Dance

Announcing our TL Innovation Award Winners 2022

Posted 28 July 2022 No Comments

The award provides final-year students with a platform to grow as creators, offering significant support in the form of professional development and seed funding so awardees can realise their artistic and business ideas.

Now in its fourth year, the Trinity Laban Innovation Award forms part of the conservatoire’s strategy to help emerging artists develop their voice and innovate in the cultural industries.

We’re pleased to announce that the 2022 winners are:

Phoebe Noble, Natasha Spencer Levy, Ellie Drayton and Holly McConville (Musical Theatre) for 13 Months Theatre
Shaye Poulton Richards (Music) for Upon A Mother’s Death
Iolla Grace (Music) for InsideSound
The Grounding Project: Ruby De Ville Morel, Mila Fernandez and Melissa Heywood (Dance) for The Water Series
Ashley Lim and Isabelle Long (Dance) for Transcendance
Ebony Robinson (Dance) for Diversity in space and styles

The awardees impressed expert panellists Chief Executive of Black Lives in Music Charisse Beaumont, Creative Dance Consultant Theresa Beattie OBE, and Trinity Laban Principal Anthony Bowne with diverse and innovative proposals that span cultural history, boundary-pushing genre development, and the power of the arts for positive change in the community.

Anthony Bowne comments –

“The panel and I were incredibly impressed by the creativity, ambition and scope shown by applicants across dance, music and musical theatre. The Trinity Laban Innovation Award is one of the many ways in which Trinity Laban is nurturing entrepreneurial and project management skills in early career artists and strengthening our connections with the wider industry.”

Charisse Beaumont comments –

“I was impressed by the calibre of the applicants this year. Each demonstrated not just creativity and innovation but the willingness to use their project to impact society. I am deeply inspired and encouraged by the fact that this is just the beginning of their career as future leaders.”

Theresa Beattie comments –

“I was impressed by the entrepreneurial ideas of the students and how each finalist made the case through their presentation as to how they could make a positive civic impact with Innovation Award investment.”

Funded by our Higher Education Innovation Fund allocation, each winning project receives an award of £3,000 to use on development. They will also benefit from a specially tailored 10-month mentorship programme delivered by acclaimed Trinity Laban alumni, who will share their expertise, including:

Flautist and music educator Nicola Tagoe
Artistic Director of Studio Will Dutta and Co-Head of Artist Development at Sound and Music Will Dutta (BMus Piano 2008)
Presenter, workshop leader and narrator Lucy Drever, who is Associate Artist with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Head of Musicianship at the Benedetti Foundation, and an Ambassador for the Britten Pears Arts Community team. (BMus Voice (mezzo soprano) 2013)
Dance and movements specialist Yukiko Masui who has worked with international contemporary dance companies such as Art of Spectra, Cathy Waller Company, Christopher Marney and Vuyani Dance Theatre. (DDS 2009; MA Dance Performance 2011)
Matthew Harding, artistic director for Urban Interface Dance UK and the founder and director for Wolfpack Dance Collective UK. (MFA Choreography 2019)

Since its inception in 2019, the Trinity Laban Innovation Award has already supported 18 forward-thinking and socially engaged projects conceived by winners who have achieved remarkable things, contributing to the UK’s rich cultural landscape. These include:

Composer, musician and artist James Layton who founded Into the Ocean, a London-based recording and concert series showcasing experimental new music including an album of works for solo viola in collaboration with Stephen Upshaw.
Multicultural all-female dance collective Mass Hysteria who has created work for Tate Modern, The Place’s Resolution Festival 2020 and V&A’s Friday Late series.
Producing Artistic Director Hayley Huggett, who set up Tilley Peacock Productions, creating shows and workshops for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability.

Trinity Laban Innovation Award Co-founder, Joe Townsend comments –

“Now is the time for finding fresh ways of working together. In these uncertain times, the arts are more important than ever. Fuelled by energy and imagination, combined with Trinity Laban’s excellent creative approach to training, we are proud to support these fabulous artists as they launch their careers in music, dance and musical theatre. There are more collective projects than in previous years, which is a testament to our belief in collaborative working.”

