Myths and Dreams is a new triple bill from Fertile Ground, the North East’s repertory touring dance company, dedicated to talent development and retention in the North East, to nurturing, challenging and inspiring a new generation of dance artists and to developing and presenting accessible dance for the people of the North.
Four choreographers—Fertile Ground Artistic Directors Renaud Wiser and Malgorzata Dzierzon and guest artists Fabritia D'Intino and Clémentine Vanlerberghe—have created a new season which brings together collaborators from the fields of film and digital sculpture as well as dance performed by the cast of emerging professional dancers.
Opening the bill is Labyrinth, a cross-disciplinary work by Fertile Ground Artistic Co-Director Renaud Wiser, freely inspired by the myth of the Minotaur. In contrast to the classical narrative, in Labyrinth, the Minotaur is portrayed as a symbol of hybridity representing the complexities of modern times. During the creation of the piece, the dancers were immersed in a virtual environment created by sculptor Marie Lelouche and developed choreography in response to her sculptures. On stage, Labyrinth uses motion capture technology and projections to reveal a maze rendered visible by the dancers’ movements.
Fertile Ground’s Artistic Co-Director Malgorzata Dzierzon brings to the stage her new dance film, Somnium. At the time of extended confinement during the pandemic, many of us have found ourselves sleeping and dreaming more. Somnium wants to capture and express our dreams, memories, anxieties and desires at this time of change. Somnium is a collaboration with filmmaker Filipe Alcada and composer Oliver Coates and is a Dance City 2021/22 Commission.
A duo of rising European choreographers, Fabritia D'Intino and Clémentine Vanlerberghe, present Plubel. In this hypnotic journey of imitation, the two women explore chorality as an act of resistance and a tool to reveal what has been made hidden. From the mass, the group, each female figure is extracted to reveal its individuality as a possible attempt of emancipation.
Myths and Dreams will tour to Dance City, Newcastle on 14 October at 7:30, The Maltings, Berwick on 29 October and the Arts Academy, Sunderland (date and time TBA).