Scottish Dance Theatre
www.scottishdancetheatre.com

Scottish Dance Theatre is one of the UK's leading dance theatre companies. It is also part of Dundee Rep Theatre's creative community. SDT is a company on the move, constantly stretching the skills and talents of ten powerful and committed dancers under the guidance of Artistic Director Janet Smith and touring regularly throughout the UK and internationally. SDT creates and tours its own special blend of dance theatre - created by AD Janet Smith, as well as internationally celebrated and emerging choreographers. The company is highly regarded for its exciting, original and accessible dance pieces. In performance, SDT offers audiences programmes made up of two or more dance pieces by different choreographers. SDT has always had its roots in Dundee (having been based at the Rep since its inception as a community dance company in 1986) and premieres all new work at home at the Rep. A purpose-built dance studio was finished in 2004, allowing visiting choreographers and dancers a more creative space to make dance and also giving the company the perfect space in which to run regular community classes.

Presented by Milky Way Arts & Communications Co., Ltd

<Shanghai>
Time: 19:15, 1 Novermber 2009
Venue: Opera Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center
Price: RMB480/380/280/180/100
Ticket booking: +86 021-68541234

<Beijing>
Time: 19:30, 6 & 7 Novermber 2009
Venue: Mei Lanfang Theatre, Beijing
Price: RMB580/380/280/180/120/80
Ticket booking: +86 010-65516930/65516906

Scotish Dance Theatre, Scotland’s National Contemporary Dance Company, presents Tenderhook, a powerful triple bill of original works created especially for the company by some of today’s internationally celebrated choreographers.

‘a sophisticated ensemble under Janet Smith’s inspirational direction’   Dance Europe

‘SDT’s mettle shines with megawatt brilliance: whatever they dance – and the repertoire is a jigsaw of stylistic variety, dramatic intensities and delicious surprises – the members of this company consistently ally telling intelligence and humanity with outstanding technical panache’ Mary Brennan, Dance Critic, The Herald

Tenderhook (29 minutes)
ChoreographerLiv Lorent
Costume DesignerPaul Shriek
Lighting DesignerJon Clark
Composer    Ezio Bosso
Music               Walking on the truth, Petite valse pour violin et cords, Concerto, Lento Les Abandon (versione perquartetto D’Archi), The sky seen from the moon, Seasong 9

A kinetic, cinematic and passionate work by award-winning Liv Lorent with music by Ezio Bosso. Liv Lorent’s work springs from an autobiographical place, some feeling that she’s living with - and the actual starting point for the dance movement is often music and the striking physical images it creates in her mind. In ‘tenderhook’ she set out to explore a physicality to evoke our sometimes blind search for impossible perfect love and an evolution towards a different love - of acceptance, compromise and interdependence.

‘exquisite...a feast for the senses’  The Herald

‘this is one work I  never wanted to end’  The Scotsman

‘utterly moving…visually amazing…staggeringly good’  Audience Member

In The Middle of the Moment(17 minutes)
Choreographers   Uri Ivgi and Johan Greben
Costume DesignerPhyllis Byrne
Lighting DesignerTim Skelly
Music:   György Kurtág, (Liguatura Y), Arvo Pärt 9Pari Invervallo

This high voltage work explores the states of play between two people in the confines of their relationship to music by Arvo Pärt and György Kurtág. It was created by the choreographic partnership of Uri Ivgi, from Israel and Johan Greben from Holland. They started with a very particular limitation – to make a duet in a three meter square. This limitation and music by Gyorgy Kurtag and Arvo Part, became the inspiration for a work that beautifully examines states of play in a relationship.

‘totally beguiling’  ballet.co.uk   

‘A quiet and ultimately devastating portrait of isolation’ The Guardian

DOG(31 minutes)
ChoreographerHofesh Shechter
Costume DesignerPhyllis Byrne
Lighting DesignerBruno Poet
Music:   Hofesh Shechter including excerpts from Fan farra (cabua-le-le) from Braziliero by Sergio Mendes, Verdi, Bach and Aleph, ATM and Dance Music by Ophir Ilzetzki

Hofesh Schecter’s DOG started from two different movement qualities; one hard and chopped and the other very soft, quiet and earthy - and asking questions about these two qualities and how and why we move between them. The dance is full of imagery, energy and ideas that emerged through this process. Hofesh likes to be enigmatic and intriguing with his titles and offers ‘DOG’ as a clue – a point of reference. He tells us ‘the title of a dance piece is not an answer!’  

