British composer Cecilia McDowall will present the world premiere of her Da Vinci Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall to mark Leonardo da Vinci’s quincentenary.
The new work will be performed on 7 MAY 2019, almost exactly 500 years to the day after the Italian Renaissance artist, philosopher and inventor’s death on 2 MAY 1519. It is programmed alongside Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major.
McDowall’s largest scale choral work to date, the seven movement requiem was commissioned by Neil Ferris, conductor of Wimbledon Choral Society. The choir will perform the requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra and soloists Kate Royal (soprano), Roderick Williams (baritone) and 2014 BBC Young Musician of the Year pianist Martin James Bartlett.
The piece combines texts from the Latin Missa pro defunctis with extracts from da Vinci’s notebooks. McDowall explained, –
“We had The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci in the family home. In 1946 my mother gave my father the two volumes of these recently translated Notebooks as a wedding present. […] My father, Harold Clarke, who turned down a place to read Natural Sciences at Cambridge to become a professional flautist, had an enduring fascination for Leonardo and [his] scientific view of the world… As a child I loved looking through these splendid tomes filled with the most extraordinary sketches.”
Harold Clarke was Head of Wind at Trinity College of Music and principal flautist at the Royal Opera House. He gives his name to a woodwind competition at Trinity Laban.
Writing about her choice of text for the requiem, McDowall commented, –
“Once I had decided which sections of the Requiem Mass to use I looked for passages from Leonardo’s philosophy … to align with the mass; there were many parallels between them… Leonardo’s extraordinary philosophical writings cast reflective and penetrating insights into the nature of mortality and all that it encompasses.”
Remembering her time studying piano at Trinity College of Music, McDowall recalled, –
“I studied with the wonderful Hungarian pianist, Joseph Weingarten… His thoughtful, profoundly musical approach influenced my thinking deeply; he was always supportive and most encouraging of my creative endeavours and even now I think what a privilege it was to hear him play, in my lessons, with such characteristic beauty and sensitivity.”
To book tickets for Cecilia McDowall’s Da Vinci Requiem, visit the Southbank Centre’s website.
Trinity Laban alumni and staff receive awards across six categories at this year’s ceremony.
On Tuesday 30 April – International Jazz Day 2019 – Jazz FM hosted their annual awards ceremony at Shoreditch Town Hall in East London.
Presented by Jazz FM broadcasters Chris Philips and Jez Nelson, the evening honoured a diverse list of artists, but the vibrancy of the UK’s thriving young jazz scene was a key theme of the night and Trinity Laban alumni were at the heart of the accolades.
Composer and saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi, an alumnus who leads the immensely popular SEED Ensemble, bagged Breakthrough Act of the Year; fellow alumnus and rising star Cherise Adams-Burnett was named Vocalist of the Year after opening the ceremony with a captivating stripped-back duet with Eric Bibb; and following her meteoric rise over the past 12 months, the public voted 2016 graduate Nubya Garcia the UK Jazz Act of the Year.
The evening closed with an incendiary performance by Steam Down, the South London collective founded by jazz alumnus Wayne Francis. Steam Down were double winners, receiving both The Innovation Award and the Live Experience of the Year Award for their residency show featuring US jazz giant Kamasi Washington.
Also honoured at the event was saxophonist and Trinity Laban jazz professor Jean Toussaint, who won Instrumentalist of the Year.
Congratulations to the winners, and also to nominees Joe Armon-Jones, Moses Boyd, Daniel Casimir, Mutale Chashi, Twm Dylan, Camilla George, Oscar Jerome, Dylan Jones, Femi Koleoso, Jake Long, Sheila Maurice-Grey, Amané Suganami, Emma-Jean Thackray, and Honorary Fellow Gary Crosby.
As London’s Creative Conservatoire, Trinity Laban is an internationally celebrated centre of excellence grounded in tradition but continually looking forward, supporting talented performers and creators to be artistic leaders. Learn more on our study pages.
The MP for Lewisham Deptford visited the Faculty of Dance to see world-class dance training in action.
Trinity Laban was delighted to welcome Vicky Foxcroft, the Member of Parliament for Lewisham Deptford, to the Conservatoire’s award-winning Laban Building on Friday 26 April.
The local MP toured the facilities at the Faculty of Dance, guided by Principal of Trinity Laban Anthony Bowne and Director of Dance Sara Matthews, and met students and staff.