The award gives graduates more than just money to realise a project, the mentoring is a two-way learning relationship that provides a safe space for mentors and graduates to bring ideas into action and to help shape the bigger picture of music and dance.

Dance artists Emma Greene and Sunniva Moen Rorvik used their 2021 award to support their project exploring experiences of dance of the African Diaspora in the London Borough of Lewisham. They comment –

“The Trinity Laban Innovation Award gave us the opportunity to make important connections within the local community. The support from our mentor, really helped us to take on this new challenge with confidence and we are forever grateful for the opportunities that we have had since receiving the award.”

To find out more, visit our Innovation Award webpage.

If you’re interested in studying at Trinity Laban visit our study pages.

Image credit: Juno Snowdon

Dancer performing in TL studio with neon lights

TL’s research deemed world-leading by REF 2021

Posted 27 May 2022 No Comments

The results of the Research Excellence Framework 2021 have been published

Overall 68% of Trinity Laban’s research was assessed to be world-leading and internationally excellent, a significant improvement from the last REF (2014) furthering TL’s position as one of the UK’s leading conservatoires and its standing in a comparative group of UK conservatoires.

100% of our research impacts were ranked at the two top grades 4* (world-leading in originality, significance and rigour), and 3* (internationally excellent). This reflects the real world benefits Trinity Laban’s research has delivered.

At sector level, we are in the top three UK conservatoires offering musical training.

Undertaken every seven years, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a peer review process set up to assess the quality of research across UK universities. It aims to provide accountability for public investment in research and to support benchmarking within the HE sector and beyond. The outcomes are also used to calculate the distribution of public funding for university research.

Find out more about research at Trinity Laban.

Multiple nominations for Sir Matthew Bourne OBE at National Dance Awards 2022

Posted 6 May 2022 No Comments

The TL alum and his company New Adventures have been shortlisted for a total of seven accolades

The UK’s Critics’ Circle has announced nominations for its annual National Dance Awards, and Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell tops the list of individual productions with five nominations.

The celebrated choreographer completed his BA at Trinity Laban before going on to do the Graduate Diploma in Dance Performance (Transitions Dance Company) graduating in 1986. Matthew launched New Adventures in 2002.

The company has now secured seven nominations at this year’s awards including the Stef Stefanou Award for Outstanding Company.

The Royal Ballet’s The Dante Project, by Trinity Laban Visiting Professor of Choreography Wayne McGregor, has also secured four nominations.

The winners will be announced at a live ceremony in London on 13 June 2022.

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Image credit: Hugo Glendinning

TL dancers are finalists for BBC Young Dancer 2022

Posted 6 May 2022 No Comments

Two alumni of the conservatoire’s CAT scheme will compete in Saturday’s Grand Final

The ultimate talent show for young UK dancers, BBC Young Dancer showcases some of the best up-and-coming performers from ballet to contemporary, street to tap and South Asian.

The competition is overseen by TL alum and former Chief Executive and Artistic Director of London’s international festival Dance Umbrella, Emma Gladstone OBE.

To adjudicate this year, Emma is joined by some of the industry’s best talent including Hip Hop dance phenomenon Gianna Gi, South Asian choreographer Geetha Sridhar, independent dance artist Annie Hanauer and award-winning multi-disciplinary artist Ivan Blackstock.

They will be judging the talents of 10 dancers, including 19-year-olds Hannah Joseph and Robert Dunkley-Gyimah, who trained as part of Trinity Laban’s Centre for Advance Training.

The innovative scheme offers young people with exceptional talent and potential in dance the opportunity to access high quality dance training. The programme of classes provides intensive and rigorous dance training taught by a highly experienced team of professional dance teachers and artists.

Robert discovered his passion for dance aged 12, and has trained in street dance, ballet and contemporary, while Hannah started in a local ballet school at six before joining the CAT scheme and is now a member of National Youth Dance Company.

They will compete to be crowned BBC Young Dancer 2022 in the Grand Final at London’s Roundhouse, broadcast on Saturday 7 May on BBC TWO and on iPlayer.

