South West Dance Theatre are gathering breakdancers, artists, researchers in quantum science, ballet, contemporary and all kinds of round the world dancers, people working in the quantum tech industry as well as those who are just nosy, curious or looking for anything to do with the whole family.
We’re celebrating the UNESCO International Year of Quantum Science and Technology and we want you to be a part of it!
Where?
Trinity Centre Bristol
When?
Sunday 13th April (the day before World Quantum Day)
between 2pm and 8pm.
How much?
Tickets are £20 per adult and £30 for two (£10 per concession and £15 for two concs)
All under 18s can attend free as long as they are accompanied by an adult, with a minimum ratio of 4 under 18s per adult.
The format follows a similar format to our previous event “Light: From Big Bang to VJs” in 2015 (highlights at https://youtu.be/MWChwKZhpuc )
Among the line up are talks by senior researcher in theoretical physics Felix Flicker and photonics engineer PhD student Imogen Forbes both from the University of Bristol, an exhibition including an interactive 3D quantum art installation by James Bragg, a panel discussion featuring speakers, dancers, artists and University of Bristol quantum memories expert Meagan Hough, a quantum dance workshop for people to join in with and a performance to watch using ballet and breakdancing by South West Dance Theatre and signposting for those smitten by what they see to take it further.
This is not our first barbeque when it comes to tackling maths and science topics, having collaborated with King’s College London Quantum Director James Millen and Laurene Pilastre, then at the Royal College of Art on the piece “Quantum Touch” previously. They also produced a full evening of theatre commissioned by the University of Bristol on the maths and science of aperiodic patterns – patterns that are not random but never actually repeat either.
Praise for previous sci/art dance piece "Aperiodic by Way of Ballet, Breakdancing and Hofstadter's Butterfly:
"great fun...It was an event that simply got me – and the rest of the audience as well – thinking." Physics World
"Aperiodic by way of ballet, breakdancing and Hofstadter’s Butterfly, is a genuinely interesting and entertaining piece of work. It shows that all of us can connect and relate to complex mathematical concepts. That the world of science and the arts is far more closely linked than you might imagine. And it makes science and maths interesting and accessible to a much wider audience." - Back Stage Bristol
"The show is a true interplay of art and science and is a great example of how a little bit of brain fizz can enhance one’s enjoyment of the creative act." - Stage Talk Magazine
Here's a snippet of Wave-Particle Duality a way of describing the non-binary behaviour of things in the quantum world
This replaces the intermediate/advanced classes we’ve holding at the studio. Exercises are based in classical Cecchetti technique (waxing a shade contemporary at times) and set to a playlist of guilty pleasures from pop, classical, world, rock and soul.
Join us on zoom every Friday at 11am to feel strength, grace and joy – link:
A quaranH.I.T workout working with dancers for stability, balance and strength, each 10 second break please pause the video and then come back, And apologies for certain lags in sound, But get the burn and enjoy!!
Snippets
If you just want a quick taste of dance theatre before you get back to the grind or other endeavours, you might like to check some of these out (more trailers and festival appearances on our channel)
2020 is our tenth anniversary – this is some snippets from what we got up to when we first formed 10 years ago: https://youtu.be/UBRdH9181Rk - oh those days...
Bristol to Broadway
– snippets from our first narrative production, first touring (first came Bath to Broadway) and our first bookings in full spec theatres:
Our WW2 commemorative piece seemed to send our audiences on a rollercoaster of tears and tenderness. We weren’t able to film the any of the performances themselves but thanks to Roger Barnes we have some great footage from the tech run:
In partnership with Breathing Fire we focused on bringing our audiences the tumult of emotions the lead characters experienced. Again no coverage of the live performance and unfortunately we didn’t have Roger help so the video quality’s not the best but if you missed it and your curious here’s a never-before released, warts n all version for sneak peek:
We collaborated with the Trinity’s Edson Burton for script and Visual Thinking’s Sandra Barefoot for the BSL input to produce, as well as additional direction from Ben Nash as dramaturg and Mark Smith from Deaf Men Dancing for tips on choreographing with sign language. Shakespeare’s plays are notoriously enduring but this performance came shortly after the Brexit referendum and proved particularly true to contemporary life. Thanks Matt Seow for the footage.
photos: courtesy Derwood Photography