Vicky Foxcroft comments –
“I was thrilled to be at the Laban Building to see world-class dance training in action and hear more about Trinity Laban’s commitment to the local community from early years to elders. It’s great to know that Trinity Laban reaches an amazing 10,000 young people each year, and 40,000 overall, with music and dance programmes contributing to social cohesion and well-being.”
For more information on Trinity Laban’s public engagement and community programmes, visit trinitylaban.ac.uk/take-part.
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Image L-R: Vicky Foxcroft, Anthony Bowne, Sara Matthews with Trinity Laban students
Head of Composition Dominic Murcott takes his award-winning work on tour, culminating in a record launch at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Harmonic Canon is an immersive two-part work by Trinity Laban’s Head of Composition Dominic Murcott that had its world premiere at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2017 and subsequently won the 2018 BASCA British Composer Award for Solo or Duo.
Created in collaboration with American virtuosic percussionists arx duo, the piece is a culmination of four years development and celebrates an array of familiar and unfamiliar sounds such as almglocken (a set of tuned cowbells) and aluphone (tuned aluminium bells) alongside the extraordinary, computer-designed half-ton double bell.
The canon was built specifically by sculptor and musician Marcus Vergette as both an instrument and a piece of public art. The twin bells are tuned a semitone apart to encourage the sonic interference – or “beating” effect – of two pitches close together.
Usually the canon is housed in the courtyard of Trinity Laban’s Faculty of Music at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, but this spring it will be touring around six venues in the UK, starting in Milton Keynes on Saturday 27 April. Dominic’s piece is programmed alongside alumnus Heather Stephenson’s new 21 minute work for hand percussion.
The tour, sponsored by Bell Music, will finish in London with nonclassical’s launch event of The Harmonic Canon on Vinyl on Wednesday 8 May, ahead of the official release on Friday 10 May.
The piece was specifically written for release on LP, with each part lasting 21 minutes, and the recording is part of nonclassical’s new series 21 designed to encourage longer, broader listening.
Third-year undergraduate student Noelia Cotuna has been selected for the prestigious Karajan Academy2019-21.
Founded 40 years ago by celebrated conductor Herbert von Karajan and funded by private donors, the Academy is an exclusive training programme which helps talented young instrumentalists prepare for a professional career.
Noelia, who is studying for her Bachelor of Music at Trinity Laban with Head of Harp Studies Gabriella Dall’Olio, was made aware of and encouraged to apply for the scheme in 2018 when she participated in a masterclass at the Conservatoire with the Orchestra’s principal harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet. The renowned French musician frequently visits Trinity Laban to work with the Harp Department.
As a Karajan Academy student, Noelia will be mentored by Marie-Pierre over the next two years, receiving two hours of one-to-one tuition every week, as well as benefiting from chamber music, audition preparation and orchestral work.
Most excitingly, Noelia will also get the opportunity to play with the Berliner Philharmoniker whenever the repertoire demands a second harpist.
On being selected, the young harpist comments, “I am honoured to be joining the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Karajan Academy. It’s an incredible opportunity.”
Earlier this year, Noelia was named the winner of Trinity Laban Soloists’ Competition 2019, one of the most popular and prestigious competitions in the Conservatoire’s musical calendar.
“Trinity Laban is such a supportive environment,” the 19-year-old undergraduate explains. “They don’t impose who you have to be. The teachers do everything they can to help you thrive.”
As the competition’s winner, Noelia will reprise her performance of Harp Concerto in C minor – a work composed in 1901 by early 20th-century French virtuoso harpist Henriette Renié – with Polish conductor Ewa Strusińska and the Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra at Cadogan Hall on 28 June.
Noelia comments, “Renié is my favourite composer, and this is my favourite concerto. It is rarely performed so I hope to help people discover more about her, what she contributed to the harp. It’s important to remember her as a composer as well as performer.”
As part of Venus Blazing, Trinity Laban’s year-long commitment to programming work by women, the concert also includes two intense and complex works by Lili Boulanger, whilst Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique rounds off the evening’s spectacular feast of French music.
Trinity Laban’s Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts has won a third International Association of Music Libraries (IAML) Excellence Award.
Now awarded every three years, the IAML Excellence Awards celebrate sustained good work and good practice in libraries that has the potential to be adopted and adapted by others.
Having previously won in 2010 and 2014, the Jerwood Library has earned its third award this year, impressing the panel of experts from both the music and library industries chaired by Dr Charles Inskip, Programme Director at the Department of Information Studies, UCL.
In order to be considered for the award, the Jerwood Library was required to demonstrate the breadth and quality of its services including a knowledgeable team, engagement with users, and materials supporting the study, enjoyment and performance of music.