BBC Young Dancer 2022 – The Final | Trailer – BBC Trailers – YouTube

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Discover more about studying dance at Trinity Laban.

Two female dancers dressed in pink skirts and short sleeve shirts, one is lying on her side the other is kneeling bent over her

Trinity Laban at Resolution 2022

Posted 26 April 2022 No Comments

Dance students and alumni are taking part in The Place’s annual pick ‘n’ mix festival of live theatre

Resolution 2022 runs from Saturday 7 May to Friday 10 June at The Place theatre. It features over 66 artists premiering bite-size performances across 22 nights.

These include 2021 Trinity Laban Innovation Award Winners Tough Boys Dance Collective (Roseann Dendy, Sula Castle and Daze Hingorani-Short). The queer-led dance theatre trio will present DJ as Witness, a simmering collection of club snapshots developed as part of the award (Tue 24 May).

Sula and Daze are also performing alongside alum Andrea Callaghan in Miriam Levy’s I Can’t Work Under These Conditions, a show is about divas that takes a witty look at the intersections of confidence and gender expression (Tue 31 May).

Also showing work is Danish dance artist and emerging choreographer Laura Engholm, the recipient of the 2020 Innovation Award. Mentored by participatory dance artist and fellow alum Stella Howard, Laura used her Award to created dance company Engholm Danseteater, which places diversity and inclusion at the heart of its work. Stories of Belonging is a witty and thoughtful blend of contemporary dance, music, poetry and physical theatre, creating a living collage of stories about what it means to belong to a place, to a person, to a tribe, to yourself (Wed 11 May).

MA Choreography student Angelina Gorgaeva presents Three Sisters.Between the lines…, inspired by Anton Chekhov’s play Three Sisters and performed by contemporary dance students Igea Noioso, Anika Nowicka, Zuzanna Wasiak, Chiara Duccini and Gaia Tundo (Thu 12 May).

Other alumni presenting work are Alice Labant and Gordon Raeburn, whose Rebooted Facets is an eclectic patchwork driven by chance and the Hip Hop sampling process (Tue 17 May).

Pavlina Karlo’s duet Now & Then, performed by Kristyna Kocianova and Agnieszka Mencel, portrays two physical bodies in the expression of one person in a lived journey of loss and gain through an emotional trauma (Wed 18 May).

Kathryn Fisher and Laure Dubanet invite the audience into a quiet and tender space of queer desire as they perform Teresa Skamletz’s Wet Bit of Sand (Thu 19 May).

Follow Through Collective, featuring Natalie Richter and Johanna Merceron, access imagination and physical memories to perform Greta Gauhe’s Being at Hand (Mon 30 May).

Hannah Connor and Nadine Muncey present Landscape No. 8, a duet that explores serenity and connectivity (Wed 8 Jun).

Colleen Bartley and Beithe Movement Collective invite the audience to experience the unfolding exploration of movement, sound, space, bodies and objects in surface tension of the unknown (Thu 9 Jun).

For over 30 years Resolution has been a celebration of new choreography and performance works, spotlighting emerging artists and being a springboard into the profession.

To see the full programme and book tickets, visit The Place website.

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Image: Teresa Skamletz’s Wet Bit of Sand (credit Cheniece Warner)

Launching TL’s Summer Season 2022

Posted 12 April 2022 No Comments

Encounter intriguing and inventive music and dance in our live events programme.

Running from May to July, our summer season takes Trinity Laban talent to venues across the capital to celebrate innovative new works and contemporary voices across artforms.

Highlights include a new opera, two festivals, three musical theatre productions, a host of new dance works and a rousing call to climate action.

Hope 4 Justice

Co-created by composer Eska Mtungwazi, Young Person’s poet laureate Cecilia Knapp, choreographer Sarah Golding and hundreds of local young people, Hope 4 Justice will highlight global and local climate concerns and look to the future with hope. The cross-artform piece featuring dance, music and spoken word will be presented at Catford’s Mountsfield Park as part of Lewisham Borough of Culture 2022 in partnership with Lewisham Music.

