was so drawn into the performance that I started to twitch when he moved! I think he has a real honesty to his performance, and his voice over allowed the audience in on his thought process adding to this. I loved the intricacy that was produced with his locking and popping, and could spend hours watching those tiny movements in the feet rippling up threw the body. I think the audience interaction worked well and think that he could really do more with this in the future.

Back at Jam me, Mum and Dad had a a great time talking to Robert and the team! It was a lovely relaxing atmosphere, with great food and conversation. I am definitely planning to go there more often! However, I did get slightly embarrassed when my Dad starting giving Robert Hylton some movement ideas!! Hahaha, the only dance my Dad has ever done is 'the bump' with my mum about 30 years ago, some bad 'Dad dancing', and he once tried to spin on his head after a few beers!

They would both like to thank everyone for a fantastic nottdance experience, and particularly the staff for being so lovely and so welcoming. They wish us all every success with the rest of the festival.

So... bring on the next week! See you there, Kirsten x

The grand opening certainly lived-up to its billing. New Art Club were, as always, brilliant and made me and many others rather nostalgic for the 80's. Wig, eye liner and jumpsuit coming out at the weekend. Nottingham City Council House looked divine in nottdance09 pink and Dance4 logo was emblazon on Market Square with spinning gobo’s and giant pink flags. The responses to the show from all VIP’s have been gushing and nottdance09 certainly has got off to a great start!

Joining Kirsten for the search for Caramac, apparently need to start going to vending machines in Leisure Centres.

Paul

Festival Firsts!

Hello! I'm excited to do my first blog! As mentioned below New Art Club were fabulous last night. I was actually crying with laughter at one point at Pete's classic 80's style dance moves, and one of my favourite parts was the old skool contemporary dance moves performed by Tom. We know we've all done them far too many times!! The audience interaction and quick witty remarks to the audience added the icing on the cake for me, and as New Art Club put it very in the NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW......brilliant start to the festival this year. One definitely to see if you missed it. Thank you Pete and Tom, and well done team!

Kirsten x

PS. I'm craving Caramac's now and Rachel says they still make them - I'm on a mission!

Opening of nottdance

Felt very special to be at the Council House last night and all the pink branding and the transformation of the Ballroom looked amazing (thanks to all involved).

New Art Club always hits the mark for me but this was extra special - laughs, tears and lots of nostalgia. Loved those dance class moves and Tom's school jumper in particular!

Looking forward to the rest...

Rachel from Dance4

I took my best buddies to see New Art Club last night who its fair to say don't really engage with Dance or the arts frequently and they loved it! Whilst watching the show I could see shadows of bouncing shoulders next to me to coincide with their bursts of laughter. I was itching to move and my feet didn't stop tapping to the music, then my heart sank as my fella was chosen for audience participation! It wasn't so bad he just got picked on for his poor Nottingham pronunciation!

We spent the rest of the night reminiscing about kids we hadn't seen since school- so the laughs kept coming even post show!

Thank Tom, Pete and nottdancexx

P.S. I'm going to search for my skipping rope later, not sure i could compete with you guys though!