The award was presented by Dr. Inskip at the IAML (UK & Irl) Annual Study Weekend at the University of Leicester on Sunday 14th April, where the library received special commendation for its engagement with users and potential users, as well as its programme of user education.
Head Librarian Claire Kidwell comments – “I’m absolutely delighted that the Jerwood Library has won this award for a third time. It’s a huge testament to an incredibly hard-working team that never rests on its laurels and is always striving to deliver the best possible service to its users.”
Housed in the Faculty of Music at King Charles Court, the Jerwood Library supports Trinity Laban’s mission to bring together performers and practitioners to train, collaborate, research and perform in inspiring creative, intellectual and physical spaces.
The library holds collections of international significance, including rare and in some cases unique items, all of which are available for study and research. To find out more, visit our facilities webpage.
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Image L-R: Dr Charles Inskip, Claire Kidwell (credit: Adam Taylor)
2019 sees the 10th anniversary of Trinity Laban’s partnership with the Horniman Museum and Gardens.
For 10 years Trinity Laban has been part of Object in Focus, an annual loans programme funded by Arts Council England which aims to improve access to the Horniman Museum’s collections.
This year, the Conservatoire is hosting a pair of carved wooden step stilts from the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia that form part of the Museum’s core Anthropology collection.
At 37cm high, the anthropomorphic stilts would have originally been attached to 50cm high stilt poles using coconut fibre and used for ceremonial competitive racing as well as recreation.
These intriguing objects will be on display at the Laban Building until July and will provide the inspiration for a Community Festival of Dance at the Horniman Museum on Sunday 7 July.
On Wednesday 24 April Trinity Laban will host an informative talk given by curator Dr Sarah Byrne which will include her presentation on “Marquesan Stilts and reflections on Polynesian performance spaces”, as well as a Q&A.
Entry to the talk in the Laban Building Lecture Theatre on Wednesday 24 April is free. Email k.redfern@trinitylaban.ac.uk to reserve your seat.
To find out more about Trinity Laban’s partnership with the Musuem, visit our Horniman page.
Trinity Laban’s summer season offers the perfect opportunity to catch future stars of music, dance and musical theatre on the cusp of their professional careers.
Dance
Following an international tour, Transitions Dance Company returns home to the Laban Theatre in June to present their brand-new triple bill of short, innovative dance works. Specially choreographed by Karole Armitage, Marina Collard and Hetain Patel the three pieces range from graceful to precision to the wry and mischievous.
In Dance Legends: Historical Project, second-year undergraduates perform significant major works by prolific contemporary choreographers including Alison Curtis-Jones’s Drumstick (2015), a re-imagination of Rudolf Laban’s ‘lost’ 1913 work. As the original piece preceded Laban’s notation system, published in 1928, and no film footage of photographic evidence exists, Curtis-Jones has devised a method to re-imagine Laban works to create a new ‘living archive’.
Trinity Laban Fulbright Scholar Roman Baca presents xxxx in the annual Graduate School Showcases, alongside other students’ experimental and often interdisciplinary work that has arisen from choreographic and performance-making research.
The finale of three years of contemporary dance training and choreographic research, Dance in Situ and Tomorrow’s Stars Today mark our 2019 graduates’ entry into the dance profession.
Trinity Laban is delighted to present Co Motion in May, a performance showcasing the achievements of young dancers with disabilities. This platform is a celebration of exciting dance works by young people from Greenwich, Lewisham and across the South East, and includes performances from the Conservatoire’s LINKED partners Candoco Dance Company, Magpie Dance and Greenwich Dance
Musical Theatre
The Musical Theatre Department presents three hit shows this summer, opening with the fabulously fun, award-winning musical Legally Blonde at Stratford Circus Arts Centre, before heading to Blackheath Halls for rock and roll inspired Bye Bye Birdie, which captures the energy of small-town American teenagers, and Bob Fosse and Neil Simon’s iconic Sweet Charity.
Venus Blazing
Trinity Laban continues its unprecedented year-long commitment to programming work by women this season with three exciting projects.
Ewa Strusińska conducts a celebration of three French composers for Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra’s final concert of the year at Cadogan Hall on 28 June. The programme includes two intense and complex pieces by Lili Boulanger, as well as Henriette Renié’s Harp Concerto performed by the winner of Trinity Laban’s Soloists’ Competition 2019 Noelia Cotuna. Berlioz’s spectacular Symphonie fantastique brings the evening to a close.