Dance

An annual highlight, Dance Legends (Thu 30 Jun – Fri 1 Jul) features a selection of works by choreographers who have made significant contributions to the development of contemporary dance. This year’s programme includes Protima Chatterjee Unfettered Mind, Candoco’s Still by Nigel Charnock and experts from Studio Wayne McGregor Autobiography performed by second year students.

This season also sees dance students from across our programmes present new work, starting with two programmes of original choreographic work by second-year BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance students Mon 9 May & Tue 10 May).

Third year students will delight and intrigue audiences with theatre-based and site-specific dance works, films and installations for Dance in Situ (Wed 18 Jun) in a culmination of their artistic exploration and choreographic investigation, before presenting work which has been developed through intensive periods of creative exploration with professional choreographers including Diva Kasturi in the second instalment of Commissioned Works (Tue 14 Jul).

Across two weeks, the Faculty of Dance presents the annual Graduate Showcase (Mon 18 – Fri 29 Jul), spotlighting new work from artists studying on our masters and research degree programmes. Expect experimental and investigative pieces, drawing on collaborative and interdisciplinary practices that incorporate live performance, film and video, installation, and documentary processes.

Festivals

Changemaker Festival at Blackheath Halls (Thu 26 – Fri 27 May) celebrates the diverse and rich work of our BA (Hons) Music Performance and Industry students.

Curated by Douglas Finch, New Lights Contemporary Festival of Piano and Contemporary Music returns to our King Charles Court campus for a riot of experimental music making (Mon 20 & Tue 21 Jun). The festival has earned a reputation for showcasing a diverse range of composed and improvised contemporary music for keyboard, electronic and multi-media performance. Each day will feature a series of performances from students, alumni, composers and guest artists, and will culminate in an interactive improvisational ‘happening’ across multiple spaces.

Continuing their successful UK Tour, Nic Pendlebury and Trinity Laban String Ensemble bring A Change of Season to Latitude Festival in Suffolk (Thu 21 & Fri 22 Jul). A response to the climate emergency, the programme reimagines Vivaldi’s iconic masterpiece The Four Seasons and revives Hollie Harding’s immersive and eco-political Melting, Shifting, Liquid World, exploring the seasons as they should be and contemplating what they may become.

Productions

In their last shows before transitioning into the profession, third year musical theatre students take to The Albany stage to present two movie-inspired shows: Carrie the Musical (Fri 20 May – Sat 21 May) and Footloose the Musical (Fri 27 – Sat 28 May).

Based on the Stephen King novel Carrie with music by Michael Gore and Lyrics by dean Pitchford, the show centres on a teenage girl with telekinetic powers whose lonely life is dominated by an oppressive religious fanatic mother. When she is humiliated by her classmates at the high school prom things take a turn and chaos is unleashed on everyone and everything in her path.

Based on the classic 1980s film, Footloose tells the story of city boy Ren who moves to a rural backwater in America where dancing is banned. He decides to break loose and soon has the whole town up on its feet.

In June, it’s the turn of second year students who present Andrew Lippa’s heart-warming and magical Big Fish at Blackheath Halls (Mon 20 – Sat 25 Jun).

Devised by Head of Vocal Studies Jennifer Hamilton, Strozzi! brings to life the intriguing world of seventeenth-century Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi in a collage of words and music (Thu 7 – Sat 9 Jul).

Concerts and competitions

Open to student ensembles across our Faculty of Music, the Carne Trust Chamber Competition showcases the technical and creative skill of our musicians. In the final, Beyond the Bell, Bolling Quartet, Meridian Guitar Quartet and Waldstein Quartet will compete at St John Smith Square for a share of the generous prize fund (Wed 22 Jun).

Continuing our Black Culture 365 programme, composer and recitalist Althea Talbot-Howard presents the British premieres of original compositions and new realisations of music by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Coleridge-Taylor, and Sancho at St Alfege (Thu 30 Jun).

Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra will take Cadogan Hall audiences on a tour of early twentieth century London through the eyes and ears of Vaughan Williams with ‘A London Symphony’ under the direction of Gerry Cornelius, before being joined by Soloists’ Competition 2022 winner Kyle Nash-Baker for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 (Tue 28 Jun).

