On 3 April, a number of alumni (Daniela Magni, Lucy Murphy, Eileen Newnham, Maria Nikitidou, Jack McSweeney, Gemma Storr, Trudy Kerr, Clare Hirst) had the chance to attend two talks on Music Education given by Dr Andrea Schiavio from the University of York.

 

In April, our dance alumni have been involved in a range of performances and events.

Watch Matthew Bourne presents the Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer to Matt Cole for Disney’s Newsies at The Olivier Awards 2023.

Choreological studies lecturer and TL alumni, Alison Curtis-Jones presented her artistic work and research “Re-Imagining Laban: Dynamic Transformations in Contemporary Dance” at the World Arts & Embodiment Forum that was held between 11 April to 13 April.

Read about balletLORENT’s reimagining of Rapunzel, the Theatre Review: Rapunzel at The Leeds Playhouse, by choreographer and artistic director Liv Lorent.

A Back On The Map Event: Dancing Together, an interactive art festival exploring African diasporic dance history was held at the Laban Building on 13 and 14 April. This project was led by TL Innovation Award winners, Sunniva Moen Rørvik and Emma Greene.

The Guardian reviews Say Something, Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui’s choreography at The Place, London.

Malik Nashad Sharpe’s new choreography of Goner returned to the Now Festival at The Yard between 18 April and 22 April.

Rosalind Holgate Smith, dance artist and performer, performed Vibration, an immersive dance theatre performance at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, on 27 April.

Recent contemporary dance graduate, Malachi Briant performed his solo, Stuck, as part of the Forge Festival 2023 on 30 April. Click here to watch a snippet of his dress run.

 

On the other hand, our music alumni have also been busy with performances and new song releases.

Watch Produce Like A Pro, Warren Huart’s YouTube video of TL composition alum Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds – Albums That Changed Music. Here’s an interview about the musical.

Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones has joined forces with Maxwell Owin on a new album ‘Archetype’ to be released in June.

Peckham-born, British-Bengali singer, Tara Lily shares about “blending genre, breaking out of boxes, and no longer caring about what people think” on gal-dem.

Nubya Garcia speaks about her experience experimenting for songs for the massive 2LP London Brew project in an article by Glide Magazine.

Read a Live Review: Ezra Collective @Albert Hall, Manchester where Ezra Collective’s (Joe Armon-Jones, Femi Koleoso) “choice of venue to perform in Manchester juxtaposes an interesting range of emotions.” Drummer Femi Koleoso also discusses inclusivity in jazz in an article titled “A Jazz Club Is Whatever You Want It To Be”: Three Days at the Blue Note With Ezra Collective.

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra announced their broadened repertory for the 2023-2024 season. John Butt, Dunedin Consort’s music director, will conduct the operas with Nardus Williams as Belinda.

Between 14 April to 16 April, Reuben James performed at the Brick Lane Jazz Festival across seven venues.

Dai Fujikura performed Love Excerpt at the Modern Notebook on 16 April.

Former TL staff and Junior Trinity alumni, Karl Lutchmayer, talks about his current endeavors in music in an article by Herald Publications.

John Savournin performed as Judas and the disciples in Martin Emslie’s Omega and Alpha Oratorio on 16 April.

Aldo Lopez-Gavilan, TL piano alum, performed Viernes de Cuidad for the Bright Lights and Rising Stars | Memphis Chamber Music Society on 16 April.

Eminent composer, Cecilia McDowell’s work was performed at St Mary’s Church for the Henley Choral Society’s 50^th anniversary concert.

14-time Grammy Award Nominee, Terry Barber, sang all ranges covering “songs written for voices from baritone and tenor all the way to soprano” when he performed at a one stellar evening Andrew Lloyd Webber concert.

Sheila Maurice-Grey plays the horns in Jessie Ware’s new single, ‘That! Feels Good!’ which came out on 28 April. Watch the music video here.

 

Coming Up:

Limón Dance Company

Artistic director of Limón Dance Company, Dante Puleio announced that the company will be featuring three programmes at three new venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn this Spring Season. Book your tickets here.

 

SAVING FACE by Kakilang

Yukiko Masui is one of the dancers that will be performing in a new comedy dance theatre, SAVING FACE by Kakilang. Below are the dates of the performances, book your tickets here:

Curve, Leicester – 26 & 27 May

The Place – 23 & 24 June

 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Musical

Molly Osborne will be playing the leading role of Elowen Keene in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Musical in London between 22 May and 1 July. Get your tickets here.

 

The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal

Oscar Jerome will be performing as part of the free shows at The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal this summer. Have a look at the festival’s lineup here.

To start off the Alumni Roundup for March, we want to highlight that Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance was mentioned in an article by Study International as one of three creative arts institutions shaping the contemporary world.

 

Our dance alumni have accomplished a range of extraordinary work including performances and exhibition openings.

The Guardian wrote an article, Top 10 retold fairytales, which examines how each retelling offers startling new reflections of the world we live in now. Contemporary dance alum Mayowa Ogunnaike, who performed in the staging of Hansel and Gretel by Vicki Igbokwe, was featured in the headline photo of the article.