Conducted by Gregory Rose, Trinity Laban’s Contemporary Music Group takes centre stage at The Albany in Deptford on 25 June for Roots, Riots, Remembrance, an evening curated by Soosan Lolavar celebrating the compositions of Trinity Laban staff including Deirdre Gribbin, Laura Jurd, Errollyn Wallen and Dominic Murcott.
In July, Trinity Laban Opera explores the pleasures and torments of romantic relationships through an extraordinary operatic double bill of Ana Sokolović’s effervescentsoulfully haunting Svadba for a cappella female voices,and Claudio Monteverdi’s expressive Lamento della Ninfa, performed in the intimate setting of the Queen’s House, Greenwich.
Festivals
Brahms Focus, Trinity Laban’s concert series entirely dedicated to the music of Johannes Brahms, continues in May, whilst June sees New Lights, a three-day piano festival curated by professors Douglas Finch and Elena Riu that presents music of the avant-garde in all its multifarious incarnations.
Now in its fifth year, the Royal Greenwich Guitar Festival returns for summer 2019. Curated by Graham Anthony Devine, Trinity Laban’s Head of Guitar Studies, this year’s festival features workshops, masterclasses and performances from internationally renowned musicians including Roberto Aussel (Argentina) and Xuefei Yang (China).
Take part
For the summer season, Trinity Laban is out at various London venues including the Tate Modern and the Horniman Museum and Gardens engaging with the wider community and showcasing our work with younger performers.
Girls and Young Women in Jazz is an exciting day of free practical workshops for female instrumentalists and singers aged 11-25 who want to explore jazz. This year, jazz professionals Andrea Vicary and Sheila Maurice-Grey will be on hand to give advice.
Masterclasses
Masterclasses are a unique chance to observe some the finest musicians in the world in action. This season, celebrated artists who will be working with Trinity Laban students include Principal Oboist of London Symphony Orchestra Juliana Koch, distinguished French pianist and recording artist Pascal Rogé, Principal Viola of the Philharmonia Orchestra and Trinity Laban visiting professor Aleksandar Milošev, and artists from the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme.
Find out more and book tickets by visiting our What’s On page.
Image: Marina Collard’s many much, many much too many performed by Transitions Dance Company 2019, (credit: Rachel Cherry)
Cherise Adams-Burnett receives The Drake YolanDa Award.
The £30,000 prize was founded by award-winning musician and broadcaster YolanDa Brown and philanthropist James Drake to support a diverse range of young UK artists who demonstrate creative excellence and commitment to break through into the music industry.
Jazz singer and songwriter Cherise Adams-Burnett, who graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Trinity Laban in 2017, was selected from 200 entries as one of 10 recipients of the inaugural award by a star-studded panel of industry judges including choirmaster Gareth Malone and Music Editor of The Independent Roisin O’Connor.
As a winning act, Cherise will receive £3,000 towards touring, marketing and recording.
The award’s co-founder, YolanDa Brown stated in a press release –
“It was an absolute pleasure meeting the 10 winning acts for the 2019 Drake YolanDa Award. There is so much amazing music in the world and the mainstream acts signed to major labels tend to dominate the airwaves and column inches. We are committed to helping put a spotlight on as many of these amazing emerging acts as possible.”
Cherise performs at Trinity Laban on 13 May as part of a special event to recognise Tomorrow’s Warriors Artistic Director Gary Crosby and celebrate his Honorary Fellowship.
As London’s Creative Conservatoire, Trinity Laban is an internationally celebrated centre of excellence, offering world-class training that transforms those with potential into resourceful, enterprising and adaptable artistic leaders.
To find out more about studying at Trinity Laban, visit our Jazz pages.
For more information about The Drake Yolanda Award, visit the award website.
Dance alumnus Emily May is one of ten participants who took part in the prestigious Aerowaves Springback Academy 2019, a course for emerging dance writers.
Now it its 6th Year, Springback Academy runs alongside Spring Forward Festival and offers participants a unique chance to review selected performances from the festival, both in long form and as live tweets to engage with dance enthusiasts around the world. This year, the Academy and Festival took place in Paris 5 – 7 APR, where participants were mentored by professional critics Donald Hutera, Sanjoy Roy, Kelly Apter and Laura Cappelle.
She was interviewed shortly before Springback Academy about her recent work and future plans. Read on to find out more.
Tell us what you’ve been up to since graduating from the BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance programme in 2017.