Trinity Laban’s Sinfonia Strings and Wind Ensembles come together at Blackheath Halls (Thu 12 May) to perform Handel’s Water Music, directed by Walter Reiter.

To mark the end of another successful academic year, our junior departments will mount shows and presentations in July. Junior Trinity takes to the stage at Cadogan Hall for a concert and prizegiving ceremony (Sat 9 Jul), while Laban Theatre hosts the Centre for Advanced Training End of Year Show (Sat 9 Jul) and the annual summer show for participants from our Children’s Creative Dance Classes (Sat 2 Jul).

For full listings, ticketing info and booking visit our What’s On page. 

Trinity Laban launches THRIVE

Posted 17 March 2022 No Comments

A new programme of affordable professional development for early career dancers.

Geared to emerging professional freelance dance artists and those wishing to replenish their skills, THRIVE is Trinity Laban’s new professional development programme.

From April – August 2022 artists will be able to mix and match live, professional-level weekend intensives in dance techniques with business skills webinars and group discussions.

Covering everything from social media skills to managing a portfolio career, the online workshops are free to Lewisham locals, while the in-person classes have a three-tier pricing system to help overcome potential financial barriers.

The flexible programme can be done in full, or as one-off sessions, and is designed to help emerging creatives support their dance careers, sustain their practice and gain a peer network.

Presented by Trinity Laban, THRIVE is funded by Lewisham Council and produced by Clearcut.

Find out more and book

Launching TL’s Spring Season 2022

Posted 6 January 2022 No Comments

Encounter intriguing and inventive moments of music and dance in our live and digital events programme.

Running from January to March, our spring season celebrates new works and contemporary voices.

Highlights include two world premieres, the return of Melting Shifting Liquid World and new work from final year dance students.

Responding to the climate emergency, Trinity Laban’s String Ensemble presents A Change of Season at the National Maritime Museum (19 & 20 March). Witness a reimagined, choreographed performance of Vivaldi’s iconic masterpiece The Four Seasons performed alongside Hollie Harding’s immersive Melting, Shifting, Liquid World, for electric viola and string ensemble. Looking at the fragility of our modern world, the programme explores the seasons as they should be and contemplates what they may become.

Opening the season, Edward Jessen’s newly commissioned Syllable premieres at the Laban Theatre (14 & 15 Jan). The ambitious and experimental sonic work is no ordinary opera. Inspired by a range of works including Primo Levi’s 1975 collection of short stories The Periodic Table, audiences can expect a drama driven by sounds rather than conventional plot. The project, which is supported by the PRS Foundation’s Open Fund for Music Creators, is a collaboration with musicians, dance artists and composer-performer collective Bastard Assignments.

Also in January, Octandre Ensemble, Trinity Laban and Blackheath Halls present the world premiere of Each one cancels the last (Hector) by the composer-conductor Jack Sheen, featuring movement by dance-artist Eve Stainton (Tue 18 Jan 19.30). Operating along the blurred boundaries between long-form music and sculptural installation, it sees performers dispersed throughout Blackheath Halls, with visitors free to move throughout and settle within the piece as it unfolds.

Our final-year dancers present an exciting programme of new dance works at Laban Theatre in New Choreography Now: BA3 Choreography Mixed Bill (25 Jan) and create new Commissioned Works in with Fubunation, Lizzi Kew-Ross, Amanda Gough & Sonia Rafferty, Matthew Harding and Joel Brown (10 & 11 Feb).

Trinity Laban’s most prestigious prize returns to Kings Place (26 Jan). Witness seven outstanding young artists at the brink of promising careers demonstrate creativity, musicianship and diverse talent as they perform live for the Gold Medal. And enjoy more of this excellence in Trinity Laban Soloists’ Competition Final 2022 (7 Feb), where students perform concertos for the chance to play as a soloist with one of Trinity Laban’s full orchestras.