Luca Silvestrini’s award-winning dance adaptation of The Little Prince was performed at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham on 11 March.

Deborah Abel Dance Company performed Come to the Circle from The Wild Devine at an event celebrating women in Chelsea High School, Massachusetts, on 21 March.

On 22 March, the exhibition opening of Process|Rehearsal|Performance by Mark Dean in collaboration with Lizzi Kew Ross & Co (Alessandra Ruggeri, Ben McEwen, Dave Waring, Sonia Rafferty) kicked off. The exhibition of the three videos conveys the energy of interdisciplinary art practice.

A recent performance at the Old Market, Brighton was reviewed by The Stage. The Album, co-created by Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui (known as SAY), is a “part-gig and part-dance show.”

Center for the Arts’ creative initiatives director, Oona Doherty, came up with the beautiful idea of covering the theatre lobby wall-to-wall with flowers. Read about Stacey Walker Oldham’s WallFlowers exhibit here.

 

Our music alumni have also achieved outstanding work such as performing internationally and new music releases.

At the beginning of March, Ezra Collective (Joseph Armon-Jones, Dylan Jones, Femi Koleoso) were one of the international standouts who performed at Clockenflap 2023 in Hong Kong.

Cassie Kinoshi is involved in creating original music for the exciting new production of Recognition, by Talawa, the UK’s outstanding Black British Theatre Company.

BBC interviewed trans singer and recent Musical Theatre graduate, Teddy Hinde, as Teddy showed the effect of testosterone on his voice.

Jazz singer-songwriter, Cherise Adams-Burnett, chats to Notion about her upcoming music project and new single, Secrets.

John Savournin played Gaffer Gubbins the Dragon, in the opera ‘The Dragon of Wantley’. Read the opera review by The Arts Fuse here.

London Brew (Nubya Garcia) released their new single, Raven Flies Low, on 9 March.

World-renowned international countertenor, Terry Barber, performed the live production of ‘Mercury: The Life and Music of Queen’s Freddie Mercury’ at Sedona and Cottonwood, Arizona.

Camilla George was included in the NN North Sea Jazz Festival announcement of second wave artists.

The Standard published an article on 12 March about the late Fela Kuti, musician, activist and pioneer of afro-beats.

On 14 March, Sidhant Kapoor released his first music video Beparwah, a single about slum children and their carefree outlook on life based on the poem ‘Slum Children at Play’ by Ruskin Bond in Mumbai.

Maria Marchant performed at the Worchester Concert Club on 26 March, featuring works by Clara Schumann, Joanna Gill, Roderick Williams, John Ireland and more.

On 31 March, Nardus Williams sang alongside Dunedin Consort, Scotland’s leading baroque ensemble, for an evening celebrating Handel.

 

Coming up:

Dancing Together Arts Festival

On 13 and 14 April, Sunniva Moen Rorvik and Emma Greene, TL Innovation Award Winners of 2021, will be hosting Dancing Together. As part of the Back on the Map Project, Dancing Together is an arts festival centered around the celebration of African Diasporic art and how it has influenced the UK dance scene. Functioning as an explorative space, the festival will include interactive displays, activities and live events for and by the Lewisham Borough community.

Book your free tickets here.

 

Brighton Fringe 2023

Alauda Dance (founded by Catherine Sleeman) presents ‘And The Summer Shall Follow’ at Brighton Fringe 2023. Addressing the challenges presented by the climate crisis and mental health crisis, Alauda Dance presents two contemporary dance works that grapple with darkness and light of the natural world and our place within it.

Book your tickets to catch their performance on 6 May here.

 

Creamfields South 2023

Lewis Wright was among the names announced for The Garden Party, part of Creamfields South 2023, happening in May. Get your tickets here.

 

Resolution 2023

A number of our dance alumni (Sunniva Moen Rorvik, Charis Crudgington, Lucy Clark, Nadine Elise Muncey, Fabio Pronesti, Sanya Malnar, Mandy Tan, Malachi Briant, Kennedy Junior Muntanga, Maya Takeda, Tough Boys Dance Collective, Oluwaseun Olayiwola) will be showcasing their choreography at this year’s Resolution Festival happening at The Place across 19 nights from 18 May to 16 June.

Find out more about each work and book your tickets here.

 

Ottawa Jazz Festival

Kokoroko (Cassie Kinoshi, Oscar Laurence, Mutale Chashi, Sheila Maurice-Grey) will be part of the Ottawa Jazz Festival’s After Dark series on the OLG Stage. They will be performing on the 27 June. Browse the rest of the Ottawa Jazz Festival 2023 line-up and book your tickets here.

 

Our alumni have been involved in some fascinating performances across faculty including Ben Ramsden, award winning composer, who performed his newly launched electronic classical album in Peckham, featuring a string quartet.

Leeds kickstarted Year Of Culture 2023 on 7 January with a spectacular opening ceremony. Three of our recent 2022 graduates Akari Takahashi, Ben Yorke-Griffiths and Piera Gentile were among the 100 dancers performing.