For my dissertation I looked at artists’ ambivalent relationships with the “dehumanising metropolis” of 1920s Berlin, so immediately after graduating I went to explore the city I had been obsessively writing about for the past year. I went to do a month-long writing course, and instantly fell in love with Berlin and was desperate to do anything I could to move back.
Eventually, after making various applications and saving up by working at a hotel in my Worcestershire hometown, I was offered an Editorial Internship in Berlin at the monthly English-language magazine, Exberliner. I did a brief stint back in London interning for the Culture Calling recommendations website, before returning to Berlin in October 2018 to intern at SLEEK art and fashion magazine, where I interveiwed choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Trajal Harrell. At the moment I’m interning with online creative magazine, Freunde von Freunden.
Why does dance journalism appeal to you?
As well as telling me that I was always prancing around the kitchen as a kid, my mum said I always had a pen in my hand from a very young age. Dance journalism was the perfect way to combine both obsessions. The idea of capturing the ephemeral nature of dance, and to translate fleeting, physical moments into the written word, is very appealing to me.
I also love the fact that arts journalism allows you to discuss dance alongside other art forms. I wrote a piece about an event here in Berlin that was part contemporary dance performance, part fashion show, for which the designs and choreography had developed organically together. I find this blending of disciplines very exciting and hugely rewarding to write about.
I think that all mediums should be considered alongside each other as equals, especially in these exciting times when the boundaries between art forms are blurring and contemporary dance is becoming increasingly popular. Just take top choreographer Sharon Eyal choreographing for fashion house Dior as an example.
Last year I wrote an online feature for SLEEK magazine entitled Medusa’s Makeover for the #MeToo Moment. This article looked at how the Greek gorgon had been vindicated in 2018 in various art, fashion and dance projects, and related her myth to contemporary issues facing women including #MeToo and a rape case in Ireland which used a woman’s underwear as evidence in a court of law. As part of my research for this feature, I interviewed Jasmin Vardimon about her piece Medusa, as well as Kiki Karoglou, the curator of the recent exhibition Dangerous Beauty: Medusa in Classical Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Interweaving examples of work from different artistic disciplines in order to discuss a wider cultural point was extremely satisfying and is something I would like to continue to do in the future.
Do you have a favourite performance you have reviewed?
Recently I attended a re-imagining of Oskar Schlemmer’s seminal work Das Triadische Ballett as part of the 100 Jahre Bauhaus festival in Berlin. I felt like I had been transported back in time to witness an iconic moment from dance history. I also love reviewing pieces by Tanztheater Wuppertal as Pina Bausch’s choreography has great emotional resonance for me.
How can we access your work to read for ourselves?
How did you become involved with Springback Academy and what will the course involve?
The application process was quite challenging. We were asked to submit a sample review, a description of our local dance scene, and an explanation of why we wanted to take part in the programme. Each response had to be under 140 words. For someone who likes indulging in lengthy descriptions, this was quite a difficult task! I spent a lot of my time at Trinity Laban cutting down essays that were ridiculously over the word count. But after completing the application, I realised the value of being economical with words and I am looking forward to learning even more about concise dance criticism during my time at Springback.
The course is three days long and will include seeing all 22 shows from the Aerowaves programme, reviewing at least one show per day, producing a longer opinion piece at the end of three days, and taking part in a critical issues seminar to discuss the topics that have arisen during the festival.
What do you have planned for after Springback?
Well, two days after I get back from Springback I will be reviewing Gauthier Dance’s Mega Isreal programme at the Haus Der Berliner Festspiele, which features work by Hofesh Schecter, Ohad Naharin and Sharon Eyal. So I will be putting all I’ve learnt to use straight away back in Berlin.
I have many fantastical plans and dreams for the long-term, from completing a Masters in New York to opening my own Weimar Republic-themed performance venue with an associated magazine. For now, I’m extremely happy to be living and working in my favourite European metropolis and to be exploring all it has to offer whilst interning with Freunde von Freunden magazine, as well as writing Berlin-centric dance and arts content for The Wonderful World of Dance and MutualArt.com.
What are some of the challenges faced by arts critics working today?
Like many other areas of society, the internet and how we relate to it provokes big questions in the arts. Today anyone can post a 280-character review on Twitter immediately after a performance, and whilst some may see this as negative, it’s also inspiring how social media has democratised the arts industry and allowed a wider range of voices to contribute to discussions which they may not have had access to ten or twenty years ago.
Are you keeping up your choreographic and performance practice alongside writing?