Enjoy a range of musical styles across this spring: Trinity Laban Strings students perform a programme of Janáček and Felix Mendelssohn Side by Side with the London Mozart Players, conducted by Simon Blendis (3 Feb); conductor Jonathan Tilbrook leads the Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra in a programme of Mayer, Matthis, Eleanor Alberga and Shostakovich (10 March, 19:30); and Trinity Laban Contemporary Music Group perform new works by emerging TL composers at the Asylum Peckham, conducted by Gregory Rose (25 Mar 18.00).

If jazz is more your thing, join us for a double bill of performances from the Trinity Laban Big Band, led by Winston Rollins, and The Trinity Laban Charlie Parker Project (19 Jan 19.30). The Trinity Laban Charlie Parker Project is a 13-piece ensemble that explores Parker’s music from a contemporary perspective. Hear new arrangements of his music tailor made for this line-up by Hans Koller, Head of Jazz – written during the lockdowns of 2020, the centenary year of Parker’s birth.

Founded in 2007, the Linos Piano Trio are known for their multifaceted and personal performances.
They have been the Carne Ensemble-in-Residence at Trinity Laban Conservatoire since 2017. They will lead a Lecture Workshop on Rebecca Clarke’s Piano Trio before presenting an evening concert programme of Boulanger, Ravel and Clarke (2 March).

At the end of March, our Chamber Music Festival returns (28-30 March) including the semi-final of the Carne Competition and Illuminate Women’s Music, a project curated with TL students.

Choirs from across Junior Trinity’s programmes return for the annual performance at the ORNC Chapel (12 Feb 17.30) and Four Part Choir, Big Band, Wind Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra return to Blackheath Halls for Junior Trinity’s Spring Concert (27 Mar 19.00).

Trinity Laban presents Stage & Screen: U.Dance 2022 London Regional Platform (13 Mar 19.00), an exciting showcase celebrating the variety and diversity of youth dance from across London. Groups perform a range of styles to secure a place at U.Dance 2022 in Glasgow, a national festival that brings together some of the most ambitious and innovative youth dance from across the country.

For full listings, ticketing info and booking visit our What’s On page.

A new chapter for Kerry Nicholls

Posted 20 December 2021 No Comments

TL alum becomes Associate Director, Artistic Development at English National Ballet

With 30 years’ experience in the sector, dance alum Kerry Nicholls is celebrated internationally for her agile leadership, influential coaching and exceptional contemporary dance teaching.

Since graduating from Trinity Laban in 1991 with a Certificate in Dance Theatre, Kerry has served as Co-Director of Creative Learning for Studio Wayne McGregor (2007 – 2011), the Artistic Advisor for English National Ballet School (2008 – 2015), Artistic Director of National Youth Dance Wales (2014-2018), and Interim Artistic Director for Scottish Dance Theatre (2019). Last year, Kerry was appointed Executive Artistic Lead for English National Ballet.

In 2012, she launched Kerry Nicholls Dance to run training, mentoring and professional development programmes within dance organisations and institutions world-wide. Two-years later she was awarded a Lisa Ullmann Travelling Scholarship to embark on an extensive period of research in the USA, shadowing and assisting Liz Lerman and advancing her work in the Critical Response Process.

At the end of 2021, it was announced that Kerry would join English National Ballet in a full-time role as their Associate Director, Artistic Development.

On her appointment, she comments –

“I am looking forward to this exciting new chapter.”

Founded in 1950 as London Festival Ballet by Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, English National Ballet brings world class ballet to the widest possible audience through live performances, digital platforms and its distinguished orchestra. It is a UK leader in creative learning and engagement practice, building innovative partnerships to deliver flagship programmes such as English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s.

To find out more about studying at Trinity Laban visit our Dance pages.

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Image credit: Foteini-Christofilopoulou

Innovation Award Winner Premieres New Work

Posted 2 December 2021 No Comments

Alum Laura Engholm explores experiences of homelessness through ‘Stories of Belonging’

Danish dance artist and emerging choreographer Laura Engholm was a recipient of our TL Innovation Award in 2020 for her proposal to engage with those affected by homelessness and hidden homelessness through inclusive dance practice.

The TL Innovation Award is a unique competition for final-year undergraduates, offering winners a financial award and bespoke professional development support to establish themselves as artists within one of the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy.

