On Friday 13th July we held our first CPD day (Continuing Professional Development day) for selected North east artists:
Patricia Verity Suarez
Patricia Verity Suarez is a Movement Director based in Teesside and will be delving into her heritage as a Latin American/British person as part of her creative practice. Her main practice includes character physicality and ensemble exploration of the world of her work. Her choreographic experience is mainly in Movement Direction where she choreographs social dances/period dances that enhance the storytelling of the scene.
Recent Movement Director credits include: The Graveyard Boy (Georgian Theatre Royal Youth Theatre, 2017), On Behalf of the People (NCME and Tour, 2017), 4×15 (Crucible Studio, 2017). Choreography Assistant: Kynren (Eleven Arches, 2018). Movement Placement: The York Mystery Plays (2016).
Juliette and Georgina Lance
Twins Juliette and Georgina will be exploring loss of control for a duet around mental health conditions that make the individual feel reckless and often isolated
Alice Henry
Alice Henry is a highly expressive and engaging dancer and performance artist based in the North East. Alice graduated from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2015 with a first, and made Newcastle her home later that year. Since then Alice has been mentored and commissioned by Dance City to develop her creative practice as a maker and solo performer. Alice is an associate artist of performance collective State of Grace based in the North East and has worked with artists Neville Campbell, Joelene English and Ella Mesma.
Francis Odongo
Francis Odongo is from Nakuru Kenya and is an identical twin and highly skilled acrobatic duo, juggler, dancer and aerialists. Francis and his brother were talent spotted and won a scholarship at the Chinese Wuqiou Acrobatic Circus School. They became a premier double act in Kenya before being invited to the UK to join Let’s Circus in Newcastle. The main dance styles Francis uses are House, Breaking and Contemporary.
About the day:
The work progressed and developed over the day: Culminating in a final sharing of very high level work from our selected artists!
Here are some quotes about the day from them plus photographs by the wonderful Nicola Hunter.
“I’ve been digesting Ladylike and the CPD day and for me it was so valuable in terms of being given permission to explore latin movement vocabulary in terms of creating a piece. What was particularly useful to me was having space to articulate my ideas and then explore them for a day. The provocations, questions and feedback also gave me a chance to organise my thoughts and gave me a starting point to generate more material or explore the material I had from a different perspective. It was also exciting to be in a room with artists with different backgrounds and experiences and I learned so much from them too” Patricia Verity Suarez
“I experienced a lot: It was an amazing day and I learnt a lot from feedback, opportunities to play, to come with answers to share with each other and to try something new” Francis Odongo
“It was an amazing opportunity to experience such beautiful styles of dance and to understand their origins.To be able to work with so many creative and supportive individuals was so inspiring.” Juliette Lance