‘Crammed with ideas and wit, this is dance for the mind as well as the senses’  The Guardian

‘a work that shifts from joyfulness to fear in a heartbeat.’   The Scotsman

Email interview with Janet Smith

1.Where did your inspiration come from for these three dances respectively?
The three dances in our programme were created by different guest choreographers with very contrasting approaches and movement styles. Liv Lorent’s work springs from an autobiographical place, some feeling that she’s living with - and the actual starting point for the dance movement is often music and the striking physical images it creates in her mind. In ‘tenderhook’ she set out to explore a physicality to evoke our sometimes blind search for impossible perfect love and an evolution towards a different love - of acceptance, compromise and interdependence.‘In the Middle of the Moment’ was created by the choreographic partnership of Uri Ivgi, from Israel and Johan Greben from Holland. They started with a very particular limitation – to make a duet in a three meter square. This limitation and music by Gyorgy Kurtag and Arvo Part, became the inspiration for a work that beautifully examines states of play in a relationship. Hofesh Schecter’s DOG started from two different movement qualities; one hard and chopped and the other very soft, quiet and earthy - and asking questions about these two qualities and how and why we move between them. The dance is full of imagery, energy and ideas that emerged through this process. Hofesh likes to be enigmatic and intriguing with his titles and offers ‘DOG’ as a clue – a point of reference. He tells us ‘the title of a dance piece is not an answer!’    

2.What’s the current developing situation for modern dance worldwide? And how about the modern dance development of UK comparing with the other European countries as well as the U.S.?
Working out of Scotland, in our small corner of Northern Europe, my perspective is by no means global! I don’t think I can answer this!! The world does get smaller though, as companies and people get to travel and I do witness the cross-fertilization that’s happening between cultures, as we all drink in influences from each other. Our own work blends dance and theatre and I notice the boundaries between the art forms crumbling and new hybrid forms developing wherever I look. Dance is definitely thriving here in Scotland, with more young people getting involved and styles like hip hop and street dance fusing with more theatrical forms in innovative ways.   

3.  Since your location is just next to Edinburgh, Will the world famous Edinburgh international festival bring more chances for SDT to show your works to the international audiences? Is that an efficient way to attract more new modern dance fans by involving in such kind of art events?
The Edinburgh Festival is the largest in the world and in fact a meeting of several overlapping festivals and it has the atmosphere of a carnival. It’s great to be an artist performing in this atmosphere and feel part of an international artistic community. It is definitely an opportunity to show our work to international promoters without having to travel far from home. Arts festivals definitely attract visitors, celebrate art and raise profile for both the art form and the place in which they take place. For Scottish dance Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe, we get to see inspiring international work on our own doorstep, as well as testing their mettle on an international stage. It’s a creatively stimulating atmosphere and a highlight of our year.

4.Is that the first time for SDT to perform in China? How do you think about your coming tour in Shanghai and Beijing? Do you have any expectations for the audiences in these two cities? What’s kinds of special experiences the audiences will have by watching your performance?
Yes, this is the company’s first visit to China and we feel very privileged and excited to be here and delighted to be invited to perform by Milky Way Arts & Communications Company.  I personally visited China last year due to a grant from the British Council China-UK Connections Through Culture programme which enabled me to meet with Cui Yang from Milky Way to discuss details of this tour.  Bringing our work half way across the world means there’s great curiosity and excitement about how the work will be read and received by what must be a very different audience to what we know and expect. We are a company that has a strong feeling of community between the dancers that comes across on stage, inviting an intimate connection with the audience. The dancers are also very engaged in the creative process, often contributing to the movement content, so I think you will see real ownership of the work from very personable individual performers with strong and subtle stories they want to share. We are looking forward to meeting Chinese artists and making new friends. Also grabbing moments as tourists to see the sights of Bejing and Shanghai and probably the dancers will want to try some reflexology and Chinese massage!!