Ezra Collective (Joseph Armon-Jones, Dylan Jones, Femi Koleoso) were the house band for Jonathan Ross’s New Year Comedy Special on ITV. On top of that, the band has released their first new music of the year, a reimagining of the classic Fela Kuti song, ‘Lady’.

Ballet Lorent’s (Liv Lorent) 30^th anniversary season began this month as they presented a piece that explored how we use clothing to play with identity in The Becoming.

Lucy Clark performed an original dance piece, What If? at the Pegasus Theatre as part of Moving With The Times Festival 2023 on 20 January. Catch Lucy alongside three other dancers performing the final versions of their work on 3 and 4 March.

Maria Marchant performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and I got rhythm variations with the brilliant Worthing Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Gibbons on 27 January.

 

Moving on to new music releases, Amir Tafreshipour (composer) has released a new opera, The Doll behind the Curtain – A Chamber Opera in January 2023 under BIS records. Per Bach Nissen, one of the performers, is another alum involved in this production.

Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Tom Skinner and others have announced their Miles Davis Tribute Album London Brew.

Looking for a podcast to listen to? ResDance, a podcast dedicated to research methodologies and methods in dance practice by Dr. Gemma Harman, released Season 3 in December. You can listen to the episodes on Anchor, Spotify, Apple, Radio Public and Google Podcast.

Liza Bec’s Roborecorder in the Museum of Science and Industry exhibit Turn It Up: The Power of Music, will be displayed until 21 May 2023. Liza has also been featured in the New Scientist and released a new single in January.

 

In other news, Kokoroko (Cassie Kinoshi, Oscar Laurence, Mutale Chashi, Sheila Maurice-Grey) were listed among the 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2022.

Read about Stjepan Hauser’s new single, why he started the Hauser Music Foundation, his new line of luxury wine (Hauser Wine) and more at Interview with HAUSER: The Croatian rebel with a cello.

Cherise Adams-Burnett features in the song ‘The Dream Keeper’ with SEED Ensemble. Listen here on Spotify.

See what PBS NewsHour has to say about 2Cellos and how they use their unconventional instruments to play contemporary rock music (Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic).

Radhika Apte is one of the actors profiled in a RVCJ Media article about how much actors earn for internet streaming services.

Génia posts an update on the work of Support Kharkiv Foundation here.

Camilla George opens up about the harsh realities of touring today and the dark histories behind her joyous-sounding new album.

 

We love to celebrate our alumni achievements and would like to acknowledge that Protein Dance (director, Luca Silvestrini) has been selected as one of the recipients of the Voluntary and Community Sector grants for years 2023-2027.

In December, John Powell’s score from the Warner Bros. Movie Don’t Worry Darling was one of the 15 shortlisted for the 95^th Oscars.

 

Coming up:

We have some interesting performances, talks and workshops over the next two months.

Mandy Tan and Malachi Briant will be performing at the Elephantology Festival, Blue Elephant Theatre’s Festival for recent graduates and those who are just entering the performing arts industry. They will be sharing their work-in-progress, While Remembering, at the Solo Performance Showcase on 22 February at 19:30. Book your tickets here.

Luca Silvestrini’s Protein Dance are touring with The Little Prince to rural community spaces as well as arts venues, starting in February.

Milana Zaric and her husband, Richard Barrett, will present new works at the North Wales Music Festival in February.

Celebrating 10 years since its premier at Sadlers Wells, Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty shows at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford between 21 February and 25 February.

Jean-Baptiste Baele is one of the artists who will be performing and presenting his work at Aerowaves’s Spring Forward event in Dublin. Catch a glimpse of his choreography, Nabinam, an auto-biographical solo piece in which the protagonist gets up-close and personal to the audience to recount his adoption story.

Emily Jenkins, founder of Move Dance Feel – a company offering dance to women affected by cancer – was awarded the Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2020. As part of that, she will be taking her research to the US in March to catalyse an International Dance in Cancer Care network as well as to connect with some high-profile organisations.

Interested to know more about Emily’s work with Move Dance Feel? Move Dance Feel is offering Dance in Cancer Care: Introductory Training, which enables people working across the dance and health sectors to collaborate and gain insights into how dance can innovate cancer care services. This will be happening from 3-5 March 2023.

Ezra Collective (Joseph-Armon Jones, Dylan Jones, and Femi Koleoso) will be performing in the Hong Kong’s Clockenflap Festival 2023, in a line-up led by Arctic Monkeys and Phoenix.

The BA3 Contemporary Dance students have been rehearsing and developing works through creative exploration with professional choreographers. They will be performing their BA3 Commissioned Works on 9 February at 15:30 and 19:30, Laban Theatre.

Join the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir for their Special Evensong performance on 25 February, 16:00, at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, to commemorate Christopher Wren, one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history. Entry is free.

On 19 February, BBC Radio 3’s Drama On 3 production of The Seagull will be broadcast. The classic stage play’s music is composed by alum John Chambers.

Winner of the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year, Xhosa Cole and his new Xhosa Cole Quartet presents Rhythm-A-Ting in March. Book tickets here.

Ayanna Witter-Johnson will be performing at Attenborough Arts Centre, celebrating her Jamaican heritage through a unique fusion of classical music, reggae and R&B on 2 March.