For this month’s Trinity Laban alumni round up, we have a range of news from both music and dance alumni including exciting performances, projects and festivals.
To start off, music alum Dai Fujikura’s Shamisen Concerto premiered on 25 May, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.
Ezra Collective (Joe Armon-Jones, Femi Koleoso) hit Brockwell Park on 28 May with a line-up of soul, jazz and funk in Cross the Tracks 2023. Have a look at some of their funky photos here.
Peckham’s GALA Festival returned this summer between 26 May and 28 May where saxophonist Nubya Garcia performed alongside other great musicians and DJs. On top of that, Nubya Garcia, producer Martin Terefe and Shabaka Hutchings led an ensemble of 12 musicians, London Brew, on their self-titled debut album.
Cassie Kinoshi’s new piece, a song composed to celebrate the Barbican’s 40th anniversary last year started the concert evening and was “…full of interest and energy…”.
Guest soloist, soprano Clara Lisle performs Mozart’s Requiem in D minor with Eureka Symphony Chorus and orchestra to end the Eureka Symphony’s 2022-2023 season ‘In remembrance’ season finale.
Looking to escape reality? Why not give Jeff Wayne’s The War of The Worlds: The Immersive Experience a go?. Composer and producer Jeff Wayne re-produced his iconic score along with exciting new sound effects to accompany the immersive experience. Read more about it here.
Ayanna Witter-Johnson is part of Peter Gabriel’s new album, Four Kinds of Horses. Here’s an interview transcript between Peter and Urbanista Magazine.
Pianist Aldo Lopez-Gavilan will be performing Hollywood Musical Classics with The Havana Chamber Orchestra in Cuba to celebrate a new anniversary of the band.
Molly Osborne stars as Elowen Keene in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Musical, directed by Jethro Compton which began showing on 22 May.
Moving on to some dance alumni news, Motionhouse, consisting of a few Trinity Laban alumni (Beth Pattison – dancer, Louise Richards – executive director, Oliver Bell – dancer, Rosie Macari – dancer) presented Nobody and Starchitects at Lichfield Garrick on 2 and 3 May.
Takeshi Matsumoto’s magical world of Club Origami was showcased at Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2023 between 12 and 28 May. It was “an immersive and interactive dance show for families where live music meets origami.“
TL alum Emma Gladstone, the Rolex Arts Festival curator, collaborated with a distinguished Greek Advisory Committee to put on a vibrant celebration of arts to celebrate 20 years of mentoring in Athens.
Dr. Gemma Harman, creator of ResDance the podcast, released three episodes in May covering topics like Noticing in Improvisation Practices, and Validating within Resilience. Click here to listen.
The Royal Ballet and Wayne McGregor’s adaptation of Jim Henson’s UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey premiered at the Royal Opera House from 12 May to 4 June. Read the Financial Times review here.
Oona Doherty performed Navy Blue at the Dublin Dance Festival in May alongside other world-renowned artists.
Coming up
Glasgow Jazz Festival and North Sea Jazz Festival
This year, Glasgow Jazz Festival has broadened its horizons to bring on international acts. London saxophonist Camilla George will be performing at the festival. Camilla is also set to perform at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands in July as well as in Stockholm, Sweden at the end of August.
Cinderella In-The-Round and Magnetoreception
Sarah Hirsch invites all to two productions in the next few months. Sarah features as a walk-on-dancer in the fabulous spectacle of English National Ballet’s Cinderella In-The-Round, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon.
15-25 June, Royal Albert Hall.
Sarah is also co-choreographing and dancing in Magnetoreception which will be premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe. The piece explores how people attract and repel one another, perpetuating energy in the same way magnets do.
14-19 August, Greenside @ Infirmary Street.
Performances by Ting-Ning
Choreography alum, Ting-Ning will be presenting a series of performances in June.
Woo Woolf at Camden People Theatre on the 9 June.
A Snake In The House Means The Family Will Never Want 屋內怕有蛇 will be presented at the Offbeat Festival on 15 June and the Migrant Matters Festival on 24 June.
Photo credit: Tas Kyprianou