Yes! During my studies I was able to show my work at various performance platforms in London, Worcester and Oxford. Since graduating, I and my fellow alumni Reuben Woodall, Leo Meredith, Claire Peers, Molly Lippeatt, Ellen Finlay and Ciara Lynch have presented our work MANufactured at Journey Dance Festival in Kendal and the Dance In The Age of Forgetfulness Conference at Royal Holloway University. The work focussed on John Ruskin’s criticism of mass production and how modern-day labour removes individuality, soul and humanity.
I also created a solo inspired by Roman pantomime which I performed at an interdisciplinary conference at The University of Vienna in June 2018. During the same year, I participated in a research and development project with the wonderful choreographer Rosie Kay. She has mentored me since I was 12 years old and in 2016 invited me to sit on her Board of Directors.
Which part of your course at Trinity Laban has been most useful to you since graduation?
Writing my dissertation was a very formative experience as it allowed me to focus on the period, choreographers and artists I was most passionate about. It also gave me the chance to practise writing about dance in relation to visual art, literature, film, politics etc. If I hadn’t become so obsessed with the 1920s dance and art of the Weimar Republic whilst writing my dissertation, I don’t think I’d have been so determined to move to Berlin!
Also, consistently being encouraged to talk about dance in a clear, intelligent way – whether this was delivering speeches about our choreographic creations or learning about Rudolf Laban’s terms for efforts and movement in choreological studies – has been invaluable in giving me a vocabulary to apply to arts writing.
If you could give ONE piece of advice to aspiring arts writers, what would it be?
Identify opportunities to write about what you love. Like every job, you’re going to have to write articles or reviews that aren’t your favourite sometimes, but it’s all worth it when you know you’ve got a piece coming up on a topic you’re really passionate about.
I’m a big believer in making opportunities for yourself. If you want an internship, don’t wait for a job advert; email and introduce yourself. If there’s an idea you can’t wait to work on, pitch it to editors, and if it’s rejected or you don’t get a reply (which happens more often than not!) write the pieces anyway and publish them on your own platform.
Daniel Squire stages a project at the Barbican to mark 100 years since the birth of the prolific American dance artist.
The Merce Cunningham Trust has invited Trinity Laban Dance Lecturer Daniel Squire to stage the London leg of Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event, a celebration across the three cities that will showcase material from six decades of Cunningham’s extensive, boundary-pushing career.
Daniel has had an on-going relationship with the work of Merce Cunningham for 23 years, performing around the world with Cunningham’s dance company, and staging many of his works –
“I first saw the company perform in 1995 in London. I was immediately captivated by the dancers’ active investigation of the choreography. It was explicit live engagement, rather than presentation. Seeing that was a major moment in my life.”
Daniel joined the Faculty of Dance at Trinity Laban in 2015 –
“It was important to me, in continuing to engage with Merce’s technique and repertory work, that I should be doing that at a place where it was already valued. Trinity Laban had already established that culture, primarily through Gary Lambert [Senior Lecturer in Dance] who had worked closely with Merce whilst at Rambert Dance Company.”
At the Conservatoire Daniel teaches Cunningham Technique – a training process to develop strength and flexibility in both the body and mind – and stages Cunningham’s works as part of the annual Historical Project for second-year dance students –
“It is important for young dancers to experience his approach and ways of working as part of their training – it opens them up to choreographic possibilities and inspires their creativity.”
Daniel has been working with fellow Merce Cunningham Dance Company alumni Cheryl Therrien and Ashley Chen as associate stagers over the last year, creating a diverse programme for the centennial event that brings together 25 dancers, including Siobhan Davies, and Trinity Laban alumnus Elly Braund.
In representing the diversity of Cunningham’s work, one of the challenges of the event is to fit 100 solos in only an hour and a half, which has meant many solos will co-exist on the same stage at once.
In addition, Daniel has split the programme into six sections of 15 minutes, and has rolled dice to decide which solo should be in which section and in what order. This process of letting chance be a determining factor of performance was core to Cunningham’s approach – he used it as a creative tool to challenge the traditional notion of storytelling in dance.
The large-scale, transatlantic celebration takes place on 16 April 2019 at the Barbican in London, Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City, and Centre for the Art of Performance at UCLA in Los Angeles. Assisting the staging in LA is Trinity Laban alumnus and former member of Cunningham Dance Company Dylan Crossman.
In keeping with Cunningham’s interest in technology, the event will be live-streamed, allowing anyone anywhere to experience each venue’s 90-minute performance in real time.For more information about the centennial or for access to the Live Streaming, visit the Barbican’s website and Merce Cunningham Trust’s website.
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