Mentored by participatory dance artist and fellow alum Stella Howard, Laura used her Award to created dance company Engholm Danseteater, which places diversity and inclusion at the heart of its work.

The company is now set to premiere its first piece, Stories of Belonging, on 17 Dec 2021 at London’s October Gallery, in partnership with Arts and Homelessness International and St Mungo’s Recovery College.

The foundations of the project are in the creative writing from adults with lived experience of homelessness and not fitting in, who were invited to take part. Their stories appear in both direct and indirect ways as movement, music or words.

Choreographed by Laura, the final piece is a witty and thoughtful blend of contemporary dance, music, poetry and physical theatre, creating a living collage of stories about what it means to belong to a place, to a person, to a tribe, to yourself.

On the upcoming premiere, Laura comments –

“I am so proud and excited that this is finally a reality.”

To book your ticket, visit the event page.

Find out more about studying dance at Trinity Laban.

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Image credit: Becca Hunt

Winter Events 2021-22

Posted 8 November 2021 No Comments

Encounter intriguing and inventive moments of music and dance in our three-month programme of live and digital events.

Running across November, December and January, our winter season includes an operatic world premiere and new work by Alumni Associate Artist Theo TJ Lowe.

Written by Edward Jessen and commissioned by Trinity Laban, Syllable – A Particle Tale will run for three performances at the Laban Theatre (14 & 15 Jan). With a sinfonietta-scale ensemble, auxiliary audio, and visual projection, this artistically ambitious and experimental sonic theatre work is no ordinary opera. Inspired by a range of works including Primo Levi’s 1975 collection of short stories The Periodic Table, audiences can expect a drama driven by sounds rather than conventional plot. The project, which is supported by the PRS Foundation’s The Open Fund for Music Creators, will be a collaboration with musicians, dance artists and composer-performer collective Bastard Assignments.

Also premiering as part of our winter season is the next iteration of Theo TJ Lowe’s Let me move (15 Dec). The improvisation project originated in autumn 2020 as a way for recent graduates to physically engage with how they felt returning to a studio after periods of lockdown. The process resulted in an ephemeral piece of live dance streamed to audiences’ homes. Now Lowe returns to offer 2021 dance graduates an opportunity to continue creating, and to share the moment with a live audience, with Let me move: continued Part 2.

There are vocal delights later in the month as the Trinity Laban Undergraduate Chorus present an eclectic mix of protest music conducted by Sarah Latto (17 Nov). Expect everything from Tippett and Britten to ‘One Day More’ from Les Misérables and Aminita Francis‘ Black Lives Matter. And, to get into the festive spirit, join the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir as they present Handel’s Messiah, conducted by Ralph Allwood MBE (5 Dec).

Musicians from the Trinity Laban community are heading to the Southbank Centre to perform as part of the EFG London Jazz Fest celebrations (21 Nov) including the freshest talent on London’s scene (The Jazz Hang with Tomorrow’s Warriors and Trinity Laban), our Fletcher Henderson Project and a host of alumni.

An evening with Trinity Laban Brass Ensemble (26 Nov) sees critically-acclaimed trumpeter, conductor and Trinity Laban alum Mike Lovatt lead a live rendition of the iconic 1958 Billy May album Big Fat Brass alongside Bizet’s Carmen Suite as you’ve never heard it before.

In December, our final-year Musical Theatre students present Merrily We Roll Along (7-11 Dec) at Laban Theatre. Boasting one of Stephen Sondheim’s most beautiful scores, the story follows the successful career of Broadway composer turned Hollywood producer Franklin as he realises the true cost of fame and fortune.

Conducted by Head of Strings Nic Pendlebury, Trinity Laban String Ensemble (10 Dec) are joined by violinist Joe Townsend and harpist Maria McNamee for a musical tour of the British Isles. The evening features work by Sally Beamish, Elgar and James MacMillan. The performance will be followed by a late lounge performance from BA Music Performance and Industry producers in the Hearn Recital Room.

For full listings, ticketing info and booking visit our What’s On page.